Who should be doing theology today, who should they be doing it for and how might scripture, tradition, reason and experience inform their theology?

Wootten R CWTH4004 Assign 1

Assignment Question – Who should be doing theology today, who should they be doing it for and how might scripture, tradition, reason and experience inform their theology?

Introduction

There are many forms of theologies and descriptions. In exploring the question posed in this assignment, one good description is from an 11^th Century Theologian, who wrote ‘Faith seeking understanding’ (fides quaerens intellectum). Alister McGrath, a modern theologian, says that ‘Theology is basically the systematic study of the fundamental ideas of the Christian faith’ (McGrath, 2017, p85). Theology emerged from the experience of Jesus Christ by the Disciples. However, it was shaped into doctrine over 400 years through the Church’s councils. Therefore, there is no mention of theology in Holy Scripture.

In order to answer the posed question, I will draw upon the four sources of theology; scripture, reason, tradition and experience. I will also explore how those sources should be taken into context. The apostle Paul alludes to it in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 ‘(16) when he says, ‘All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, (17) so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work’. What Paul is saying to Timothy is that Scripture is not just a collection of fables, but a series of stories, poems and books written by God through man for the purpose of instruction to achieve a well lived life.

To fully answer the question, I will need to explore academic and ordinary theology, the validity of both and how they relate.

Sources of Theology

Briefly, Scripture means the Bible and as Anglican Christians we recognise both the Hebrew Scripture and the New Testament.

Tradition is taken to mean how we do things, for example the Eucharist. This Sacrament represents the last supper taken by Christ and the twelve apostles. The eucharistic tradition of taking bread and wine has been celebrated for millennia and is handed down from generations of priests, who share the responsibility with Bishops. It is a tradition stretching back through the ages in an unbroken line to the apostles and to Jesus himself. However, the Roman Catholic Church takes tradition much more seriously than the Protestant community. The Protestant reformation, (or reformations as they should be called - as there were many) broke away from the Roman Catholic Church. Apart from the perceived corruption of the Roman Catholic church, Protestants including Anglicans rejected tradition as independent source. whilst the Roman Catholic church takes Scripture as the primary source, tradition is an alternative source. The 39 articles of Anglican faith state ‘And yet it is not lawful for the Church to ordain anything contrary to God's Word written, neither may it so expound one place of Scripture, that it be repugnant to another.’ (http://www.victorianweb.org/religion/39articles.html accessed 16/12/18)

Reason means the human ability to work problems through to their logical conclusion.

The great theological works such as Aquinas’ body of work ‘Five Way’ and Anselm’s ‘Proslogium’ help readers to inform their reasoning within their faith.

Experience refers to personal feelings or accumulated knowledge. Often this experience is felt or learned in a kinetic way rather than found through an academic path. These four sources were first thought of together after the reformation by one of the founders of Methodism, John Wesley (1703-1791) an English cleric and leading theologian. By putting them together, the Wesleyan Quadrilateral was formed.  The term ‘Wesleyan Quadrilateral’ (Outler, 1991 p21) was first coined in the 20^th Century by the Methodist scholar Albert C. Outler.

Essentially, as Anglicans we seek theological statements that are based in Scripture and steeped in tradition and can be held up against the light of reason and fit with our experience in the world. This means that we first look to the Bible as the authority. If one source has dominance this can be problematic. For example, too much focus on Scripture may cause fundamentalism or experience alone risks us developing a private, individual faith and concentration on reason alone may make God into an intellectual or academic idea.

However, Scripture needs to be interpreted. If we look at John 14.6 ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me’ and read it literally, this could be taken to mean that only followers and believers in Jesus can make it to Heaven. One problem is that many think of the Bible as a single book whereas it is in fact many books written over a the best part of four thousand years by many people and for different audiences. The Life Application Study Bible states that the Gospel according to St. Matthew (p1522) was written in AD60-65 and his audience was the Jewish People, whereas the Gospel according to St. Mark (1600) was written around the same time AD55-65 but his audience was the Christians in Rome. The Gospel according to St. Luke (p1654) was again written at a similar time circa AD60 but his audience was the Theophilus and the Gentiles. The Gospel according to St. John (p1730) was written slightly later AD85-90 and his audience was new Christians and searching non-Christians. The Bible as we know it was developed into a Cannon of Scripture by a series of Church councils in the first 400 years of the Church.

Hermeneutics is the study and interpretation of the Bible. McGrath (McGrath, 2017 p452) states ‘[Hermeneutics is] the principles underlying the interpretation, or exegesis, of a text, particularly Scripture, and particularly in relationship to its present-day application’. Any Hermeneutical approach would need to be put together with Reason and Experience, which is where the Wesleyan Quadrilateral model is useful.

Ordinary versus Academic Theology

Ordinary theology is defined by Jeff Ashley (2002, p56) as ‘Theology and theologizing of Christians who have received little or no theological education of a scholarly, academic or systematic kind’. Ordinary theology therefore is theology of the masses or the laity. Academic theology is the other side of the same coin. It is theology by those who have received some sort of structured, theological education.

A question often asked is “Can theology be studied by non-Christian students?” Theology is frequently studied in secular universities and institutions. This is more of a focus on religious studies as one might find in GCSE or A level religious studies. However, Tara Burton, in her article online says ‘Even in the United Kingdom, where secular bachelor's programs in theology are more common, prominent new atheists like Richard Dawkins have questioned their validity in the university sphere’ (https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/10/study-theology-even-if-you-dont-believe-in-god/280999/ accessed 15/11/2018). Whilst the cogency of the secular theology degrees have been called into question, it is clear that there are secular styled degrees available and it appears that one can study theology in a non-Christian environment but the vast majority of academic theology is done by those who are members of the Church. However, non-Theologians would refer to themselves as ‘Religious Studies’ academics. To answer the part of the posed question ‘Who they should be doing it [theology] for?’ they need to be doing it for themselves, to do otherwise might render the study pointless.

It is perfectly acceptable to study theology at an academic level whilst still being a Christian. Some would argue that this would strengthen someone’s understanding and deepen their relationship with God.

Contextual Theology.

Theology often needs to be viewed in the context in which it is placed. For example, had Jesus been female, given the time and place that Jesus lived, the experience would have been very different – as would the history. The culture of the time that Jesus lived was based around very patriarchal themes. Perhaps a female Messiah would not have been well received. However, contemporary times are considerably more liberated.  We now see the emergence of different theologies; feminist theology, black theology, gay theology, Latin American Liberation theology and disabled theology to name a few. Each of the different types of theologies seek to reinterpret Scripture and tradition in the light of their own experience. It will be shaded differently, based on the context of the time, the experience of the theologian and the position of the society in which it is embedded.

In her book Doing Contextual Theology, Angie Pears says ‘Traditionally, Christian theology has been understood by many as being beyond the critical interrogation and questioning that other disciplines or sources of knowledge might or should be subjected to.’ (Pears, 2010, p13). This rather wordy quote can be read to mean that theology is not often held up to the light of evidence. So it can be seen that until recently, the context in which theology was undertaken was often ignored.

Theology must be taken in the context in which the person or persons are engaged. For example, someone studying theology in the 14^th or 15^th century will be differently informed to someone studying theology in the 21^st century.  Scripture will also be interpreted within the cultural context of the reader. Each reader of Scripture will interpret the same passage slightly differently according to their own experiences, even if they are situated within the same culture and time.

Conclusion

In this paper I have looked at scripture, reason, tradition and experience, I have explored what is theology, in order to answer the question ‘Who should be doing theology today, who should they be doing it for and how might scripture, reason, tradition and experience inform their theology?’.

The answer to this is multi-faceted – Who should be doing theology today and who should they being doing for?  This was explored in the discussion regarding academic versus ordinary theology – everyone should be doing theology if they are interested in exploring their faith. I described what theology is – it is the study of the Christian faith which can be done in both an academic or non-academic setting. Each are valid but due to the different approaches and experiences of those studying it, it may be vastly different.

I delved into scripture, reason, tradition and experience in order to answer the part of the question ‘how will [these sources] inform their theology?’ As part of that discussion I reviewed the Wesleyan Quadrilateral which can be used to understand how scripture, reason, tradition and experience inform their theology. How people prioritise those sources will dictate how they will use them to inform their theology. As Anglicans we take Scripture as the primary source of theology together with tradition and reason but place less emphasis on experience. We can however use our experience of Scripture, tradition and reason to inform our theology.

Contextual theology features heavily with the sources of theology. The context in which theology is undertaken will inform the individual’s experience and must be taken in the context in which the person or persons are engaged. Scripture will also be interpreted within the cultural context of the reader.

In summary who should be doing theology is anyone looking to deepen their faith and they should be doing it for themselves, unless studying in order to bring it to a new audience. In terms of how they will be informed by the four sources of theology will depend on how they view the Wesleyan Quadrangle and which of the four sources they take as primary authority.

References

·       Ashley J. (2002) Ordinary Theology: Looking, Listening and Learning in Theology. Abingdon, Routledge. Page 56

·       Burton T. Study Theology, Even If You Don't Believe in God. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/10/study-theology-even-if-you-dont-believe-in-god/280999/ [accessed 15/11/2018]

·       New international version, (2011) Life Application study Bible, Great Britain, Hodder & Stroughton Pages 1522, 1600, 1654 and 1730

·       McGrath A.E (2017) Christians Theology – An Introduction. 6^th Edition. Chichester. Wiley Blackwell. Page 85

·       Outler, Oden and Longden, (1991) The Wesleyan theological heritage, Grands Rapids. Mich. Zondervan. Page 21 

·       Pears A. (2010) Doing Contextual Theology. Abingdon, Oxon. Routledge. Page 13

·       Sawyer J.M (2006) The Survivor’s Guide to Theology. Grands Rapids. Mich. Zondervan. Page 53