Our Over-Intellectualized Pursuits of Jesus (& Some House Keeping)

About nine months ago my father, a brilliant man and follower of Jesus spoke to me about his frustrations with theology and academia. Being a man who never went to university upon graduating high school, he has spent much of his adult life learning and reading on his own in an attempt to (rather successfully) grow and learn and follow the Way of Jesus more truly. He really is one of the smartest people I know. However, one day he told me that he was tired of the lofty language, of the theological German without footnotes. He was tired of the ideas and vernacular that authors assumed the reader knew.

Now I know what you are thinking, ‘everyone writes for a specific audience.’ I really do agree. Sometimes we do indeed write technically, knowing that the general audience will know what we imply through our writing. Other times we write in a language that is easier to understand.

However if I am being honest, as much as I love theology and am excited to begin my MA in the field, I too get tired of the lofty language. I get tired of the unexplained and over assumed terminology. I get tired of the high-brow, prideful stance that we in the business of theology often take.

While Jesus was seemingly subversive in his language and narrative-parables, our translations of his words do not imply a academic, intellectualized vernacular. He may have spoken in riddles, but not in such a way that those who listened couldn’t figure out the heart of his stories if they had the ‘ears to hear’.

So here is my challenge for those today who find themselves in the world of theological writing: let us all take a step back (myself wholly included). Who are we trying to impress anyway? I find it very hard to believe that the God of Love will love me less if I use more simple language to talk about h/er/im.

Does this mean that we bow down to a language of stupidity? That we dumb down our words and ideas? Absolutely not. It seems that we must strike a balance, one that encourages all people that they can know (i.e., that they are brilliant enough to continue to learn new things throughout the course of their lives), while also having a sense of humility for the learner; a sense of humility that realized our language is not for us, but for the other.

For what is the theologian if s/he is not a learner as well?

Now, onto another few topics (a little house keeping, really):

1. I have heard a rumor from an acquaintance that I have a blog reader who has been attending Solomon’s Porch and is not quite satisfied with their experience there. Upon returning to the Twin Cities I also have begun attending SP. So reader (don’t be embarrassed, though I know I am as I write this) if you continue to be unsatisfied at SP, how about we just start our own thing in a bar somewhere here in Minneapolis? Good beer, good people, good theology. Deal? Email me.

2. I plan on reading Jürgen Moltmann’s ‘The Crucified God” over the summer. I will try to post at least once a week in relation to this text. If any one is interested in joining in reading this, I am beginning with the first chapter this week and will post about it next week. While the book is only 8 chapters longs, I plan on completing it just after the July 4th weekend, giving me approximately 10 weeks to read it. It can get dense, and some of the latter chapters are much longer than the former. I look forward to hearing others take on this work of theology and encourage you, even if you have not ever read this kind of stuff to try it out. Moltmann has proven to be one of my most beloved thinkers in the Christian realm; I don’t doubt that you also would enjoy his thought.

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