God-Curious by Stephen Cherry

Author:Stephen Cherry
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781784504731
Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Published: 2017-01-31T16:00:00+00:00

BOOKS AND LIBRARIES

We have already discussed the idea that theology is talking or writing or in any other way producing words about God. Inevitably the words that have been captured in books are those that have been most powerful in shaping the disciplines and practices of academic theology. And you will not find a serious theologian who is not in some sense interested in books. I distinguish here between a serious and a non-serious theologian because anyone can just start talking about God at any time and without thinking for two seconds about what they are saying or about how it connects with what anyone else has said or thought in the past. There is a surprising amount of this around today, as there was in the first few centuries after Christ. So much so that people such as Gregory Nazianzus, who lived in the fourth century, wrote in terms that were rather blunt about what qualified someone to discuss theology. ‘It is not for all people, but only for those who have been tested and have found a sound footing in study, and, more importantly, have undergone, or at the very least are undergoing, purification of body and soul.’3

Whether any of the bar-room theologians took any notice is another matter, but it’s important to realize, when beginning to engage with theology, that the difference between utter nonsense and deeply wise statements may not immediately be apparent to someone who is coming to the issues for the first time. You could say that we need to ‘prepare’ ourselves if we want to engage helpfully with theology, and note that for Gregory this preparation is a matter not only of thought but of ‘body and soul’. He also asks himself who should listen to discussions of theology, and answers that it is those who take it seriously, stressing that theology is ‘not just another subject like any other for entertaining small-talk, after the races, the theater, songs, food, and sex: for there are people who count chatter on theology and clever deployment of arguments as one of their amusements’.4

The seriousness of theology need not detract from its fascination and fun, as I have put it in an earlier chapter, but Gregory’s point does suggest that it is appropriate to engage with theology with a certain amount of respect. And today one might argue that the respect can be both for the subject matter itself and for the importance that it has in other people’s lives and values. Quite how seriousness is expressed and measured is not something about which our culture is currently agreed, but there is no doubt that in the recent past someone would definitely consider themselves serious as a theologian if they not only studied it carefully but also ventured into print. Not so much ‘publish and be damned’ as ‘publish and become a theologian’, one could say.

When I think of the number of books that have been written that could be described as theological – that is,

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.