Jesus Creed: What Good’s a Theologian?
Inside the lecture room we make a distinction between biblical scholars and theologians. The former are either Old Testament or New Testament, and the latter specialize in systems of thought, whether they focus on telling us what theologians teach (Augustine, Aquinas, Luther, Barth) or what is to be taught (systematics).
But outside those walls, and particularly in the local church, that distinction vanishes quickly when folks want wisdom or answers to questions. They don’t care if I’m a New Testament guy, they might ask me about Genesis or about Jonathan Edwards. Sometimes, frankly, Christians disparage the academic life of a theologian; they can put-down those who have intellectual pursuits; they can even get into the “real life” vs. the “speculative” stuff. This is not particularly helpful to anyone, and so we need to chase down a better way.
What the Church wants from specialists is wisdom, and this brings me to something Alister McGrath recently wrote about in his new book in Alister McGrath’s newest book, The Passionate Intellect: Christian Faith and the Discipleship of the Mind
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… McGrath sees four components of the professional theologian’s contribution to the life of the church, and in this neither he nor I are diminishing the theological role of the pastor – and in some ways the pastor as theologian plays the same role as the professional theologian:
First, the theologian can be a resource person for the local church. …
Second, the theologian can be an interpreter of the Christian tradition for the local church. …
Third, a theologian can be an interpreter of the Christian tradition to those outside the church. …
Fourth, a theologian is a fellow traveler with and within the community of faith. …
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