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Why Does Theology Matter?
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?
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
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.
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 …
The Challenge of Jesus
And as the years roll by …
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?
Who Are We?
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
Creation
AD
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 …
Any questions?
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