Theology never should begin with a concept, but with an experience. Of course there is feminist theology and
African American theology, even as there is a white Anglo protestant
theology. Our theology flows from where
we are, from what we have experienced and who we have become. Even as every ethic written by humans is a
human ethic, even so every theology is encased in culture, events and life
understanding.
The university is a faux culture, separated from the nuts
and bolts of life. In the university the
intellect is separated from raw emotion, life-changing sorrow, deep bitterness
or revenge. The university encases
sperm, viruses, hormones, murders, starvations and even death itself in
numbers, charts and tight text columns like lifeless cubicles. And there is a place for the organization of
life into picture books where it can be grasped by experiential toddlers. But this knowledge must go back where it
truly belongs: on the street, in the ghetto, on social media, in the bars, in
the bedroom and on the toilet. Medicine
is pointless if it does not assist the victim of AIDS. Psychology is but types and tables if it does
not ease the suffering of the mentally ill. Economics is feel-good headiness if
it does not alleviate poverty.
Literature is dusty volumes unless it helps us experience life more
fully. And theology is but a pastor’s
library unless it alleviates human suffering.
The application of theology is not for the church, if by
“church” we mean the assembly halls of Christians. Some may say that a church is a hospital, but
this is simply not true. The main
purpose of a hospital is to diagnose and treat specific illnesses. A church rarely, if ever, accomplish this
task. Certain churches are like
quarantine centers so that everyone knows where the most ill are kept and can
remain at a distance. Churches, in
general, have three main functions: worship, education and the care of feeding
of professional clergy. In other words,
a church typically follows a university model, where the worship of God
replaces sport, where a very few talented participate and many observe and
cheer. And the center of this activity
is not God, necessarily, but theology.
The only difference between the university and the church, for the most
part, is the theology is popularized and given entertainment value.
And how does this alleviate human suffering, enact God’s
redemption to human slavery? It perhaps provides a spiritual pause in the midst
of a world that is becoming less and less dependent on the spirit world. But church almost never provides a spiritual
connection, a deeper dose of reality than one’s rebellious children, faithless
spouse, unmanageable bills, awkward relationship with the police, chronic
illness or ostracism from one’s friends.
Theology is dead and has been for millennia. God is not dead, nor is He silent, but
theology has become disconnected from God and from human reality and so speaks
to almost no one anymore.
And by “theology” I mean that taught in seminaries and
universities, and, to a lesser degree, that preached in sermons ad
nauseum. Theology is still alive in
social media—vibrant and powerful, full of new ideas and experiences. Theology is still alive in the homeless camps
and the slums and the refugee camps and in every fundamentalist group. The Bible is still living and powerful as
ever, no matter how beaten it is by theologians. But the Bible must be separated from formal
theology, and placed in a context again.
Even as it was in the Bible, originally.
