andygoodliff

the theologian as preacher, the preacher as theologian

   Yesterday my copy of The Theologian As Preacher arrived. It is a second collection of sermons from Colin Gunton, edited by his daughter Sarah and former student John Colwell. It is a companion to the earlier published Theology Through Preaching (2001).  Both books, as well as containing some great examples of a great theologian preaching, contain two excellent introductions. The first collection of sermons had a introduction from Gunton's friend Christoph Schwobel on the art of preaching theologically. This recent collection has an introduction from Gunton's former student Steve Holmes on how Gunton is an example of the theologian as preacher and the preacher as a theologian. Gunton believed that theologian must also be rooted in a local church and serve the church through preaching. Holmes comments that Gunton said on more than one occasion 'You can always tell when a theologian has stopped preaching; here work loses something vital'. Gunton passionately believed, as Barth and others before him, that theology was for the church. The theologian is a servant of the church, whose work should be 'directed to the maintenance, edification and extension of the church of Christ' (Holmes, 'Introduction', The Theologian as Preacher, 2005, xxii). For Gunton, theology is never abstract (although rarely it may be temporarily so) and is always directed towards helping the church be faithful to its story. Schwobel identifies that  preaching must be biblical, pastoral (able to speak faith, hope and love to various circumstances that life presents us with), doctrinal (helping the church to think right, as well as act right or to say it another way, to help the church be faithful to its story) and congregational (helping the local church understand its life and mission as God's people). These four areas often appear to be lacking in art of preaching which is often too obssessed with being relevant and telling amusing stories. Holmes says in his introduction that

One of the great themes of these sermons, surely, is asking what is truly relevant. Much of what passes for 'relevance' in our preaching is simply a capitulation to a pagan value system (or, at best, a despairng admission that one's congregation has capitulated). Sport or celebrity or items of passing notice in the news media are endlessly recycled in the pulpit in the (surely mistaken!) belief that this will aid the preacher in being heard. Colin's preaching challenged such assumptions and practices. (xxi)

He goes on to say that preacher should not give up on theology and succumb to the temptation for the quick-fix (downloadable sermons!!!) for 'the gift of theology to preaching is roots that run deep and draw up the life-giving water that alone can truly refresh the people of God'. This new collection of sermons again demonstrates what a gift Colin Gunton was to the church and especially to the congregation of Brentwood URC where he was much loved and much missed.

introducing colin gunton

systematic theologian. reformed theologian. trinitarian theologian. english theologian. lecturer in philosophy of religion at king's college london in 1969, and then lecturer in systematic theology in 1980. professor of christian doctrine king's college london 1984-2003. associate minister at brentwood URC church from 1975. born in 1941. died in may 2003. author of 14 books and editor or co-editor of 7. didsbury lecturer 1990 (see christ and creation), bampton lecturer 1992 (see the one, the three and the many, 1993). warfield lecturer 1993 (see a brief theology of revelation). visiting professor at the universities of kiel and copenhagan (1996 and 1997 respectively). helped recover the doctrine of the trinity and creation. fan of barth, jenson, zizioulas. founder of the research institute of systematic theology at king's. renowned expert on the theology of barth. didn't like augustine's theology much, but loved the theology of ireneaus and the cappadocian fathers. a minister in the united reformed church at brentwood URC. congregationalist. PhD from oxford. honorary doctorates from london (1993), aberdeen (1999) and oxford (2003). started the international journal for systematic theology in 1999 with john webster and ralph de colle. husband and father. influential on the shape of british theology. long-standing member of the society for the study of theology. wrote on every major theological topic - doctrine of God (becoming and being), trinity (promise of trinitarian theology, father, son & holy spirit), atonement (the actuality of atonement), christology (yesterday and today, christ and creation), creation (the triune creator), doctrine of the Holy Spirit (theology through the theologians), the church (on being the church) and the sacraments, preaching (theology as preaching, theologian as preacher), revelation (a brief theology of revelation), eschatology, anthropology, imago Dei. 'the most significant english theologian of his generation' (mccormack, trinitarian soundings). 'theology was exciting when colin was around because it excited him so and his excitement was contagious' (mccormack, trinitarian soundings).

for more see colin gunton's short essay 'theology in communion' in shaping a theological mind (ashgate, 2002), the foreword by bruce mccormack and the afterword by robert jenson in trinitarian soundings, 2005.  see also steve holmes' obitituary in the guardian and introduction to theologian as preacher.

10 propositions on being a theologian

Here's Kim Fabricius 10 propositions on being a theologian posted on Ben Myers 'faith and theology'. Much better than my attempt to describe 'who's a theologian' here. For more 10 propositions from Kim, go here.

1. Actually, there is no such thing as a theologian, anymore than there is such a thing as a Christian. Theologians are not solitary creatures. Theology is the outcome of good conversation, the conversation of friends. Though – the rabies theologorum – you could be forgiven for thinking the opposite! Which is why, in the interest of world peace, it is probably wise that theological conferences are held infrequently. Theologians are like horse manure: all in one place and they stink to high heaven; they are best spread around.

2. “Theology is not free speech but holy speech” (John Webster). The theologian is a servant of the word: in multi-logue with other theologians, she thinks about what God has told us in the Bible. Thus – but only thus – is she also a servant of the church, creatura verbi Divini. The theologian tests the church’s preaching and teaching, and the work of other theologians, to keep them honest, i.e. to ensure that they are about the love and grace of God.

3. The theologian, therefore, is not an academic but an ecclesiodemic. He may work in a university but he is not of the university. He must be multilingual, but he must remember that his hometown is Jerusalem, not Athens. So he must hang loose to criteria of academic respectability. Submission, for example, to the idea that theology must never be homiletical, or that a theologian should not begin a lecture with prayer, suggests a Babylonian captivity. To switch biblical geography, the theologian must not hanker after the fleshpots of Nile College.

4. Can a theologian be an unbeliever? Don’t be ridiculous! Theology is fides quaerens intellectum: no fides, no intellectum. Furthermore, one can speak about God only as one speaks to God. Prayer is the epistemological precondition of theology, which to issue in pietas must begin with invocation. A prayerless theologian is an oxymoron; indeed a prayerless theologian is a moron – which is not to say that God cannot use the braying of Balaam’s ass.

5. Since the 12th century the notion has been around that the theologian is a speculator in ideas, and since the Enlightenment that he is a specialist in certain distinct areas of enquiry. We must lament “the disappearance of the ‘complete’ theologian, the theologian who is also a saint” (Hans Urs von Balthasar), and insist that theologians are “[none] the better for our conviction of the truths of the great doctrines of the gospel unless we find the power of the truths abiding in our hearts” (John Owen). And the notion that the theologian can be biblical, historical, dogmatic, pastoral without all these disciplines encroaching on each other is a cloven fiction indeed.

6. Theology (with Aquinas, Calvin, Barth) is thus a very spiritual matter, and a very practical, very ethical matter. In fact the theologian, as a student of the humanity of God, is the quintessential humanist. She will have in her sights not only God but also the good, God in his perfections and humanity in its perfectibility, i.e. she will be concerned with human flourishing. And as humans can only flourish in community – in the polis – a question that one should always ask about a theologian is: How does her theology politic?

7. All good theology is always contextual theology. Which is not to say that the context sets the agenda of the theologian, because contexts never come neat, they are not self-interpreting: the theologian must be an exegete not only of the text but also of the context. Rather it is to say that the theologian works at the interface of text and context, and seeks to address specific text to specific context. The letters of Paul – all occasional, none systematic – are the paradigm for the theologian.

8. The theologian will be a person who, off his knees, can think on his feet. He will be a bricoleur, engaged in ad hoc “selective retrieval and eclectic reconfiguration” (Jeffrey Stout). If the Holy Spirit is a dove, the theologian is a cuckoo, free to squat in any nest – and steal the eggs. Incorrigibly kleptomaniacal, while the theologian may not long for Egypt, he may certainly rip off the Egyptians.

9. Strictly speaking, all believers are theologians, because all believers, willy-nilly, think about God. The only question is whether we think well or poorly. It is not the theologian’s job to think about God for us, it is the theologian’s job to help us think about God better, so that we may believe, pray, live and die better. Dorothy Sayers said that “Christians would rather die than think – and most of them do.” The theologian is out to make Ms Sayers a liar.

10. Ultimately, of course, theologians do not know what they are talking about. So they should exercise meticulous word-care – and not talk too much. I often think that books of theology should contain occasional blank pages, to signal the reader to pause, in silence and wonder. There will be no theology in the eschaton. Before the divine doxa, we will confess, with St Thomas, “All my work is like straw.” Karl Barth famously said that when he gets to heaven he will seek out Mozart before Calvin. Quite right – and presumably he spoke to Calvin only to compare errors. Me – I’ll be heading for the choir of angels, to find Sandy Koufax, to see how he made the baseball sing.

asbo jesus

asbo jesus is a great blog full of things that get you thinking ... I like some of the them ... but I thought I'd shared this one with you ...

   

Bishop Tom Sings Bob Dylan

Click here to listen to Tom Wright singing a Bob Dylan number. (HT to Ben Myers and Brian Brown)

Modern Theology, April 2007

The Castration of Signs: Conversing wih Augustine on Creation, Language and Truth by Susannah Ticciati (KCL)

Between Subordination and Koinonia: towards a new reading of Cappadocian Theology by Najeeb G. Awad

Europe in Crisis: A question of belief or unbelief? Perspectives from the Vatican by Lieven Boeve

Comparative Theology after Liberalism by Hugh Nicholson

The Importance of Overcoming Metaphysics for the Life of Faith by Merold Westphal

reaction to budget 07

I'm not an expert on economics or on the implications on the budget, but it does seem to me that this new budget will increase the divide between rich and poor, as Adam Curtis' The Trap suggested has been the case since Labour came to power in 1997. Rather than being a government of social justice, ultimately (if Curtis is right), Labour have made social mobility even harder. A drop in income tax is welcome, but the removal of the 10p lower rate, means those lower wages will end up paying more tax. I don't understand how this is fair? Its giving with the left hand and then taking it away with the right, which so often seems typical New Labour. We're taking troops out of Iraq,  but we're sending more to Afgahstan. We're setting up children centres and starting programmes like Sure Start, but then we're not giving the adequate funding to make them work and make a difference in the community. It's annoying.

ctrl.alt.del - rebooting church for young adults

ctrl.alt.del is a new resource written by a group of baptists (including myself) who make up the BUGB's younger leader's forum. This is a thinktank of leaders in their 20s who input into the baptist union. Download ctrl_alt_del_co_press_copy.pdf

The resource comes in two parts - one part is encouraging churches to engage and support young adults (those in their 20s) and the other part is written for young adults designed to help them think about issues of faith, church and involvement. It's taken us a long time to get it here, but it's now available for £6. It's not yet on BU website, but if you ring the publications department on 01235 517743, you should be able to order a copy.

This is the introduction to the church side:

When faced with the question of ‘where are all the young adults?’, it can be quite difficult
to know where to begin. This resource is not intended to provide text book answers or be the fi nal word; rather, we hope it will generate a conversation and present an opportunity for our churches to listen and think through how they can engage with young adults already in the church, those who may have left the church and those who have never had contact with the church. As you read the sections and hear the stories and ideas, our intention is not to overwhelm you with a list of things you should or could be doing. This resource tackles a whole
range of questions and issues facing young adults and our purpose is to enable you to
develop creative and local responses that are appropriate to your context. The resource is divided into two main sections. The first section under the heading ‘Questioning
Spirituality’, discusses how young adults construct and practise their spiritual life within
church life; in other words, what does it mean to follow Christ? The second section, which
we have titled ‘Lost in Transitions’ identifies that the life of a young adult is one which is
challenged with an overwhelming number of transitions and choices, often in a short space
of time – university, employment, moving out of home, relationships and getting married,
starting a family, debt, etc – and asks what as churches are we doing, or can we do, to
support and help young adults through these times.

tescopoly - why i don't shop at tesco's

According to today's independent there's a new book out next week called tescopoly, which claims tesco's ruins towns and stifles choice. Read the article here. The tescopoly website is here. I've not shopped at tesco's for over a year now. I just don't like their approach and do believe their share of the market is too big.

Enlightenment & Alienation

One of Colin Gunton's early books Enlightenment & Alienation: An essay towards a trinitarian theology has recently been reprinted by wipf & stock publishers. The book has been hard to get a hold of, originally published in 1985, so its good to see it available again. This book marks something of the beginning of Gunton's trinitarian theology. It is a forerunner in a way to his later book: The One, the Three and the Many (1993). The book offers Colin's description of the enlightenment as both a necessary critique of 'modern' christianity and yet also not without its own theological and social problems. The second half of the book arguing for a more robust doctrine of the trinity as a means of overcoming the problems Gunton associated with the enlightenment.