{"id":401,"date":"2008-04-03T14:13:00","date_gmt":"2008-04-03T14:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/markdroberts\/2008\/04\/what-is-the-most-central-doctrine-of-christianity.html"},"modified":"2008-04-03T14:13:00","modified_gmt":"2008-04-03T14:13:00","slug":"what-is-the-most-central-doctrine-of-christianity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2008\/04\/what-is-the-most-central-doctrine-of-christianity.html","title":{"rendered":"What is the Most Central Doctrine of Christianity?"},"content":{"rendered":"

This week I’ve been speaking at the West Coast Presbyterian Pastors Conference at Mt. Hermon, California, in the verdant mountains above Santa Cruz. That’s rather ironic, given the fact that I am no longer a parish pastor and no longer living on the West Coast. My involvement at this conference also helps to explain why my blogging has been a bit irregular this week.)
\nMy theme for the week is “Refreshment for Muck-Sucking Pastors.” Yes, I realize this title needs some explanation. Perhaps I’ll provide that later on. For now, however, I want to comment on something said by the other main speaker at the conference.
\n\"jamesI’ve been teamed up with Dr. James Edwards<\/a>, the Bruner-Welch Professor of Theology at Whitworth University<\/a> in Washington. Jim Edwards has a wide range of expertise, especially New Testament studies. At the conference he’s been doing a series of word studies on Greek words such as episkiazo<\/em> (to overshadow), schisma<\/em> (tear, schism), and proserchomai<\/em> (to approach). Jim is a fine scholar and an engaging speaker. It’s been a privilege to join him as a speaker and to sit at his feet.
\nJim began his teaching with one of those broad questions that tease the mind: What is the most central doctrine of Christianity?<\/em> Which doctrine makes Christianity truly Christian? <\/em>Immediately my mind began cycling through basic Christian beliefs: the existence of God, the Trinity, the love of God, the goodness of God, the grace of God, salvation through the cross, etc. Before Jim answered his question, I had settled on the one doctrine that, it seemed to me, is the hub of the wheel of Christian theology.
\nWhen Jim answered his question, I felt like an elementary school kid who got the right answer on the daily puzzler. His take on the most central doctrine was mine as well. That doesn\u2019t mean we’re right, of course, but it does raise the likelihood that our answer has merit.
\nWhat do Jim Edwards and I think is the most essential or central of all Christian doctrines? The incarnation of the Word of God<\/em>. The extraordinary fact that the God of the Universe, the God who is spirit, became flesh in Jesus of Nazareth. As the Gospel of John celebrates, “And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father\u2019s only son, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).
\nWhy is this doctrine so central to Christianity? Well, for one thing, as Jim noted, it is that which sets Christianity apart from other religions. To my knowledge, none of the major religions of the world believes that God became a human being. Many of them, like Islam, for example, find the notion of the incarnation to be blasphemy. Moreover, within Christian theology, the incarnation accounts for the saving efficacy of the cross and resurrection. Salvation comes through Jesus Christ because he is both God and human. The incarnation doesn’t save us, but it makes salvation possible.
\nThe incarnation also is the center of the Christian view of divine revelation. Though we believe God has revealed himself in creation, in Scripture, in community, and in our hearts, the paramount self-revelation of God is Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh. Christians believe that Jesus reveals, more fully and perfectly than anything else in all the universe, the character of God: his righteousness and justice, his grace and mercy, his kindness and love.
\nWhat do you think about this? Agree? Why? Disagree? Why?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This week I’ve been speaking at the West Coast Presbyterian Pastors Conference at Mt. Hermon, California, in the verdant mountains above Santa Cruz. That’s rather ironic, given the fact that I am no longer a parish pastor and no longer living on the West Coast. My involvement at this conference also helps to explain why…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":214,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-holy-week-easter"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat is the Most Central Doctrine of Christianity? - Mark D. Roberts<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2008\/04\/what-is-the-most-central-doctrine-of-christianity.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What is the Most Central Doctrine of Christianity? - Mark D. Roberts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This week I’ve been speaking at the West Coast Presbyterian Pastors Conference at Mt. Hermon, California, in the verdant mountains above Santa Cruz. That’s rather ironic, given the fact that I am no longer a parish pastor and no longer living on the West Coast. My involvement at this conference also helps to explain why…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2008\/04\/what-is-the-most-central-doctrine-of-christianity.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mark D. Roberts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-04-03T14:13:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.markdroberts.com\/images\/edwards-jim-4.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark D. Roberts\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What is the Most Central Doctrine of Christianity? - Mark D. Roberts","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2008\/04\/what-is-the-most-central-doctrine-of-christianity.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What is the Most Central Doctrine of Christianity? - Mark D. Roberts","og_description":"This week I’ve been speaking at the West Coast Presbyterian Pastors Conference at Mt. Hermon, California, in the verdant mountains above Santa Cruz. That’s rather ironic, given the fact that I am no longer a parish pastor and no longer living on the West Coast. My involvement at this conference also helps to explain why…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2008\/04\/what-is-the-most-central-doctrine-of-christianity.html","og_site_name":"Mark D. Roberts","article_published_time":"2008-04-03T14:13:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.markdroberts.com\/images\/edwards-jim-4.jpg"}],"author":"Mark D. Roberts","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2008\/04\/what-is-the-most-central-doctrine-of-christianity.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2008\/04\/what-is-the-most-central-doctrine-of-christianity.html","name":"What is the Most Central Doctrine of Christianity? - Mark D. Roberts","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2008\/04\/what-is-the-most-central-doctrine-of-christianity.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2008\/04\/what-is-the-most-central-doctrine-of-christianity.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.markdroberts.com\/images\/edwards-jim-4.jpg","datePublished":"2008-04-03T14:13:00+00:00","dateModified":"2008-04-03T14:13:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/1ff094a57b7e41f534434b1723df3d73"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2008\/04\/what-is-the-most-central-doctrine-of-christianity.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2008\/04\/what-is-the-most-central-doctrine-of-christianity.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2008\/04\/what-is-the-most-central-doctrine-of-christianity.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.markdroberts.com\/images\/edwards-jim-4.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.markdroberts.com\/images\/edwards-jim-4.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2008\/04\/what-is-the-most-central-doctrine-of-christianity.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What is the Most Central Doctrine of Christianity?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/","name":"Mark D. Roberts","description":"Mark D. Roberts: Thoughtfully Christian Reflections on Jesus, the Church, and the World","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/1ff094a57b7e41f534434b1723df3d73","name":"Mark D. Roberts","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/f2d\/f2ddf5f080861f66ea230384f9d1bab2x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/f2d\/f2ddf5f080861f66ea230384f9d1bab2x96.jpg","caption":"Mark D. Roberts"},"description":"The Rev. Dr. Mark D. Roberts is a pastor, author, retreat leader, speaker, and blogger. Since October 2007 he has been the Senior Director and Scholar-in-Residence for Laity Lodge, a multifaceted ministry in the Hill Country of Texas. Before coming to Laity Lodge, he was for sixteen years the Senior Pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church in Irvine, California (a city in Orange County about forty miles south of Los Angeles). Before his time at Irvine Pres, Mark served on the staff of the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood as Associate Pastor of Education. (Thanks to Janel Pahl for taking the photo to the right.) Mark studied at Harvard University, receiving a B.A. in Philosophy, an M.A. in the Study of Religion, and a Ph.D. in New Testament and Christian Origins. He has taught classes in New Testament for Fuller Theological Seminary and San Francisco Theological Seminary. Mark has written several books, including No Holds Barred: Wrestling with God in Prayer (WaterBrook, 2005), Dare to Be True (WaterBrook, 2003), Jesus Revealed (WaterBrook, 2002), After \"I Believe\" (Baker, 2002), and Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther (Word, 1993). His most recent book is Can We Trust the Gospels? Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (Crossway, 2007). He is currently working on a commentary on Ephesians that will be published by Zondervan in 2014. Mark writes a devotional for The High Calling of Our Daily Work, a website associated with Laity Lodge. His \"Daily Reflections\" can be viewed online or sent as a daily email. If you wish to receive this email, just visit TheHighCalling.org and sign up. Mark serves on the editorial board of Worship Leader magazine, where he publishes articles and reviews, including his regular column \"Lyrical Poetry.\" Additionally, he has published dozens of articles in leading magazines and journals. He often speaks for churches and other Christian groups, and has been interviewed on over seventy-five radio programs nationwide. Mark is married to Linda, who is a Marriage and Family Therapist, a Spiritual Director, and a retreat speaker. They have two children, Nathan and Kara.For Publicity Photos and Bio Statements for Mark, please check here. Mark's Dossier Professional History: Senior Director and Scholar-in Residence, Laity Lodge, October 2007 to present. Senior Pastor Irvine Presbyterian Church, June 1991 to September 2007 Adjunct Assistant Professor Fuller Theological Seminary, 1994 to 2007. Courses: New Testament Theology and Exegesis. Adjunct Instructor San Francisco Theological Seminary, 1995 to 2001. Courses: New Testament Greek and Exegesis Associate Pastor of Education First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, 1987-1991 Teaching Fellow Harvard University, 1980-1983 Education: Ph.D. in the Study of Religion. Harvard University, 1992. Area: New Testament and Christian Origins M.A. in the Study of Religion Harvard University, 1984. A.B. magna cum laude in Philosophy Harvard University, 1979. Phi Beta Kappa; Danforth Fellowship Books: Can We Trust the Gospels? Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Crossway, 2007 No Holds Barred: Wrestling with God in Prayer. WaterBrook, 2005 Dare to Be True: Living in the Freedom of Complete Honesty. WaterBrook, 2003. Jesus Revealed: Know Him Better to Love Him Better. WaterBrook, 2002. After \"I Believe\": Experiencing Authentic Christian Living. Baker, 2002. Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther in the Communicator's Commentary Series. Word, 1993. Contacting Mark: You can reach Mark at: E-mail: mark@markdroberts.com mroberts@laitylodge.org Phone: Laity Lodge: (830) 792-1216 Address: Laity Lodge 719 Earl Garrett Kerrville, TX 78028","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/author\/mroberts"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/214"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=401"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}