By the Renewing of Your Minds: The Pastoral Function of Christian Doctrine [Paperback]

Ellen T. Charry (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 16, 1999

This book develops the thesis that classical Christian theology seeks to help believers flourish by knowing and loving God. Ellen Charry argues this premise by example, offering a close reading of a number of classical texts, from the New Testament era to the Reformation, including works of Paul, Augustine, Athanasius, Basil of Caesarea, Anselm, and Calvin. She points out the pastoral and moral aims that shape the teachings of these theologians on a wide range of topics, including the Trinity; human beings as created in the image of God; the incorporation of Jews and Gentiles into the body of Christ in baptism; the incarnation, death, and resurrection of Christ; and the divinity of the Holy Spirit. Charry explains that the very logic of their arguments is shaped by the author's concern for the goodness and happiness that should result from living into the doctrines. She further shows that although the spiritual and pastoral purposes of these writings are many and complex, they are invariably concerned to foster what modern people can, without difficulty, recognize as human dignity--what she calls "excellence"--in action, affection, and self-appraisal.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A significant contribution to both academic and pastoral theology, and might go a long way toward healing the breach between the two."--Bruce D. Marshall, St. Olaf College

"By the Renewing of Your Minds is an illuminating and challenging treatise, especially for those whose vocation is teaching Christian doctrine."--Presbyterion

"This ground-breaking volume...is the first to deal at length with the pastoral function of doctrine....Charry has had the daring and imagination to propose a long-range research program which has the possibility of radically redirecting now sterile but still deeply entrenched habits of thinking about doctrine.... Charry's book will prompt much-needed further mining of the doctrinal tradition for its pastoral riches."--Christian Century

"Long has doctrinal theology suffered under the suspicion of being utterly irrelevant, even inimical to the life and witness of the church and to the lives of Christian people. Charry has put that old caricature to rest in this remarkable and compelling book...This is a book of great wisdom and passion. It is deeply learned, well written, and carefully researched. Most of all, it is a prophetic call to professional teachers of theology to renew the tradition of teaching doctrine for the formation of virtue and for the knowledge of God."--nterpretation

"[Charry] is earnest about her efforts to promote grassroots theological formation. She has a heart for helping everyday people to come to know and love the Lord....A timely and powerful book."--Christianity Today

About the Author

Ellen Charry is at Princeton Theological Seminary.

Product Details

• Paperback: 280 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (September 16, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195134869
• ISBN-13: 978-0195134865
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #756,686 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Definitely Renewed, April 13, 2000

By 

Joe Hays - See all my reviews

This review is from: By the Renewing of Your Minds: The Pastoral Function of Christian Doctrine (Paperback)

Dr. Ellen Charry understands the writings of early patristic fathers and mothers to be more than just apolgetics. Dr. Charry gets to the core of their writings by discovering that the authors are calling for excellence (aretology) in each and every Christian. This book brings clarity and flavor to the classical Theologians of early Christian history.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A post-modern look at pre-modern theologians, October 6, 2009

By 

S Carter McNeese (Winston Salem, NC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: By the Renewing of Your Minds: The Pastoral Function of Christian Doctrine (Paperback)

Readers of this volume will be taken on a crash course ride through some of the major names of pre-modern theology. By putting these foundational theologians back into the pre-modern context in which they wrote, Charry succeeds in giving both the Pastor and the layperson the space to reclaim the aretological power of these works.

However, I feel that the real center of gravity of Charry's work is the theoretical and theological framework that she sets up for this exploration. By engaging in an essentially post-modern critique of the limitations of the thinking of modernity while not claiming the (problematic) label of "post-modernity," Charry gives the readers the tools s/he needs to reclaim the aretological power of not just these texts, but other pre-modern texts and in fact the Faith itself.

Not intended to be a works of apologetics, this framework can serve as a strong apologetic critique the twin fundamentalisms of the religious right and the insurgent "new atheism."

Strongly recommended to all theologians, laypeople, and pastors interested in freeing themselves from tyranny of modernity that is found in its rigid dualism.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good overview of theology, September 21, 2010

By 

R. Knox "vandy boy" (Springfield, TN USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: By the Renewing of Your Minds: The Pastoral Function of Christian Doctrine (Paperback)

I am reading this book for a theological discussion class in divinity school. Charry has great overviews of some of the major theologians in church history. The first chapter is a little difficult to get through (lots of theological terminology), but Charry is brilliant and has much to offer. This is a great book for theological studies for a lay person who wishes to delve deep in study or for a student.