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Myths regarding Education1. The teacher is the smartest
person in the room.
1. The objective is successfully to complete a series of courses.
1. Information is the primary ingredient
1. The teacher may be the most experienced in the subject matter, but all can contribute helpful perspectives.
2. The objective is increased understanding and appreciation of God’s World, and effectiveness in repairing its brokenness.
3. Information is an essential means to greater ends. (The economics of Bythinia and the location of the Red Sea crossing are important concerns in academia, but not in God’s purposes in the world).
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Jan. 6-9 schedule for MMIN 611
Tues 10:00-12:00; 1:00-4:30Wed 8:00-12:00; 1:00-2:30 Thurs 8:00-12:00; 1:00-3:00 Fri 8:00-12:00
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Learning Diamond ContextContent
Persons
Process
What are the Functions of Foundations?
• Support walls, roof, all.• Mark out boundaries.• Encase infrastructural components (plumbing,
electrical; vents).• Stabilize structure during storms
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Building Block Vocabulary• Theology• Practical Theology• Theological Reflection• Praxis• Spirituality• Post-modernity• Context• Hermeneutics• Hermeneutic of Suspicion• Epistemology• Epistemological humility• Ecclesiology
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What do we mean by “theological foundations?”• Elements of theological process• Philosophy• Epistemology• Biblical teaching• Desired Outcomes(Goals) of Theological
Reflection• Lived (actual) Outcomes of Theological Reflection.
“You don’t know something until it drips out of your life.”
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1 Peter 2:4-12
4As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him— 5you also, like living stones, are being built into a
spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6For in Scripture it says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” 7Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, "The stone the builders rejected
has become the capstone," 8and, "A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall." They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for. 9But you are a chosen people, a
royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful
light. 10Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 11Dear
friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. 12Live such good lives among the
pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
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Jesus
Theology
Community Ministry
Spirituality
Our Life in Christ
Four Cornerstones(1 Peter 2:4-12)
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Theology
Love G
od with
Mind
Community
Love God with Heart
Ministry
Love God with
Strength; a
nd
Neighbor as s
elf
SpiritualityLove God with Soul
Our Life in Christ
Great Commandments
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Learning Diamond
ContextCommunity
ContentTheology
PersonsSpirituality
ProcessMinistry
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Community• We share our life in Christ with others; we
journey in groups. • The community forms our spirituality
through . . . – What it does; what it does not do.– Language– Rituals– How it handles problems.
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Ministry• Any attempt I make because I am a
Christian to assist persons with their needs, whether those needs are immediate or ultimate.
• Any attempt to expose others to or involved others in the life (zoe) found in Christ.
• “Any attempt” = from a cup of cold water to cross-cultural holistic evangelism.
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Spirituality
• The internality of our faith and life in Christ.
• “The intertwining processes of interpreting experience through the lens of Christian faith as well as a way of expressing faith through intentional action.” (RC)
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Theology
• Our reflection on (the process) and understanding (the product) of our life in Christ.
An intro to case learning/teaching
• Popularized by Harvard Business School• Used in numerous professional education
contexts• Narratives based on actual events & containing a
problem for the participants to solve. • The goal is not “the solution” but the cognitive
workout provided by the process of getting to a solution.
• See pdf entitled, “case & note example.”
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“Soldiers without an Army” (a case study)• Identify the characters and their interests (concerns
& values)• What problems do you see? What are the root
problems among the larger set of problems?• What should the Winstons do?• What would be your pastoral response to the
Winstons?• What biblical texts would inform your pastoral
response to the Winstons?
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THEOLOGY UNIT Begins here
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What is “theology?”
• Construct a definition• Needs to include something of God’s
Story• Something of God’s Vision
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What is “theology?”• To Greek poets (Homer, Hessiod), theology
was an effort to speak about the nature of the world.
• “Faith seeking understanding.” (The motto of St. Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109)
• Our understanding of God’s nature and desires
• A quest for God
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What is “theology?”• Pursuit of, Reflection on and Exploration
into the nature and will of God.• Construction of our thought about God• Decision-making• Commitment to new action
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What is “theology?”A lifelong, intentional and loving pursuit of increased knowledge and imitation of Jesus Christ towards the ends of lived Christian faith and enhanced participation in God’s activity in, and purposes for, the world. (RC)
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What is “theology?”
Lifelong Intentional pursuit Loving pursuit
of Increased knowledge Increased imitation of Jesus
towards the ends of Lived Christian faith Enhanced participation in God’s activity in the worldGod’s purposes for the world
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Some Kinds of Theology• Biblical theology (past)
• Systematic theology (always)
• Practical theology (now)
• Spiritual theology (everywhere)
– Eugene Peterson’s Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places
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Specific systematic theologies• Pneumatology (the Holy Spirit)• Ecclesiology (the church)
– Everett Ferguson’s, The Church of Christ, an Ecclesiology for Today.
• Soteriology (soter; Salvation)• Eschatology (Events preceding,
accompanying and resulting from the end of the world)
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Recent Theological Directions• Liberation theology (praxis based)
– Latin American (G. Gutierrez)
– Black (James Cone)
– Feminist (Elizabeth Schussler Fiorenza, Bread, Not Stone)
• Emergent Theology • Brian McLaren. Everything Must Change: Jesus, Global Crises and
a Revolution of Hope. 2007
• Rollins, Peter. How (Not) to Speak of God
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larryjamesurbandaily.blogspot.com
“Liberation Theology”
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“In summary, practical theology is a dynamic process of reflective, critical inquiry [hermeneutic of suspicion as
well as affirmation] into the praxis [theology
“from below”] of the church in the world and God’s purposes for humanity, carried out in the light of Christian Scripture and tradition, and in critical dialogue with other sources of knowledge [which sources? how blended?. (cont’d)
GREEN is Ray AndersonWHITE is Ross Cochran’s additions/explanationsdef.
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… As a theological discipline its primary purpose is to ensure that the church’s public proclamations and praxis [reflective and intentional action] in the world faithfully reflect the nature and purpose of God’s continuing mission to the world [missional churches; living
missionally] and in so doing authentically addresses the contemporary context into which the church seeks to minister.” (p. 22)
Ray S. Anderson, The Shape of Practical Theology: Empowering Ministry with Theological Praxis.
For excerpt of chapter one, go to http://ivpress.gospelcom.net/cgi-ivpress/book.pl/toc/code
=1559Practical theology def.
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Practical theology…”must take on the characteristics of theology as such. It too is a descriptive, normative, critical and apologetical activity. It is the means whereby the day-to-day life of the Church, in all its dimensions, is scrutinized in the light of the Gospel and related to the demands and challenges of the present day, in a dialogue that both shapes Christian practice and influences the world, however minimally.”
Paul Ballard and John Pritchard, Practical Theology in Action: Christian Thinking in the Service of Church and Society (London: SPCK, 1996), p. 12 (as quoted in Anderson,
Shape of Practical Theology, p. 26z)
Practical theology def.
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Some Foundational Theological Questions
• What is the nature of God?• What is the nature of man?• What constitutes “true religion?”
– James 1:27– Orthodoxy, Orthopraxy, Orthopathy
• How do we know? (epistemology)
Peter Rollins, How (Not) to Speak of God, pg 24-25.
Yet in reality the Christian God destroys the idea of immanence and transcendence as opposite points in a diffuse spectrum, replacing this with the idea that immanence and transcendence are one and the same point: God remains transcendent amidst immanence precisely because God remains concealed amidst revelation. . . . Here the God testified to in Christianity is affirmed as an un/known God.
This recognition of hyper-presence leads us to consider the traditional atheism/theism opposition, for if our beliefs necessarily fall short of that which they attempt to describe, then it would seem that a certain atheistic spirit is actually deeply embedded within Christianity.
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Peter Rollins, How (Not) to Speak of God, pg 26.
This a/theism is thus a deeply religious and faith-filled form of cynical discourse, one which captures how faith operates in an oscillation between understanding and unknowing. This unknowing is to be utterly distinguished from an intellectually lazy ignorance, for it is a type of unknowing which arise not from imprecision but rather from deep reflection and sustained mediation. The a/theistic language employed by those involved in the emerging conversation … is a recognition that negation is embedded within, and permeates, all religious affirmation. It is an acknowledgement that a desert of ignorance exists in the midst of every oasis of understanding.
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Peter Rollins, How (Not) to Speak of God, pg 27.
This a/theistic approach is not to be mistaken for some type of synthesis of opposites; rather, it is the uncollapsible tension between affirming our religious ideas while also placing them into question. This a/theism is not then some temporary place of uncertainty on the way to spiritual maturity, but rather is something that operates within faith as a type of heat-inducing friction that prevents our liquid images of the divine from cooling and solidifying into idolatrous form.
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The contribution of “the uncertainty of fluidity” to epistemology
• Revelation • Inscription • Inspiration • Transmission • Translation • Preservation • Canonicity • Interpretation
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The contribution of “the uncertainty of fluidity” to epistemology
• Revelation (Did the prophets hear God’s voice? How are the Psalms which are written TO God, the word OF God FROM God?)
• Inscription (Paul dictated; differing vocabulary & syntax between authors).
• Inspiration (2 Tim. 3:16-17; What is inspired (words, ideas, original texts, vocabulary, etc.)? What does “inspired” mean?
• Transmission (presence of textual variants)• Translation (which one?)• Preservation (letter to Laodecia – Col. 4:16)• Canonicity (many books debated) • Interpretation (nature of man; Roman 5)
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Disparate Ingredients
• Fluidity and Certainty• Limited epistemological perspective and
absolute truth• Plurality and exclusivity
• Peter Rollins, How NOT to speak of God
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Foundational Questions (cont’d)
• What is the place of experience in theological reflection?
• What is the essence of Christianity? What are Christianity’s non-negotiable, culture-and-time-transcending essentials?
• What voices (sources) inform our theological reflection? (science? Intuition? Scripture?)
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Elements of Theological Reflection
• Scripture
• Context
• Experience
• Reason
• Imagination • “as if” Hebrews 13:2-3
• “To the least of these…..to me” (Matt. 25:40)
• Tradition
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What is the Role of Experience in Theological Method & Formulations?
• Pentecostals: experience as a chief form of knowing; “2nd blessing.”
• Some have denounced experience as unreliable.
• The Book of Proverbs - distillations of experience observed over time.
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What is the role of Scripture in Theological Method & Formulations?
• This question connected to these realities:
– What do we mean by Inspiration? (theopnuestos; 2 Timothy 3:14-17)
– The canonization process was characterized by debate.
– The biblical documents are occasional (written to a specific context but we believe with context-transcending authority & application.
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What is the role of Scripture in Theological Method & Formulations? Why would we say
“Scripture is authoritative?”
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What is the role of Scripture in Theological Method & Formulations?
1. Scripture is always interpreted….– A Bible translation is itself and interpretation.– Whose interpretation do we follow?
2. Scripture is not comprehensive in the scope of its content.
3. What elements in Scripture are eternal, and which are specific (and limited in scope) to their time and culture (contextually bound)?
4. Some would say we are at an impasse in our journey of interpretation.
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On the question of Essentials
• Identity and Adaptability– What in the Tradition can be adapted to the new
setting (cross-cultural missions; post-modern culture)?
– Examples: the role of women in the assembly; the integration of white and black persons in Southern USA in 1950’s.
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Options re: Identity and Adaptability
• Fortress strategy• Complete casting off of the tradition• A Mediating position
– Holding on to core– Adapting of non-essentials
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Examples of Mediators
• Jesus: fulfillment of the Law, yet disregarded some traditions re: Gentiles (Zaccheaus; “friend of sinners” in Matthew 11:19)
• Paul– 1 Cor. 9:19– Titus’ and Timothy’s circumcisions
RC’s theological assumptions• God wants his nature and will (1) to be known (2) by all.• We must assume we have misunderstood God. Otherwise we
will be closed to new insight. – Proceed with a hermeneutic of suspicion.– Epistemological humility– The fallacy of sectarianism is not only theological inaccuracy, but arrogance. • Leaders of the Restoration Movement were willing to change
any belief, give up any practice – there were no “sacred cows.”• Praxis as starting place. • The Christ event is God’s ultimate revelatory act. – Jesus is primary lens for remainder of Scripture. – The primacy of the Gospels.
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John 1:1-2, 14, 18
• In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God ???? (1-2)
• The word became flesh and dwelt for awhile among us…..full of grace and truth. (14)
• The incarnated one makes the Father known. (18)
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Implications of Word become flesh
• Living trumps cognitive knowing (Orthopraxy trumps orthodoxy)
• We must live the way we want all to live.• Theology must address the issues generated
by human experience.
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What Is Theological Reflection?
The term “theological reflection” has come into prominence over the last thirty years in a variety of settings and serving a number of ends. It is used to denote a process in which an individual or small group reflects on their personal or collective experience(s) in light of their faith. The aim is not only to come to new understandings about the circumstances in which people live and the faith they profess, but to identify new ways of responding that validate their experience and give voice to their truth.
-- Dr. Richard Dickey, 6/2006. http://www.ants.edu/academics/fielded/handbook/
FEP_TheologicalReflection.pdf#search=%22Theological%20Reflection%20Elements%22
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Postures for Theological Reflection
1. Humility2. Awe / Worship3. Openness to new insight
• change your mind & life, OR change what God said
4. Willingness to follow discoveries• discipleship
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Desired Outcomes of Theological Reflection
• Not merely to know intellectually, though we are to love God with our minds. (“We can’t reason people into faith, but faith has its reasons.”)
• Understanding of God’s nature, will and his on-going work in the world, AND Catapulting this Understanding into New Action in the World
• The imitation of Jesus: To think, to desire, and to do like Jesus
• To continue the Incarnation of Jesus• To guide our praxis of ministry/witness in the world.
To give “feet” to our faith.
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How Thomas Groome might say it…
• Beyond Cognition to Conation• Beyond Epistemology to Ontology
– Ontological turn– Transformation of Being– To form, inform and transform Christian Identity
and Agency.
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MARRIAGEAn exercise in theological reflection…
• Why did God design marriage?• What does God intend for the marriage
relationship?• What outcomes does God desire to be
produced by marriage?• What texts inform a Christian view of
marriage?• Ever heard, “One man, one woman, for life?”
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“The end of all Christian belief and obedience, witness and teaching, marriage and family, leisure and work life, preaching and pastoral work is the living of everything we know about God: life, life, and more life. If we don’t know where we are going, any road will get us there. But if we have a destination – in this case a life lived to the glory of God – there is a well-marked way, the Jesus-revealed Way. Spiritual theology is the attention that we give to the details of living life on this way. It is a protest against theology depersonalized into information about God; it is a protest against theology functionalized into a program of strategic planning for God.”
Eugene Peterson, Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places: A Conversation in Spiritual Theology, p. 1
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Regarding Theological Method• Methodist Quadrilateral: Reason, Scripture,
Tradition, Experience
• Roman Catholic: Tradition; Scripture is a part of “THE tradition.”
• Evangelicals: Scripture (properly interpreted) as the final authority in matters of life and faith. Lived experience is accountable to, and judged by, Scripture.
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Starting Places
• From above (Revelation)– Creation– Scripture– Jesus– Experience (properly qualified)
• From below (experience)
The starting point for theological reflection
From “above”
• Begins with Scripture as God’s Revelation
from “below”• Begins with human experience.• “Below” is where we are.• Scripture
• anchored in historical context.• Praxis generated
• Ecclesiastes “under the sun”• Proverbs: wisdom gleaned from
observing experience• When we go to Scripture, we have
begun our journey from a context of lived experience.
• Realidad (Paulo Freire, Brazilian literacy teacher)
• Present Praxis (Tom Groome)
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Traits of Christian Theology
• Christ-centered• Discovering• Descriptive & Discerning• Dialogical• Done by all• Partial, not total, understanding• Leads to more Christian way of acting/living.
(Peterson quote, Christ Plays, p. 1)
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Challenges to Theology• Notions of truth as non-existent or unattainable. (the
challenge of postmodernism)• Differing Christian traditions in competition rather
than in collaboration, which could eliminate our blind spots)
• Busyness; absence of silence and stillness• Hypocrisy; lack of authenticity.• Bifurcation of belief and action• Arrogance and sectarianism• Unwillingness to live in that place where paradox lives
but resolution does not.
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Desired Outcomes of Theological Reflection
• Understanding of God’s nature, work and will (Knowing)
• Transformation of Identity (Being)• New Action in the World (Doing)
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What is the Goal of Theological Reflection?
The goal is not merely to know intellectually, though we are to love God with our minds.
Thomas Groome: To form, inform and transform Christian Identity and Agency.
Apostle Paul: “…until Christ is formed in you.” (Gal. 4:19; also see Romans 12:1-2; Ephesians 4:11-14)
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Why do theology?• To overcome notions of faith void of
serious thought (bumper sticker faith)• To be able to give reasons for our hope (1
Peter 3:15)• To address thoughtfully the questions faced
by humanity
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Roots of Christian Theology• The Christ-event (Incarn, D, B & R)• Proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus• Formation of Faith Communities• Need for Maturation; further instruction
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Roots of Christian Theology, cont’d
• Gospels and letters composed– NT documents are about shaping persons…
• For increased holiness• For increased usefulness in God’s purposes• For community• For eternity
• Christianity faces new settings, challenges (internal and external)
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Roots of Christian Theology, cont’d
• Desire for orthodoxy• “Making sense of the mysteries.” (RC) • Need for continued reflection and discernment in new
contexts and in the face of new challenges.• All conscientiously reflective Christians engage in
theological reflection.
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Where Cross the Crowded Ways of Life
Where cross the crowded ways of life,Where sound the cries of race and clanAbove the noise of selfish strife,We hear your voice, O Son of man.
In haunts of wretchedness and need,On shadowed thresholds dark with fears,From paths where hide the lures of greed,We catch the vision of Your tears.
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Where Cross the Crowded Ways of Life
From tender childhood’s helplessness,From woman’s grief, man’s burdened toil,From famished souls, from sorrow’s stress,Your heart has never known recoil.
The cup of water given for You,Still holds the freshness of Your grace;Yet long these multitudes to viewThe sweet compassion of Your face.
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Where Cross the Crowded Ways of Life
O Master, from the mountainsideMake haste to heal these hearts of pain;Among these restless throngs abide;O tread the city’s streets again.
Till sons of men shall learn Your loveAnd follow where Your feet have trod,Till, glorious from Your Heaven above,Shall come the city of our God!
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ILLNESSAn exercise in theological reflection…
• Why do people get ill? How many causes of illness have we identified?
• In what ways have you seen an illness be redeemed to contribute to a purpose of God?
• What texts inform a Christian view of illness?
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WORKAn exercise in theological reflection…
• What does daily work contribute to people’s lives?
• How is meaning found in daily work?• What texts inform a Christian view of
work?
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Wheel in a Wheel
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Peer discussion questions
• Biblical writers often use images to describe God. – What are some of these images, and which one speaks most
powerfully to you? – How does the presence of these images in the biblical text inform
the tasks of preaching & teaching?
• Problem of suffering. Theodicy.• What are the purposes of the church?
Windows into the theology “house”
1 Peter 2:4-12 (Tuesday)Hebrews 10:24-25 (Wednesday)John 17:3 (Thursday)John 7:17 (Friday)
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Contents of this File• Building Block vocabulary• Postures• Foundations and their function• What is Theology?• Case study: “Soldiers without an
Army”• Windows into Theology ‘house’• Why do Theology?• Kinds of Theology• Practical Theology• Theological Questions• Elements of Theological Reflection• Starting Places• Traits of Christian Theological
Refection• Challenges to Theology• Theology at the Crossroads
• This slide needs updating..
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