Connecting Proclamation, Formation & Mission
A Review of
The Core of the Christian Faith: Living the Gospel for the Sake of the World
Michael Goheen
Paperback: Baker Academic, 2025
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Reviewed by Michael Swanson
Dr. Michael Goheen, professor of missional theology at Calvin Theological Seminary and the Missional Training Center (Phoenix), offers The Core of the Christian Faith as a resource for pastors and ministry leaders. The book aims to help leaders disciple and form their congregations according to the grand story of Scripture. It’s a fresh contribution to the ongoing recovery of catechesis in the modern church.
Goheen opens with a clear concern: the Christian confession in the West has been deeply shaped — even distorted — by what he calls “civil religion,” a subtle idolatry that has co-opted much of contemporary American Christianity (2-3). The author attributes this catastrophe to a “massive discipleship failure caused by a massive catechesis failure” (4). There is a clear issue for the author: the gap between what Christians profess and the way in which the average American Christian behaves.
The Core of the Christian Faith is, at heart, a book about formation. Goheen diagnoses a malformed praxis rooted in reduced orthodoxy and a fundamental misreading — intentional or not — of Scripture. How can we expect Christians to behave like Christians if Christians are not formed by Scripture?
The book unfolds in four parts, beginning with the “Gospel of the Kingdom.” Goheen argues that the core of the Gospel and world history are the crucifixion and resurrection of Israel’s Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. This “Good News” of the Kingdom — the essence of the Christian witness (18, 32) — must be understood within the literary and historical contexts of the Hebrew Scriptures and the Roman world inside the larger biblical narrative.
That narrative reveals humankind’s identity as God’s image-bearers and situates salvation within a cosmic redemption of all Creation. God has created a people to work and worship with him; sin disrupts their vocational ability. Jesus’s redemptive work, then, restores both people and cosmos to their right relationship with God. In this story, the church is both testimony of God’s saving power and a sign of a greater, coming renewal: a “missional people” engaged in a “missionary encounter” with the cultures they inhabit.
Goheen’s structure reinforces his thesis beautifully. Each section builds upon the last, generating theological momentum rather than scattered topical reflections. The “Christ event” is the heart of his argument: if the Gospel is indeed true, the story out of which it arises must also be true. The rehearsing and embodied retelling of this story create a people who take on God’s character and mission in the world.
One of the great strengths of the book’s argument is the continuity from revelation to response. Many theological works explore components similar to The Core of the Christian Faith — proclamation, narrative, or formation — but rarely trace the line as clearly from Gospel announcement through the biblical story into communal practice. Goheen’s contribution here connects those dots within a single framework.
The only real limitation of the book is its assumed audience. This is an “insider” text; readers will benefit most if they already have a basic grasp of biblical theology and missional language. For pastors or lay ministry leaders, it provides a clarifying and integrative resource. Beginners would likely find themselves a bit out of their depth and frustrated. Using sections of the book as part of an introductory discipleship course or membership class with lots of dialogue might prove effective.
The classic Christian ‘formula’ for catechesis — orthodoxia (right belief), orthokardia (rightly ordered loves), and orthopraxia (right moral action) — is mostly followed throughout the book, save a slightly underdeveloped section on spiritual disciplines and prayer (66-71). While it is unrealistic to expect the author to cover every contingency about catechetical formation, The Core of the Christian Faith leaves something to be desired if the reader is searching for a holistic instruction in the catechetical arts. However minor, it is worth pointing out only because the text is positioned as a response to catechetical failings.
The Core of the Christian Faith offers pastors and lay ministry leaders a cohesive and hopeful framework for connecting proclamation, formation, and mission. It will be especially helpful for those without formal theological training who wish to see the broader Christian project within a single frame. This is a book is worth keeping on the shelf and sharing widely within any church serious about forming disciples both according to the biblical story and for the sake of the world.
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Please feel free to read additional additional reflections about this book on the reviewer’s Substack.
Michael Swanson
Michael Swanson currently serves as the National Director of Staff Development for the CCO. He has worked in campus ministry in various roles since 2012. He, his wife Mikala, and dog Bo live in State College, Pennsylvania.
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