Theological Literacy for the Twenty-First Century

Theological Literacy for the Twenty-First Century. Edited by Rodney L. Petersen, with Nancy M. Rourke. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002, xxiv + 421 pp., $30.00 paper.

In his 1908 book, Orthodoxy, G. K. Chesterton described the church's dealings with theology as a "great and daring experiment of irregular equilibrium." Chesterton suggested that if one theological idea becomes less powerful, then some other theological idea may become too powerful; and one small blunder in theology may lead to huge blunders in human happiness. Some still interested in theological issues have hunkered down in their various foxholes of theological perspectives, bringing their traditions dangerously close to a loss of what Chesterton has termed irregular equilibrium. Some continue to take part in the great experiment through genuine conversation both inside and outside of their respective traditions.

Rodney Petersen, the contributing editor of Theological Literacy for the Twenty-First Century, sees this book as an invitation to a conversation, a conversation about what it means to be theologically literate. He suggests that this theological conversation not only promotes theological literacy but also defines theological literacy in the twenty-first century. According to Petersen, the commitment of the individual authors to conversation-both promoting and defining theological literacy-provides coherence to the collective (p. 380). As a result, a reader of this collection of theological essays may or may not find the following five chapter divisions particularly helpful when working his or her way through it: (1) theology: what is the real thing?; (2) theology and institutional expression; (3) hermeneutics: how we understand and interpret the Bible; (4) the rhetoric of theology; and (5) theological literacy in seminary and university.

The book begins by asking what theological literacy is. Petersen defines theological literacy in two ways: "learning to give a reason for the hope that is in us" and "learning to think theologically, which implies a more self-conscious effort at theological reasoning" (p. 2). Both involve discerning and discussing what is the real thing in life. David Tracy sees becoming educated in general as the freedom to enter the conversation of the living and the dead, what he terms the "community of inquiry" (p. 13). This community of inquiry is nothing other than a long conversation of the living and the dead. He suggests: "Every great religious tradition lives by welcoming a genuine critical community of inquiry" (p. 14). The development of the life of the mind requires conversational partners; thus, theological education requires a community of inquiry.

But in entering the conversation, complexities emerge and must be faced. Robert Cummings Neville, in his chapter "On the Complexity of Theological Literacy," points out four complexities that make achieving theological literacy difficult: theological identity, theological expression, theological truth, and theological engagement. These complexities require much knowledge of the world outside of one's tradition and outside of religious topics, including knowledge of psychology, our habitation, other cultures, other religions, and science. Literacy is about equipping individuals not only with the necessary tools for inquiry but developing within individuals a desire to continue to inquire and learn throughout their life: "Literacy is a tool for learning, not a merit badge for having learned" (p. 54). Inherent within this statement is a posture of humility that out of necessity should remain true throughout one's life. The complexities often associated with theological literacy should not be viewed as insurmountable or lead the educator or educated to a place of despair.

In his book, Gospel in a Pluralistic Society, Lesslie Newbigin puts this into perspective by suggesting that one can never know all that is necessary when communicating the gospel. Those who think they understand the human situation and know how to present the gospel in a given context are forgetting that their knowledge of the culture and especially of the individual lives of the hearers is limited. He suggests, "The Gospel has a sovereignty of its own and is never an instrument in the hands of the evangelist."

Alkiviadis C. Calivas's offering is a refreshing chapter to visit while making one's way through this collection of essays. Calivas grounds theology in the revelation of the triune God through the creation of the world and the incarnation of his Son. God reveals himself to creation. As Karl Barth suggests in Evangelical Theology, "God is the only hope for theology." Calivas resists the urge to stay "other-worldly" when suggesting that God works through the finite condition of human existence. God has chosen to reveal himself through divine revelation, transmitted through human language; however, this in no way limits God to this form of revelation. Theology is more than an "accumulation of data and the formulation of propositions" (p. 29). The aim of all theology should be to confer union with God and to bring about the transfiguration of the individual or community, who or which comes in contact with the divine (p. 29). Authentic theology is dynamic and creative; static theology is dead theology: "Static theology is unrelated to the needs and concerns of the church in a given time and place" (p. 28). Calivas concludes his chapter suggesting that the division of Christians is the vexing problem of the church, especially when he sees the church as gifted with infallibility regarding the truth (pp. 30-31). But what does this gift of infallibility mean in light of 33,800 Christian denominations worldwide whose members all think they are right (Newsweek [April 16, 2001] 49).