A professor of a popular class begins the first day of the semester with the “obvious” assertion that the Bible can’t be true or consistent. At the same time, a campus Bible study will pledge their allegiance to the Word of God and its infinite wisdom. What gives? After all, both groups would tell you that they are doing the same thing: seeking truth. Theology, like any “-ology,” is about determining truth. Their endeavor is important. Theology, a branch of philosophy, provides the underlying assumptions that the rest of knowledge is built upon. A lack of belief in God is no less a theology than belief in God, and so the effects of theology are apparent everywhere, from Wahabist terrorism to a billboard near my home that says “Life is short. Have an affair.”
Many Christians are prone to think that the truth (the Truth) is just so obvious that everyone who hears it should get it. How, then, to account for the large number of people, especially in America and Europe, who have heard about Jesus Christ yet do not become his followers? Many of the same Christians will draw comfort from the Parable of the Sower (Mk 4:1-20); some hear about Christianity and accept it, others just have deaf ears or cold hearts and don’t. While there is truth in that, it seems a little simplistic to me. Why would the number of adherents vary from place to place, for example? (Consider this: every day Christianity gains 23,000 followers in Africa, but loses 6,000 in Europe.)
Part of the reason is the mix of the message of Christianity and the philosophical and cultural mix of the place. Philosophies and values differ across time and across places. The academic community which guides these changes in North America and Europe has been dissociating itself from the church since the advent of modernity. For its part, large parts of the church retained the attitude mentioned above. We have the truth and the correct expression of it; some get it, some don’t. So academia has generally acted as if the church didn’t exist, presuming that, for instance, no Christians would actually be present in one of their classes at Brown. The Jesus Seminar, for example, attempted to define the historical Jesus, but did so without including orthodox Christians; as a result, its conclusions were entirely rejected by the church at large. Undoubtedly, the scholars of the seminar hoped that its findings would inform beliefs and actions in what they considered a positive way; yet, it has had very little impact on Christians.
It is clear that engagement is needed between academia and the church to achieve multiple goals. At this point in Western intellectual history, where the traditional modern scholarly outlook is being replaced by postmodernism and many people of faith struggle with questions of relevance, there is an opportunity to create a new relevant theology in search of truth. What are these areas of theology that Brown scholars, Christian and not, can work on?
- Biblical Context (History, Social Sciences) – Unlike Muslims, who believe that the Qu’ran is divinely dictated word-for-word (this is why the Qu’ran is only read in Arabic), most Christians believe that the Bible is a collection of the writings of humans, inspired by God in some way. The degree of inspiration is, of course, the subject of much debate. However, the human element of Scriptural texts means that understanding the writer and the society that he lived in is of great importance, for the text is a reflection of both God’s unchanging principles and the temporally- and socially-limited viewpoint of the writer. For instance, 1 Corinthians 14:33-34 “As in all the churches of the saints, women should be silent in the churches,” may have a different meaning than the obvious one when other passages in Paul’s letters and sociological research confirm that Paul worked with and extolled the virtues of female missionary counterparts.
- Historical Criticism (Classics, History, English) – Historical criticism of the Bible, along with its more controversial cousin the historical-critical method, attempts to determine the origins of a text. Though most scholars and theological figures have used it in some way, it remains very controversial because it does not assume that the traditional authors of a text are necessarily the true authors. An extreme example is the Jesus Seminar, which attempted to discredit most of Jesus’ spiritual claims. On the other hand, many scholars believe that 1 Cor 14:33-34 (see above) was either written by Paul or by a follower shortly after its original writing.
- Narrative theology (English, Literary Arts) – A product of postmodernism, narrative theology sees the Bible primarily as a giant story about God and God’s people. It is important because it tends to emphasize large concepts and stories over discrete passages, personality over law. Like historical criticism, it is a form of literary analysis and thus students of literature bring important tools to its study.
- Liberation theology (Political Science, Urban Studies, Latin American Studies, etc.) – Liberation theology views the Bible through the lens of the poor and oppressed, who are often singled out as recipients of grace by Jesus. As such, scholars of social problems should be interested in this theology, which has had a large impact in Latin America. A thorough study of the theology would not just analyze its effects but would also involve the scholar’s wrestling with the person of Jesus, his claims, and the form of his salvation.
- Science and faith (Natural Sciences, Philosophy) – In recent decades, the view of science and faith as antagonistic has been replaced by views of their compatibility and even dependence. Biology professor Ken Miller is a national leader in this field, which is gaining importance as science widens its scope and faces difficult ethical issues.
It is my hope that the Brown community will support students of theology in their quests for truth. Too often, we think that such students are wasting their time. Christian communities can set the tone by addressing questions openly, and in so doing help to destroy the overblown and counterproductive dichotomy (which I have employed liberally) between Christians and non-Christians. And I hope that students, most of all myself (since I haven’t taken a whole lot of my own advice on this point), will answer this call. Why would we abandon the search for truth? 1 Thessalonians 5:21 says “test everything, hold on to what is good,” and Matthew 7:7 says “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and the door shall be opened unto you.”
