The Task of Theology in Our Time?

Last updated on: December 5, 2020 at 4:22 pm by Kyle Roberts

The Task of Theology in Our Time? 2020-12-05T16:22:31-05:00 Kyle Roberts

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Sallie McFague, in her classic book, Models of God, offers a thought-provoking suggestion for the task of theology in each age. The task, the challenge, she says, is to find new metaphors, new concepts, for doing theology even while we use the Scripture as the basis for doing so. In fact, the Scriptures themselves offer us exemplars for doing this very thing.

She writes,

In other words, to do theology, one must in each epoch do it differently. To refuse this task is to settle for a theology appropriate to some time other than one’s own. To be sure, this understanding of theology involves a somewhat different view of the founding (i.e. scriptural) images and concepts than is often held. It sees the rich and diverse metaphors and concepts of the Bible as models or exemplars of theology rather than as dictums for theology. On my view, what we have in Paul’s letters and in the Gospel of John are two highly imaginative (and very different) attempts to express the salvific love of God in metaphors and concepts appropriate to their time–in the one case, in a missionary, proselytizing context, and in the other, in a sectarian, otherworldly one. Is one right and the other not? That is not the right way to ask the question; evidently, they were both right for their time. The question we must ask is, Are they right for our time? Or to phrase it differently and more to the point, What should we be doing for our time that would be comparable to what Paul and John did for theirs? Does Christian theology involve, either through translation or through interpretation, using the metaphors and concepts of Scripture (and the tradition), or does it involve taking scriptural texts as a model of how to do it, that is, of how to do it in ihe language of one’s own time? I believe the second option is the necessary and appropriate one, and this will, quite obviously, involve significant departures.

What are needed in our time, I believe, are attempts at new exemplars, new models, of the Christin faith. These will involve, as theologies of the past have involved, new metaphors and concepts for expressing the salvific power of God.

As she points out, this way of approaching theology is not actually new. It’s been done throughout the history of theological reflection. Perhaps what is new about it is the extent to which theologians are self-conscious about this task and about this responsibility.

CCO via Pikist

Uncategorized

Previous Post

November 25, 2020

Book Talk: How Millennials Can Lead Us Out of the Mess We're In

Next Post

December 20, 2020 Recommendation: A Christmas Book for Progressive Christians

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month December 2020 November 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 December 2018 July 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz