Observing a strange disappearance of doctrine within the church, Kevin Vanhoozer argues that there is no more urgent task for Christians today than to engage in living truthfully with others before God. He details how doctrine serves the church--the theater of the gospel--by directing individuals and congregations to participate in the drama of what God is doing to renew all things in Jesus Christ. Taking his cue from George Lindbeck and others who locate the criteria of Christian identity in Spirit-led church practices, Vanhoozer relocates the norm for Christian doctrine in the canonical practices, which, he argues, both provoke and preserve the integrity of the church's witness as prophetic and apostolic.

Kevin J. Vanhoozer is Research Professor of Biblical and Systematic Theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He has previously taught at Wheaton College and the University of Edinburgh. In addition to The Drama of Doctrine, Vanhoozer is the author or editor of several books.