Book Review: Biblical Beliefs: Doctrines Believers Should Know

Posted By Guest on Mar 10, 2014 | 2 comments

by Barry Raper

W. Jackson Watts currently serves as pastor of Grace Free Will Baptist Church, located outside of St. Louis, Missouri. He holds degrees from Welch College in Nashville, Tennessee, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, and Duke University. Bro. Watts’ exposure to theological training in the academy, coupled with his experience in a local church as a pastor, enable him to write Biblical Beliefs with both accuracy and clarity.

Purpose of the Book

The book Biblical Beliefs: Doctrines Every Believer Should Know is published by the Evangelical Training Association (“ETA”). ETA’s purpose is to assist with equipping leaders in local churches, particularly the training of laity. Several courses are offered as part of a certificate-training program. Biblical Beliefs serves as the textbook for the course offered on Bible Doctrines. The description of the course states, “This course presents foundational Bible doctrines in a popular, easy to understand format. Covered in the course are creation and the fall of man, faith and regeneration, justification and adoption, prayer and worship, angels, Satan, resurrection and judgment, and the church.”

According to the author, the book’s purpose is to provide an overview of basic Christian theology. In the Introduction, he writes,

Biblical Beliefs, then, is intended to be a theology book. . . . Theology, though a broad term, speaks to our knowledge of and response to God’s truth. It [theology] describes both the content of Scripture as well as our conclusions based on Scripture.  This book is written with the conviction that doctrine matters for all of life [1].

Layout

Biblical Beliefs has a total of 128 pages. Given the book’s brevity, the reader should not expect that every doctrine found in Scripture is discussed. Rather, as mentioned earlier, the core doctrines of Christianity are examined in the following order:

• The Authority of Scripture

• The Godhead

• Creation and the Fall

• The Person and Work of Christ

• The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit

• The Doctrine of Salvation

• Spirituality

• The Church: Origin and Identity

• The Church: Mission and Ministry

• Angels and Demons

• Heaven and Hell

• The Coming Kingdom

The concise nature of the book’s chapters could possibly leave the reader either wanting or needing more information. However, one unique and helpful feature of the work is the resource guide at the end of each chapter. This resource guide/reading list provides additional books to which readers may refer in order to examine particular doctrines in more detail. Books are arranged under three levels: beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Also, almost every point of doctrine in the book has corresponding passages in the Bible so that the student may personally examine the doctrines as they appear in the Scriptures.

Watts is true to the focus of the book stated earlier—giving primary attention to historic and biblical orthodoxy. He clearly writes in a way that seeks to make connections between each of the doctrines and demonstrates that biblical doctrines are coherent. Even though there is a primary emphasis on Christian orthodoxy throughout the work, there is a healthy dose of application as well. The book is written in an easy-to-understand format, yet there is not an absence of necessary biblical and theological terms, such as justification, sanctification, regeneration, et cetera.

Since the book “is designed to give an overview of some of the foundational doctrines upon which the Christian faith has rested historically,” readers would not expect to find any “new” material in a treatment on Christian doctrine. Thankfully, this book drives the reader back to reliable, historical, and biblical doctrines that have stood the test of time.

Spirituality

Of particular interest to me personally was Watts’ section on Christian “spirituality.” Several authors have recently drawn our attention to the type of spirituality in vogue in America. The current spiritual climate is a smorgasbord of sorts, a blending and merging together of various beliefs and practices. According to Watts, this climate is one that “resists three essential dimensions of Christian spirituality: doctrine, character, and community” [2].

Christian spirituality or sanctification is “rooted in Christ” and  “led by the Spirit” [3]. The goal of spiritual formation is the conformity of our character into the image or likeness of Christ.  Watts, picking up on this biblical goal, further explains the progressive nature of Christian spirituality in terms of the “twin images of restoration and renovation.” The image of restoration is found in Ephesians 4:24, where believers find they must “put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”  As believers, we have been set apart (definitive or positional sanctification at conversion) and are now called to “embrace our new selves” [4].  Pastor Watts rightly points readers to Colossians 3 where both aspects of sanctification are presented: “seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.”

There are ordained means that Christians should pursue concerning their walk with Christ. We are told in the book that “there are some important biblical practices that utilize God’s appointed means—His Spirit Using His Word—to help us walk with Him daily. We call these spiritual disciplines” [5]. Among the disciplines discussed are the practices of Bile study, prayer, fasting, and worship.

Many books are available in today’s market that discuss spirituality from an individualistic perspective. Few highlight the necessity of spirituality within community. However, biblical spirituality is always within the context of relating to other people. I was glad to read this book on doctrine and to find within it a heavy emphasis on the local church. The local church is not only God’s plan for communicating the Gospel to the world; it is also the context through which we pursue growth in Christ. Perhaps the following statement captures the importance of shared spirituality best: “the communal aspect of Christian spirituality must not be overlooked. The local community of followers of Christ—the church—is the main area where the outcome of Christian spirituality is visible” [6].

Conclusion

Biblical Beliefs is a solid and clear treatment of the basic doctrines of Christianity. As such, I think it definitely would prove beneficial for small groups in local churches, or even in personal discipleship efforts with individual believers. In such contexts or relationships, a series of study or discussion questions at the end of each chapter would be extremely helpful in applying the material.

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[1] W. Jackson Watts, Biblical Beliefs: Doctrines Believers Should Know (Carol Stream, IL: Evangelical Training Association, 2013), 8.

[2] Ibid., 81.

[3] Ibid., 82.

[4] Ibid., 84.

[5] Ibid., 86.

[6] Ibid., 87.

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About the Author: Barry Raper is the pastor of Bethel Free Will Baptist Church, Chapmansboro, Tennessee. He also serves as the Program Coordinator of Youth and Family Ministry at Welch College. Bro. Raper recently received his D. Ministry in Biblical Spirituality from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Barry and his wife Amanda have four children: Hannah, Tre, Emma, and Caroline.

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