A return to the Bishops

-
"During the years 100 to 600, most theologians were bishops; from 600 to 1500 in the West, they were monks; since 1500, they have been university professors. Gregory I, who died in 604, was a bishop who had been a monk; Martin Luther, who died in 1546 was a monk who became a university professor." Jaroslav Pelikan

I would like to see a return to the theologian bishop. That is one of the reasons I like N.T. Wright, Leslie Newbigin, Eugene Peterson and even Dietrich Bonhoeffer. They were all pastors as well as scholars. The world (especially in the industrialized west) has too many academics and not enough pastors.

Comments

Cameron Lawrence said…
The idea of theology as a living encounter with God is compelling, to say the least, and smacks against what takes place in many western seminaries (so it seems to me, though I'm no expert on the subject).

As they say in the Christian east, "One who truly prays is a theologian and a true theologian is one who prays." We can read all the books in the world, study all the commentaries, and develop the most convincing rational arguments for this or that exegesis. But if we don't have communion with God through prayer--and in His body, the Church--we can't truly be theologians. Thinking about Him isn't the same thing as dwelling in His transforming presence.

I've found that book knowledge alone, and the pursuit thereof, can become a prop that gives us a false sense of our spiritual growth. When it becomes time to pray, it's a painful discovery to realize that, despite all the beautiful and profound ideas one has learned about God, it's difficult to overcome distractions or sinful thoughts, and commune with Him. I have to fight against that false sense of growth. It's been humbling to realize that all my reading doesn't amount to much apart from my praying, which I'm still only beginning to learn how to do.

I like this quote from Elder Sophrony's book "St. Silouan the Athonite":

"What is the use of reasoning about the nature of grace if one does not experience its action in oneself? What is the use of declaiming about the light of Tabor if one does not dwell in it existentially? Is there any sense in splitting theological hairs over the nature of the Trinity if a man has not within himself the holy strength of the Father, the gentle love of the Son, the uncreated light of the Holy Ghost?

"Dogmatic knowledge, understood as spiritual knowledge, is a gift of God, like all forms of real life in God, granted by God, and only possible through His coming. This knowledge has by no means always been expressed in speech or in writing. The soul does not aspire to expound her experience in rational concepts when God’s grace descends on her. She needs no logical interpretations then, because she knows with a knowledge that cannot be demonstrated but which equally requires no proof that she lives through the true God….

"…God is made known by faith and living communion, whereas human speech with all its relativity and fluidity opens the way to endless misunderstandings and objections."

It's so easy to miss the true and living God for all our pontification, isn't it?
December 1, 2008 at 7:56 AM
david.gordon said…
Tanya says:

"And not enough pastors who are theologians."
December 8, 2008 at 7:01 AM
Kris McDaniel said…
Jay Percival (who ever you are) - well said. Living in and amongst the people of a parish grounds theology in a way that the classroom does not.
December 13, 2008 at 9:35 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Hearth

-
Image
"A stove used to furnish more than mere warmth. It was a focus, a hearth, a place that gathered the work and leisure of a family and gave the house a center. Its coldness marked the morning, and the spreading of its warmth the beginning of the day. It assigned to the different family members tasks that defined their place in the household. The mother built the fire, the children kept the firebox filled, and the father cut the firewood. It provided for the entire family a regular and bodily engagement with the rhythm of the seasons that was woven together of the threat of cold and solace of warmth, the smell of wood smoke, the exertion of sawing and of carrying, the teaching of skills and the fidelity to daily tasks." (Albert Borgmann: Technology and the Character of Contemporary Life ) So what is our new center? Warmth is now provided in a completely uniform way requiring no demands on our skill, strength or attention. In fact, the warmth device (central heating system) is c...
Read more

Idolatry in the West

-
"in order to promote killing in civilized societies it must be legalized under deceitful names. Yet liberal societies seem happy to be deceived exactly to the degree to which they have developed into societies of covetousness." Ok ... I know you need more before you know where this is going ... I am reading a book of essays on the ten commandments. This is in a section talking about the relatedness of all ten commandments, primarily through the command not to murder. He goes from there to make the point that we are a society dominated by want and covetousness and the more the claws of greed entangle us (from human traffiking to slave labor for our cheap consumer goods, to "designer babies" and whatever else technology deems to sell) the more we will redefine sin and morality. Bernd Wannenwetsch continues: "the culture of death is essentially marked by the business of redefinition. In defining our own humanity we claim the property rights that entitle us to dist...
Read more