Sometimes it’s easy to feel like studying theology is just for the sport of argument, a way for people with intellectual proclivities to get off. The truth is that billions of people are affected by Christian theology and just like bad medicine hurts people bad theology hurts people.
Stanley Hauerwas hits at the heart of the issue when he says:
“…when someone goes to seminary today, he can say, “I’m not into Christology this year. I’m just into relating. After all, relating is what the ministry is really about, isn’t it? Ministry is about helping people relate to one another, isn’t it? So I want to take some more Clinical Pastoral Education courses.” And the seminary says, “Go ahead and do it. Right, get your head straight, and so on.” A kid can go to medical school and say, “I’m not into anatomy this year. I’m into relating. So I’d like to take a few more courses in psychology, because I need to know how to relate to people better.” The medical school then says, “Who in the hell do you think you are, kid? We’re not interested in your interests. You’re going to take anatomy. If you don’t like it, that’s tough.”
We have no trouble believing that an incompetent medical physician can harm us so we expect those people who train our medical professionals to train them well. However, we don’t believe that an ill prepared minister can be dangerous, so we don’t even expect them to be properly trained.
Our television airwaves are full of people who have refused proper theological education because they think they can train themselves, or they opt to be trained by someone else who lacks proper theological training.
The result of such people having prominent voices in ministry would be the same result as having thousands of self trained physicians. The people treated by their bad medicine/theology would be sick and deformed.
You wouldn’t allow an ill-prepared physician to treat you, so stop being led by ill-prepared ministers.
Bad theology hurts people. Doing good theology isn’t about getting it right every time (we cannot do that). Doing good theology is about helping people every time.
Colten Barnaby
Morgan Saunders
Robert Redmond
It’s an interesting idea and has some merit. I also don’t know the particular sermon you were listening to that inspired this post. However, the thing that sets Christianity far apart from medicine, and makes your analogy fall pretty short, is that we believe medicine is strictly a human tradition (mostly learned through the scientific method) and theology comes from experience with God (most correctly understood through the direct help of the Holy Spirit). So with medicine, there’s really only one way to transmit it: training, knowledge, etc… but from one person to another. But with theology, with Christian teaching, and our Christian lives as a whole, the ONLY correct way to transmit it is through the work of the Holy Spirit.
Sure, our Christian lives aren’t isolated and so we can learn from others’ experience (essentially what the Bible is: Holy Spirit-led choices about people’s experiences with the God who revealed himself) and that includes a wide range of knowledge and education. Yet we Christians rightly believe we *can’t* properly learn from another person’s experience (including the Bible) without the activity of the Holy Spirit in our lives. And yet we Christians also believe that we *can* learn directly from the Holy Spirit, even without others’ education and even without the Bible. If that weren’t possible the Church would’ve never started. Most of Jesus’s disciples were fairly uneducated and they certainly didn’t have easy access to the Bible like we do. And as the Church spread in areas without even much Jewish exposure, they had even less – sometimes nothing more than a few months with one of the apostles and maybe a short letter showing up years or decades later. But God still built his Church by the work of the Holy Spirit. Paul often even bragged about God using systems and methods the opposite of the typical way (foolishness, weakness, people of no importance, etc.).
None of that says that Christian education isn’t important or helpful, and it may be just the thing that could benefit the guy who preached the sermon you listened to. But it is NOT a requirement, either for good Christian living or good Christian teaching. The ONLY requirement is the active work (and our active listening) of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Maybe more than anything, this man you mentioned really should just stop and listen to the Holy Spirit more, get to know Jesus better. But comparing any aspect of Christian living to the educational requirements of professional medical practitioners really just falls short. The very idea of a “Christian professional” (as opposed to a “lay Christian”) is something that needs to be reconsidered, by most New Testament standards.
Adam, I think I could respond to you in a much more loving way in person. haha. Will you be at Sanctuary next week?
Hey Colten, no sorry, we’re not actually staying in Tulsa, just visiting occasionally while we’re back. The next time we’ll be there is March 9/10, so it’s quite a ways away. If you want, you can send me a message on Facebook. I like to think I’m not easily offended and, as you may have noticed in my response, I don’t shy away from debates/arguments. So feel free to tell me whatever you choose. I am quite curious what well-defended position there might be other than the strict necessity (and singular requirement) of the Holy Spirit.
IMO I am a Pentecostal, I completely agree that theology is impossible apart from the work of the Spirit who speaks truth to us through the Scriptures and the tradition of the church throughout the ages. The problem isn’t whether or not theology is given by the Spirit the problem is whether or not we are hearing the Spirit rightly. I go into greater detail about this in another post on my blog.
http://thisxianlife.com/2012/09/25/pneumatology-and-people-with-cool-names-theolgians-of-the-spirit-preface/
Yeah, that’s a great article! And believing the Holy Spirit is still speaking, and that we need to hear him, doesn’t narrow you down to being a Pentecostal. Just as the Holy Spirit has spoke to Christians throughout the ages, there have been plenty of Christians (throughout all of church history) who’ve known they’ve needed to hear his voice! As far as I know, the idea that the Holy Spirit ever stopped speaking to anyone, is a pretty recent (sometime in the last few hundred years) idea. If you know differently, let me know.
Anyway, as I said, that one was a great article and I think including some of that here would’ve provided more balance to this one. This article is reactionary, as you stated yourself (having come from just listening to someone’s sermon – though it seems you edited that part out now), and I guess it’s made your response to it more one-sided. As you said in the one you linked: just because people don’t see things the same way doesn’t mean they’re not hearing from the Holy Spirit. I’m sure you’re aware that the same thing absolutely applies to theological education – just because someone follows it, and receives from it (even by the aid of the Holy Spirit) doesn’t mean they’ll wind up in the same place. As your “pneumatology” article stated – it should give them more balance and perspective on what the Holy Spirit has been doing in Christians and the Church throughout history – but just as we all (sometimes) receive differently from the Holy Spirit, it doesn’t mean they’ll always get balance, no matter what tools they use. Or don’t use.
I feel like I’ve gained a ton from my theological education (which falls a bit shy academically of what you yourself have received) and I value it highly. I do believe it gives me the sort of balance that you mentioned in your “pneumatology” article, and a whole lot more. But I absolutely know that it’s not necessary, nor has it ever been, either to be a solid Christian or a solid Christian leader. And anyway, if we’d all talk more about who Jesus is, and spend our time getting to know him better (through the work of the Holy Spirit), then most (of course not all) of the topics learned in advanced theological education would become quite irrelevant anyway.
Not to beat a dead horse here but the one absolutely and remarkably unique thing about Christianity over all other philosophies and religions and practices of mankind is that we believe God himself, the Creator, is intimately involved with us in the depths of our being in the work of the Holy Spirit. I know of no other claims that even approach that. Medicine can ONLY be taught by tradition and practice. But the Holy Spirit can transform people’s lives and impart knowledge and understanding in a fraction of a second. Tradition and practice (i.e. theological education) can be vessels of the Holy Spirit’s work, but they can never constrain or contain him, nor have they ever been nor ever will be a requirement of his working or teaching. Balance lies in realizing: let’s give the Holy Spirit as much to work with as we can! And for that, theological education is a great thing.
What, in your opinion, constitutes proper theological education?
For example, was Calvin properly educated?
I would say he was. I am not saying, however, that having a proper theological education will eliminate all bad theology, but it will help.
I agree. I guess it comes down to what “bad” theology turns out to be. I would throw most theology one gains from seminary fairly bad – i.e. heterodox, whereas if one has TBN or their average local, independent, self-appointed pastor as their mentor, they’re in for straight up heresy.
Colten…I just saw your mother’s post on her FB wall regarding this. I rarely read these articles, but this caught my eye for some reason, since I’ve been doing some research on spiritual abuse in the church. This is very well written. Kudos!
Very well written. I rarely comment on articles, but have been doing research on this topic for a while. Kudos!
However, I concede to Adam’s point regarding the Holy Spirit’s work … that cannot solely be bound by rules that apply to medicine.
IMO theology is impossible apart from the work of the Spirit who speaks truth to us through the Scriptures and the tradition of the church throughout the ages. The problem isn’t whether or not theology is given by the Spirit the problem is whether or not we are hearing the Spirit rightly. I go into greater detail about this in another post on my blog.
http://thisxianlife.com/2012/09/25/pneumatology-and-people-with-cool-names-theolgians-of-the-spirit-preface/
Anyway, thank you for commenting! I appreciate it.
Oh man, where’s the “edit” button? I should have proof read that one. and I’m a big dumb dumb.
Personally, I like the comparative language of medicine and physicians. I think it speaks to the historical thought concerning the Church as a “hospital” and Christ, the Great Physician. Indeed, we must rely on the work of the Spirit. However, if what we perceive to be the Spirit does not point back to the person of Christ, then it is by no means the Spirit. I submit that evaluating the work of the Spirit in this way requires proper theological/biblical/historical education as well as a community of believers, led by those qualified, by which to reason together.