“Christians are not defined by skin colour, by gender, by geographical location, or even, shockingly, by their good behaviour. Nor are they defined by the particular type of religious feelings they may have. They are defined in terms of the God they worship.
That’s why we say the Creed at the heart of our regular liturgies: we are defined as the people who believe in this God. All other definitions of the church are open to distortion.
We need theology, we need doctrine, because if we don’t have it something else will come in to take its place. And any other defining marks of the church will move us in the direction of idolatry.”
–N. T. Wright, For All God’s Worth: True Worship and the Calling of the Church (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1997), 28.
