Why Does Theology Matter?

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1. Theology: You’re Already Doing It!

Julian A. Davies The University Church Toledo, Ohio 43615 Theology: You’re Already Doing It!

Theos – God

Logia – utterances [c.f. Logos – word]

Theologia - Utterances about God

The Greek, theologia, becomes, in English, theology Theology: You’re Already Doing It!

Augustine of Hippo described theology as:

“de divinitate rationem sive sermonem”

“reasoning or discussion concerning the Deity”

Augustine, City of God, 8.1

“reasoning or discussion concerning the Deity”

… is going on all around us!

Theology as …

A conversation that helps to shape and guide a way of life …

A component of the lens through which we see, experience, and understand the world …

Communicated through words, symbols and praxis … Worldview Questions that shape our worldview

• Who – Who are we? • Where – Where are we? • What – What’s wrong? • How – How do we get out of this mess? • When – What time is it? • Why – Why do we think this way? N. T. Wright Questions that shape our worldview

Rudyard Kipling – I Keep Six Honest Serving Men

I keep six honest serving-men (They taught me all I knew); Their names are: What and Why and When and How and Where and Who.

I send them over land and sea, I send them east and west; But after they have worked for me, I give them all a rest. Questions that shape our worldview

Rudyard Kipling – I Keep Six Honest Serving Men

I let them rest from nine till five, For I am busy then, As well as breakfast, lunch, and tea, For they are hungry men.

But different folk have different views; I know a person small— She keeps ten million serving-men, Who get no rest at all! Questions that shape our worldview

Rudyard Kipling – I Keep Six Honest Serving Men

She sends 'em abroad on her own affairs, From the second she opens her eyes— One million Hows, two million Wheres, And seven million Whys!

What? Why? When? How? Where? Who?

Answered in words

Answered in symbols

Answered in praxis

For example … Symbols … Symbols … Symbols … Symbols … Praxis … Praxis … Praxis … Praxis … Praxis … Questions …

• Who – Who are we? • Where – Where are we? • What – What’s wrong? • How – How do we get out of this mess? • When – What time is it? • Why – Why do we think this way?

Who are we? Who are we? An answer in words …

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

The symbols, praxis and words say, “This is our story, this is who we are.” Where are we? What’s Wrong? How do we get out of this mess? What time is it? Why do we think this way? Worldview

The symbols, praxis and words say, “This is our story, this is who we are.”

This worldview provides a lens through which we might see, experience and understand the world. But it wasn’t always this way …

At the time of the birth of Jesus, there were two competing stories that gave two different views of the world.

1. The (expansive) Roman story

1. The (more limited) Jewish story The Roman Story

Priene Calendar Inscription honoring Caesar Augustus (9 BC) The Roman Story

Priene Calendar Inscription honoring Caesar Augustus (9 BC)

“Because providence has ordered our life in a divine way… and since the Emperor through his epiphany has exceeded the hopes of former good news, surpassing not only the benefactors who came before him, but also leaving no hope that anyone in the future will surpass him, and since the birthday of the god was for the world the beginning of his good news…” The Roman Story

Augustus, emperor from 27 BC – 14 AD, heralded a comet as the ascending soul of his adopted father, Julius Caesar … thus allowing for himself the title “Son of God” as Julius Caesar was divinized. The Roman Story in Symbols

Augustus Tiberiuis The Roman Story in Symbols

Inscription on the denarius:

CAESAR AVGVSTVS DIVI F PATER PATRIAE

Caesar Augustus, Divi Filius, Pater Patriae,

Caesar Augustus, Son of God, Father of His Country The Roman Story in Symbols The Roman Story in Symbols The Roman Story in Symbols The Roman Story in Praxis

Emperor cults

Trade Guilds

Parades

Feasts

Etc., etc. The Roman Story

The birth of Augustus is the beginning of the good news for the world

Caesar is Lord and God

Salvation comes through the Pax Romana The Pax Romana

Edward Gibbon - The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

… the tranquil and prosperous state of the empire was warmly felt and honestly confessed by the provincials as well as Romans. They acknowledged that the true principles of the social life, laws, agriculture, and science, which had been first invented by the wisdom of Athens, were now firmly established by the power of Rome … The Roman Story

• Who are we? • Where are we? • What’s wrong? • How do we get out of this mess? • What time is it? • Why do we think this way?

Who are we?

We are people living under the powerful protection of the Emperor of Rome Where are we? What’s wrong?

There are people who resist our story! How do we get out of this mess? What time is it?

Priene Calendar Inscription

… the Emperor through his epiphany has exceeded the hopes of former good news, surpassing not only the benefactors who came before him, but also leaving no hope that anyone in the future will surpass him…

It is the best of times! The time of the Pax Romana Why do we think this way?

Edward Gibbon - The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

… the tranquil and prosperous state of the empire was warmly felt and honestly confessed by the provincials as well as Romans …

Peace and tranquility reign But … hidden away in the east … What is our story?

The Jewish Story

At the time of the birth of Jesus, his people might have answered:

We are the people chosen by YHWH to be a blessing to the world and to lead all people to holiness and righteousness. The Jewish Story in Symbols

The Temple The Jewish Story in Symbols

Torah The Jewish Story in Symbols

Shofar The Jewish Story in Symbols

Menorah The Jewish Story in Symbols

Priests and their attire The Jewish Story in Praxis

Clean and unclean foods The Jewish Story in Praxis

Prayer – The Shema The Jewish Story in Praxis

Circumcision – The Sign of the Covenant Competing Stories

Roman story:

Caesar is Lord and will shape our future (Pax Romana)

Jewish story:

YHWH is Lord and will shape our future (Redemption of the created order) Competing Stories

In the midst of that …

The challenge of Jesus:

A reworking of words, symbols and praxis to give a newly refined answer to the big questions of worldview. The Challenge of Jesus

Priene Calendar Inscription honoring Caesar Augustus (9 BC)

“… the birthday of the god was for the world the beginning of his good news…”

The Gospel of Mark 1:1

The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The Challenge of Jesus

Gospel of Matthew 2:1b-2

… wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, ‘Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.’ The Challenge of Jesus

And as the years roll by … The Challenge of Jesus

And as the years roll by … Apostle’s Creed

I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended into hell. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come to judge the living and the dead. Apostle’s Creed

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.

Amen.

Apostle’s Creed

I believe in God, the Father almighty …

I believe in Jesus Christ …

I believe in the Holy Spirit …

Who Are We?

Disciples of Jesus Christ

Those who believe in God, the Father almighty … in Jesus Christ … in the Holy Spirit …

Where are we? In the Biblical narrative, the very first question that God poses to humankind is: Where are you?

And the answer … hiding from God! And today … The invitation is to stop hiding and find our place in God’s great story …

Where are we?

In the world but not of the world.

We are “in Christ.”

Romans 12.5: “ …we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another.” What’s Wrong Today?

The Kingdom has been inaugurated but not yet fully realized.

Forgiveness of sins Freedom from oppression Justice Righteousness Salvation

All are ongoing/in process. How do we get out of this mess?

… show that you are a letter of Christ … written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

The transformation of the human heart by the Spirit of the living God

How do we get out of this mess?

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.

The Great Commission

What time is it?

Jesus

BC AD

Creation New Creation And all time is redeemed … Why do we think this way?

Because we see the potential for the fullness of the Kingdom of God as made possible through Christ Jesus. Worldview As we conclude …

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