Skip to main content

A Church That Can’t Exist in the World

April 5th, 2023 | 8 min read

By Jake Meador

Recent years have seen many evangelical thinkers become more alert to the work that individual doctrines do in our broader understanding of the Christian faith and life. The neglected, occasionally despised, and much misunderstood doctrine of divine impassibility, for example, has been shown to have deep relevance to questions of pastoral care, as Derek Rishmawy and Wesley Hill have both demonstrated.

Doctrines do not hang in the ether as abstractions that we simply affirm or negate, like questions on a school exam on which we will be graded. Rather, they explain, support, and anchor the practices of God’s people as we sojourn in the world.

Login to read more

Sign in or create a free account to access Subscriber-only content. 

Sign in

Register

Jake Meador

Jake Meador is the editor-in-chief of Mere Orthodoxy. He is a 2010 graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where he studied English and History. He lives in Lincoln, NE with his wife Joie, their daughter Davy Joy, and sons Wendell, Austin, and Ambrose. Jake's writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Commonweal, Christianity Today, Fare Forward, the University Bookman, Books & Culture, First Things, National Review, Front Porch Republic, and The Run of Play and he has written or contributed to several books, including "In Search of the Common Good," "What Are Christians For?" (both with InterVarsity Press), "A Protestant Christendom?" (with Davenant Press), and "Telling the Stories Right" (with the Front Porch Republic Press).

Topics:

Church