When did the Church of England start being embar\u00c2\u00adrassed by theology? There was a time when our theo\u00c2\u00adlogical 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 alto\u00c2\u00adgether.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s pro\u00c2\u00adgramme of education. It came to nothing. His sugges\u00c2\u00adtions were rebuffed for being \u201ctoo Christian\u201d\u009d. Staff at the cathedral said that they prided themselves on out\u00c2\u00adreach to non-Christians, and any\u00c2\u00adthing too religious \u201cmight put them off\u201d\u009d.<\/p>\n
Another friend, also a parish priest, attended a course on \u201cleader\u00c2\u00adship devel\u00c2\u00adop\u00c2\u00adment\u201d\u009d organised by her diocese. It could have been training for Marks & Spencer or NatWest: it was secular management theory from beginning to end.<\/p>\n