When did the Church of England start being embarÂrassed by theology? There was a time when our theoÂlogical learning was met with wonder: our erudition was the stupor mundi. Today, the official theology of the Church of England is more often just stupefying, or it is absent altoÂgether.
Two examples from the world of diocesan theological education will set the scene. An academic I know, a leader in his field and a hard-working parish priest, offered to help with his cathedral’s proÂgramme of education. It came to nothing. His suggesÂtions were rebuffed for being “too Christian”. Staff at the cathedral said that they prided themselves on outÂreach to non-Christians, and anyÂthing too religious “might put them off”.
Another friend, also a parish priest, attended a course on “leaderÂship develÂopÂment” organised by her diocese. It could have been training for Marks & Spencer or NatWest: it was secular management theory from beginning to end.
Words do not suffice to convey the ardor of my affirmation of this column.
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes and yes.
An Ordinand at my parish told me that her introduction to Trinitarian theolgy had occured when the tutor had asked the class to model the Trinity using pipe cleaners. (FWIW she qI attended diocesan training in which we were asked to represent our experience of God using various colors of tissue paper.
Corrected version:
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes and yes.
An Ordinand at my parish told me that her introduction to Trinitarian theolgy had occured when the tutor had asked the class to model the Trinity using pipe cleaners. I attended diocesan training in which we were asked to represent our experience of God using various colors of tissue paper.
Goodness — there is much to be said here.
I would like to highlight first and foremost that anti-intellectualism is alive and thriving among both liberals and conservatives. I’ve heard liberal bishops in public discussions wave away references to the Fathers and I’ve heard evangelicals disparage rigorous graduate training in the scriptures. It happens all the time.
We live at a moment where serious thinkers committed to Christian orthodoxy are desperately needed. Notice how I phrased that, though: we need thinkers who are rigorously trained, articulate, and committed to the truths of the Gospel.
Davison mentions “there are many fine Anglican theologians who have international reputations.” I would like to know to whom he is referring? Who does he feel these internationally-known folks are? Oliver O’Donovan? Ephraim Radner? N. T. Wright? Marilyn McCord Adams? Rowan Williams himself? Who are we talking about here? The ones I’ve just listed are all over the place.
To return to my point above, however, Davison talks about a disparity between academic theology and the life of the church. I want to stress that this is not simply the church’s fault for not inviting academic theologians in. We have to understand that:
(1) those working in religious studies are phenomenologists with no required commitments to the Gospel or any tradition.
(2) many theologians are now working beyond the rule of faith (I’m more worried about these than the folks in #1). Why should the Church look to them when their priorities are not the propagation of the Gospel?
So, I say again: we need critical thinkers, rigorously trained, articulate, and committed to the Gospel.
PS: Davison’s remark “Gone is our fabled open-mindedness†is a case in point. Any well trained church historian will know that such a notion has always been a FABLE….
St. Pauls Theological was started here at St Andrews last year. Joint effort with St Michaels and the interest by the laity has been phenomenal. NT Wright, David Ford, Alistar McGraith on dvd and our own Steve Wood, Rob Sturdy and Al Zadig going live draw around 100 p/week. Lawyers, doctors, teachers, a lot of young people and they want to stay well beyond the 9pm close time to have there own discussions.
Take this report about the Church of England, then multiply what it says by 5 to 10, and you’ve got the situation in The Episcopal Church.
Rudy+
When did it start to be embarrassed by theology…I can take a guess that an important date was 11/22/63 when C.S. Lewis died, but the process (and he was distressed by it) had begun some years earlier.
When did it really start to look bad? Maybe the roof leaking should have been noticed when James Pike called the Trinity “Excess baggage” just a few years later? Certainly when his fellow bishops did nothing about it. That’s about 50 or so years of complete neglect. And someone asks such questions now.
The embarrassment started in the 17th century when Thomas Hobbes’ writings were censored in England and yet he was regaled outside England. Many in the Church of England recognized that Hobbe’s political views ran counter to the biblical worldview but Hobbes was protected by Charles II. Read more here: http://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2009/02/thomas-hobbes-on-orders-of-creation.html