WRITING THEOLOGY IN ITS OWN CONTEXT

Starting Points

Adapted from Chapter 1 of Writing Theology Well: A Rhetoricfor Theological and Biblical Writers, Lucretia B. Yaghjian

WRITING THEOLOGY WELL: STARTING POINTS

“It is extremely difficult to write theology well. The main reason I can’t write it is that . . . I don’t know precisely what I want to say, and therefore when I start to write I find that I am working out a theology as I go.”

--Thomas Merton, Sign of Jonas

WRITING THEOLOGY WELL:PRESUPPOSITIONS

• Writing theology well is teachable and learnable.

• Writing theology well is a rhetorical process.

• Writing theology well is a theological practice.

• In learning to write theology well, we are also writing to learn theology well.

THEOLOGICAL MEMO #1:AN INVITATION

• PLEASE WRITE A BRIEF “MEMO” IN RESPONSE TO THE PROMPT BELOW:

• What experience (if any) have you had in “writing theology well” for EDS or other courses in theology and/or ministry?

• Please reflect on your strengths and challenges as a writer, and the skills you have and need to write theology well.

WRITING THEOLOGY WELL: DEFINING THE CONTEXT(S)• What is writing? • Why do people write? • What is theology? • Why do theologians write it?• What is theological writing? • What distinguishes it from other

kinds of writing?

WHAT IS WRITING?

• A means of communication inscribed • through symbols, signs, or letters• by which we address others • across distances of time and space• “Let this be written for a generation yet

to come, so that a people unborn may praise the Lord”

(Psalm 102:18)

WRITING IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE (I)

• The technology of writing is (only) 6000 years old, a fruit of the Fertile Crescent and of economic rather than religious origins. Coinciding with the rise of agrarian societies, it developed around 4100-3800 B.C.E., with clay counting tokens, inscribed by the Sumerians to record their property (land, animals, produce) with a simplified picture of the commodity and a similar mark for the number counted.

• By 3100 B.C.E., Temple Officials at Sumer were transferring this system to larger tablets to keep accounts, engage in trade, and record historical events. Because its symbols were formed by wedge-shaped marks made by incising the clay tablet with a tapered reed, this system was called “Cuneiform.”

WRITING IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE (II)

• In Egypt, beginning in 3000 B.C.E., scribes developed an “alphabet” of pictorial signs called “hieroglyphics” (sacred engravings), and introduced papyrus scrolls to the technology of writing.

• With the Egyptians, writing acquires “theological” status: it acquires its own god, Thoth, who created writing “in the beginning”, and whose feast day was celebrated in the season of harvest.

• With Egyptian scribes, writing also acquires a “theological” style: different versions of hieratic script are designated for (1) religious documents, (2) literature and official documents, and (3) private correspondence.

WRITING IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE (III)

• The Phoenicians were the first to create a sound-based alphabet of consonants (1050 BCE).

• Hebrew/Aramaic, Arabic, and Greek scripts are all derived from the Phoenician alphabet.

• The Greeks learned their “abc’s” from Phoenician traders (5th Century BCE), added vowels to their alphabet, and introduced writing to the Western world.

• The Romans developed the Latin alphabet from the Greek alphabet, standardized it throughout the Roman Empire (3rd-1st Centuries BCE), and added cursive writing to the writer’s toolbox.

WHY DO PEOPLE WRITE?• Ancient and contemporary writers share:• A SUBJECT (Something to say)• An AUDIENCE (Someone to whom to say it)• A PURPOSE (A reason for writing it down)• A CONTEXT (A particular environment in

which the writing unfolds that influences the writing and is influenced by it)

WHO WRITES WHAT TO WHOMFOR WHAT PURPOSE?

• Writing is a means of oppression (Claude Levi-Strauss)

• Writing is a means of conscientization (Paulo Friere)

• Writing is a secondary inscription of speech (Ferdinand de Saussure)

• Writing is an integral way of knowingindependent of speech (Paul Ricoeur)

THEOLOGICAL MEMO #2:FOR WHAT PURPOSE(S) DO YOU WRITE?

• PLEASE WRITE A BRIEF “MEMO” IN RESPONSE TO ONE OR MORE OF THE PROMPTS BELOW:

• For what purposes do you write? • Which of the purposes of writing above

is closest to your purpose for writing?--writing as oppression; --writing as conscientization--writing as secondary to speech--writing as an integral way of knowing

BUT WHAT ABOUT WRITING THEOLOGY WELL?

• What is theology?• Why do theologians write it?

In order to learn how to write theology well, we must ask:

WHAT IS THEOLOGY?

• Theology (theos/logos) is talk, reasoning, or “discourse about God in the Christian Community” (R. Chopp)

• Theology is “a discipline that interprets all reality in terms of the symbols of Christian faith” (Roger Haight)

• “Theology is a language used by a specific group of people to make sense of their world” (Rowan Williams)

WHY DO THEOLOGIANS WRITE IT?• “To try one’s hand at theology requires

no other justification than the extreme pleasure of writing” (Jean-Luc Marion)

• Theologians write theology to ask and answer questions about the SUBJECT.

• Theologians write theology to address particular AUDIENCES.

• Theologians write theology to accomplish different PURPOSES.

WRITING THEOLOGY WELL:THE BIBLICAL PRECEDENT

• God is the original theological writer. • God wrote the Mosaic Covenant on stone

with his finger (Ex 31:18)• Moses wrote a second draft with God’s

authorization (Ex 34:27)• God writes a new covenant on our hearts

(Jer 31:33) and bids his prophets to “write the vision” (Hab 2:2)

• Early Christian communities used the written word to preserve the Jesus traditions and bring them to literacy

• The writer of Matthew is portrayed as a “scribe” for the kingdom (Matt 13:52)

• Luke “write[s] an orderly account” of the Gospel for his readers (Luke 1:1-4)

• John’s gospel is “written so that you may believe” (John 20:31)

WRITING THEOLOGY WELLIN THE GOSPELS

WRITING THEOLOGY WELLIN THE LETTERS OF PAUL

“Something about the nature of early Christianity made it a movement of letter writers.” --Stanley K. Stowers

• Paul’s Letters are the product of both oral and written communication (Rom 16:22; Gal 6:1; Col 4:16; II Tim 4:13).

• Paul wrote letters (epistles) for teaching, preaching, troubleshooting, and pastoral care to his Christian communities at a distance.

• Paul likens the Corinthian church to “a letter of Christ, prepared by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on human hearts” (II Cor 3:2-3).

WRITING THEOLOGY WELL WITH AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO

• First theologian to “baptize” rhetoric as a means of Christian communication

• Prepared a “Christian” rhetoric for teachers and preachers, On Christian Doctrine (427 CE), with styles adapted to subject/purpose/audience/context

• Exemplar of “pastoral” theological style• The goal of “writing theology well” is

persuasion that inspires readers to action through a process of conversion

WRITING THEOLOGY WELLWITH THOMAS AQUINAS

• Aquinas named theology a “science” (scientia) and embraced the Scholastic mode of dialectical reasoning

• Aquinas’ Summa Theologica (1273 C.E.) elevates dialectic as the operative theological “rhetoric”

• Exemplar of “systematic” style, typified by the summa, quaestio, and article

• The goal of “writing theology well” is “Faith seeking understanding” through a process of logical inquiry and argument

WRITING THEOLOGY WELLWITH TERESA OF AVILA

• Wrote theology in her own hand, in her own vernacular, in her own language of prayer, for her own community of religious women

• Interior Castle (1577 C.E.) combines vivid description of religious experience with practical instruction in the mystical life

• Exemplar of pastoral, proto-feminist style• The purpose of “writing theology well” is to

write about God to a particular audience in a language that they can understand

WRITING THEOLOGY WELLWITH FRIEDRICH

SCHLEIERMACHER• Emphasized theological “speech” as

opposed to “writing” in his writings • The Christian Faith (1821) describes

theology as “accounts of the religious affections set forth in speech”

• The purpose of “writing theology well” is to aid hearers of theological lectures, not to communicate in its own right

• Hence the writing of theology is submerged into the medium of speech

WRITING THEOLOGY WELLWITH ALBERT SCHWEITZER

• Albert Schweitzer first identifies theological writers as “authors.”

• The Quest for the Historical Jesus (1906) describes what theologians wrote, where they wrote, and how they wrote.

• The purpose of “writing theology well” is to write concisely, precisely, and simply, in a voice geared to subject and audience.

WRITING THEOLOGY WELLWITH MARTIN LUTHER KING

• Wrote one of the most famous documents of the US Civil Rights Movement from a prison cell in Birmingham, Alabama

• “Letter From Birmingham Jail” (1963) defends King’s movement of non-violent protest against criticism of the local clergy

• Exemplar of Rogerian rhetoric, which builds bridges between opposing viewpoints

• The purpose of writing theology well is to write what is “forged in action” (as King did)

WRITING THEOLOGY WELLWITH REBECCA CHOPP

• Feminist theology, says Chopp, began with a woman writing (Valerie Saiving, “The Human Situation: A Feminine View,”1960)

• Chopp’s Saving Work (1995) names writing one of the “feminist practices of theological education” by which we “write our lives”

• Exemplar of constructive theological style• The purpose of writing theology well is to

critique oppressive structures and write “new visions of what life can be like”

THEOLOGICAL MEMO #3:WRITING THEOLOGY WELL WITH . . .?• PLEASE WRITE A BRIEF “MEMO” IN RESPONSE TO

ONE OF THE PROMPTS BELOW:• Choose one of the theological writers described in

this historical overview, or a theologian of your own choosing, and imagine them writing. Look over their shoulder as they write, and imagine yourself writing with them. What are you writing (please write it)?

• Which theologians in this overview most strongly influence the kinds of theology you write today? What theological writers have directly or indirectly mentored you? Please prepare a “Writing Theology Well With . . .” PowerPoint Slide for that theological writer to add to those included here.

WRITING THEOLOGY WELL IN A CONTEMPORARY CONTEXT

• What distinguishes contemporary theological writing from other writing?–Its transcendent subject matter (theos

logos) written “from below”–Its genres/styles (e.g. “theological

reflection”; biblical exegesis)–It is written to/for specific communities

and audiences–It is written for and with the God who

authors us and authorizes our theology

WHO ARE THE AUDIENCES OF CONTEMPORARY THEOLOGY?

• David Tracy identifies three “publics” and their corresponding theologies:–The academy: fundamental theology–The church: systematic theology–The wider society: practical theology

• Leonardo Boff identifies three levels of liberation theology and their audiences:–Professional: for an academic audience–Pastoral: pastoral ministers and workers–Popular: lay Christians in study groups

THEOLOGICAL MEMO #4:DESCRIBING YOUR OWN

THEOLOGICAL AUDIENCE• Draw a small circle that represents your own academic

community, degree program, and discipline: that is your immediate theological location and audience.

• Now draw a larger circle around that smaller one to describe your church community, or ecclesial context. What will this audience require of you?

• Next, draw a larger circle enclosing the other two, which represents your societal context, or social location. How does this context influence your writing?

• Finally, imagine yourself in your chosen ministry or profession. For which of these audiences will you be writing? If it is a new audience, draw another circle where it belongs on the diagram. What have you learned from this “map”? Please explain.

WRITING THEOLOGY WELL IS AN ACT OF FAITH!

• May you write theology well not merely as an academic exercise, but as an act of faith

• In yourself as a writer!• In the value of what you are writing!• In the audience for whom you are writing! • In the God who first wrote on your heart

and is with you as you continue to write theology well!