Vocation and Christian Doctrine: A Response to John Stackhouse

Abstract

There is much to like in John Stackhouse’s new book, Need to Know: Vocation as the Heart of Christian Epistemology (2014). After all, we certainly need direction in a world as uncertain as this one. Stackhouse wants to commend to his readers a way of approaching the Christian faith that takes ecclesiastical tradition seriously “whilst also learning from contemporary culture” (18). The book “offers an epistemology: an outline of just how Christians ought to think about whatever they are called to think about” (18). He is convinced that God calls us to a particular kind of life and because God calls us to a particular sort of life he can be trusted to provide us with what we need to know to live that life (19). This is his understanding of vocation—a notion that is at the heart of the book’s message, as well as its title. The idea seems to be about giving shape to Christian epistemology in light of the various vocations we have been given. And he really does think that if this is to be a truly Christian epistemology, it must apply to all walks of life, from garbage collectors to philosophers and theologians.1 (Some of us may think that these are not distinct vocations at all, but that is another matter.)