tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719500506025781596.post3963966354773409909..comments2023-09-06T07:39:28.728-07:00Comments on Draw Nigh to God: Is Theology Totally Irrelevant to the Church Today?Adam Nighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09878011081056674483noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719500506025781596.post-9997871371248294292012-04-16T11:25:43.609-07:002012-04-16T11:25:43.609-07:00Just got to this page via google search on "n...Just got to this page via google search on "news peter anders theologian". I was trying to find out what the latest is with Dr. Anders in terms of where he will be teaching in the future. It is my understanding that he will not be continuing at GCTS for the long term. Please just reply to me via e-mail it you don't want to take this comment thread down that path. Thanks!Marknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719500506025781596.post-91785656981320091862011-04-26T06:41:56.926-07:002011-04-26T06:41:56.926-07:00Adam,
I have just discovered your postings and wo...Adam,<br /><br />I have just discovered your postings and would like to assure you that there are lay persons like myself who search scriptures and theologians, from the Desert Fathers to Dietreich Bonhoeffer, in order to better understand our faith. Clearly, we need Christian pastors and brothers and sisters to help enlighten us when we struggle. I am amazed at what God reveals in His own time to us as we make this journey. Even his own disciples had to grow in their faith before they were able to accept and believe (as little children) all that they had seen and experienced, and they had the Master as teacher. Just as God lives so does the study of God live. Parish ministry makes a difference to the life of the future church.Martha Foremannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719500506025781596.post-775748879428977692011-04-18T04:01:05.580-07:002011-04-18T04:01:05.580-07:00I was going to add something, hoping to lend the v...I was going to add something, hoping to lend the voice of a wife of a theologian but I liked what Kait said so much that I'm not really going to. I believe your jobs are now to be fully engrossed in what you can learn and what you can say and when you leave the "tower" of knowledge and Eden-like surroundings, you will be an ambassadors of knowledge, humble about what you have learned and eager to point towards Christ in all things so that we as laymen of the church can benefit by your studies.R. Nighhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15855422099539509273noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719500506025781596.post-21560333864382369232011-03-21T14:59:00.094-07:002011-03-21T14:59:00.094-07:00Adam,
Thanks for this post and your honesty - I r...Adam,<br /><br />Thanks for this post and your honesty - I read the same editorial by Webster and I was incredibly encouraged by his views. But I can understand why they would be discouraging in another sense given the current state of the Church and the academy (since even the academy isn't excited about dogmatics except for a few places and jobs are hard to find). For what it is worth, I have a professor at Gordon-Conwell who also had John Webster as an advisor when they were both at Oxford. His name is Peter Anders. He has single-handedly breathed new life and excitement into Gordon-Conwell for the task of theology in his short time of 4 years at the school. Since he arrived, he taught the first Karl Barth course ever offered at the school and continues to convince countless students that theology is essential for every Christian. Though he continually has obstacles and challenges like any other theologian, he has tangibly impacted numerous lives of students who will work in the Church and the academy. Students have written him letters post-graduation to tell him that they are single-handedly doing theology today in their doctoral programs because of his influence inside and outside the classroom. So while Webster's third and fourth conditions might seem idealistic, the theologian called by God to embark upon the task of bringing theological literacy within the Church and the academy will bear fruit (even if it isn't always tangible). <br /><br />Prof. Anders constantly reminds me that to be a faithful theologian means to be a theologian of the cross. A true theologia crucis involves suffering which might be met in the form of less conducive conditions that Webster mentions in points three and four. But we remain faithful to the task, and ask the Holy Spirit to continually work even if we experience the proclamation of the Gospel falling on deaf ears in the Church as well as the academy.Kait Duganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05150771496092900070noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719500506025781596.post-19756974128967643712011-03-20T02:14:14.766-07:002011-03-20T02:14:14.766-07:00Adam,
Thank you for drawing my attention to this....Adam,<br /><br />Thank you for drawing my attention to this. I think John's fourth point is very hard to keep in mind when I'm also holding it in tension with the book of Qoheleth. I imagine that the search for a community of praise and discipleship, rather than a community of "theological futility," and being active in forming one, is one of the most important, and difficult tasks of theology. It should drive us to intercession. <br /><br />Blessings and Shalom in Christ! ChrisAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719500506025781596.post-85857979514148854692011-03-18T04:38:25.365-07:002011-03-18T04:38:25.365-07:00Amen Adam. I couldn't agree more with both the...Amen Adam. I couldn't agree more with both the thought and the feeling expressed here. I definitely want a finger to point in all the directions this post points it. But I guess I want to ask what part of this is the academic theologian's 'fault'. More truly, since this really wasn't a post about laying blame (and thus I don't want to make it one), I want to ask not only what the churches can do but also what theologians and academics can do better. Seriously, thanks for the heads up on this editorial and for this post with which I so highly resonate (as I'm sure you know).Jon Couttshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01728055140831842717noreply@blogger.com