Theology

Review: An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine

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Cover image of "An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine" by John Henry Cardinal Newman

An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, John Henry Cardinal Newman (foreword by Ian Ker). University of Notre Dame Press (ISBN: 9780268009212) 1994 (first published in 1845).

Summary: Shows that doctrine has undergone development and provides marks of genuine doctrines.

One of the questions raised by many who are not Catholics is why the church affirms many doctrines that have no explicit basis in scripture. These include beliefs about the Virgin Mary, papal supremacy, and purgatory. John Henry Cardinal Newman, in 1845, penned what may be the best explanation of how these doctrines are genuine developments of biblical truth.

“Development” is the key word in An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine. He argues that while some of the doctrines of the Catholic Church don’t arise from explicit texts of scripture, they are nevertheless genuine developments from the scriptures. To make this argument, Newman devotes the first part of his “essay” to defending the idea that Christian doctrine has developed over time. Many things implicit in scripture were later brought out in the Councils and Papal teaching. And we need look no further than the doctrine of the Trinity or the doctrine of the Incarnation to see this is the case. But Newman holds this to be true of all the doctrines of the Catholic Church.

But how are we to distinguish the genuine from corruptions of doctrine? Newman offered seven “notes” or distinguishing marks:

  1. Preservation of its Type. This refers to the persistence of a main idea even though its external expression may change. Newman contrasts the egg to a fully grown bird as an example. He supports this note through a study of the first six centuries of the church.
  2. Continuity of Its Principles. As true doctrine develops, it never violates the basic principle of Christianity, of which Newman enumerates nine. Every heresy will violate at least one of these.
  3. Its Assimilative Power. Growing things depend on assimilating nutrients for their life. Similarly true doctrine develops in part by assimilating external ideas such as Greek philosophy that help it define more clearly what the church believes.
  4. Its Logical Sequence. In a genuine development of doctrine, a logical progression can be shown from biblical truth to the doctrine’s expression. For example, purgatory develops from the requirement of perfection to enter heaven. Yet many are friends of Christ who are not perfect and thus must undergo a purifying process before entering heaven.
  5. Anticipation of its Future. Essentially, this note proposes that there are hints to future developments implied in the earliest statements. Newman shows this to be the case with the idea of relics, the Virgin Mary, and the cult of saints and angels.
  6. Conservative Action on its Past. Genuine developments build on earlier ones, often bringing greater clarity. For example, the Nicene Creed clarifies and strengthens what is in the Apostles Creed. A corruption contradicts and weakens the earlier development.
  7. Its Chronic Vigour. Genuine developments endure while heresies die off. One example Newman offers is Pelagianism, which denied original sin and argued for human pefectability apart from Christ’s redemptive grace.

One of the strength’s of Newman’s work is to show how doctrines develop over time and to legitimize that process. This is important because all of us believe things not explicitly stated in the Bible. Additionally, his extensive arguments from church history help substantiate his case. At the same time, it seems, as an outside observer, a good argument to legitimate what is. And I could see some from Eastern or Reformed traditions using some of the notes to argue against particular Catholic doctrines. It also essentially brands Eastern Orthodoxy and the churches of the Reformation as embracing corruptions at their points of difference. Although Newman doesn’t explicitly say this, it is a logical “development” from his argument.

Newman’s Victorian prose is never an easy read. In this case, his lengthy discussions of church history risk losing the forest for the trees. One must keep the main contours and particular “notes” of Newman’s argument before one.

To sum up, this is an important work, not merely for Catholics but for all Christians. We may know that Jesus loves us “because the Bible tells me so” but not all that any of us as Christians affirm comes directly from scripture without development. Newman also helps us, whether we agree or not, to understand the Catholic justification of doctrines with which others may disagree.

But it also shows why it will be difficult to reach a doctrinal rapprochement that encompasses Eastern, Protestant, and Catholic churches. That does not mean we cannot strive for mutual understanding and charitable relations. But to be of one mind in doctrine seems to me to be part of the beatific vision. “ For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known” (1 Corinthians 13:12, KJV).

Review: The Phenomenon of Man

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Cover image of "The Phenomenon of Man" by Teilhard de Chardin

The Phenomenon of Man, Teilhard de Chardin. Harper Perennial Modern Classics (ISBN: 9780061632655) 2008 (first published in 1957).

Summary: A synthesis of evolutionary thought and teleology culminating in a collective consciousness or Omega Point.

I recently reviewed (https://bobonbooks.com/2025/07/21/review-the-divine-milieu/) de Chardin’s The Divine Milieu in which de Chardin traces our growth in godlikeness toward the end of Christ uniting all things in himself. In that book, de Chardin attempts to integrate an understanding of evolution with Christian ideas. De Chardin wrote The Phenomenon of Man a decade later. In it, he elaborates his ideas about the evolutionary process and its telos in a uniting of all conscious, the noosphere in what de Chardin calls “the Omega Point.” He was not permitted to publish either book during his life, both being published posthumously in 1957.

The work is divided into four books. The first describes the origins of the material universe. One of the most important ideas running throughout this work is the inner and outer energies, mind and matter, that constitute all matter. The outer included crystallising and polymerising material.

The second book traces the transition of this material to living organisms from single cells to the expansion of life. He argues that this is not a random process but reflects the working of the inner “mind” through outer matter. Furthermore, life develops increasing complexity in “the tree of life” until the rise of consciousness in hominid.

Then book three traces the development of thought within the human race. Not only are humans self aware, but they also convey their knowledge to others. For de Chardin, this network of shared though results in a thinking layer, or noosphere, that encircles the earth. Consequently, humanity is heading toward a decisive turning point or choice, either toward stillborn destruction or to emergence as a kind of “supersoul.” Our collective consciousness culminates in a new level of existence.

Finally, in book four, de Chardin describes this new level of existence as “the Omega Point.” All the consciousnesses will become singular. Science, technology and religion will come together. Our instincts to survive and to love will come together.

A few observations. One is that de Chardin is hard to read. He creates words like involution and noosphere. A second is that most evolutionary scientists would reject any idea of a telos for evolution. Finally, for me, the most telling is that while de Chardin skates on the edge of orthodoxy in The Divine Milieu, he goes over the edge in this book from theism to panentheism, what he describes as “God all in everyone.” Gone from this book is the idea of God uniting all things in Christ. Rather, all things are united in the noosphere and evolves into a super consciousness.

I have seen an increase in interest in de Chardin in recent years. I can’t help but wonder if the advent of AI and ideas like Ray Kurzweil’s singularity are bringing de Chardin to renewed attention. Personally, I consider all of this as just one more version of humanity’s penchant for “tower of Babel” projects. I wish de Chardin had stopped at The Divine Milieu. This book is neither good science nor good theology but rather an exercise in speculative and wishful thinking.

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Thanks for visiting Bob on Books.  I appreciate that you spent time here. Feel to “look around” – see the tabs at the top of the website, and the right hand column. And use the buttons below to share this post. Blessings! [Adapted from Enough Light, a blog I follow.]

Review: The Divine Milieu

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Cover image of "The Divine Milieu" by Teilhard de Chardin.

The Divine Milieu, Teilhard de Chardin. Harper Perennial Modern Classics (ISBN: 9780060937256) 2001 (first published in 1957).

Summary: How we grow into godlikeness in our active work and our passive diminishment, toward the uniting of all things in Christ.

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin was a Jesuit Priest, geologist, and paleontologist, living between 1881 and 1955. He participated in the discovery of the remains Peking Man and wrote dozens of scientific papers, filling eleven volumes collected. He was also a theologian. His best known works were The Divine Milieu and The Phenomenon of Man. He wrote The Divine Milieu in 1926 and 1927 during a trip to China. Church authorities withheld its publication until 1957, two years after his death.

The basic idea behind The Divine Milieu is that all creation is moving toward a cosmic union with God through Christ’s redemptive work (cf. Colossians 1:15-17). This telos addresses a fundamental challenge and tension in Christian spirituality. For many, holiness involves detachment from the world, viewing secular work of no lasting value. For a scientist-priest like de Chardin, this was untenable.

Rather, he argued that both our activities and our passivities may participate in our “divinisation,” our growth in holiness and union with God in Christ, along with all creation. Part One of the book contends that all our active endeavors co-operate to complete the world in Christ. He writes:

“God, in all that is most living and incarnate in him, is not far away from us, altogether apart from the world we see, touch, hear, smell and taste about us. Rather, he awaits us every instant in our action, in the work of the moment. There is a sense in which he is at the tip of my pen, my spade, my brush, my needle – of my heart and my thought.”

Yet, though we value the material world, we may experience detachment from it because it has no value to us in itself but only in God.

The second part of the book explores how we grow toward holy union with God through our passivities–the things we experience in our lives that are not done by us. Examples of these include both the passivities of growth and diminishment. Not only do we grow bodily but in our experiences. Likewise, we diminish through aging, illness, and finally death. As we offer all of these to God, including our death, we grow in our communion with God. De Chardin prays, “Teach me to treat my death as an act of communion..”

The final part of the book addresses the attributes of what de Chardin calls “the divine milieu” He addresses how it arises and how we progress individually and collectively within this. Finally, though, it is Christ who accomplishes all of this:

“In a real sense only one man will be saved: Christ, the head and living summary of humanity. Each one of the elect is called to see God face to face. But his act of vision will be vitally inseparable from the elevating and illuminating action of Christ. In heaven we ourselves shall contemplate God, but, as it were, through the eyes of Christ.”

There are questions about the orthodoxy of his ideas. To some, the idea of cosmic union with God sounded like pantheistic monism, a denial of distinction between God and creation. Yet there is never a sense that I could find of dissolving the Creator-created distinction in this union. One of the most common expressions used by Paul is “in Christ.” In Part Three, he differentiates his own ideas from pantheistic monism.

De Chardin has also been challenged on the evolutionary element in the world’s progress toward God, both by Christians and evolutionary scientists. These ideas are developed more in The Phenomenon of Man where he develops the idea of orthogenesis. This is the progress of the cosmos to union with God, also referred to as the Omega Point. Evolutionary scientists deny a purpose driving evolution. Christians may object both to the idea of evolution and a force working within the world apart from Christ toward the consummation of all things. However, these ideas are not explicit in this book.

Positively, de Chardin articulates a spirituality of all of life. He encompasses our active work in every field of human endeavor. And he recognizes the passive dimension of life. There is no divorce of sacred and secular. Likewise there is no divorce of individual and corporate. Finally, for de Chardin, science and faith are not at war.

Thanks for visiting Bob on Books.  I appreciate that you spent time here. Feel to “look around” – see the tabs at the top of the website, and the right hand column. And use the buttons below to share this post. Blessings! [Adapted from Enough Light, a blog I follow.]

Review: Until the Last One’s Found

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Cover image of "Until the Last One's Found" by Curt Parton

Until the Last One’s Found, Curt Parton. Wipf & Stock (ISBN: 9798385225439) 2024.

Summary: An evangelical pastor argues that God will ultimately reconcile and restore all to himself through Christ.

Curt Parton is an evangelical pastor who has come to believe that God will ultimately reconcile and restore all people to himself through Christ. For many years, he accepted the idea that a number of people would be consigned to a judgement of eternal conscious torment in hell. In Until the Last One’s Found, he outlines from scripture, church history, and theological argument, why he changed his mind.

He begins by outlining his approach, which is to go to scripture. He is modest, in affirming that scripture, but not necessarily his understanding, is inerrant. Parton then discusses the words in Hebrew and Greek translated as “hell.’ He argues that all both sheol and hades may be understood as the place of the dead Gehenna, most used by Jesus referred to the Valley of Hinnom where garbage was burned. The question is how much should the word be pressed to refer to a place of fiery judgement?

Parton turns from here to consider the view of hell through church history. Was a belief in eternal conscious torment the consistent view of the church through history. He argues that Clement, Origen, Dionysius Pamphilus, Eusebius, Athanasius, Gregory, and Jerome all affirmed universal reconciliation and restoration. Augustine did in his early, but not later writings. He also notes later Protestants who held this view as well including Hannah Whitall Smith and George MacDonald.. A belief in a judgement of eternal conscious torment was not the consensus in the early church. It was not part of any of the early creeds, except for the Athanasian Creed.

He then discusses references to the “eternal fires” of hell and the translation of aion. He argues for this as referring to an age rather than an endless suffering. This is one place where I differ with the author because scripture (Matthew 25:46) parallels eternal life and eternal punishment. I felt here the author tried to argue that these needn’t mean the same thing. Yet the text offers no basis for that. However the author offers an extended argument otherwise that I will not try to summarize here.

His next chapter considers other passages teaching eternal conscious torment. I would agree that we may not infer eternal torment or a description of hell from Luke 16:19-31. But to dismiss the fact that the rich man is portrayed as suffering conscious torment from which there was no release, I think is unwarranted. On Hebrews 9:27, the verse speaks of death, then judgement. True, it doesn’t speak of what comes after apart from judgement. But neither does it give any warrant to believe in a later restoration.

The author then turns to theological argument. Here, the argument against eternal conscious torment is that it makes Gods salvation less than the penalty of sin, and far from glorifying God, diminishes his glory. Nor does he believe hell is necessary to motivate evangelism. In fact, he argues it undercuts the gospel.

Having discussed eternal conscious torment, Parton goes on to make the case for universal restoration spending a chapter each on Old and New Testament evidence, particularly citing the “all things” passages. He follows this by a theological case. He discusses the problematic syllogism of those believing in eternal judgement:

  1. God loves everyone and intends for each person to be saved.
  2. God will accomplish everything he intends.
  3. Some people will be eternally lost.

This is not a problem for the evangelical universalist who believes all will finally be saved. He then, in the following chapters, addresses objections to this view, the most notable, that of free will. He observes the reluctance of C.S. Lewis and the resistance of Saul as examples of God overcoming free will.

After closing thoughts and sharing further resources, he briefly discusses annihilationism, that the dead will cease to exist. He also offers a fascinating discussion of Calvinism, Arminianism, and Universalism, suggesting Universalism provides a point of connection between the two views.

I think this is the best argument for evangelical universalism I have read and it is presented pastorally. It convinced me of one thing. Belief in eternal condemnation should not be treated as a test of orthodoxy. That said, I was not convinced by the argument. Briefly, the discussion of aion was not persuasive to me, nor was evidence offered to provide a basis for post-mortem reconciliation and restoration. Finally, Christianity has never been logically consistent and this felt a bit too pat to me.

That said, I will be the last to say what God can or cannot do. I would be delighted to see Parton revealed to have been right. I do wonder about the opportunity of post-mortem salvation for some, including those who never heard, and perhaps others who were unrepentant in life, who may not have understood the grace of God in Christ. It’s harder for me to believe all hardness of heart will be overcome. I think there may be some for whom heaven would be a greater agony than hell. But for myself, I cannot go beyond what we know in scripture, and I find no assurance from the silence of scripture on our post-mortem existence to embrace the universalist view.

Finally, I will mention the author reached out to me to review his book and was glad to send it, even after I shared that I would likely disagree. I was grateful for the chance to read it, the author’s sincere passion for God’s glory, and that he gave me thought-provoking arguments!

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: Light Unapproachable

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Cover image of "Light Unapproachable" by Ronni Kurtz

Light Unapproachable, Ronni Kurtz. IVP Academic (ISBN: 9781514007105) 2024.

Summary: An explanation of the doctrine of divine incomprehensibility as well as God’s gracious accommodation.

“God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.” (1 Timothy 6:15b-16, NIV)

There is a paradox in the verses above. On one hand God lives in unapproachable light. Of ourselves we cannot approach the light, let alone the God who lives in it. From this, and verses like this, theologians speak of divine incomprehensibility. Yet these verses describe God as blessed, as ruler, king, and absolute Lord, immortal, and they tell us of God’s living in unapproachable light. That is, these verses do speak of God truthfully, faithfully, and worshipfully. While God in God’s self is incomprehensible, Paul affirms there are things about God that God has revealed, that we may apprehend.

In Light Inapproachable, Ronni Kurtz unpacks how we can affirm both aspects of this paradox. While affirming the doctrine of divine incomprehensibility, Kurtz does not believe this leaves us in a place of not being able to say anything of God. Rather, he believes God accommodates our creaturely nature, as he did Moses, in the cleft of the rock (Exodus 33:19-23).

First, Kurtz lays the groundwork for a definition of divine incomprehensibility. He observes there is a biblical tension between the imperatives to “know the Lord” and the indicatives speaking of the unknowability and unsearchability of the Lord. He addresses a number of misperceptions about incomprehensibility. Finally, he identifies two ditches to avoid: theological despair and theological idolatry. With that, he offers the following definition of divine incomprehensibility:

“Divine incomprehensibility affirms that God the Creator is wholly other than his creatures and the distinction between the two renders God out of the rational jurisdiction of the creature’s theological and intellectual comprehension. In no way can the creaturely imagination comprehend the divine nature as it truly is. As the finite will never circumscribe the infinite, the creaturely mind will never surround all that is in God. Since God as God is out of reach for the mind of the creature, so too is God as god out of reach for the words and names of the creature. Divine incomprehensibility necessitates divine ineffability as the creaturely limits, combined with the otherness of God, means that we cannot either fully know or name God as he really is in se” (pp. 20-21).

Kurtz begins this project by developing the biblical doctrine of incomprehensibility. As a result, he identifies scripture that declares the doctrine, others that demonstrate the doctrine and those that demand it. He then turns to a historical theological treatment. He begins with Chrysostom and his response to the Anomoeans, who maintained that humans could comprehend God. And he recounts Chrysostom’s five homilies that refute this idea. Then he shows how the Cappadocian fathers further developed the doctrine. Next, he discusses Pseudo-Dionysius and The Cloud of Unknowing. While recognizing the importance of negation and mystery, Kurtz argues against the pessimism of a completely negative theology. By contrast, he discusses how Aquinas spoke both of incomprehensibility and knowability. He concludes his discussion with the Reformation, and the more contemporary work of Herman Bavinck.

Part Two of the book moves from retrieval to constructive theology. Kurtz begins with a discussion of the dogmatic location of incomprehensibility. Specifically, he develops what was implicit in his definition, that the doctrine properly is located in the Creator/creature distinction. In contending this, he argues against locating the doctrine in either human sinfulness or in the “size” of God. Regarding sin, he observes that the sinless angels cannot fully comprehend God. And it is not that God is larger but rather that God is wholly other that makes God incomprehensible.

But how then may we speak of God at all? Our creaturely inability does not rule out God’s ability to graciously accommodate our creatureliness and reveal something of Himself. Specifically, through anthropomorphisms (describing God in terms of human parts), anthropopathisms (describing God through human passions and volition) and anthropochronisms (describing God in terms of human time and chronology), God accommodates himself to our creatureliness. He does so analogically, in which the term, while not signifying what God in himself is like, conveys through the creaturely shadow, reflects what is true and meaningful of God. This truth is ectypal, that is, a revelation in creation patterned after the archetypal knowledge of God, which is unknowable.

Finally, Kurtz concludes by discussing the implication of both God’s incomprehensibility and gracious accommodation. This bids us to humility but not hopelessness and calls us into a theology of prayer and pilgrimage. He proposes the vivid images of the limp of Jacob and the awe of Moses.

Kurtz writes clearly about the incomprehensible and with clarity about this doctrine. The combination of biblical, historical, and constructive theology in a relatively slim text makes this both accessible and substantial. And his pastoral approach of humility and hope that runs through the book translates this from abstract theologizing to truths we might embrace in both worship and life.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: Bonhoeffer for the Church

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Cover image for "Bonhoeffer for the Church" by Matthew D. Kirkpatrick.

Bonhoeffer for the Church, Matthew D. Kirkpatrick. Fortress Press (ISBN: 9781506497822) 2024.

Summary: A study of what Bonhoeffer wrote about the church’s identity, purpose, practices, and life together.

When the name Dietrich Bonhoeffer comes up, one might ask, “which Dietrich Bonhoeffer?” At present, their are different “camps” trying to claim Bonhoeffer for their own. While his widest readership has always been among those who identify with one or another church, his works do not offer a systematic theology of the church. What Matthew D. Kirkpatrick does, with the aid of the now-completed set of Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works, published by Fortress Press, is organize this material into an extended statement of Bonhoeffer’s message for the church. While reflecting extensive scholarship, Kirkpatrick writes for the church, making this a text for pastors, leaders, and lay people to explore together.

After a brief biographical sketch emphasizing Bonhoeffer’s pastoral work, Kirkpatrick begins by discussing foundations of the church’s identity. He begins with creation and fall, emphasizing the tragedy of wanting to be like God when we already were. Instead, the first couple turned in on themselves, and we re-enact this in our lives in a shared predicament. But God breaks in through Christ’s work on the cross, God’s living Word. God breaks in, often mediated through others, enabling us to have faith in Christ. Such faith calls us into community with love as faith’s expression. Christ makes our community possible through that love and we meet each other through Christ. Thus our own “visions” of and attempts to build community die. Instead we receive community as a gift through Christ.

Crucial to our community is Bonhoeffer’s idea of vicarious representation. Christ served and redeemed as a vicarious representative, and while the church cannot do what Christ did in redemption, it vicariously represents Christ in service to one another and the world. For Bonhoeffer, this is the basis of pastoral care. This further works itself out in intercessory prayer and the confession of and forgiveness of sin. Intercession is not just praying for others, but praying as the other in and through Christ and is a profound expression of community. In confession of sin, we take on the sins of others, recognizing our own sin, and pronouncing Christ’s forgiveness of the other. A concluding chapter in this section discusses ecumenism, the true and empirical church, and why we go to church as a counter to our individualism. Christ meets us in others.

Part Two turns from our identity to our inner life. Firstly, Bonhoeffer addresses authority, leadership and the priesthood of all believers. The focus is on the priority of the God’s word over human words and structures as the source of authority. This is followed by a chapter on preaching, theology, and the word of God. Preaching is central to the inner life of the church. For Bonhoeffer, this means submission to the word of God, by both those who preach and the congregation. The church comes together to be addressed not by a person but by the living God. Kirkpatrick follows this with a chapter on the reading of scripture, music, and sacraments.

For Bonhoeffer, evangelism is not winning people to Christ but rather a means by which God, mediated through Christ, calls people to faith. Evangelism meant listening before speaking, both to God and the person, seeking to discern God’s word in that situation. For this reason, he opposed programmatic approaches. for him, faith in Christ and his word was sufficient. Likewise, in his teaching on time alone, the focus is on listening to God, both in prayer and in scripture. Each nurtures the other.

Part Three engages the church in the world. Kirkpatrick emphasizes that Bonhoeffer did not focus on rules or laws. Rather, the focus was on God to discern what one must do to follow Christ. This may explain as well as anything Bonhoeffer’s decision to plot to kill Hitler. Bonhoeffer on the state followed Luther’s two kingdoms. However, in the context of Nazism, he also believed the church must address the state with the Word of God. Thus he refused to incorporate the Aryan paragraph as a violation of the Word of God. The final chapter covers his letters and papers from prison. This includes Bonhoeffer’s idea of a “religionless Christianity.”

Few agree with Bonhoeffer at all points. But the delight of this book is in how it underscores the centrality of Christ. Salvation comes through him. Community is possible only in him. Our preaching is for hearing Christ’s word together. Our witness is predicated on Christ’s work of calling others to himself. Ethics is obedience to Christ. Amid the contentions around Bonhoeffer, Kirkpatrick has given us a book at once profound and useful for our life together.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.