The Little Friar

I have lately returned to reading James Leo Garrett's two volume Systematic Theology:  Biblical, Historical, and Evangelical .  The first volume was the required textbook when I took Systematic Theology as an undergrad; the second volume appeared in 1995, so I'd never read it until yesterday. I began noticing little places, littered throughout the text, where a much younger theologian -- a budding theologian that I would have been in 1992 -- would later (in 2017) not find himself reflected in the text.  That's inevitable, for sure.  But it's made me wonder.  My undergrad institution was known more largely as "a bastion of liberal thinking" (whatever that might mean) among Southern Baptists.  (I've come to realize that even a "liberal" Southern Baptist isn't all that liberal, by the standard of Theological Liberalism.  The pesky authority of the biblical text gets in the way.  Every.  Single.  Time.)  So I'm a bit surprised to find...

What is the role of the theologian in the local church?  I think it's a question worth asking. There appears to be a recognition now in many ecclesial circles that it's important for Christians to think about their faith (though anti-intellectualism in the church is still a problem -- more on this tomorrow).  But I do believe that this a good theological practice.  But again, I ask:  What's the role of the theologian in the local church, the role of the person who's formally studied theology at university, who most likely went beyond an undergrad degree (or at least someone who doesn't sit on their undergrad theology degree and continues to read the latest releases by, say, Brueggeman or Webster)?  Is the theologian meant to be a gadfly, buzzing around the latest trends that infiltrate the popular mindset (e.g., does this mean everyone asks this person's opinion of things like The Shack when they appear)?  Is the theologian meant to lead worship, Bible s...

The Christian theologian is someone "called" to be a theologian.  One way to understand the word "called" is as referring to Divine appointment.  Gregory of Nazianzus did not question that the place of the theologian is in the Christian community; they were to be wholly shaped by it.  Their character, he thought, must be in line with Christian living; their "theologizing" is an act of sowing (calling to mind the concept of evangelism); and the proper occasion to do theology is when the theologian is practicing spiritual disciplines common to the Church.  Yet, Gregory also suggests that the "range" of the theologian's theology "should be that of our God-given capacity".  In light of this statement, it seems that Gregory sees the vocation of theologian as one of the parts of the Body of Christ.  In 1 Corinthians 12 Paul lists eight "parts" that "God appointed for the Church".  Not only did God appoint those parts b...

In introducing his book of essays about Johnny Cash , Michael Streissguth writes about an experience he had backstage at a Johnny Cash concert.  "I kept playing in my mind 'I Walk the Line' and 'The Baron' ... Would these songs take on new meaning when I met the Man in Black?"  He then goes on to describe watching Cash interact with an old steel mill worker.  Cash, as Streissguth had known him, was a celebrity of critical acclaim.  Streissguth knew his songs.  He could hum the tune and spout off the lyrics.  Anyone could do that.  But upon meeting Cash, and watching him interact with a weathered old man, Streissguth realized that the songs were not just words but stories from a life "defined, in part, by hard work".  Johnny Cash songs became more "real: to Streissguth in a way they could not have without meeting the Man in Black.  This story highlights the difference between someone who might make a theological clai...

People like to think what they do is important.  That's probably why the first question following an introduction is often "What do you do?"  It presumes that the other person thinks what they do is important enough to, in some sense, define where the rest of the conversation goes.  I try to do theology.  So, when one reading suggested that theology is not actually all that important, I felt offended.  I have since come to realize that, in fact, anyone can do theology -- sometimes it's not even a choice.  However, there does still need to be, I think, a distinction between "doing theology" and "being a theologian".  Church tradition often reserved the term "theologian" for a specific kind of person doing theology for a particular purpose.  I want to propose that the Christian theologian is a member of the worshiping community who is called to guide the Church in faithfully thinking about and responding to God's self-revelation.  In or...