WHAT IS THEOLOGY? PART FOUR

FINAL PART OF THE EDITED TESTIMONY OF MY Professor Roger E. Olson.

This fourth installment of the series will not make much sense without the first three, so please read or listen to Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 before this. This last part presupposes those.

The professor goes ahead to say that:

Throughout my career as a theologian, I have frequently encountered people who claim, directly or indirectly, that they “do theology” as well, if not better, than professional theologians. But, of course, rarely do they mean theology as I have described it in Parts 1 to 3 so far of this series. Some of those who claim to do theology better than professional theologians are of the ANTI-INTELLECTUAL variety and they usually mean: THEY “SIMPLY READ THE BIBLE AND TAKE IT AT FACE VALUE.” OFTEN, WHAT THEY MEAN BY “THEOLOGY” IS WHAT I MEAN BY FOLK RELIGION.

OTHERS WHO CLAIM TO DO THEOLOGY BETTER THAN PROFESSIONAL THEOLOGIANS ARE SCHOLARS WHO USE THEIR OWN DISCIPLINE’S TOOLS AND SKILLS TO INVESTIGATE TRUTH ABOUT GOD (AND MATTERS RELATED TO GOD). I GAVE THE EXAMPLE OF A FORMER COLLEAGUE WHO BELIEVED HE DID THEOLOGY AS AN ANTHROPOLOGIST—BETTER THAN THOSE OF US WHO PRACTICE THEOLOGY AS PROFESSIONAL THEOLOGIANS.

Personally, I, Isaiah White Tumwine, can testify that: Many religious professors who have done studies in the doctrines of their specific denominations silence us professional theologians and the flock tends to listen to these imposters at the expense of the technocrats.

Far be it from me to deny that some non-theologians do theology better than I do it. HOWEVER, THEOLOGY IS NOT SOMETHING JUST ANYONE CAN DO WELL. IT IS A DISCIPLINE INTO WHICH ONE IS TRAINED. OF COURSE, A PERSON TRAINED IN IT MAY VERY WELL DO IT POORLY.

For that reason we have many with academic transcripts but few can discuss what they studied. There are numerous examples of that! The same could be said of any discipline. Who would claim, for example, that all persons trained in and possessing the skills necessary for philosophy “philosophizes” well? But a few (even many) bad apples do not undermine the discipline as a whole.

As I argued: THEOLOGY IS A CHURCH-RELATED DISCIPLINE; IT IS NOT A “FREE FLOATING” DISCIPLINE DISCONNECTED FROM ANY PARTICULAR COMMITMENT OR COMMUNITY. THE CHURCH NEEDS THEOLOGIANS AND THEOLOGIANS NEED THE CHURCH. AND YET, TO A CERTAIN EXTENT, A THEOLOGIAN’S JOB IS TO QUESTION THE CHURCH—NOT AS A CHRONIC SKEPTIC OR GADFLY BUT AS A FAITHFUL PROPHET. HE OR SHE IS A SERVANT OF THE CHURCH AND AT THE SAME TIME ONE WHO CHALLENGES THE CHURCH TO EXAMINE ITS BELIEFS AND PRACTICES.

So part of the answer to who does theology if someone asked, is—one who has acquired the knowledge and skills to practice theology and practices it in the service of the church. I personally wonder whether your church is ready?? For that matter, few theologians in Uganda begun a fellowship known as In Truth and In Spirit Well of Worship Ministries John 4:24 (iTiS Fellowship)

There are fourfold knowledge and skills needed to do theology professionally well, and these are:

• First, a theologian must be conversant with REVELATION—whatever revelation his or her faith community acknowledges as divine. For the Christian theologian that usually means first and foremost Jesus Christ and scripture. Skill in biblical exegesis and hermeneutics is a prerequisite for doing theology well professionally.
• Second, a theologian must be conversant with the TRADITION(s) of his or her faith community. For the Christian theologian that means the Great Tradition of Christian thought (church fathers, creeds, medieval theology, confessional statements, Reformation traditions, etc.) and the traditions (inspirational moments in the past experiences of your faith) of his or her own faith community.
• Third, a theologian must be skilled in the rules of thought and communication—especially LOGIC. This means that a theologian must have some philosophy ability to reason both in formal and informal logic. Entertain a reasonable belief system that self-checks itself in the mode of critical thought
• Finally, a theologian must be sensitive to human spiritual EXPERIENCE and the religious experiences of his or her own faith community. He or she must have a sense for the divine as interpreted by his or her own faith tradition. Also, he or she must be conversant with culture and skilled at bringing religious beliefs into creative correlation with culture.

Few scholars without a Ph.D. (or equivalent training) in religious studies and/or theology has that knowledge and those skills. Many with Ph.D.s in religious studies and/or theology still lack them, but that depth and breadth of training is minimally necessary for doing theology professionally and doing it well.

Of course, some of the greatest theological minds did not have doctoral degrees—e.g., Karl Barth and Reinhold Niebuhr. Nevertheless, they acquired the knowledge and skills described above on their own and in deep conversation with fellow scholars.

I AM NOT ARGUING THAT NOBODY CAN BE A THEOLOGIAN EXCEPT PEOPLE WITH PH.D.S IN RELIGION OR THEOLOGY; I AM ARGUING THAT THEOLOGY IS A DISCIPLINE—AN ORDERLY WAY OF THINKING THAT WORKS SKILLFULLY WITH SOURCES, NORMS AND TOOLS. IT ISN’T SOMETHING JUST ANYONE DECIDES TO DO ON THEIR OWN AND THEN DOES IT—WITHOUT USUALLY UTTERLY FAILING.

Many years ago I was visiting some friends of my family. The husband’s grandfather was a spiritual mentor of many members of my own family. When he found out about my interest in theology as a scholarly pursuit and discipline he scoffed and pointed me to some books (booklets, really) written by his grandfather—a patriarch of our faith community. I had heard his grandfather’s name all my life—from my parents and relatives. So I sat down and began reading the books.

The first one I opened argued that all the divisions of Christianity came about as a result of the Constantinian takeover of Christianity. Before Constantine, the author argued, Christians were united around the gospel and there were no major or serious divisions. They were all in one accord and of one mind and faith. Well, after reading just a few pages I KNEW THE MAN HAD NO KNOWLEDGE OF THE HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY AND WAS NOT QUALIFIED TO DO THEOLOGY. I SILENTLY PUT THE BOOKS BACK ON MY NEW FRIEND’S SHELF AND SAID NOTHING TO HIM ABOUT IT. I KNEW HE WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO HANDLE THE TRUTH ABOUT HIS GRANDFATHER.

UNFORTUNATELY, THERE ARE MANY PEOPLE IN CHRISTIAN CHURCHES AND ORGANIZATIONS WHO THINK THEY OR SOMEONE THEY KNOW DOES THEOLOGY WELL AND EVEN BETTER THAN PROFESSIONAL THEOLOGIANS. USUALLY WHEN I INVESTIGATE THEM I FIND HUGE GAPS IN THEIR KNOWLEDGE AND FLAWS IN THEIR SKILLS. THEY HAVE LED MANY PEOPLE ASTRAY BY PEDDLING THEIR NOTIONS ABOUT GOD AND CHRISTIANITY.

Theology is an exciting adventure and not a place to settle in and defend. I view it as a journey, a pilgrimage if you will.