What Is Theology?

"Let those who undervalue theology read it (What is Theology?) and then ask themselves if theology is either a soft option or an irrelevant pastime." R. P. C. Hanson "It is a discussion of the issues that arise when one tries to reflect on what is involved in doing theology. Such reflection is incumbent upon theologians, but will be of interest ... to those ...who want to know how a theologian understands his discipline." M.Wiles, Preface British Theology, after a trauma: "In the middle decades of the 20th century, a drastically reductionist way of thinking became the bottom line against which everything was measured. In the present 'grandparent generation' of theologians, those who ignored the challenge were easily written off, while those who tried to meet it risked being intimidated into reductive or at least very apologetic and defensive forms of Christian theology. In the face of aggressive, confident and often brilliant critiques (key figures included Bertrand Russell, the early Wittgenstein, G. Moore and A. Ayer), it was easy to lose theological nerve, become wary of exposure, and be tempted to withdraw into safe havens of academic respectability. The grandparents had an extraordinarily difficult task, and their achievement in sustaining and developing a university environment where theology could still flourish has been remarkable. Yet the effects of the trauma persist, directly and indirectly." This is, in my own view the best concise explanation, offered by David Ford, Regius Professor of Divinity, Cambridge University, that makes the above comment of the Eminent Patrologist and theologian RPC Hanson relevant, in place and on time. Historical to Ecumenical Theology: A pivotal figure, according to theological experts like Ford, has been that the doyen of English patristic scholars, Henry Chadwick, and R.P.C. Hanson, have largely directed the field toward guild concerns. Maurice Wiles, and Bishop Kallistos Ware have been exceptions, for different reasons, but of the following generation Archbishop Rowan Williams, has been almost alone in doing rigorous scholarly and historical work since, integrating it with a critical and constructive theological position. Some fifty years ago, the theologian Wilfred Cantwell asserted that any qualified intellectual statement of the Christian faith must refer to some sort of comparative doctrine of established religions, if it is to serve its purpose within a pluralistic, mechanistic, scientific world view. 'We explain the fact that the Milky Way is there by the doctrine of creation,' he wrote, 'but how do we explain that the Bhagavad-gita is there?' Thirty years later, Cantwell's question became Maurice Wiles' concern, and proved his prophetic anticipation for the clash of faiths that became evident after September 11, 2001. How is Theology Possible? "In asking the question of God, man must already have some idea of God, for every question has its direction, and it is impossible to seek any