George Lindbeck (b. 1923)

Major work

•          The Nature of Doctrine

Importance

•          Famous post-liberal theologian connected with the “Yale school” of theology

•          Proposes a cultural-linguistic model—church doctrines are not truth claims but authoritative rules of discourse, attitude and action; religions are “comprehensive interpretive schemes, usually embodied in myths or narratives and heavily ritualized, which structure human experience and understanding of self and world.”

•          Proponent of ecumenism without doctrinal compromise

•          Believed explicit belief in Christ necessary but holds out for post-mortem evangelism

•          His early scholarship focused on medieval philosophy and theology