Asbury Seedbed just published an article of mine, “Why the United Methodist Church Needs a Catechism.”
They’re also giving you an opportunity to win a free Echo catechism set. See terms for the giveaway at the bottom of the article.
Enjoy! I’d love to hear your thoughts here.
If you read my recent post about Sunday School creating a theologically illiterate American Church, you may have had a different takeaway than I intended.
To the volunteer Sunday School teacher — I didn’t mean to tell you to stop teaching.
To the person considering volunteering — I didn’t mean to scare you off from it.
We need you! People willing to stand up and lead are at a premium in the Church. Thank you for being willing.
Now, if you don’t already have some good theological learning and training under your belt, let me suggest a crash course. I’ll give you reading here. It would be best if you found some others to talk with – especially if you can find someone who may have had some more theological training already. If you decide to work through anything below, I’d be excited to read and discuss along with you.
The resources I’m suggesting here will clearly show some of my Wesleyan leanings. If you’re in another tradition, you might ask your pastor what he/she would recommend. Or read this stuff anyways, and discover the beauty of Wesleyan theology.
Before you look through these, why don’t you SUBSCRIBE for e-mail updates. Whether you agree or disagree, I hope to provide lots more thought-provoking articles and helpful resources.
101 – Some Basics
Echo: A Catechism for Discipleship in the Ancient Christian Tradition
I think this little resource is a great place to start. Yes, I’m biased. I’m one of the editors. But we created the resource for exactly this purpose. It will give you our most basic and important beliefs in 98 short (Twitter-length) questions and answers with Scripture references.
Though this can only offer the most basic points of belief, I’ve still found that it has new information for lots of people. What do we mean by the “invisible” and the “visible” church? The new creation? What are the sacraments and what do they mean? Use it as a basic reference or a jumping-off point for deeper investigations. Or see this schedule for preaching through the catechism.
A clear and accessible presentation of the core of Wesleyan theology. If phrases like “original sin,” “prevenient grace,” or “Christian perfection” are unfamiliar or a bit fuzzy for you, this book will be a great help.
This book is very similar to the one above in its subject matter, but it’s a bit more of a “plain truth for plain people” approach, while the Harper book spends more time examining history. Only 96 pages and an easy read with illustrations and personal experiences. You could get through it in a sitting.
201 – A Bit Deeper
You don’t need to do the 101 books first. I break these down to show that this next level is a bit heavier and more technical. You’re probably ready for it, so long as you’re willing to invest a little more time and mental energy.
In just 160 pages, you’ll get an overview of all the major themes of Christian theology and their historical development. A great place to start for some more serious theological study.
You might be surprised to learn some of what Christians don’t believe — because these ancient heresies are actually prevalent in a lot of forms today. You’ll gain a deeper, richer understanding of the Christian faith in the process. Just 140 pages.
301 – Pretty meaty
These will really make you think. They’re no fast, easy reads. But they’re worth it if you’re up to it.
This book starts with a tour of historical theology to help you see how the Church developed and dealt with particular beliefs over the years. It goes on to present Christianity’s most important doctrines a bit more fully than the books above, but doesn’t require you to be a scholar to understand. This, more than any others I list, will also make you familiar with some of the most influential theologians of recent. It’s big – 460 pages.
This was published in 1967, but a lot of people still think it’s worth your while. This covers all the essential topics of faith and presents you with the different traditions’ views of those topics. 270 pages.
401 – Big time
This is as serious and deep as I would recommend anyone start. You don’t already have to be a great theologian to read this, but it will challenge you.
Oden’s theology has been deeply transformative for me. This work is beautiful and rich. It has a good chance to make you fall in love with the early Church Fathers and want to hear more directly from them. It can be tough sledding in places, but if you’re up to the challenge, I think you’ll benefit immensely. And yes, it’s really big, about 850 pages.
So there they are. If you’ve been primarily exposed to Rick Warren, John Ortberg, and Francis Chan, you’ll find in these a whole new depth and richness to Christian belief. Seriously, if you’re interested in reading any of these with someone, I’d be happy to read along.
You might also be interested in my list of Top 10 Christian Classics.
Disclosure of Material Connection: All links to Amazon here are affiliate links. Feel free to buy elsewhere.
One of the places where America began to become theologically illiterate was an odd one: Sunday School.
I believe the introduction of Sunday Schools truly has caused the American Church to know less about what they believe.
There are a few reasons:
1 – When we began focusing on Sunday Schools, we moved from having theologically-trained pastors teach to having laypeople teach. (Don’t get too worked up about this yet. More below.)
2 – The Sunday School movement was ecumenical (i.e. representing a number of different Christian churches). A lot of denominations have at least slightly different beliefs regarding doctrine, so they moved away from teaching any version of those debatable doctrines.
3 – The easiest commonality was to teach Bible stories. So that’s where the focus went.
Some disclaimers. Please hear these before any angry comments!
1 – I’m thrilled that laypeople teach. I don’t believe you must have been to seminary to be allowed to teach. With that said, there are times that we’ll take any warm body. Even if that warm body doesn’t know what repentance is or why in the world we would need to be adopted by God. I applaud willing volunteers, but we can’t expect our learners to learn theology that their teachers don’t know.
2 – I love ecumenical efforts. The catholic Church has far more in common than it has in opposition. But if we run from any disputed doctrines, we’ll run from some things that have had the greatest impact on my life (e.g. a Wesleyan understanding of prevenient, justifying and sanctifying grace).
3 – We must teach the Bible! Of course! And learning theology through the narrative of Scripture is incredibly important. But we’ve tended to replace our wider theological beliefs with the stories. So you can find a lot of teenagers who know the story of David and Goliath, but very few who can define sanctification, or even articulate a Christian understanding of growing in holiness.
Some suggestions for change:
1 – Our teachers need to know basic theology. We don’t have to have seminarians teaching every class, but there does need to be a baseline. Please don’t just look for the best warm body.
“But we don’t have enough people! We have to take whomever will volunteer.” That’s probably true in a lot of places. So some more encouragement: if you have a good handle on basic theology, we need you! Please volunteer to teach. If you are willing to teach but don’t have a good handle on basic theology, please find a way to get a crash course! You and those you teach will all benefit.
2 – We need to teach the specifics of our faith. Presbyterians, teach about election and perseverance. Methodists, teach about prevenient grace and entire sanctification. Dispensationalists, teach about… well, never mind. (I jest. Kind of.)
3 – Continue to teach the Bible! Teach all of the stories. But make sure that you are teaching something beyond just the story and beyond just nice morals. (E.g. Please don’t teach the story of Noah and the ark and then use it to talk about Noah’s patience with all those stinky animals and how we should be patient, too [actual children’s Bible usage]!) This means intentionally asking what big doctrines are being communicated through certain stories.
Elijah and the prophets of Baal teaches us about God’s faithfulness, judgment for the wicked, and God’s almighty power. Emphasize those! And don’t be afraid to teach from non-narrative pieces like the psalms and New Testament letters.
Yes, Sunday School (along with many other factors) has contributed to rampant theological illiteracy in the American Church. But we can fight back!
Resources for Re-gaining Theological Literacy
When Martin Luther realized how theologically illiterate were the masses around him, he created a catechism. It was a short summary of the faith in question and answer form, with the Ten Commandments, Apostles’ Creed, and Lord’s Prayer as its fixtures.
Lutherans, if you don’t have it, go get Luther’s catechism and start using it and teaching it. Presbyterians, go get the Westminster Catechism. Dutch Reformed, grab a Heidelberg Catechism. Non-creedal Bible-only independent churches… oh wait. (Again, I jest.) Wesleyans, take a look at the resource some friends and I have developed and published with Asbury Seedbed. It’s called “Echo: A Catechism for Discipleship in the Ancient Christian Tradition.” I think you’ll like it.
Take a look at my follow-up article: “A Crash Course in Theology.”
teddy ray 