The Recovery of Doctrine in the Contemporary Church
By Heyduck, Richard '83

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The Recovery of Doctrine in the Contemporary Church:
An Essay in Philosophical Ecclesiology

From the Publisher
Doctrine has not fared well in the church of the past century. Pressured by the forces of modernity, doctrine has been misconceived and marginalized in the church. In this book, Richard Heyduck examines the false options on doctrine that modernity has offered the church, especially his own tradition, United Methodism, and suggests ways to get beyond this impasse. Utilizing some resources of postmodern philosophy, Heyduck argues that doctrine is neither a catalog of truths to which assent must be given nor an accidental verbalization of universal religious experience. Instead, Christian doctrine is that which enables the church to live faithfully in the drama of God's ongoing action in history. Throughout the book, Heyduck argues forcefully that doctrine is not optional for any Christian church. Rather, doctrine is essential not only to Christians' ordinary life together, but especially to the work of ministry and evangelism.

What People Are Saying
William J. Abraham, Albert Cook Outler Professor of WesleyStudies, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University
At long last we are now getting the kind of serious discussion about doctrine within mainline Christianity that is long overdue. Heyduck has taken that discussion to a whole new level of sophistication, especially as it relates to United Methodism. He brings to his work an irenic spirit, an acute angle of vision, a clear head, and a mind that is steeped in the relevant literature. This book is not for the faint hearted; it gets below the surface; and it advances a central thesis carefully and comprehensively. It deserves to be widely read and pondered. —William J. Abraham

Nancey Murphy, Professor of Christian Philosophy, Fuller Theological Seminary
If you think a book about doctrine is likely to be boring you have probably been affected by the intellectual forces Heyduck here characterizes so well, particularly by ‘de-historicization – the losing of one’s ties to history. Using resources from philosopher Charles Taylor and theologian James McClendon, Heyduck places us in position to re-envision the nature and function of church teaching. His image of doctrine as script for the ongoing drama of Christian life goes beyond George Lindbeck’s cultural-linguistic model as Lindbeck went beyond his liberal predecessors, and offers an exciting invitation to Christians of all denominations to assume their respective roles in the play.”  —Nancey Murphy