Hi Friends,
I said I was going to take a stab at a 21st century theology that takes into account our context as folks who are Americans and Christians. Wikipedia offers this definition of systematic theology. I am interested in going through some of the topics. Here are some, again from Wikipedia...
"...Christian systematic theology will often touch on some or all of the following topics: God, revelation, creation and Divine providence, Theodicy, Theological Anthropology, Christology, soteriology, ecclesiology, sacrament, Pneumatology, Christian life, Heaven, and interfaith statements on other religions."
Supposedly, you can begin with any topic and move from topic to topic.
I think I will begin with Creation. This will include looking at texts from the Bible as well as looking at the 21st century understanding of the Universe. I will also include wisdom from the PCUSA confessions. Creation narratives from other faith traditions ought to be considered as well.
Creation from a theological perspective seeks to provide meaning for us. It gives us a narrative as to who we are, our nature, and our place in the cosmos.
If you have thoughts regarding other things that should be included in a doctrine of Creation, do let me know!
Remember, I am no professional. Anyone can do this. In fact, everyone should do this--that is to have a theology. It should be something you can say in your own words and (in my opinion) it should be able to be understood by other non-professionals, particularly (again in my opinion) someone with, say a high school education.
So if my language gets too technical, call me on it!
Peace,
John
It's disingenuous for a Princeton Seminary grad who makes his bread and butter by working as a church professional to disclaim being a professional.
ReplyDeleteThat aside, I think it would be helpful for your readers to clarify what you understand the relationship to be between God and the Universe. Transcendence/Imminence, Dualism/Monism, and what a spiritual being would have to do with a physical universe - all of these would be excellent topics that could go to other explorations (incarnation, providence, revelation, etc.).
Hi Chris,
ReplyDeleteI should have clarified the word "professional". I meant it in the sense of a professional scholar (that is someone with a Ph. D. or its equivalent). You are correct that I am a church professional. Thanks for the ideas on other topics.
john
Hmmm. I have my theology, but it is not necessarily going to be the same as yours or anyone else's. I do agree that there is value in each of us figuring out what our conception of God is, and this will certainly relate to our conception of creation. (For what it is worth, my own doctrine of creation is heavily influenced by process theology, and it does relate closely to my theism.)
ReplyDeleteFortunately, one doesn't have to be a professional scholar in order to have a theology. :)
Hi MS!
ReplyDeleteYou are right on! Your theology will be different from mine. I think Process Theology is where I am going. I would love to know what Process Theology is for you and how it relates to creation. Perhaps you could point us to one of your blogs or another that discusses that in relation to creation.
And your point exactly regarding "professionals" and theology. I am seeking to empower people to think about life, theology, philosophy, etc. in a somewhat critical fashion.
The reason for that (which will I hope come clear as I move along with this blog) is that I think folks will need a philosophy of life to deal with what is coming.
That sounds ominous, but my previous posts on energy, economy, etc. will come into fucus as we think about think about these things from a theological/philosophical perspective.
Peace,
john
John, I am basically just an autodidact when it comes to theology, an amateur who just likes to read about these things, so I'm right there with you on the subject of self-empowerment on thinking about these issues.
ReplyDeleteI haven't written any blog entry that really tries to comprehensively discusses process theology, but I did write a couple of entries that discussed aspects of it that happened to be of concern to me at the time. They are http://mysticalseeker.blogspot.com/2006/07/creation-as-process.html and http://mysticalseeker.blogspot.com/2006/07/divine-love-and-religious-life.html
I am certainly not wedded to process theology, but it is very attractive to me for several reasons: I think it integrates a conception of God with an evolutionary universe (that is to say, from the Big Bang to the evolution of life on this one little planet). I think it explains away the problem of theodicy. And it somehow makes me feel closer to God's divine love to imagine that God shares intimately in all of our experiences--that every pain or joy I feel God also feels.
That isn't to say that I might evolve away from process theology as my thinking develops, but I have always been attracted to it at some level. There is a web site, http://www.ctr4process.org/, for the more theologically heavy information about it, but there is also a more "user-friendly" web site that is less dry and technical and more spiritually focused, http://www.processandfaith.org, which also has an offer for a membership that you can join and get a quarterly magazine, Creative Transformation, that is a pretty interesting journal.
I see that my links to my blog entries on process theology didn't work in my previous comment, so here is another try:
ReplyDeletecreation as process and
divine love and the religious life.