Theology IS Practical

I had a discussion tonight that made me think that there is another reason that I am at Duke was this: Another student in the Div School was telling me that the theology we learn in the classroom is theoretical, and there is a disconnect between that and what happens in the church. She also informed me that she doesn't like professors who preach about moral issues in class because she can't stand that. (Granted, this was in reference to a professor who is rumored to speak against homosexuality, and that is a hot button issue, but still....)

I am so tired of people who tell me that theology isn't practical and who think that it is acceptable to express their own morals but is not permissible for others to express theirs. Granted, it was Telford Work at Westmont who challenged me to accept the non-modern paradigm, but he accomplished it through discussions on the writings of others, and many times those people were Duke professors. For those people who took Telford's classes, these books (with chapters written by Duke profs) may sound familiar: Practicing Theology, The Art of Reading Scripture, Knowing the Triune God, and The Theological Interpretation of Scripture. I don't believe that theology can be unpractical. It can be good theology or bad, but theology is never unpractical.

Our lives are governed by our beliefs, whether we acknowledge that or not. Perhaps that is why I was frustrated by the conversation at church. This student disagrees with the professors morals, so she says that it is inappropriate for him to preach those morals. At the same time, she enrolls in classes in feminist theology and refuses to recognize that those professors are preaching their morals in the same way. They research the topics that are interesting to them, and their approach to those topics is governed by their beliefs. We witness the ways that beliefs determine actions in the church as well. For example, pastors who do not believe that the Eucharist is a vital practice of the church where we glimpse the eternal God will not worry when the Eucharist is left out of the church. Scholars who do not believe that Christian faith is necessary for the proper understanding of Scripture will give priority to secular scholars.

I chose Duke because of the scholars who teach here, but I was looking for non-modern scholars who refuse to divide faith and reason, theory and practice, and the academy and the church. Thus far, I have been completely satisfied with the level of scholarship that has been available here. I have been pushed by professors who are not afraid to tell us that it is important to learn the history of the church councils because you can hear heresies preached from many church pulpits in America every Sunday. They teach us how belief in the doctrine of the Trinity governs the way we pray. Likewise, disbelief in the Trinity also governs the way we pray, preach, baptize, deal with sickness and death; the list is infinite. Perhaps this is the real reason why I love Duke; it is certainly the reason I came here in the beginning.