Friday 04 August 2006 at 09:10 am
Ben Myers has kindly agreed to be my next interviewee and to answer a few questions about his faith and influences. Ben is currently at the University of Queensland in Australia, though he is perhaps better known to most of us for his blog Faith and Theology, which is certainly a must-read blog for anyone interested in Theology.
1. What was it that inspired you to pursue such a deep interest in studying theology?
As a fairly new Christian, I was asked to lead a weekly Bible study on Paul’s letter to the Romans. This encounter with Romans really turned me upside down, and it gripped me with a new awareness of the power of the gospel of God’s unmerited grace. I became troubled by the ways in which many aspects of church-life seemed to mute, rather than to proclaim, this gospel. Around the same time, I started reading a grubby old copy of Augustine’s Confessions. More than anything else I’d ever read, this book opened my eyes to the sheer Godness of God, and to the joy of a life lived in fellowship with God. So through this encounter with both Paul and Augustine, I found myself ignited with a new excitement and a new desire to discover more about the God of the gospel.
2. How do you think your studies have impacted your own faith?
Personally, I’ve found study to be wonderfully enriching for my own faith. But I should also admit that the relationship between faith and thought is not always an easy one. I’ve often had to struggle when tensions have arisen between my heart and my head, between faith and theological understanding. For example, I began my Christian journey in a fairly strict “fundamentalist” church environment — and it was very uncomfortable when some of those old false certainties began to peel away. But the end result of such changes was always a new liberty and a new joy that I hadn’t known before — and in this way, the journey of theological discovery has led me to relate more freely and more cheerfully to the God of the gospel.
3. Who are the writers and thinkers who have inspired and influenced you the most in your own work?
Above all, I’ve been influenced by Karl Barth. Pete Townshend was once asked how he had been influenced by Bob Dylan; and he replied, “That’s like asking how I was influenced by being born!” Well, that’s pretty much the way I feel about Karl Barth too. But I’ve also been deeply influenced by Augustine and Calvin, as well as by Rudolf Bultmann and Gerhard Ebeling. Among contemporary theologians, I’ve been influenced especially by Eberhard Jüngel and Robert W. Jenson — Jenson in particular has shaped my whole understanding of what it means to practise Christian theology.
4. A lot of theological study takes place in academic settings and rarely impacts on the mainstream church. What do you think is the most important contribution that the Academy can make to the Church?
Hmm, that’s a tough one. The division between church and theology is certainly one of the most painful and most troublesome problems that face us today. But I think the basic task of theology is to serve the Christian community by providing a fresh, faithful and meaningful interpretation of the gospel. So academic theologians should seek to contribute to the life of the church by orienting their reflection around the concrete problems that surround the contemporary proclamation of the gospel.
5. Your house is burning down and you only have a chance to save three books from your study. Which ones do you save, and why?
While the house is slowly being reduced to ashes, I’d probably still be lingering in front of the bookshelves trying to decide.... But I have two beautiful editions of Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologiae which would be hard to replace, so I’d definitely grab some of those volumes. And I’d want to save at least something from my Barth collection, so I’d probably grab Church Dogmatics IV/1, which is my favourite of all Barth’s works. And since Schleiermacher is on a nearby shelf, I might also reach for his timeless tome on The Christian Faith.
6. I'm going to lend you my time machine to go and meet anyone you choose from any time in history for a cup of coffee. Who do you choose, and what would you talk about?
I’d set the timer back to the early 1960s (I know that might sound unimaginative, but I wasn’t born until the late 70s!) — and I’d pay Karl Barth a visit. I’d ask him to talk about the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the way in which the risen Lord becomes contemporaneous with us today, and the way in which his history includes all our histories within itself (I think this is one of the most exciting themes in all Barth’s work). Finally, Steven, I’d offer him the use of your time machine so that he could gain enough time to finish writing the Church Dogmatics!
Many thanks to Ben for doing the interview, more of them to come next week!
Thursday 03 August 2006 at 4:19 pm
"Oh! that I might repose on Thee! Oh! that Thou wouldest enter into my heart, and inebriate it, that I may forget my ills, and embrace Thee, my sole good! What art Thou to me? In Thy pity, teach me to utter it. Or what am I to Thee that Thou demandest my love, and, if I give it not, art wroth with me, and threatenest me with grievous woes? Is it then a slight woe to love Thee not? Oh! for Thy mercies’ sake, tell me, O Lord my God, what Thou art unto me. Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation. So speak, that I may hear. Behold, Lord, my heart is before Thee; open Thou the ears thereof, and say unto my soul, I am thy salvation. After this voice let me haste, and take hold on Thee. Hide not Thy face from me. Let me die—lest I die—only let me see Thy face."
"Narrow is the mansion of my soul; enlarge Thou it, that Thou mayest enter in. It is ruinous; repair Thou it. It has that within which must offend Thine eyes; I confess and know it. But who shall cleanse it? or to whom should I cry, save Thee? Lord, cleanse me from my secret faults, and spare Thy servant from the power of the enemy. I believe, and therefore do I speak. Lord, Thou knowest. Have I not confessed against myself my transgressions unto Thee, and Thou, my God, hast forgiven the iniquity of my heart? I contend not in judgment with Thee, who art the truth; I fear to deceive myself; lest mine iniquity lie unto itself. Therefore I contend not in judgment with Thee; for if Thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall abide it?"
Confessions I.v
Inspiring stuff.
Wednesday 02 August 2006 at 09:07 am
Something I was thinking about as I was falling asleep last night: Paul uses the term "flesh" (sarx) to refer to the sinful, adamic nature of humanity in contrast to life by the Spirit for those who are in Christ. Now assuming that Paul doesn't equate sarx with physicality (i.e. the physical is what is sinful, the Spiritual is what is good), why does he choose to use the term sarx, out of all the possible terms he could have chosen? Such things keep a man awake at night.
I also recently came across the excellent blog Sacra Doctrina earlier this week, which is certainly one to add to your list of regular reads. I particularly liked this post called Tom Wright and Reactions, which is about as good a summary of the evangelical controversy over Wright's work on Paul as you're likely to find.
Kim Fabricius is guest posting over at Faith and Theology again, with a post entitled Ten Propositions on Penal Substitution. Here's a quote:
If the doctrine of penal substitution is to have any place in contemporary soteriology, there are certain elements of its demotic form that have to be eliminated: especially the notion that Jesus died to placate or appease God, or to secure a change in God’s attitude, or to settle a score or balance the books – and, indeed, the notion that the cross is itself a divine punishment. Rather than drive such a wedge a between God and Jesus, the cross expresses their unity and mutual love. It is not a matter of anger or honour but of rescue and risk, obedience and self-sacrifice, of putting the world (Anselm’s ordo universi) to rights and making it beautiful again. Penal substitution is often narrowly construed in individualistic terms, so that the cosmic scope of the atonement is marginalised or missed altogether.
Lastly, I'm super-happy this morning as yesterday I came home from work to find out that I've got the graduate job that I applied for (yay!) and that I also now have somewhere permanent to live now that the house deal I was waiting for has come through (yay again!). It's nice when things like that happen. Most importantly of all, having a house means I am getting closer to having regular net access again, which means the end of sneak-blogging from work like this.
Monday 31 July 2006 at 6:54 pm
In the first part of what I hope will be a regular feature on this blog, I've conducted a short interview with Biblioblogger Jim West. In the next few weeks I hope to bring more short-but-sweet interviews with various people from the world of biblical and theological blogging. Jim's website Petros Baptist Church is packed full of quality posts and resources for biblical studies, and definitely one to add to your blogroll. Here's the interview:
1. Some people see Christian academics and a vibrant Christian faith as being in opposition to each other. How do you see the two aspects relating together?
For myself I see no contradiction at all between academics and faith.The one, in my estimation, informs the other, in something of an ongoing circularity. Faith informs reason and reason informs faith, and so on, unendingly. God, after all, gave us a mind to use and has
made us, for lack of a better phrase, spiritual beings. The false dichotomy which drives a wedge between the two is neither biblically informed nor theologically accurate. And if I might say so- the severance of the two leads on the one hand to academic hubris and on the other to dilettantism. Both extremes are regrettable and unnecessary.
2. Who would you say are the scholars/preachers/writers/thinkers who have inspired and influenced you the most in your own academic career?
That's perhaps the easiest question I've ever been asked because the answer is simple: Huldrych Zwingli, Gerhard von Rad and Rudolf Bultmann. When I was a graduate student I devoured everything I could from those three because in them one finds the perfect unity of faith and learning. If the world were emptied of every book and the works of only three allowed (aside from the Bible in the originals of course)- the books by those three would be my choice.
3. What do you think is the most important lesson that a biblical scholar can learn?
The lesson of humility. Socrates wisely noted that the truly wise person is the one who recognizes his own lack of knowledge. To put it
simply, "the older I get, the less I know". We are all supposed to be lifelong learners. The moment we believe we have nothing else to learn, we become the world's greatest fools.
4. You're on a sinking ship with Rudolf Bultmann, Karl Barth, N T Wright, John Calvin, and Augustine. There's only room for you and one
other to escape on your liferaft to a nearby desert island. Who do you choose to save, and why?
Oh that's easy- Rudolf Bultmann and I will happily sail away. Calvin,Barth, and Augustine will understand that they were predestined to
perish. And, well, not to sound mean, but Wright has already written everything he will ever write and each book he produces is only a
recapitulation of things he has said previously. Besides, he's a believer so he's well ready for his eternal reward. Bultmann and I, on
the other hand, still have issues to work out and coffee to drink and Barth to poke fun at (secretly, of course).
5. What keeps you blogging?
This strange, undying notion that the Bible matters, that it deserves accurate interpretation, and that there is so much foolishness in the world that needs to be corrected. And that theology matters and has something to say to the present. Not, of course, that I accomplish anything along those lines; but I try.
Many thanks to Jim for the interview, more to come soon!