Doubting Thomases

Doubt and faith are often found together, and rightly so. Arguably, you can't have faith (as opposed to certainty) without the acknowledgement of doubt on similar issues on which you have faith. But when doubt takes over, one has to wonder what is going on. Into this very situation comes a movement known as analytic theology.

Here is a paper on the whole phenomenon of analtyic theology by William Abraham, from which comes this insightful quote from Van Harvey, circa 1971:

One of the most striking characteristics of Protestant theology in the last two centuries has been the emergence of what I shall call the alienated theologian, the professional who is concerned with the articulation of the faith of the Christian community but who is himself as much a doubter as a believer.

Van A. Harvey, “The Alienated Theologian,” in Robert A. Evans, ed., The Future of Philosophical Theology (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1971),113.

I would make two changes to this text which Harvey penned 40 years ago: 1) add "Catholic" to the word "protestant" and 2) I'm not sure that there is even a mjaority of theologians who are genuinely concerned with the "articulation of the faith of the Christian church." At least in academic theological settings...

'I will not kowtow'

Here's the kind of backbencher we need in Canada!

The Corporatization of the University

In a highly relevant NYT column, Stanley Fish lays out the problems with contemporary university governance, including the effects of turning the university into a branch plant of the corporation. In a reference to another essay on said topic (in the context of a serious dispute over the state of affairs at a university in Idaho, he  cites the following:

In an essay entitled “Inextricably Linked: Shared Governance and Academic Freedom,” Larry Gerber, chair of the committee that issued the Idaho State report, ties the very survival of higher education as we know it to shared governance: “It is no coincidence that many who seek to reduce higher education to a form of narrowly conceived job training are also in the forefront of efforts to replace shared governance with a corporate style of management.”

Nothing new, but very revealing all the same...

And the Michael Ramsey Prize goes to...

David B. Hart. For his book Atheist Delusions.... Fantastic.

Children of Immigrants fear displaying religion

Peter Beyer's Latest Study.
Reported today in the NP

Dan Brown-esque un- theology

I sometimes get asked what I thought of Dan Brown's books. I typically feel a mixture of remorse (for ignoring the entire corpus of Dan Brown) and relief (...for ignoring said corpus of pulp fiction!) as well. My wife read The Da Vinci Code, and promptly let me know that the writing was so bad, I shouldn't bother to read it.

 On the other hand, there are those who take advantage of the large audiences for the kind of thing that Dan Brown has to offer and who market themselves as... for example, documentary filmakers. I sense that we should pay better attention than we do to this media genre. (The "we" here - being professional scholars, including theologians.)

Simcha Jacobovici is exhibit 'A' in this category of Dan Brown-esque creative persons. He's the one responsible for that howler of a documentary back in 2007 which tried to claim that the Lost Tomb of Jesus had been 'discovered'. The wikipedia article does a good job of exposing that poor piece of work here... at least for now. That article may be changed, wikipedia being what it is.

The latest scandal involving Jacobovici is a "documentary" that aired during Holy Week apparently - on the lost nails of Jesus' crucifixion. This is exposed here. Take a deep breath, and here's the summation of the latest "documentary"...

Simcha Jacobovici’s claim of the discovery of the “Lost Nails of the Crucifixion” is speculation wrapped in hearsay couched in conspiracy masquerading as science ensconced in sensationalism slathered with misinformation and topped with a colorful hat.

It just keeps coming, this Dan Brown-esque un-theology. What is the proper response?

Rowan Williams on K + W

Well said, your grace.

David Brooks

channels the Augustinian inside him...

Historical Theology OR History as Theology

An insightful piece from "Andrew" at memoria dei on the identity problem facing many div schools: when is Historical theology just historical and why is that a problem? When does Historical theology become a field with arguments like that of systematic theology, and what does that mean?
Toward the bottom comes this summary:

a study which interprets faithfully something of the past is a good thing.  But its significance as a work of theology, defined by the end of theology, will depend a great deal on the extent to which one is also able to clarify its value for the task of affirming the reign of God in the midst of the contemporary situation.  Theology is defined by history only while at the same time being defined by the end of history.

The issue can be easily framed in terms of Bernard Lonergan's 'functional specialties', an eightfold division of labour. Mind you, such a 'functional' approach in theology can - in our day especially - have the negative effect of legitimizing "theological" inquiry that is not essentially or even tangentially theological. History as "theology", yet all we get is history. To some extent, this position is set in default by departments of Church history - in some denominational colleges and faculties. But church history is not historical theology.

Regarding Historical theology proper, take Lonergan's functional specialty of history (or interpretation). If you assume that the theological task of either interpretation or history (functional specialties #3 and #4 in Lonergan's schema) is something that is autonomous from the larger theological inquiry, then you can end up with atheological interpretation or atheological history. Inasmuch as autonomous interpretation or historical analysis concerns religious material, then we are dealing with Religious Studies...but nothing more.

To some extent, Lonergan conceded the scenario of the independence of Theology from Religious Studies by commenting on the fact that functional specializations 1 through 4 (Research, Interpretation, History, Dialectics) are carried out within Religious Studies. The question that Lonergan - writing in the early 1970's - didn't ask (although he was certainly aware of the cultural impact of a pervasive atheism) is this: what if the constructive question of God (seen through the layered (intellectual, moral, religious) act of conversion) simply drops off the radar screen for interpreters and historians in Theology faculties? What does that bode for institutions of theology? The experience of many departments and faculties in British universities over the course of the past 50 years is instructive, as is the number of formerly religiously committed private colleges and universities in the U.S. But, this and other historical matters would take a set of long paragraphs to unfold...

Medieval Wisdom for Modern Universities

A great article by Matthew Milliner, here.

The Problem with Democracy in Canada

Is that there is less and less of it - actual real democracy working in neighborhoods and ridings. So says Fr. Raymond deSouza in the National Post. Wonder whether the editorialists of that paper or any other newspaper think this is important?

On Syria.

Thinking waaaaay outside the box!

On religious freedom in Europe

There's good news and some bad news..

Congratulations Mr. Berry

On your new Humanities medal.

Real Threats to Academic Feedom

As opposed to fictitious threats to academic feedom, as noted in this CHE article.