InterVarsity's Emerging Scholars Network
Jonathan Edwards among the Theologians, Oliver D. Crisp. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2015.
Summary: By comparing Edwards writing on various theological themes, Crisp underscores Edwards work as an original thinker and constructive theologian, building on a Reformed base, but even pressing the limits of orthodoxy in some of his work.
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Note: You can enjoy David’s other thoughtful reflections for the Emerging Scholars Network here or his personal blog here. Â
I’ve been contemplating what to write for my first Scholar’s Call post here on the Emerging Scholars Blog. You see, I’m in something of a different position than some of the other writers here. When I contemplate the question(s) how does Christian theology and/or spirituality shape my understanding of my academic discipline and how my discipline in turn deepens my theological perspective I do so as a theologian. So the question can look like this for me, “How does Christian theology and/or spirituality shape my understanding of theology and how does theology in turn deepen my theological perspective?” It can seem a little tautological, or at least it should. It is true, however, that today, and for perhaps the last 60-100 years, the academic discipline of theology has been divorced from Christian praxis. Such people as atheist theologians and a-theologians exist. So perhaps these questions posed by the Scholar’s Call prompt are particularly apposite. Too many theologians of late have seen their work as having little relationship to the Church or the glorification of God. This is something that must be rectified. But how? I suggest that an intentional Christian ascesis based in spiritual disciplines (both corporate and private) and in observing the liturgy and the sacraments (however they are defined by one’s tradition) is the proper way for a theologian in the academy not to lose sense of the purpose of their discipline. This is, of course, too broad of a topic for just one post, so I will limit myself to one of the most foundational aspects of Christian praxis: prayer. [Read more…] about Scholar’s Call: A Theologian Praying
The Pastor as Public Theologian: Reclaiming a Lost Vision, Kevin J. Vanhoozer and Owen Strachan. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2015.
Summary: The authors contend that at the heart of the pastoral calling is a vision of doing theology with the people of God, pointing them to what God is doing in and through the Christ, and how they may participate in that work.
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When I entered grad school, I entered with a sense of purpose that was in my mind akin to the idea that the Puritans had of vocation or calling. Attending a Catholic university, I realize that many use the word vocation in strictly religious ways, but the Puritans viewed all of life as religious, and so all of life should be understood as vocation. I had been involved in the vocation of teaching, but not at the place where I felt I was fulfilling my true calling. I was going to grad school with the intent in my mind to complete that calling, to fulfill my vocation. But shortly upon arriving at grad school with the above ideas in my mind, I realized I needed to change the way I thought about my own vocation. So, what changed in my own self-understanding about the vocation of academia?
First, I realized I had to become a scholar if I was going to take seriously the vocation of an academic. In the first six months, I shifted my thinking in a variety of ways, not the least of which was changing my vocabulary from studying theology, to being a theologian. While this change might be subtle, it was a reflective way for me to begin to think of myself as a scholar, not just a teacher. I do think there is not enough emphasis placed on the development of the craft of teaching in doctoral programs, but I needed to do a reset of my thinking about my own place in scholarship.
I came into the program with very vague ideas of what I wanted to study, and I had no real settled person who I wanted to study under. My previous work had been very general, and I liked thinking about things in big picture terms. But I soon realized that to become a scholar meant mastery, not just generalized knowledge. I was very fortunate that in spite of my lack of vision, God saw fit to bring both a great mentor to study under and a theologian whom I could study in depth whose papers were close to my current location. My studies have opened doors to present papers and work on writing articles about my research which I never envisioned when I began the program. If we as evangelicals are to fulfill the vision that Mark Noll laid out, it is necessary that we become scholars. I needed to learn that lesson. [Read more…] about Returning to Graduate School – Thoughts by Michael Stell (2)