Doctrine: What Christians Should Believe

by Mark Driscoll

Doctrine is the word Christians use to define the truth-claims revealed in Holy Scripture. Of course there is a multitude of churches, church networks, and denominations, each with their own doctrinal statement with many points of disagreement. But while Christians disagree on a number of doctrines, there are key elements that cannot be denied by anyone claiming to be a follower of Jesus. In What Christians Should Believe , Driscoll and Breshears teach thirteen of these key elements. This meaty yet readable overview of basic doctrine will help Christians clarify and articulate their beliefs in accordance with the Bible.

Genres: Theology, Christian, Nonfiction, Religion, Christianity, Faith, Christian Living

464 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Mark A. Driscoll is the founder and teaching pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington, as well as the co-founder of the Acts 29 Church Planting Network where he also served as President for a short period. Driscoll continues to serve on the board of Acts 29. He has contributed to the "Faith and Values" section of the Seattle Times and the "On Faith" section of the Washington Post.

Reviews

[James Owens · Rating 4 out of 5]

While the writer has had very public issues, and, in my opinion, has been disqualified from pastoral ministry, this book is a good resource for believers. While I would not endorse Driscoll at this point, this point is worth owning and reading (and re-reading).

[Jason Cox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sadly, most Christians rarely, if ever, put a second's thought into the doctrines of Christianity. Many may even find the title (Doctrine: What Christians Should Believe) to be offensive or controversial. Many, if not most, self-professing Christians may not even know what "doctrines" are or where they stand on the important doctrines that make up the Christian faith. All the more reason that every Christian should read this book (or listen to the audio version). No, not all Christians believe the same thing.

In this title, Mark Driscoll has chosen to go over 13 core Doctrines of Christianity:
1. The Trinity of God
2. Revelation: God Speaks
3. Creation
4. We are made in God's image
5. The Fall (and God's judgement)
6. Covenant: God's Pursuit of us
7. Incarnation of Christ
8. The Crucifixion of Christ
9. Resurrection
10. What exactly is The Church?
11. Worship
12. Stewardship
13. What is the Kingdom of God?

Each of these core doctrines is explained with direct Biblical reference from the perspective of the author. Many of these doctrines are debated differently by different groups and Driscoll devotes some time to discussing views different from his own. But he does clearly define his own view as he believes it and presents it to his church.

The discussions of each topic were fascinating. As a long time Christian (I am 42 as I write this and was saved at 12), I was honestly astounded at how little this content is discussed by Christians. Or at least that has been the case in my life, churches, and friends. That said, I found the book to be challenging and satisfying at the same time. The author doesn't just state "This is what you should believe" and leave it at that. There is explanation and discussion of what is said about it in the Bible. There is also discussion of pitfalls surrounding some of the doctrines and why people may believe things differently.

While the title states "What Christians Should Believe" it may have been even better to have stated "Why Christians Should Believe." If you are a Christian but haven't really put much thought behind some of these topics, this is an excellent resource. Being Christian means putting your faith in the fact that Jesus Christ is the son of God, that he died on the cross in payment for our sins, and that we are all sinners and in need of His saving, healing grace, without which we are doomed to death and hell. Getting that is crucially important. But then we need to take our knowledge further and this book helps explain the foundations of our faith in a way you may never have considered it before.

Clearly, this book is targeted at Christians. However, if you're not a Christian, this book is still a good explanation of the core beliefs of Christianity. So often Christianity is misrepresented in the media and by people who call themselves Christian but who simply aren't. Going to a Christian church doesn't make a person Christian, nor does calling yourself one. It's deeper than that. If you are interested in learning more about it, this is a good resource. Even better would be to visit an active local church that teaches the Bible and start some discussions. Or read the Bible yourself. But honestly, this book isn't an impassioned presentation intended to "convert" you.

I should mention this book is not "preachy" at all. It is very straightforward "teaching." Some people might consider it very "dry." I felt that it was quite dry at first, but as I kept reading, it was just so interesting, it ended up reading fairly quickly.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read through this together with a few other guys, one chapter a week, as a way of introducing them to reading theology. We then met up each week to discuss. It worked really well in this format and I know all the guys benefited from the discipline of reading and talking about theological concepts, particularly soteriology, eschatology and the Church. The book is an excellent tool to be used as an introduction to theology and it certainly stimulated great discussion and prayer for us. In fact the guys enjoyed it so much they have signed up to do another book (Desiring God by Piper)!

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was skeptical when my discipleship group assigned this book for the semester, since my knowledge of Mark Driscoll came from the Rise and Fall of Mars Hill podcast. Besides a few random one liners in this book that didn't age well, the content was fine I guess. My first gripe with the book is that it seemed to pick random times to go on lengthy tangents or to instead breeze over two thousand years of church debate and history in a few (sometimes only one!) sentences. Because of this, stylistically, the organization within each chapter did not flow well. My second and related gripe was that the book sometimes veered into apologetics, rather than theology, which bothered me in a book subtitled what Christians "should" believe. When I got to the resurrection chapter, one of the most crucial pieces of Christian doctrine, it spent almost the entire chapter on apologetics and two pages on actual theology. They basically lost me after that, and I skimmed the rest of the following chapters. Granted, I think this book is a good introduction to theology for new believers. It presents the basic topical pillars of Christian theology in an accessible way that a dense systematic theology book is not. I would say to read this book as an introduction to theology but not as the final word on Christian doctrine. Read many more books. Think deeply and discuss with others.

[alex creel · Rating 1 out of 5]

To be clear, this review has nothing to do with Driscoll's personal behavior; and it has very little to do with his personal beliefs-- I don't disagree with very many of the larger doctrinal issues discussed in this book (though there are a few outliers). I also realize that this book, in its time, filled a void where there weren't many Reformed Baptist, theologically-conservative, (relatively) succinct titles in systematics, and its purpose was to fill a gap to serve the laity.

Despite all those disclaimers, this book was horrible. I was astounded by the poor writing, logical inconsistencies/fallacies, and lack of biblical support given for so many claims in this book. Again, many of the conclusions are not ones that I disagree with (though some I do almost wholeheartedly); the main problem was the means by which those conclusions were reached. Very often there is a "therefore" with no logical connection to the argument just made. Doctrine is sometimes asserted dogmatically, with the reasoning basically coming down to "because I said so;" and sometimes mockingly dismissing a different point of view with the assumption the reader will just play along, as though making a viewpoint sound stupid has any bearing on whether it's true or false.
(One chapter glosses over the Roman catholic tradition of purgatory by just saying it's heretical and has no basis [with no substance given for either of those assertions]; another dismisses the idea that all receive equal reward in heaven by saying, "some people feel offended if Jesus doesn't give everyone a gold star.")

Beyond that, when something resembling actual substantiation is given, it is often very poor. Verses from the actual Bible are used to quote smaller subpoints, but rarely put in place to support a main theological doctrine the book espouses. More often than that, there are extensive quotations from another author, which certainly is not the same as quoting the Bible (which is supposed to be the source of all this doctrine); and often the quotations are iffy at best. One chapter spends considerable space quoting N.T. Wright, on a topic entirely unrelated to the new perspective on Paul, but which I don't feel like I can trust because of that and the lack of context for what the quoted author is saying.
(As another note, these extensive quotes also prove how rarely the authors of this book are providing a new thought or synthesis of information to the reader; instead, they're often taking other peoples' thoughts and squishing them into their own chapter format.) Anecdote as a supposed support for a line of argument is also pretty frequent.
Some writing choices are clearly made in an attempt to denote authority and "I know what I'm talking about," without actually giving the reader anything helpful. For instance, the atrocious single sentence: "One scholar says that blood is mentioned some 362 times in the Old Testament and more than ninety-two times in the New Testament and even more often than the cross or death of Jesus; thus, it is the most common means by which the Scriptures refer to the death of Jesus." What is their point in referring to "one scholar" at the beginning? What does that accomplish? Who is the scholar? Why does it take a "scholar" to count? (Not to mention that logically, because something occurs a large number of times, it doesn't automatically mean it is "the most common." Yet that is the only data given for the claim.)

There are also flaws in writing style which may be a matter of taste, but I'm confident are also misleading to some people. The start of a paragraph such as, "The five things we learn from this doctrine are..." (the likes of which appears multiple times), is misleading because it implies there are a definitive five things which we absolutely can take away from a specific doctrine; yet in the "five things" in the book, they seem to be selectively choosing; the "things" are more indirect implications than directly connected; and when they are directly connected, no effort in any way is made to show how the "doctrine" and the "thing" are connected.
Also (and this comment certainly is a matter of taste, so feel free to dismiss it if you'd like), the writing falls pray to the accusations toward systematic theologians, that they suck the life out of Scripture. The writing is ubiquitously dry. In the chapter on covenants (which is also rife with other errors), the authors describe God's covenant with Noah and his sin after the flood; God's covenant with Abraham and his near-sacrifice of Isaac; God's covenant with David and his adultery. When I read these stories in Scripture, they're interesting, compelling, dramatic, revealing truth! When I read them in "Doctrine," they are unexciting, summarized, and take unnecessary liberties which lead to potentially false conclusions.

There are a few good/helpful discussions in this book, but I genuinely think that, were I a younger Christian with no experience in systematic theology topics, this title would harm my faith. I would walk away and think to myself, "These arguments don't hold up under any scrutiny, and don't always seem true to their supposed authoritative text (the Bible); is that all Christianity has?" --And, fortunately for us, that is absolutely not all Christianity has!! If you want a book on the Trinity, read "Delighting in the Trinity" by Michael Reeves or "Communion with the Triune God" by John Owen; on the atonement/justification, read "Redemption Accomplished and Applied" or "The Imputation of Adam's Sin" by John Murray; on covenants and typology, read "The Unfolding Mystery" by Edmund Clowney; on systematics as a whole, read Calvin or Grudem. However, at the moment, I really don't think that I would recommend this book to anyone at all.

[Dustin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two reasons I re-read this book:

1) Our church was prepping for a class on Doctrine in general. This book provided a nice template on core doctrines.
2) After listening to the Rise & Fall of Mars Hill podcast, I was curious to re-read a few of Driscoll’s old titles. It was as if I wanted to pick up on anything that was trending to the “collapse” and see what still may be redeemable. Honestly, nothing controversial to pick up on in this book.

It was a solid book on the core beliefs of Christian doctrine. It was a bit dry for a Driscoll book, but not too dry when compared to most doctrinal textbooks.

It was clear and concise. Other views were presented pretty fairly. It was easy to use as a teaching template and the small group resources in the back were helpful.

[Ashley Bogner]

I read this for one of my classes!

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not being a Driscoll fan, I was surprised how much I enjoyed and agreed with this book. It is very hard to review an audio-book in depth as you don't have a ready reference to which to turn. This book in particular, which is very dense, follows an almost catechetical format, and would be at home in the class-room, took some getting used to in the audio-format. The narration also took some getting used to, something about the inflection in the narrator's voice, I think. However, it was clear and helped understanding. I would recommend reading a text version of Doctrine, but be prepared for some time and work, it's taken me months to get through the audio book (listening in the car when alone).

As the title suggests, Doctrine covers major Christian beliefs such as creation, the Bible, sin and judgment (and others, about 13 in all). In some ways it is a reiteration of classic Reformed Evangelical teaching, but adds a contemporary and accessible flavour through the application and illustrations. It is thoroughly biblical, weighing and critiquing alternative views and then often arguing for one based on how they see the evidence. In this way the approach and conclusions are conservative and biblical. The authors affirm 6 day special creation, for example, the eternal conscious punishment of the unrepentant, and the complementarian view of women in ministry.

Having said I agree with a lot, I don't agree everything, but only over what I consider secondary matters, and they certainly are very orthodox. In cases of disagreement, their presentation of the alternatives helped me locate and think through my own views on the spectrum. However, there were moments of brilliance, particularly in one of the later chapters dealing with stewardship and consumerism.

I started this book when I was a pastor looking for a resource for young adults to get a grip on basic doctrine. I would recommend it for this purpose, although it would probably be best for group work - both to encourage perseverance in reading, and to flesh out the challenging discussion it contains. But even as a post-graduate trained pastor I found it worthwhile and even, in places, refreshing.

3 stars (subjectively on the Good Reads scale, maybe 4 stars if one considers its value) - I like it, but it is hard work and doesn't fit the audio format so well (although if it's the difference between reading and not reading, get it on audio!).

[Joseph · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a useful resource. It reads well, and is generally a good representation of evangelical theology.

Like most systematic theology books, there's bound to be something one disagrees with.

Every once in a while, a statement pops up that will leave you scratching your head. For example, when discussing the cross, he argues that God reconciles all people to Himself, but not in a saving way. But, how can you say that someone who is eternally condemned is in any way reconciled to God?

Like any systematic theology, they can't always go as in depth as you would like. At times, controversial statements are made without much explanation (except for a few scripture references in the footnotes, which don't always do the trick).

Overall, it has its shortcomings, but it also has some useful insights, and is generally true to the Bible. It's useful.

[Jacob O'connor · Rating 4 out of 5]

What makes something true?  After all, why study doctrine (a fancy word for "teaching".  Church doctrine simply means what the church teaches) if it's not true?   The fella who wrote this book has since taken a fall.  Maybe he had some ugly ideas and he wasn’t always a nice person, but this takes me to my original question.  If a wayward Christian writes a book about what Christians should believe, isn’t that dangerous?  Well, it depends on what makes something true.  Here's my take.  What Mark Driscoll wrote is pretty good.  I didn't find anything that veered outside the lines. It's even helpful as a basic primer on the Christian faith.  This is how I know:  it matches reality.  The truth of a claim or idea has nothing to do with who is making the claim or having the idea.  Driscoll's ideas are true only insofar as they match the Bible -- and they do.  Doctrine is a fine book.  

[Kristi · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were some topics in here that didn't seem to belong in a book on doctrine. In addition, it seems there was a glaring omission of failing to define what doctrine really means, how the topics covered in each chapter constitute doctrine, and how doctrine differs from, say, theology. There were certainly some good insights in these pages, but certainly also sections tainted by opinion. There was also a lot of content in here which I've seen expressed in other works by other authors who, frankly, express it better than the authors did here. I did appreciate the distinction throughout of "open-handed" and "close-handed" issues where the Bible leaves room for multiple interpretations upon which salvation does not rest.

So, not bad, but not great.

[Nathan Mckinney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the first book on doctrine that I would recommend. It was a worthwhile read as it encouraged me to dwell upon a variety of biblical and theological topics that I hadn't put thought to in a while. Know that this really is just a run-through of what the now defunct Mars Hill church believes, with the range of issues touched on reaching very broad. Given the title ("what Christians should believe") I thought several topics probably should have been left out. Or they could have changed the title to "what we believe". That being said, they did do a good job of delineating between "close-handed" and "open-handed issues".

[Graham Heslop · Rating 4 out of 5]

Driscoll and Breshears attempt to do a lot in such a small space: simplifying swathes of systematic theology into digestible portions; showing how Christian theology touches massively on Christian living; and studying the historical context and present cultural setting of their Evangelical Reformed tradition. I think they achieve that for the most part in what is an accessible and rewardingly rich introduction to systematic theology.

[Amelia Sorenson-Abbott · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I had way too high of expectations for this book. I love Mark Driscoll's sermons but I didn't really feel that same passion in his book. Very long, very dense. Took me longer then it should have to finish, (my indicator I wasn't completely into it). Had some solid doctrine and thoughts but I disagreed with several points and felt a lot of questions I had were glossed over or unanswered. Still going to listen to his preaching, but not sure if I will go for another book.

[Byron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading for Doctrine Series at CBC

[Joshua Uy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite the controversy surrounding one of the authors, I would still recommend this book to those who want an overview of the different "essential" doctrines. It is written in a way that is easy to understand.

However, I found some words, phrases, etc. to be clumsily written. But that shouldn't deter you from reading through the book.

It is worth noting that although the authors present different views of "open-handed" doctrines, they admittedly lean towards specific views. I would recommend this to people who have read the Bible enough to form somewhat a decent level of their own views (of course as informed by the Bible) so as to not base their own theology on just the view of the authors. To be honest, there are some "open-handed" views that they presented that I may not agree with, at least not totally.

But overall, it is a good read for those who want to learn and prefer nothing too "academic".

[Mauricio González Abrigo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Si Usted quiere cononocer y entender que lo que los cristiamos creen doctrinariamente, lea este libro. Los autores sintetizan las principales doctrinas cristianas sin lesionar el contenido fundamental de las mismas. Es decir, no sitentizan a expensas del significado, contextio histórico y cultural, y de las implicancias de las mismas. Los autores no presentan un conjutno de afirmaciones en forma de innumerables viñetas. Por el contrario, se dan a la tarea de presentar y fundamentar lo que Dios revela y enseña a los creyentes por medio de su palabara.
Me encantó este libro. Mucho.

[Mason E Searle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book for those wanting a clear and concise view of theology and doctrine. It is filled with easy to understand concepts that expand beyond normal everyday teaching you may hear from the pulpit. While still somewhat introductory to tackling the broad topic of theology and doctrine, it challenges and expands knowledge well. Truly a good read for those starting down a scholastic approach to their faith!

[Troy Nevitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably 3.5 stars, really.

I think the questions and categories are better than the answers within. I think this is a substantial coverage of so many topics in such a short time that it fills a niche that works well, and would be a great springboard to all the topics that are glossed through.

Disclaimer: I don't think Driscoll is a man who has a godly reputation. This is not majorly influencing my consideration of the book.

[Philip Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gets the job done as an introduction for beginners. Doesn't go deep into anything that it addresses, but raises a bunch of ideas that someone new to the faith may not have thought of. Enjoyable as a light refresher on topics I've read elsewhere.

[Serena Deloglos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic primer on Christian reformed doctrine. Thorough and easy to read or listen to. This would be a great intellectual piece to offer a new believer or to those who have been walking with the LORD for some time and want to better articulate their faith.

[Brian Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good book on what we Christians believe. It's a good refresher for those who have walked with Jesus for a long time as well as an introductory course for new believers and those curious about what Christianity is all about.

[Travis Wentworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

No-nonsense and specific language used here to describe the outline of the Bible.

[Timothy Hixon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good content but very heady and so kinda boring

[Patrick Shuman]

Read this a while ago and honestly don't remember a lot of it

[Jordan Mills · Rating 5 out of 5]

This took me a while, but it did not disappoint! This is absolutely a top-5 introduction to Christian doctrine!

[Joel Rasmussen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Approachable doctrine. Driscoll makes it easy to understand definitely a good first book on doctrine.

[Sarah Stepp · Rating 1 out of 5]

Could barely finish reading the back cover. Unintelligible blithering of a small and insecure person, in need of a career change, in order to protect people from more abuse.

[Daniel Echevarria · Rating 2 out of 5]

In our group discussions someone always found at least one flaw in the logic, or writing. Something it was confusing.

[Brad Atchison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Doctrine is one of those books that is quite good at trying to blend systematic theology, biblical theology and the application of it while still containing a few unusual quirks. Driscoll's and Breshears's goal is to present a basic evangelical doctrine in which believers may understand their beliefs and worship the Lord that much more. The Book is divided into thirteen chapters:

Chapter 1. Trinity: God Is
Chapter 2. Revelation: God Speaks
Chapter 3. Creation: God Makes
Chapter 4. Image: God Loves
Chapter 5. Fall: God Judges
Chapter 6. Covenant: God Pursues
Chapter 7. Incarnation: God Comes
Chapter 8. Cross: God Dies
Chapter 9. Resurrection: God Saves
Chapter 10. Church: God Sends
Chapter 11. Worship: God Transforms
Chapter 12. Stewardship: God Gives
Chapter 13. Kingdom: God Reigns

Each chapter blends systematic questions along with using biblical theology to prove their points. In my personal opinion, his chapters on Worship and Kingdom were the best chapters.

The chapter on Worship really addresses issues in practical theology. For instance, these two addresses idolatry and the different types that appear in our lives. They argue that worship is a fundamental part of our life. Driscoll and Breshears do well in not limiting worship to a cooperate event that happens once a week but as offering our bodies as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1-2), which includes corporate worship. Also, this team does a great job of relating regeneration with worship and how that worship will culminate with the full consummation of God's Kingdom.

The chapter on the Kingdom of God is also very enlightening. Driscoll and Breshears do a great job at defining the kingdom of God. Here is Driscoll's definition, "The kingdom of God is about Jesus our king establishing his rule and reign over all creation, defeating the human and angelic evil powers, bringing order to all, enacting justice, and being worshiped as Lord." Driscoll also does an amazing job in giving the entire storyline of the Bible in about a page and a half.

I have one or two concerns with this book. The first is concern Driscoll and Breshears apparently do not like the historical language of "eternally begotten" and believes it mars the Nicene Creed, along with the procession of the Spirit from the Father and Son. They also are seemly against trying to say much about the eternal relationship between the three persons (The ontological/imminent Trinity) and want to only speak of how they work in creation (the Economic Trinity).

This all seems a little concerning to me. First, the Nicene Creed does a good job at distinguishing that Jesus was not made/birthed/etc. but "Begotten". Chalcedon fleshes this out more. Also, it is worth keeping this term because it distinguishes Christ from the rest of us children. Christ is the eternal son, while we are not. I think John 14:28 and the form of John 5:26 fleshes this idea out. Also, though the Economic and Immanent Trinty can be distinguished, they cannot be divorced. We see by the acts that each person does how they interact with each other. John clearly records this in John 17 and speaks of the Spirits procession from John 15:26-27. It just seems odd to turn our back on these categories now when they have been biblically faithful definitions.

My other small issue has to do with his application of the incarnation. His application was for us to be "incarnationally missional". Perhaps it's my hyper protectiveness of the Incarnation, but I don't think it is good to jump to this as application. The word Incarnation should only be used for Christ coming into the world. Also, we should first apply the incarnation as a point of worship rather than just a model to replicate. Christ bound himself to a covenant to descend from his heavenly dwelling and all its glory to bind himself to a fleshly body. He then endured the emotional and physical pain of this life, all to culminate at the Cross. At the Cross, he bound sin to himself so that we could be free of the guilt, shame, and bondage that comes from it. The Incarnation is first something to rejoice and worship at rather than to model. I think Driscoll missed this and it's not a small thing to miss.

However, these are just small issues that do not detract substantially from the book. Overall, I would heartily recommend this book with the provided caveats. It is definitely worth the read so that you can better understand the story of the Lord and his glory.