Mark: thanks for the kind words about my “centred set” post, which is here (and I also touched on the same theme here).

To clarify one point: in the context in which I was using the term (and this is going back a few years now), I wasn’t talking about Jesus as the centre. Obviously Jesus is the centre of the church’s life and our faith, but the “centred set” image is not about saying, “never mind our doctrinal differences, let’s all just look at Jesus”.

Rather, I was using the terminology in the context of the church’s confession of faith (i.e. what we say back to God in response to his self-disclosure in the gospel, rather than what God says to us in that self-disclosure). The point is that when we confess the faith, we should see that in a “centred set” rather than “bounded set” way.We’re saying what we believe to be the best expression of the truth of the faith – the centre point of the church’s confession – rather than drawing a boundary between “saved” and “unsaved”.

To give a specific example: I believe the Small Catechism basically “gets it right” both in identifying the essentials of the faith and saying the right things about them: the Commandments, the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, Baptism, Confession/Absolution and the Lord’s Supper. As far as I’m concerned, if you want “Mere Christianity” then the Small Catechism is a good place to find it summarised.

I’m aware that not everyone will agree with that view, since many will disagree with the Catechism on issues such as the sacraments. Well, that’s as may be: when I say that the Small Catechism is Mere Christianity, I’m not saying that people who disagree have crossed the boundary into something that isn’t the Christian faith. I’m just saying that that’s where I believe the centre is. (A view I expanded on in the second of the posts linked above.)

In other words, I mean it in the same spirit as that wonderful statement quoted by Brian. To paraphrase, I find being a Christian to be the best way for me to be a human being, and I find being a Lutheran – one whose faith is summarised in the Small Catechism – to be the best way for me to be a Christian; the centre of those concentric rings.