Theological Foundations of Christian Ministry (all slides as of 12.15.08)

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Myths regarding Education

• The teacher is the smartest person in the room.
• The objective is successfully to complete a
  series of courses.
• Information is the primary ingredient

1. The teacher may be the most experienced in the
   subject matter, but all can contribute helpful
   perspectives.
2. The objective is increased understanding and
   appreciation of Gods World, and effectiveness in
   repairing its brokenness.
3. Information is an essential means to greater
   ends. (The economics of Bythinia and the
   location of the Red Sea crossing are important
   concerns in academia, but not in Gods purposes
   in the world).

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Introduction Theology Unit
MMIN 611 Ross Cochran, Ph.D. Revised Jan.
5, 2009 cochran_at_harding.edu
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Jan. 6-9 schedule for MMIN 611
Tues 1000-1200 100-430 Wed 800-1200
100-230 Thurs 800-1200 100-300 Fri
800-1200
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Persons
Learning Diamond
Context
Content
Process
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What are the Functions of Foundations?

• Support walls, roof, all.
• Mark out boundaries.
• Encase infrastructural components (plumbing,
  electrical vents).
• Stabilize structure during storms

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Building Block Vocabulary

• Theology
• Practical Theology
• Theological Reflection
• Praxis
• Spirituality
• Post-modernity
• Context
• Hermeneutics
• Hermeneutic of Suspicion
• Epistemology
• Epistemological humility
• Ecclesiology

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What do we mean by theological foundations?

• Elements of theological process
• Philosophy
• Epistemology
• Biblical teaching
• Desired Outcomes(Goals) of Theological Reflection
• Lived (actual) Outcomes of Theological
  Reflection. You dont know something until it
  drips out of your life.

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1 Peter 24-124As you come to him, the living
Stonerejected by men but chosen by God and
precious to him 5you also, like living stones,
are being built into a spiritual house to be a
holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices
acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6For in
Scripture it says "See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one
who trusts in him will never be put to shame.
7Now to you who believe, this stone is precious.
But to those who do not believe, "The stone the
builders rejected has become the capstone," 8and,
"A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock
that makes them fall." They stumble because they
disobey the messagewhich is also what they were
destined for. 9But you are a chosen people, a
royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people
belonging to God, that you may declare the
praises of him who called you out of darkness
into his wonderful light. 10Once you were not a
people, but now you are the people of God once
you had not received mercy, but now you have
received mercy. 11Dear friends, I urge you, as
aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain
from sinful desires, which war against your soul.
12Live such good lives among the pagans that,
though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may
see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he
visits us.
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Four Cornerstones(1 Peter 24-12)?
Theology
Spirituality
Jesus
Our Life in Christ
Ministry
Community
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Great Commandments
Spirituality Love God with Soul
Theology Love God with Mind
Our Life in Christ
Ministry Love God with Strength and Neighbor as
self
Community Love God with Heart
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Persons Spirituality
Learning Diamond
Context Community
Content Theology
Process Ministry
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Community

• We share our life in Christ with others we
  journey in groups.
• The community forms our spirituality through . .
  .
• What it does what it does not do.
• Language
• Rituals
• How it handles problems.

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Ministry

• Any attempt I make because I am a Christian to
  assist persons with their needs, whether those
  needs are immediate or ultimate.
• Any attempt to expose others to or involved
  others in the life (zoe) found in Christ.
• Any attempt from a cup of cold water to
  cross-cultural holistic evangelism.

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Spirituality

• The internality of our faith and life in Christ.
• The intertwining processes of interpreting
  experience through the lens of Christian faith as
  well as a way of expressing faith through
  intentional action. (RC)?

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Theology

• Our reflection on (the process) and understanding
  (the product) of our life in Christ.

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An intro to case learning/teaching

• Popularized by Harvard Business School
• Used in numerous professional education contexts
• Narratives based on actual events containing a
  problem for the participants to solve.
• The goal is not the solution but the cognitive
  workout provided by the process of getting to a
  solution.
• See pdf entitled, case note example.

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Soldiers without an Army (a case study)?

• Identify the characters and their interests
  (concerns values)?
• What problems do you see? What are the root
  problems among the larger set of problems?
• What should the Winstons do?
• What would be your pastoral response to the
  Winstons?
• What biblical texts would inform your pastoral
  response to the Winstons?

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THEOLOGY UNIT Begins here
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(No Transcript)
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What is theology?

• Construct a definition
• Needs to include something of Gods Story
• Something of Gods Vision

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What is theology?

• To Greek poets (Homer, Hessiod), theology was an
  effort to speak about the nature of the world.
• Faith seeking understanding. (The motto of St.
  Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109)
• Our understanding of Gods nature and desires
• A quest for God

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What is theology?

• Pursuit of, Reflection on and Exploration into
  the nature and will of God.
• Construction of our thought about God
• Decision-making
• Commitment to new action

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What is theology?
A lifelong, intentional and loving pursuit of
increased knowledge and imitation of Jesus Christ
towards the ends of lived Christian faith and
enhanced participation in Gods activity in, and
purposes for, the world. (RC)?
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What is theology?
Lifelong Intentional pursuit Loving
pursuit of Increased knowledge Increased
imitation of Jesus towards the ends of Lived
Christian faith Enhanced participation in Gods
activity in the world Gods purposes for the
world
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Some Kinds of Theology

• Biblical theology (past)?
• Systematic theology (always)?
• Practical theology (now)?
• Spiritual theology (everywhere)
• Eugene Petersons Christ Plays in Ten Thousand
  Places

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Specific systematic theologies

• Pneumatology (the Holy Spirit)?
• Ecclesiology (the church)?
• Everett Fergusons, The Church of Christ, an
  Ecclesiology for Today.
• Soteriology (soter Salvation)?
• Eschatology (Events preceding, accompanying and
  resulting from the end of the world)?

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Recent Theological Directions

• Liberation theology (praxis based)?
• Latin American (G. Gutierrez)?
• Black (James Cone)?
• Feminist (Elizabeth Schussler Fiorenza, Bread,
  Not Stone)?
• Emergent Theology
• Brian McLaren. Everything Must Change Jesus,
  Global Crises and a Revolution of Hope. 2007
• Rollins, Peter. How (Not) to Speak of God

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larryjamesurbandaily.blogspot.comLiberation
Theology
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GREEN is Ray AndersonWHITE is Ross Cochrans
additions/explanationsdef.
In summary, practical theology is a dynamic
process of reflective, critical inquiry
hermeneutic of suspicion as well as affirmation
into the praxis theology from below of the
church in the world and Gods purposes for
humanity, carried out in the light of Christian
Scripture and tradition, and in critical dialogue
with other sources of knowledge which sources?
how blended?. (contd)?
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As a theological discipline its primary purpose
is to ensure that the churchs public
proclamations and praxis reflective and
intentional action in the world faithfully
reflect the nature and purpose of Gods
continuing mission to the world missional
churches living missionally and in so doing
authentically addresses the contemporary context
into which the church seeks to minister. (p.
22)? Ray S. Anderson, The Shape of Practical
Theology Empowering Ministry with Theological
Praxis. For excerpt of chapter one, go to
http//ivpress.gospelcom.net/cgi-ivpress/book.pl/t
oc/code1559
Practical theology def.
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Practical theologymust take on the
characteristics of theology as such. It too is a
descriptive, normative, critical and apologetical
activity. It is the means whereby the day-to-day
life of the Church, in all its dimensions, is
scrutinized in the light of the Gospel and
related to the demands and challenges of the
present day, in a dialogue that both shapes
Christian practice and influences the world,
however minimally. Paul Ballard and John
Pritchard, Practical Theology in Action
Christian Thinking in the Service of Church and
Society (London SPCK, 1996), p. 12 (as quoted in
Anderson, Shape of Practical Theology, p. 26z)?
Practical theology def.
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Some Foundational Theological Questions

• What is the nature of God?
• What is the nature of man?
• What constitutes true religion?
• James 127
• Orthodoxy, Orthopraxy, Orthopathy
• How do we know? (epistemology)?

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Peter Rollins, How (Not) to Speak of God, pg
24-25.
Yet in reality the Christian God destroys the
idea of immanence and transcendence as opposite
points in a diffuse spectrum, replacing this with
the idea that immanence and transcendence are one
and the same point God remains transcendent
amidst immanence precisely because God remains
concealed amidst revelation. . . . Here the God
testified to in Christianity is affirmed as an
un/known God. This recognition of hyper-presence
leads us to consider the traditional
atheism/theism opposition, for if our beliefs
necessarily fall short of that which they attempt
to describe, then it would seem that a certain
atheistic spirit is actually deeply embedded
within Christianity.
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Peter Rollins, How (Not) to Speak of God, pg 26.
This a/theism is thus a deeply religious and
faith-filled form of cynical discourse, one which
captures how faith operates in an oscillation
between understanding and unknowing. This
unknowing is to be utterly distinguished from an
intellectually lazy ignorance, for it is a type
of unknowing which arise not from imprecision but
rather from deep reflection and sustained
mediation. The a/theistic language employed by
those involved in the emerging conversation is
a recognition that negation is embedded within,
and permeates, all religious affirmation. It is
an acknowledgement that a desert of ignorance
exists in the midst of every oasis of
understanding.
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Peter Rollins, How (Not) to Speak of God, pg 27.
This a/theistic approach is not to be mistaken
for some type of synthesis of opposites rather,
it is the uncollapsible tension between affirming
our religious ideas while also placing them into
question. This a/theism is not then some
temporary place of uncertainty on the way to
spiritual maturity, but rather is something that
operates within faith as a type of heat-inducing
friction that prevents our liquid images of the
divine from cooling and solidifying into
idolatrous form.
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The contribution of the uncertainty of fluidity
to epistemology

• Revelation
• Inscription
• Inspiration
• Transmission
• Translation
• Preservation
• Canonicity
• Interpretation

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The contribution of the uncertainty of fluidity
to epistemology

• Revelation (Did the prophets hear Gods voice?
  How are the Psalms which are written TO God, the
  word OF God FROM God?)
• Inscription (Paul dictated differing vocabulary
  syntax between authors).
• Inspiration (2 Tim. 316-17 What is inspired
  (words, ideas, original texts, vocabulary, etc.)?
  What does inspired mean?
• Transmission (presence of textual variants)?
• Translation (which one?)?
• Preservation (letter to Laodecia Col. 416)?
• Canonicity (many books debated)
• Interpretation (nature of man Roman 5)?

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Disparate Ingredients

• Fluidity and Certainty
• Limited epistemological perspective and absolute
  truth
• Plurality and exclusivity
• Peter Rollins, How NOT to speak of God

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Foundational Questions (contd)?

• What is the place of experience in theological
  reflection?
• What is the essence of Christianity? What are
  Christianitys non-negotiable, culture-and-time-tr
  anscending essentials?
• What voices (sources) inform our theological
  reflection? (science? Intuition? Scripture?)?

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Elements of Theological Reflection

• Scripture
• Context
• Experience
• Reason
• Imagination
• as if Hebrews 132-3
• To the least of these..to me (Matt. 2540)?
• Tradition

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What is the Role of Experience in Theological
Method Formulations?

• Pentecostals experience as a chief form of
  knowing 2nd blessing.
• Some have denounced experience as unreliable.
• The Book of Proverbs - distillations of
  experience observed over time.

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What is the role of Scripture in Theological
Method Formulations?

• This question connected to these realities
• What do we mean by Inspiration? (theopnuestos 2
  Timothy 314-17)?
• The canonization process was characterized by
  debate.
• The biblical documents are occasional (written to
  a specific context but we believe with
  context-transcending authority application.

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What is the role of Scripture in Theological
Method Formulations? Why would we say
Scripture is authoritative?

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What is the role of Scripture in Theological
Method Formulations?

• Scripture is always interpreted.
• A Bible translation is itself and interpretation.
• Whose interpretation do we follow?
• Scripture is not comprehensive in the scope of
  its content.
• What elements in Scripture are eternal, and which
  are specific (and limited in scope) to their time
  and culture (contextually bound)?
• Some would say we are at an impasse in our
  journey of interpretation.

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On the question of Essentials

• Identity and Adaptability
• What in the Tradition can be adapted to the new
  setting (cross-cultural missions post-modern
  culture)?
• Examples the role of women in the assembly the
  integration of white and black persons in
  Southern USA in 1950s.

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Options re Identity and Adaptability

• Fortress strategy
• Complete casting off of the tradition
• A Mediating position
• Holding on to core
• Adapting of non-essentials

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Examples of Mediators

• Jesus fulfillment of the Law, yet disregarded
  some traditions re Gentiles (Zaccheaus friend
  of sinners in Matthew 1119)?
• Paul
• 1 Cor. 919
• Titus and Timothys circumcisions

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RCs theological assumptions

• God wants his nature and will (1) to be known (2)
  by all.
• We must assume we have misunderstood God.
  Otherwise we will be closed to new insight.
• Proceed with a hermeneutic of suspicion.
• Epistemological humility
• The fallacy of sectarianism is not only
  theological inaccuracy, but arrogance.
• Leaders of the Restoration Movement were willing
  to change any belief, give up any practice
  there were no sacred cows.
• Praxis as starting place.
• The Christ event is Gods ultimate revelatory
  act.
• Jesus is primary lens for remainder of Scripture.
  
• The primacy of the Gospels.

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John 11-2, 14, 18

• In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
  God ???? (1-2)?
• The word became flesh and dwelt for awhile among
  us..full of grace and truth. (14)?
• The incarnated one makes the Father known. (18)?

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Implications of Word become flesh

• Living trumps cognitive knowing (Orthopraxy
  trumps orthodoxy)?
• We must live the way we want all to live.
• Theology must address the issues generated by
  human experience.

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What Is Theological Reflection?
The term theological reflection has come into
prominence over the last thirty years in a
variety of settings and serving a number of ends.
It is used to denote a process in which an
individual or small group reflects on their
personal or collective experience(s) in light of
their faith. The aim is not only to come to new
understandings about the circumstances in which
people live and the faith they profess, but to
identify new ways of responding that validate
their experience and give voice to their truth.
-- Dr. Richard Dickey, 6/2006.
http//www.ants.edu/academics/fielded/handbook/FE
P_TheologicalReflection.pdfsearch22Theological
20Reflection20Elements22
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Postures for Theological Reflection

• Humility
• Awe / Worship
• Openness to new insight
• change your mind life, OR change what God said
• Willingness to follow discoveries
• discipleship

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Desired Outcomes of Theological Reflection

• Not merely to know intellectually, though we are
  to love God with our minds. (We cant reason
  people into faith, but faith has its reasons.)?
• Understanding of Gods nature, will and his
  on-going work in the world, AND Catapulting this
  Understanding into New Action in the World
• The imitation of Jesus To think, to desire, and
  to do like Jesus
• To continue the Incarnation of Jesus
• To guide our praxis of ministry/witness in the
  world. To give feet to our faith.

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How Thomas Groome might say it

• Beyond Cognition to Conation
• Beyond Epistemology to Ontology
• Ontological turn
• Transformation of Being
• To form, inform and transform Christian Identity
  and Agency.

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MARRIAGEAn exercise in theological reflection

• Why did God design marriage?
• What does God intend for the marriage
  relationship?
• What outcomes does God desire to be produced by
  marriage?
• What texts inform a Christian view of marriage?
• Ever heard, One man, one woman, for life?

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The end of all Christian belief and obedience,
witness and teaching, marriage and family,
leisure and work life, preaching and pastoral
work is the living of everything we know about
God life, life, and more life. If we dont know
where we are going, any road will get us there.
But if we have a destination in this case a
life lived to the glory of God there is a
well-marked way, the Jesus-revealed Way.
Spiritual theology is the attention that we give
to the details of living life on this way. It is
a protest against theology depersonalized into
information about God it is a protest against
theology functionalized into a program of
strategic planning for God. Eugene Peterson,
Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places A
Conversation in Spiritual Theology, p. 1
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Regarding Theological Method

• Methodist Quadrilateral Reason, Scripture,
  Tradition, Experience
• Roman Catholic Tradition Scripture is a part of
  THE tradition.
• Evangelicals Scripture (properly interpreted) as
  the final authority in matters of life and faith.
  Lived experience is accountable to, and judged
  by, Scripture.

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Starting Places

• From above (Revelation)?
• Creation
• Scripture
• Jesus
• Experience (properly qualified)?
• From below (experience)?

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The starting point for theological reflection
From above
from below

• Begins with Scripture as Gods Revelation

• Begins with human experience.
• Below is where we are.
• Scripture
• anchored in historical context.
• Praxis generated
• Ecclesiastes under the sun
• Proverbs wisdom gleaned from observing
  experience
• When we go to Scripture, we have begun our
  journey from a context of lived experience.
• Realidad (Paulo Freire, Brazilian literacy
  teacher)?
• Present Praxis (Tom Groome)?

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Traits of Christian Theology

• Christ-centered
• Discovering
• Descriptive Discerning
• Dialogical
• Done by all
• Partial, not total, understanding
• Leads to more Christian way of acting/living.
  (Peterson quote, Christ Plays, p. 1)?

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Challenges to Theology

• Notions of truth as non-existent or unattainable.
  (the challenge of postmodernism)?
• Differing Christian traditions in competition
  rather than in collaboration, which could
  eliminate our blind spots)?
• Busyness absence of silence and stillness
• Hypocrisy lack of authenticity.
• Bifurcation of belief and action
• Arrogance and sectarianism
• Unwillingness to live in that place where paradox
  lives but resolution does not.

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Desired Outcomes of Theological Reflection

• Understanding of Gods nature, work and will
  (Knowing)?
• Transformation of Identity (Being)?
• New Action in the World (Doing)?

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What is the Goal of Theological Reflection?
The goal is not merely to know intellectually,
though we are to love God with our minds. Thomas
Groome To form, inform and transform Christian
Identity and Agency. Apostle Paul until Christ
is formed in you. (Gal. 419 also see Romans
121-2 Ephesians 411-14)?
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Why do theology?

• To overcome notions of faith void of serious
  thought (bumper sticker faith)?
• To be able to give reasons for our hope (1 Peter
  315)?
• To address thoughtfully the questions faced by
  humanity

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Roots of Christian Theology

• The Christ-event (Incarn, D, B R)?
• Proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus
• Formation of Faith Communities
• Need for Maturation further instruction

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Roots of Christian Theology, contd

• Gospels and letters composed
• NT documents are about shaping persons
• For increased holiness
• For increased usefulness in Gods purposes
• For community
• For eternity
• Christianity faces new settings, challenges
  (internal and external)?

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Roots of Christian Theology, contd

• Desire for orthodoxy
• Making sense of the mysteries. (RC)
• Need for continued reflection and discernment in
  new contexts and in the face of new challenges.
• All conscientiously reflective Christians engage
  in theological reflection.

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Where Cross the Crowded Ways of Life
Where cross the crowded ways of life, Where sound
the cries of race and clan Above the noise of
selfish strife, We hear your voice, O Son of
man. In haunts of wretchedness and need, On
shadowed thresholds dark with fears, From paths
where hide the lures of greed, We catch the
vision of Your tears.
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Where Cross the Crowded Ways of Life
From tender childhoods helplessness, From
womans grief, mans burdened toil, From famished
souls, from sorrows stress, Your heart has never
known recoil. The cup of water given for
You, Still holds the freshness of Your grace Yet
long these multitudes to view The sweet
compassion of Your face.
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Where Cross the Crowded Ways of Life
O Master, from the mountainside Make haste to
heal these hearts of pain Among these restless
throngs abide O tread the citys streets
again. Till sons of men shall learn Your
love And follow where Your feet have trod, Till,
glorious from Your Heaven above, Shall come the
city of our God!
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(No Transcript)
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ILLNESSAn exercise in theological reflection

• Why do people get ill? How many causes of
  illness have we identified?
• In what ways have you seen an illness be redeemed
  to contribute to a purpose of God?
• What texts inform a Christian view of illness?

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WORKAn exercise in theological reflection

• What does daily work contribute to peoples
  lives?
• How is meaning found in daily work?
• What texts inform a Christian view of work?

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Wheel in a Wheel
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Peer discussion questions

• Biblical writers often use images to describe
  God.
• What are some of these images, and which one
  speaks most powerfully to you?
• How does the presence of these images in the
  biblical text inform the tasks of preaching
  teaching?
• Problem of suffering. Theodicy.
• What are the purposes of the church?

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Windows into the theology house
1 Peter 24-12 (Tuesday)? Hebrews
1024-25 (Wednesday)? John 173 (Thursday)? John
717 (Friday)?
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Contents of this File

• Building Block vocabulary
• Postures
• Foundations and their function
• What is Theology?
• Case study Soldiers without an Army
• Windows into Theology house
• Why do Theology?
• Kinds of Theology
• Practical Theology
• Theological Questions
• Elements of Theological Reflection
• Starting Places
• Traits of Christian Theological Refection
• Challenges to Theology
• Theology at the Crossroads

• This slide needs updating..

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