At Baptist Dogmatics we engage in the task of theology to the glory of God “for the sake of the church.” In this article, we hope to set forth doctrinal preaching as a primary and regular means for promoting sound, life-giving theology in the context of the local church. Doctrinal preaching exposits Holy Scripture in order to trace God’s thoughts, with the goal of proclaiming the mysteries of the faith, exciting and leading to the worship of God. Before examining this method of preaching, as set forth by Petrus van Mastricht, we will review the contents of two previous posts in order to explain how doctrinal preaching follows from the nature of dogmatics.
In “What Hath Feinstein to Do with Bavinck?,” we discussed the normative and social nature of dogmatics. Recall Bavinck’s definition, where he states, “Dogmatics is, and can only exist as, the scientific system of the knowledge of God. More precisely and from a Christian viewpoint, dogmatics is the knowledge that God has revealed in his Word to the church concerning himself and all creatures as they stand in relation to him,” (Reformed Dogmatics, I.38). Theology is revealed to the church as she receives God’s revelation and confesses it back, in order to “preserve, explain, understand, and defend the truth of God entrusted to her,” (Reformed Dogmatics, I.29–30). Although dogmatics is for all people, only the church recognizes the voice of the living God (John 10:27) and possesses the unique responsibility to pass down the faith through preaching, hearing, and confessing sound doctrine in continuity with those who preceded her and for the sake of the next generation.
Not only does doctrinal preaching serve the normative and social elements of dogmatics, but it also follows from the theoretical-practical nature of the discipline. In “Dogmatics as a Theoretical-Practical Discipline,” we saw Petrus van Mastricht define theology as, “The doctrine of living for God through Christ.” Theology is a theoretical discipline because it concerns itself with the mysteries of the faith, but it is also a practical discipline as it reaches its telos in love and worship for God.
Van Mastricht developed his definition from 1 Timothy 6:2-3, where Paul provides directions for Timothy’s teaching ministry in an epistle that instructs how “one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth,” (1 Tim 3:15). Pastors have the unique responsibility to promote sound doctrine through their preaching ministry. As van Mastricht states, teachers and ministers, “should preserve theology (1 Cor. 2:2; Mal. 2:7; Hos. 4:6), teach theology (1 Tim. 6:2; 2 Tim. 4:2), expound theology (2 Tim. 2:15), defend theology (Titus 1:9), and apply theology (1 Tim. 4:2), according to the variety of persons and situations (Titus 2:2; 1 Tim. 6:17),” (Theoretical-Practical Theology, I.90). Ministers are not the only ones concerned with theology; rather all Christians, “should acknowledge Christian truth (Col. 3:16), take care to advance in it more and more (John 5:39; Ps. 1:2), to rest upon it (2 Peter 1:19), and, each according to his ability, to offer it to others (Col. 3:16),” (Theoretical-Practical Theology, I.90).
Van Mastricht offered a method of preaching to promote theology in the church that follows in the tradition of William Perkins, William Ames, and many others. Perkins’s work (Works of William Perkins, X.281-347, or the Puritan Paperback, The Art of Prophesying) provides a comprehensive exposition of Puritan preaching, while van Mastricht offers a brief, succinct, and clear preaching aid, which can be found in Theoretical-Practical Theology, I.3-30.
Doctrinal preaching consists of three key movements: exposition, doctrine, and uses. Exposition consists of analysis, which examines the relationship of the text’s parts, and exegesis, which explains the text’s meaning. Analysis and exegesis are essential to, but not the end of, doctrinal preaching. The preacher assumes the perspicuity of Scripture and does not needlessly engage in exegetical controversies but only seeks to lay the sufficient groundwork for the doctrinal argument found in the text. Van Mastricht encourages the preacher to employ the analogy of faith in analysis and exegesis but warns against finding a good doctrine in the wrong text.
The preacher then moves to the doctrinal portion of the text where he deduces or draws out a necessary consequence of the text. As a perfect example of doctrinal interpretation, consider our Lord Jesus Christ’s interpretation of Exodus 3:6: “But Jesus answered and said to them, ‘You are mistaken, not understanding the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. But regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God: ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living” (Matt 22:29-32). Our Savior draws out and clearly propounds the doctrine contained in Exodus 3:6; the faithful preacher ought to imitate our Lord’s interpretative methods in his preaching. The doctrine should not be an expositional point, for these serve to build the doctrinal argument. The doctrine should not be an application, for this follows from sound doctrine. The doctrine of the text is the high point to which exposition leads and after which application follows. The doctrine expounds the mysteries of the faith contained in the text of Holy Scripture.
Upon following the preacher’s analysis and exegesis, the hearer should be able to see how the doctrine may be deduced from or is a consequence of the exposited text. The doctrine now asserted and proved from the present passage, the preacher offers reasons to believe it is true from three sources in the following order: other places in Scripture, sanctified human reason, and the testimony of church history. Although proving the doctrine is essential to doctrinal preaching, the preacher should be careful in calling too many witnesses and would be wise to follow the pattern of Scripture by only employing 2-3 from each of the aforementioned categories.
Third, and finally, the preacher moves to the uses of the doctrine contained in the text, highlighting the practical element of theology. Uses are twofold: dogmatic and practical. Dogmatic uses either demonstrate how the doctrine deduced from the text might inform another doctrine (informatory use) or correct a false teaching (elenctic use). The informatory use is exceedingly rare whereas the elenctic use is more common but must be approached with great care so as not to prop up an uncontroversial debate or unearth an unknown heresy in such a way that might unintentionally revive it. The practical uses are also twofold: reproving evil actions and stirring up good works. Throughout his treatise on preaching, van Mastricht regularly cautions the preacher against intentionally awakening the affections at an improper time but now the preacher targets the affections by consoling those broken over their sin, shaming those who have yet to be broken, strengthening those with true saving faith, inciting fear in those who lack saving virtues, and offering duties with care to the means and manner in which they are exercised. The careful reader will note the order of doctrine and uses in doctrinal preaching follows the pattern of 2 Timothy 3:16-17: teach true doctrine, reprove of false doctrine, correct godlessness, and train in righteousness.
Doctrinal preaching provides a regular means of infusing theology into the life of the church. This method flows from the normative and social elements of dogmatics, accords with the theoretical-practical nature of theology, and seeks to follows Paul’s apostolic instructions for Timothy (1 Tim 6:2-3; 2 Tim 3:16-17). As such, it is a commendable model for one seeking to do theology “for the sake of the church.”