Doctrine and Change in Western Conservative Dogmatics: The Examples of Michael Seewald and Kevin J. Vanhoozer

Abstract

The Roman Catholic Church and the various Protestant Churches still represent the largest and most visible expressions of institutionalized religion in Western Europe and North America. Yet, both Christian strands find themselves in sorts of peril, for especially in Europe, membership and participation are declining, influence on various dimensions and contexts of society is shrinking, and in some regions, the public associates the churches more with meaninglessness, backwardness, or outright scandal. Whatever the specifics of the churches’ statuses, the reasons for these overall trends are complex. One crucial factor is the success (or lack thereof) in the mediation between a change in the cultural climate for one, and the very essence of Christianity for another: so, while some strands of the Christian religion seem to welcome any sort of change, others would rather want to ‘go back’ to some better days, which are suspected to lay in the past. Typical ‘practical’ examples, in which these overall trajectories become tangible, could be issues such as abortion, education, or the role of women in the church, however, likewise, positions occur on somewhat more abstract discussions on gender, climate change, or, most recently, the management of the pandemic or positioning of oneself in the context of war.

Keywords

• religion
• doctrine
• dogma
• Vanhoozer
• Seewald
• developing doctrine