Rector’s Reflections
Wednesday 10th July 2024
What do Theologians think about?
Yesterday, I considered some of the possible answers to the question: why bother with Theology at all? What is the use of it? Theologians have come up with different answers to this question. For some, Theology is all about the search for truth: the truth about God, the truth about human beings, and the truth about our world. For others, Theology is about helping congregations to understand their own distinctive beliefs and practices, and this in turn helps to build and strengthen church community. And there are those who see Theology as a way of ensuring that the Church remains alive and relevant to the needs of a changing world. So there are many reasons why Theologians feel that their area of study still has relevance today.
But what does this mean in practice? There are many aspects to this question, but I think there are three key factors to take into account. In today’s reflections I shall consider the first of these factors.
If we are to understand Theology in today’s world, the first factor to take into consideration is the question of context: in what context is the Theology being undertaken? To a very significant extent, the nature and focus of Theology is driven by the context in which it is produced. Who are the people who are writing Theology? What audience do they have in mind? Who is paying the bills?
Let me illustrate this statement with some examples. To start with, should Theology be produced in an atmosphere of prayer and worship, or should it be the product of the cut and thrust of the academic world? In other words, should Theology come out of the Monastery, or out of the University? In the West, the Church as a whole was faced with making this choice as far back as the 12th Century: they decided that Theology belongs to the University, rather than to the Monastery. We still live this with this decision today: generally speaking, modern Theology is strong on it academic credentials, and weak on its spiritual content. As you read this, you may well be saying to yourself: what about other contexts for the production of Theology? What does Theology look like if it is done in a parish context? What might Theology look like if it is produced in a non-church context, for example in a school or factory? Nowadays, the vast majority of Theology is produced in an academic setting by people who are working fulltime as Theologians. Things were different in the old days. For example, in the 19th Century, very significant works of Theology were produced by Church of England parish clergy, amidst the joys and challenges of everyday parish ministry. A tiny handful of parish clergy manage to continue this tradition.
And then there is the question of the sort of people who are writing the Theology. In the old days, Theology tended to be written by White Middle or Upper Class Males. You will pleased to know that Theology is now written by a much wider range of people, and this has given the Christian community the welcome gift of a wider range of perspectives and insights.
And of course Theologians do not live in a vacuum. They live in the real world, just like everyone else. What happens if Theology is written under a Dictatorship? Does Theology keep its head down, and limit itself to non-political questions, or does it make an express statement on issues of social and political justice? This question was faced by Theologians living in Nazi Germany. It was also faced by Theologians living under various Latin American Dictatorships. Some Theologians have felt that it is their Christian duty to tackle social injustice , and to protect the most marginalised in society: this sort of Theology is often called “Liberation Theology”. I should that there has been a debate among Theologians about the nature and practice of “Liberation Theology”: some are in favour, but others feel that this is basically about following a non-Theological agenda, which while worthy and perhaps necessary, has little to do with the traditional concerns of Theology as it has been generally understood.
Another aspect of context is one of social class. Most Christian Theology at present is produced by members of the Middle Class. It tends to reflect Middle Class assumptions, problems and aspirations. But what would Theology look like if it reflected the voices and concerns of the “Working Class”? What would it look like if it were written by the members of the “Upper Class”?
Let me finish by reminding us that it’s not just a question of producing Theology: Theology needs to be communicated to the world at large. In terms of academic Theology, this in turn leads us to two gate-keeping institutions, who play a key role in controlling the sort of Theology which is published and available. The first gate-keepers are the publishers: publishers only publish Theology if they think there is a market. One reason why there is so much available on “Celtic Spirituality” is that publishers feel that there is a good market for books on this subject. Price also comes into this : publishers can decide to ensure a particular work of Theology is available cheaply, or they can decide to make it expensive. If they go for a cheap price, the book is going to be more widely available, and probably more influential. If they decide to publish the book with a limited print-run priced at say £100 per copy, readership is going to be pretty limited. So in practice, the publishers tend to dictate the format and nature of Theology. The other gate-keepers are the academic community: in general, no Theological article or book will get published unless representative academics consider it to be acceptable or at least worthy of publication. So Theology finds it very difficult to break out in new directions, because you can get nowhere without the approval of your fellow Theologians. Theology today is very much an exercise in “group-think”: generally, you can only publish what other Theologians think makes sense.
So the nature and content of Theology is, in general, driven by the context in which it is produced. But there are other factors to be taken into account, besides context. We shall look at these in the days ahead.