The Dramatic Nature of Doctrine

1. Doctrine provides program notes for identifying the dramatis personae and for understanding the basic theo-dramatic plot.
2. Doctrine is direction for the Christian’s fitting participation in the drama of redemption, thus enabling one to continue the missions of the Son and Spirit into new situations.
3. Doctrine is direction for a scripted, yet “spirited,” performance of covenantal faithfulness.
4. Doctrine as directions tells us what has already been done (by God), thus implying what remains to be done (by us). Claims about what we should do (the imperative, propositional direction) rest on claims about what God has done in Christ (the indicative, propositional declaration).
5. Doctrine gives rise to a project that is as propositional as it is personal– to something to be believed by us, done by us, felt by us. Doctrine directs disciples as they seek to orient themselves in the church and in the world vis-à-vis the truth, goodness, and beauty defined by Jesus Christ.
   - Kevin J. Vanhoozer, The Drama of Doctrine (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press), 110.