Today I have been at the Barking Episcopal Area Annual Study Day which this year was entitled ‘The Future of Christian Theology’ and led by David Ford, Regius Professor of Divinity at Cambridge University. David is Acting Director of the Cambridge Inter-Faith Programme, the author of several books and editor of Modern Theologians. He is currently working on a theological commentary of St John’s Gospel.
He led us in exploring themes from his most recent book, The Future of Christian Theology (including ‘In a Secular Age: a ‘dramatic code’ for 21st century living,’ ‘Collegiality and Conversation,’ ‘Interfaith Blessing,’ and ‘The Apprentice Theologian’) and in Bible Study together on the Prologue to St John's Gospel.
He gave us two past points of reference for the future of Christian theology; the Prologue of John’s Gospel and the diversity of theologies developed during the twentieth century.
He thought of the Prologue of John’s Gospel as being the most influential single text from scripture because it is a superabundant text to which he is constantly responding. It is an illustration of Ricoeur’s idea that the meaning of a text goes ahead of the text i.e. go on generating new meanings. John’s Gospel was written in order to act like that.
He particularly valued Jean Vanier’s Commentary Drawn into the mystery of Jesus for its understanding of this Gospel’s theology of the endless richness of God. It is a succession Gospel which looks to the future. In the farewell discourses Jesus says you will do greater things than these and be guided into all truth; in action and understanding there will be more and more of what you have experienced to date. The Vanier take on this is that there will be more footwashing. The writer of the Gospel is utterly confident that God has more and more for us in future. God has a future full of good surprises for us; of superabundant love.
The writer of the Gospel has been given the Holy Spirit and is being led into all truth, so is able to write daring, extraordinary theology. The Prologue is a midrash on Genesis 1 interpreting that scripture in ways not articulated before. It is a theology which begins with the interpretation of scripture but is not dull repetition, rather daring interpretation in the Spirit. The writer of this Gospel is saying that good theology interprets scripture and this is done in the Spirit and in relation to Jesus (Christology).
Logos is a term that enables him to relate Jesus to the whole of the Hebrew scriptures (Septuagint). Logos is used for the commandments, the prophetic word, and wisdom literature - so embraces the Torah, the prophets and the wisdom writings. He is immersed in scripture, inhabiting it - he frequently uses the greek word meaning to dwell or inhabit. Logos is also an inter-cultural word as it was a common word in the Hellenistic culture of the day. So there is a dialogue between the Hebrew-Christian tradition and the surrounding culture.
Logos becomes a key term in the Church for developing a Christology. In doing so it was crucial to engage with wider world because all things came into being through Him. Jesus relates to all things, so theology can not ignore any aspect of reality; all peoples, all cultures, all religions - Jesus is involved with everything.
Light shines in darkness; a great natural symbol which sets our imaginations going as we ponder, what does light mean? Theology has to stretch imagination and therefore has to be involved with the Arts. As example, Ford spoke about his relationship with the poet Michael O’Siadhail. Both are each other’s first readers and this has had a remarkable effect on Ford’s theology.
This image is also the beginning of conflict in the Gospel. John is an utter realist about conflict and dualism. It is essential to face up to darkness and evil but he always leads you beyond that. John doesn’t leave you with dualism - darkness doesn’t overcome the light - but he takes the darkness of the cross seriously. Ford was present at a Rwandan service with dancers from genocide survivor communities. As the children began to dance there was a great wave of grief expressed by those widowed through the genocide. There was both ongoing terrible grief and affirmation, through the children dancing to God, that that wasn’t the last word - the cross and resurrection were experienced together.
John the Baptist was a man sent from God as a witness. Our faith is one which is dependent of historical truth. A trust in testimony is central to the Gospel. Belief involves the whole person, everything you are. Faith is inseparable from love.
"His own did not accept him" - the Johannine community had a painful break with the parent Jewish community and the bitterness and pain of that break is apparent here. The Johannine community prizes unity and love. This Gospel is not legalistic and has no Sermon on the Mount. There is an astonishing sense of showing God to the world. Jesus is seen in the way that the community loves one another. They are an intensive community in love for the sake of going out into the world as Jesus was sent (remembering that Jesus was crucified). Being born of God is our identity.
The Word became flesh and entered into history. This is paradoxical for Hellenistic frameworks of understanding. The glory seen in Jesus is that which is seen on the cross. The only mention of grace in the Gospel comes here, in grace and truth. This raises the question, what is John doing in relation to Paul? The answer is that he is doing new theology. Abundance and fullness is set against a packaged theology. There will be more and more truth and wisdom. We have received grace upon grace from Jesus’ fullness.
No one ever seen God but the Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, has revealed Him. In John 1.18 the climax of this discussion of God and all things, the deepest secret of universe, is this the intimacy of love between the Father and the Son in the Spirit. At the end of the Gospel the beloved disciple leans on the breast of Jesus. We are all beloved disciples in the bosom of Jesus. This is where we are to dwell. We are to mutually indwell Jesus Christ. Vanier has a theology of talking with Jesus, sitting in the presence of the one who loves you.
It’s really just all about Jesus. Jesus leads us into all things. It is about whose face you live before, whose face is in your heart. This forms our identity. We are part of an ongoing drama of love and are not to be distracted by some of the other big frameworks that we might get into. Peter is asked, ‘Do you love me, feed my sheep.’ It doesn’t matter whether the beloved disciple lives to the second coming, the focus is on the ongoing ordinary drama of love - follow me and wash the feet of others.
So what is the future of theology in relation to John’s Gospel. We should be equally daring in our theology. This feels risky - what checks and balances are there? - but unless you grow the tree, you don’t have anything to prune.
The twentieth century was the most fruitful, creative century for theology with theologies from around the world, new voices emerging, such as the voices of women, and the growth of theological institutions. This is utterly unique and how much there is going on is a delight.
What are the key elements of wise and creative Christian theology? There are four elements:
- retrieval - the sense that any decent theology has to re-engage with the sources of scripture and tradition;
- engagement - a simultaneity of engagement with God, Church and World. If theology is weak on any of these three, it is unlikely to be wise or creative;
- thinking - rigorous and imaginative thinking with the excitement of finding new concepts;
- communication - often neglected but intrinsic to content including the need to take the preparation and delivery of sermons more seriously.
The book of Job gives us a healthy ecology of approaches to faith and theology. Much theology is concerned with indicatives and imperators - this is what you believe and what you do - neat packages which don’t open out to other moods and themes. Job questions, imagines, experiments to try to make theological sense of his trauma without givinhg up on his desire for God. He knows that there is more to grasp. Theology can’t be all wrapped up because God cannot be wrapped up. We have to desire God more and more, this has to be the central mood. It is not, first of all, about us - obeying, inquiring, desiring - instead we are affirmed, questioned, commended, desired by God. Job’s friends offer neat packages. We need to desire God for God’s sake. The key to the book is does Job love (fear) God for nothing - as gift, for God’s sake.
Wisdom cries out and wisdom is a discernment of cries. In a parish, you are surrounded by cries. Ben Quash argues we need to improve the quality of disagreement. We will always have disagreements but need to be committed to loving our enemies. There is something wonderful about being in a church (like the Church of England) which tries to engage with disagreement publicly. At the first Primates meeting, the bishops wrestled with Ephesians - dividing wall comes down through death of Christ - and ended by saying that to turn away from a brother or sister in Christ is to turn away from the cross.
Scriptural reasoning suggests that there are no short cuts to long-term inter-faith engagements where faith is on the table. Much inter-faith engagement has been by those on the fringes of their faith and has been seen as a liberal thing to do. A focus on scriptures is more likely to engage those in the mainstream of each faith. Through scriptural reasoning, you go deeper into your own scriptures, into other scriptures, into the common good, and the community doing the scriptural reasoning - not looking for consensus but friendship. When you realise how deeply diverse all religions are, all generalisations dissolve.
Theology is done for the sake of the name. We do things for God’s sake. Unless that is there, you lose the joy. Like O’Saidhail writing poems about jazz and saying, the only end of jazz is jazz.
What we inhabit/dwell in is spirituality. The mystery of God is what comes as and when everyone testifies to God. "No one comes to the Father but by me," John reports Jesus as saying but John has already told in the Prologue that all things relate to Jesus. Karl Barth wrote that Christians are those who, in the light of Jesus Christ, are those who are permitted to hope the best for all people.
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Jonathan Butler - Falling In Love With Jesus.
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