Theology is Not a Trivial Pursuit

How on earth could a “professor of public theology” think this a trivial point? Alas, it’s a very common view among nominal Christians and those who consider themselves “progressive” that faith and doctrine are two entirely separate things. Many define faith in a way very similar to the old liberal Protestants—a feeling of utter dependence or wonder at the mystery of the universe, often allied to a certain kind of morality that is based in the Christian vision but has shed the inconvenient bits. For them, theological doctrine itself is a kind of official record of how Christians as a whole have thought about their experiences with God. Many think of it as a purely historical record, but not one that is binding or a record of truth.