I once participated in a panel discussion alongside a seminary professor. He had far more education than I did and far greater expertise in the subject matter. A few moments before we took to the platform together, the moderator went over some of the questions he would be asking us. I found it strangely comforting to see that professor pull out his iPad, dig up some old notes, and begin to skim through them. “I need to remind myself what I believe about that,” he told me.
The fact is, we are forgetful people and often need not just to learn what we believe but to re-learn it. There are exams we might pass at one stage in life but fail in another, not because our doctrine has changed or because we have apostatized, but because we have become forgetful. It’s not that we are ever likely to forget the fundamental doctrines of the faith like the inspiration of Scripture or the divinity of Jesus, but we can certainly grow hazy on some of the lesser matters and waver on some of the secondary issues.
A while back I realized I needed to brush up on some of these and began to organize a system of spaced repetition—a way to encounter these doctrines on a regular basis, thus reinforcing them and keeping them fresh in my mind. And it was right then that I learned about Kevin DeYoung’s Daily Doctrine: A One-Year Guide to Systematic Theology. In fact, an Advance Reading Copy showed up in the mail and I knew immediately it was what I was looking for.
Daily Doctrine is in a familiar yearly format much like a daily devotional, but its content is theological in nature rather than devotional. Its purpose is to teach the truth more than to apply the truth—admitting, of course, that there can be a hazy line between the two. DeYoung explains in the introduction that he believes his niche as a writer is “translation—not from one language to another, but from one register to another. That is to say, I think I can best serve the church by reading the old, dead guys (and some living people), digesting their technical arguments and terminology, taking the best of their insights, and then writing with clarity and concision for busy pastors, students, leaders, and laypeople.” And this is exactly what he does.
This means that Daily Doctrine is not a groundbreaking work of systematic theology and is not intended to be. Rather, it is an introductory work that focuses on easing people into the subject. It introduces the discipline as a whole, describes the most important terms, and explains the key ideas. In that way, it provides a framework for Christian doctrine and then builds upon it over the course of a year—with 5 readings per week over 52 weeks, each of which is about a page long. It can be read in that daily format, read straight through, or serve as a concise reference work. I expect many couples or families will want to integrate it into their daily times of devotion.
The format is fairly standard for a systematic theology book, beginning with prolegomena (preliminary considerations and the doctrine of Scripture), then advancing to theology proper (God’s being and works), anthropology (man’s creation and fall), covenant theology (how God relates to his creatures), Christology (the person and work of Christ), soteriology (salvation), ecclesiology (the church), and eschatology (the last things). DeYoung is Reformed and Presbyterian in his doctrine and is clear about the positions he holds, but also charitable when it comes to the alternatives. So, for example, I agree with some of what he teaches about baptism but disagree with much of it as well. But I appreciate the tone with which he discusses the issues and defends his position.
Knowing how important it is that we both learn and re-learn Christian doctrine, I was excited to discover that DeYoung had written Daily Doctrine—what one endorser refers to as “a daily diet of doctrine.” Now that I have been able to read through it, I gladly commend it to you. It will help you learn what Christians believe, it will help you remember what Christians believe, and in that way, it will grow your love for the Lord and your ability to serve him with faithfulness.
