Doctrine and Change, by Richard Clutterbuck (Grove Doctrine D3)

Richard Clutterbuck, Doctrine and Change: Making Sense of the Story of Christian Doctrine. Grove Doctrine D3 (Cambridge: Grove Books, 2020)

As I’m on the editorial group for Grove Doctrine, I plan to promote (but not review) each of the books released in the series as and when they’re published.

A while ago on this very blog, I asked an important question: Can creeds change? And whenever I stand in front of a slightly bemused class, whatever I’m teaching, I try to convey a sense that Christian doctrine develops in and through time and isn’t something that is dumped on the Church from on high or imposed on ordinary Christians by a bunch of men out of touch with everyday life. In this respect, I think it’s important to encourage Christian congregations to think of doctrine as developing organically in relationship with the triune God—but how best to do this? Should we just assert or insist or assure that doctrine is not entirely inflexible, or are there apposite analogies or metaphors that can help to explain doctrinal change and the reasons for it?

If you’ve made it this far, then I’m sure you’ll have anticipated that in Doctrine and Change, Richard Clutterbuck indeed offers some models for understanding doctrine—six of them, in fact, all arboreal and botanical in design:

Model One: The Artificial Christmas Tree

Doctrine as consistent and reliable but dead

Model Two: The Rampant Cypress Leylandii

Doctrine as unchecked and harmful growth

Model Three: From Tiny Acorn to Mighty Oak

Doctrine as natural development

Model Four: The New Graft on an Old Rootstock

Doctrine as response to a new situation

Model Five: The Garden at the Chelsea Flower Show

Doctrine as freely chosen and creative

Model Six: The Field Hedge

Doctrine as a diverse and hospitable environment

Clutterbuck outlines the strengths and weaknesses of each model but favours the sixth model, ‘The Field Hedge’, arguing that Christian doctrine has ‘deep historical roots and intertwining branches’ (p. 19) and is therefore an ecosystem of sorts where each particular doctrine cannot adequately be understood without reference to others.

Doctrine and Change is available for £3.95 from the Grove Books website (in both print and electronic formats), as well as through Christian bookshops.