A round of applause for book club

theology should move you to worship

It’s very easy to name and talk about what annoys you. It’s a little harder—but far more helpful—to discuss what you love and appreciate. Well-written books are near the top of the list of things that I love and appreciate. Along with flowers blooming in my yard, creeks running through forests, fresh-baked bread being fulled from the oven, and children piled around a room reading.

Last week, paid subscribers and I finished reading and discussing Practicing Christian Doctrine by Dr. Beth Felker Jones, and the book cemented its place as my go-to theological introduction. It’s easy to get confused about what theology is: a source of arguments for nerdy people, something boring occasionally discussed in sermons, a topic that provokes anger online. But none of that is what theology is supposed to be. Even in a good light, theology isn’t supposed to be an intellectual exercise. Theology is an integration of what we believe about God, how we experience God, and how that knowledge + experience of God changes us/our lives.¹

In Practicing Christian Doctrine, Dr. Beth Felker Jones writes, “Christian theology is a conversation about scripture: about how to read and interpret it better, about how to understand the Bible as a whole and imagine a way of life that is faithful to the God whose Word it is. This conversation about Scripture produces distinct Christian teachings, called doctrine. But the work of theology does not stop there…our beliefs must be put into practice, and faithful practice matters for what we believe.”² Theology is more than a list of beliefs that we affirm. Theology is embedded in everything we do, whether we think about it or not.

What I loved about the book

Dr. Jones wrote an evangelical, ecumenical book, and I love that approach. She starts with what all believers share in common. In a few places, she also explains where disagreements happen among these core beliefs. The reader gets an explanation of orthodox Christian teaching, and a rich emphasis on spiritual disciplines and embodiment to complement the theological study.

I loved how many reflection questions she included in the book, the explanations of various parts of church history, the emphasis on engaging the work of women and BIPOC scholars. The book is dense, but easier to read than a lot of theology books.

This is a book that I will return to again and again. I’ll recommend it to anyone looking for an intro to theology book. I’ll quote from it. I’ll reference it for other things that I work on. Like all good theological work, I felt moved to worship as I read. I was more in awe of God, and God seemed more beautiful and more clear as I read. That’s not easy to do when you writing about complex topics, especially when writing for beginners.

Next steps now that the book study is over

1. If you got behind, keep reading and refer the posts when you get to that chapter! This is not a race. The material is there for you when you are ready.

2. If you completed the book study and want to dig in even deeper, you could pick one topic to study. Read about it from different angles. Use my suggested resources. Learn the arguments. Cite the research. Know the deep magic.³ We never graduate from theology. We should constantly be experiencing more of God, learning more, reforming what we know, and allowing God to reshape our lives in response to who He is.

3. If you wanted to lead a group through a study of the book, you could use the posts to format your time together. While there are multiple good ways to format the discussion outside of what I chose each week, using the posts would allow you to introduce someone else to theology without having to set it all up yourself.

What participants had to say

This book club served a reminder to be that God is accessible but also unfathomable - and because He is both, I’m going to seminary 🥳 want to deepen my understanding of all these things - to know God more deeply!!!!

This book club has taught me more than I ever realized I was missing behind the scenes of theology. Humbling me again that there is always more to learn, but also being able to submit to the Lord what is for me to understand in this season vs what is left for Him to reveal more to me later. I loved being able to do this with a group vs on my own (I definitely wouldn’t have finished this on my own) to broaden my understanding and to see how others took in and elaborated on topics presented that were different than what I picked up on in reading.

I know I haven't engaged at all in the book club post comments, but I am thoroughly enjoying this book and your posts, Lisa. Thank you for facilitating this!

What’s next for paid subscribers?

Nothing for May. I have four school-aged children and this month is affectionately know as Maycember. There are violin concerts and field days and teacher appreciation. Also spirit weeks and end-of-year field trips and parties for the finale of spring sports. I need a tiny breather.

I do have an idea for paid subscribers over the summer. I’m going to finish sketching it out before I share it with you. If you have ideas or something you would like to do, put them in the comments. I don’t expect anyone (besides me and my friend Ben) to read a theology book over the summer, but I would love to create a space for us to pay attention to our lives and put down deeper roots. For myself, I’ll be participating in Lore Wilbert’s not-book-club if you want to check it out.

One more note, Dr. Nijay Gupta’s new Seminary Now course is launching next Wednesday and it is on…drumroll please…Women Leaders in the Early Church! It is based on his recent book Tell Her Story and you can find out more by watching the trailer. Maybe this course is what’s next for you!

1. That’s a long definition; maybe that’s why we don’t use it.

2. Page 2

3. Sorry, but it’s C.S. Lewis’ fault.