Does doctrinal studies/theology have a place? How does my experience speak into this debate?

1. DOCTRINE MATTERS? WITH @DRBEXL

2. Worldview
Foucault maintained that rules of
discourse are applied within historically
defined periods and socially specific
groups. These define and produce ideas
of „truth‟ and knowledge which govern,
at any given time, ‘what is valid,
sayable and possible’. Such rules are
associated with institutions, which,
structured themselves by discourses,
also play a key part in the regulation of
populations through discourse.
Lewis, PhD Thesis, 2004 (p27)

3. Pathway to Impact
http://www.historyandpolicy.org

4. Pathway to Impact
“Theology therefore has a role in
articulating and displaying some
of the ways in which the church
contributes to the public good.”

5. Rev Prof David Wilkinson
God is a communicating
God: “In the beginning
was the word, and the word
was God…”.
God is extravagant in
communication – he is not
a silent God who has to be
tempted into
communicating with
people.
Image Credit: Durham University

6. The Church Front Door?
•For many churchgoing is
no longer the ‘cultural
norm’ … online social
spaces …are now
effectively the ‘front
door’ to your church for
digital users, and you
ignore those spaces at
your peril.
http://www.churchgrowthrd.org.uk/blog/churchgrowth
/growing_churches_in_the_digital_age
Image Credit: Sxc.hu

7. Time to Respond?
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2014/03/24/gov-
scott-walker-refuses-to-take-down-religious-tweet/

8. Timely Response…
The „no make-up selfies‟ trend has
polarised the twittersphere. Discussion
on the topic frequently ending with the
„but it‟s for CHARITY trump-card‟ which
renders the disagree-er at best an
altruism kill-joy.
http://www.threadsuk.com/activism-
and-narcissism-and-the-no-make-up-
selfie/

9. #DIGIdisciple
• We all have something to
contribute to the digital
space:
• Living 24/7 for God
• Online/Offline, not
Virtual/Real
• Are we the same person,
living by the same values
in both ‘spaces’?
Image Credit: The Worship Cloud

10. Luke 6:45 (NIV)
A good man brings good things
out of the good stored up in his
heart, and an evil man brings evil
things out of the evil stored up in
his heart. For the mouth speaks
what the heart is full of.

11. Community…
… really struck me from Maggi‟s material today,
is how Lent has become so much of an
individual exercise, whereas it used to be more
of a community exercise – caring for each other
and each other‟s development (this is what
#BIGRead14 was intended to overcome – let‟s
work through the same material together and
see what each of us brings to the table)
http://drbexl.co.uk/2014/03/08/bigread14-
hospitality/

12. #BIGBible
•Voices from
•pew
•pulpit
•university

13. First/Second Order
… it is the lives of the
faithful, supremely the life
of Christ, that tell the truth
about God, and doctrine
orders those lives to be more
truthful.

14. Some Issues…
• Authenticity?
• Anonymity?
• Authority?
• Attention
• Creativity
• What is the ‘essence’ of church?

16. DOCTRINE MATTERS? http://www.slideshare.net/drbexl/does-doctrine-matter-
some-thoughts-from-drbexl