Daryl Dash has some very thought provoking quotes from John Frame's book, " The Doctrine of the Knowledge of God."
It is arbitrary to insist that theology be written in a formal, academic style. Rather, theologians ought to make broad use of human language - poetry, drama, exclamation, song, parable, symbol - as Scripture itself does. (p.85)
The work of theology is to proclaim the old ideas of Scripture and nothing else. But the work of theology is, indeed, to proclaim those old ideas to a new generation. This involves application, and that demands newness, since every new situation is somewhat different from its predecessors... (p.340)
There is a great need for imagination among theologians today. There is a crying need for fresh applications of Scripture to situations too long neglected, for translating the gospel into new forms. The artistic gift may be well employed in the theological profession. (p. 343)
It was somewhere in the early years of the third century, the church father Tertullian mused, " What has Athens have to do with Jerusalem?" His question articulated the challenge that faced the church in his day and throughout the centuries since then. What relationship does the church...do Christians...have with culture.
For Tertullian, this question centered on the relationship between philosophy symbolized by Athens, the home of Socrates and Plato...and faith, whose home was in the holy city of Jerusalem. Tertullian answers his rhetorical question with a resounding " Nothing!"
Tertulian viewed the culture surrounding the church of his day as dangerous. This is the space that gives birth to the heretics. He added, it was a culture that was unnecessary. What need have we for curiosity since we have Christ.
A good question, but I can't help thinking, maybe Tertullian came up with the wrong answer.
A Christianity closed up in itself might be safe from heresy. For that matter, life without curiosity might even be safe. But such a Christianity, and such a life might also be suffocating, and stifling...so closed off that it becomes totally irrelevant, and has no connection to the world that surrounds it. Further, it's worth consider the impact of Tertullian's view on apologetics...and our own view on apologetics.
An unengaged approach to life and culture leaves the Christian with little ground in common with the non-Christian. The with drawl from engaging the world stymies finding inroads and connections for the gospel.
A church without curiosity, with out engagement to culture cuts off from learning anything from others who just might have something to teach us. I'm not saying the church become the culture of the day. I'm saying engaging the culture is a two way street, the church does not control the traffic flow, the conversation flows in both directions. We find common ground to speak the gospel to others, and from others we gain a better understanding of the gospel.
The culture of Athens has a lot to do with the holy city of Jerusalem...and the culture of our day has a lot do do with the church.
This is a paraphrased quote from Bonhoeffer, he said something like, " The Christ calls us to worldliness, to be worldly disciples, he does not mean for us to be accommodated to the world or merged or lost in it. Instead Bonhoeffer calls us to be fully engaged, to be incarnational..to be aware. Such an awareness as Jesus said, " the eyes to see, and the ears to hear ", it is then, we can speak. Such an awareness helps us to see what we would otherwise, due to to our limited experiences, prejudices, and biases...likely miss.
As Christians, we need the theologians to become artists...and for the artists to become theologians. There is a great need for imagination among believers today. There is a crying need for fresh applications of Scripture to situations too long neglected, for translating the gospel into new forms.
Jesus told stories, parables that engaged people and the culture they lived in, stories about the Kingdom. Jesus not only told stories, he lived the reality of the story...by hanging out, and following Jesus they could see the Kingdom lived out...now...and look forward to the fullness of the Kingdom to come.
The challenge for the church will be to speak into the culture ( of consumerism, injustice, poverty, economic collapse, environmental crisis, globilization, pluralism ) in new way, with creativity and imagination, revealing the Kingdom. But the biggest challenge of the church, will be to live out the words it speaks.
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