First Line Friday #20: The Substance of Our Faith by Douglas Sweeney

Thanks to Carrie at
Reading is My Superpower
for the Link-up

 

Title:  The Substance of Our Faith
Author:  Douglas Sweeney
Genre:  Historical Theology

  〰First Line〰

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There would be no history of doctrine if Jesus had not promised the Spirit to disciples in the upper room before his crucifixion.  Or, at least, the history of doctrine would have proven far poorer.

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Synopsis:  (From Goodreads) 

Doctrine is central to Christian discipleship and maturity. Unfortunately, it is often sidelined in churches' teaching ministry as irrelevant or impractical. Countering this, leading church historian Douglas Sweeney defines doctrine as church teaching intended for the shaping of daily faith and practice.

The Substance of Our Faith addresses introductory issues in the study and application of historical doctrine, incorporating a unique global and catholic perspective. It addresses the Spirit's role in the rise of doctrine in the early church, the authority of Scripture and tradition in the development of doctrine, the challenges of doing global historical theology, the nature and purpose of doctrine, and implications for teaching the faith today. Specifically, Sweeney advocates that those who teach the Christian faith in all churches do so in communion with the saints who have come before.

〰First Thoughts〰

This book is part of my hunt for a good set of textbooks for the courses I teach.

 

In teaching Christian Doctrine and Theology, the concepts I long for my students to assimilate are what is the faith, why is the faith and how is the faith.  What, meaning what is the scriptural and historical basis of the faith.  Why, meaning why do the particular doctrines matter.  How refers to the means by which believers apply the what and the why to real life,  What I don't want is for the subjects to become esoteric and impractical.  

 

My hopes for Sweeney's book is that first, he doesn't just present dry historical facts but shows how doctrine developed in both theory and practice. And second, that the author's mention of the Holy Spirit (as evidenced by the first line of chapter one) does justice to how intricate the Spirit's role is to doctrine.  It has been my observation that many "scholarly" works out of fear of being seen as Pentecostal (?!) minimize, or completely omit the depth of the Spirit's role in the formation and development of the Church and its doctrines.

So, what's the first line of the book you're currently reading?

One Word--Finish: The Weekly Hodgepodge

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Several months ago, Miss Joyce asked, "Do you have a word for the year (WOTY)? If so, and you'd like to share, please share. How do you decide on a word? If you don't have a word are you still on the hunt for one for 2024?"

While I don't necessarily have a specific focus word for the year, I have them for different seasons in my life.  Each time I've had such words, they have overlapped each other or been continuations of each other.  My first word was metamorphosis.  The next was community.  A few years ago it was upgrade.  For this season of life, the word is finish.

At the close of 2023, I saw too many things begun but left undone in my life:  

• Books and magazines unread.
• The Bible Correspondence Course I started a ridiculously long time ago. 
• A certificate program offered at work.
• Books I've started writing.
• My podcast.  I have ideas for plenty of episodes, but just haven't made time to record, edit, and post them.
• Craft projects.
• Videos that have been in my "watch later" playlist on YouTube so long that I don't know if I even want to watch them anymore.
• Ditto for unplayed podcasts.
• Purging old computer files and saving what I want to keep on a drive. 
• Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. 
  

You get the idea.

Since I know that I can do anything, but can't do everything...at least not all at once,  I have to make some decisions:

• What was  a "God" idea, not just a good idea?
• How do I effectively schedule the completion of these ideas?
  
• Do I need to purge items and lists, or do I need to press on?  Would purging be cheating or pressing on be an exercise in futility?
  
• Find my "why?" for the tasks.
• Is it OK to ask for help, or is this my own little red wagon?
  

What do y'all do when faced with stuff like this?

Insert your own random thought here.

In case you missed it:  

* My previous Hodgepodge post:  "Happy Little Concussions" is here.
* My latest Monday Mess Making post on my Auntie's Workshop blog "Square Parties" is here.
* My latest Five Minute Friday post: "Respite" is here.
* My latest First Line Friday post: "#19: On Reading Well by Karen Swallow Prior" is here.
* My latest book review of Good to Great is here.
* My "24 in 2024" post is here.
* My 2024 reading challenge:  "Full Shelf Challenge V.2" is here.

First Line Friday #19: On Reading Well by Karen Swallow Prior

Thanks to Carrie at
Reading is My Superpower
for the Link-up

 

Title:  On Reading Well
Author: Dr. Karen Swallow Prior
Genre: Christianity and Literature

  〰First Line〰

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Rules rule.

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Synopsis:  (From Goodreads) 

Reading great literature well has the power to cultivate virtue. Great literature increases knowledge of and desire for the good life by showing readers what virtue looks like and where vice leads. It is not just what one reads but how one reads that cultivates virtue. Reading good literature well requires one to practice numerous virtues, such as patience, diligence, and prudence. And learning to judge wisely a character in a book, in turn, forms the reader's own character.

Acclaimed author Karen Swallow Prior takes readers on a guided tour through works of great literature both ancient and modern, exploring twelve virtues that philosophers and theologians throughout history have identified as most essential for good character and the good life. In reintroducing ancient virtues that are as relevant and essential today as ever, Prior draws on the best classical and Christian thinkers, including Aristotle, Aquinas, and Augustine. Covering authors from Henry Fielding to Cormac McCarthy, Jane Austen to George Saunders, and Flannery O'Connor to F. Scott Fitzgerald, Prior explores some of the most compelling universal themes found in the pages of classic books, helping readers learn to love life, literature, and God through their encounter with great writing.

In examining works by these authors and more, Prior shows why virtues such as prudence, temperance, humility, and patience are still necessary for human flourishing and civil society. The book includes end-of-chapter reflection questions geared toward book club discussions, features original artwork throughout, and includes a foreword from Leland Ryken.

   〰First Thoughts〰

"Reading is a lost art that I wish people would find."  Though I'm not sure that I originated the phrase, it was my motto even before I worked in higher education (and before Pinterest and memes were a thing).  In school, some of the books we were required to read were pure torture, while others were so enjoyable that I've read them--or others like them--over again.  The way my instructors (the good ones anyway) took us through these volumes weren't an exercise in futility.  Even for stories that were loathsome, we were taught to look for the deeper themes and possible pragmatic lessons within the text.  The author of On Reading Well seems to be taking the reader on a similar journey.  I'm looking forward to reading it.

So, what's the first line of the book you're currently reading?

2024 Full Shelf Challenge V.2: 03

Title:  Good to Great

Author:  Jim Collins

Info: Text copyright 2001.  Audio copyright 2012:  Harper Collins

Rating (on a scale of 1-4 stars):  ✮

Where Acquired: Library check out.

Category (ies) - Recommended reads:  Years ago, Dave Ramsey mentioned this book as part of his recommended reading list.  Recently, I attended a lecture on leadership and the speaker mentioned this book. I previously owned a thrifted hardcover edition of the book, but it was culled to the donate pile when I was preparing to move to Colorado.  I found the audio version of the book at the library.    Bingo card:  "About Productivity"

Synopsis:Among the list of Fortune 500 companies are many "good" companies, but few that qualify as "great."  Jim Collins and his team of researchers attempt to answer the question of what actions and attitudes take a good company to a great one.  Can these actions and attitudes be replicated?  Is being "good" good enough and is being "great" even a reasonable goal?

The Positive:

• The information was very well researched and the author gave ample credit to the research team who assisted in the writing of the book.  He even went so far as to list them by name. 
  

The Negative: 

• The narration was performed by the author.  As I've stated before (and will probably state again...several times), some authors simply should not read their own books for audio distribution.  This was the case with this book.  Collins reads the book as if he's angry that the reader doesn't already know the concepts presented.  In other words, he's not reading to the listener, he's reading at the listener.
  
• Like many books of this nature, the author makes sweeping promises that he can't keep of how his methods will work for anyone in a leadership position.  He goes so far as to mention educators and others in the social sector. (nonprofit organizations, churches, etc.) and potential "level five" leaders. Unfortunately, in these situations the methods simply are not universal.  When good employees and volunteers are in such low supply (much less great ones), the social sector has to work with who they have rather than who is ideal.  Collins tries to sidestep this shortsighted assumption in his question and answer section at the end of the book.  On this particular question, he refers the reader to his website.  The only article I could find was this one:  www.jimcolins.com/books/g2g-ss.html.  It this piece Collins asserts that business thinking is not the answer, but criticizes the social sector for not thinking like a  business.  Do what now?
  
• Too much cliche' speak.  If he said "people are not what is most important; the right people are what is most important," or "getting the right people on the bus and the wrong people off the bus" once, he said it ten times (maybe more).  While I understand that in hiring situations it is important to hire the right people for the right job, this "bus" concept does not apply to the social sector.  Each time I heard this phrase, I pictured a group of children waiting for the school bus.  The driver pulls up and happily welcomes the "right" or "cool" kids on the bus while denying access to the "wrong" or "uncool" child.  Yuck!  Also, the author seems to forget that in his research, some of the great companies hired people without knowing in what position they would be placed.  Seems like they found the people and figured out the "bus" later.  🤔
  
• I find it hard to reconcile Collins' repeated statement that results aren't the main factor in what makes a good company great with the research presented that was based on the very results he claims aren't important.
  

Conclusion/Takeaway:

This was nine hours of my life I won't get back and only frustrates my search for leadership materials for "regular" people even more.  Look, I freely admit that I'm not a CEO or business leader.  It's taken me many years to accept the notion that I am any kind of leader.  With that being said, it is possible that Collins' concepts were too far over my head to be remotely applicable, or I could have simply misunderstood.  Perhaps I shouldn't have attempted this read.  Perhaps I should have ceased reading when the material became too convoluted and not finished the tome out of pure spite.  Maybe I'm the wrong person who tried to get on the wrong bus.