Thinking Theologically

Have you heard the one about the bishop and the judge? We have it here and it’s a tale about thinking theologically!

The key question about thinking theologically is:

How to do it? What process to follow? Where to start? What good will it do?

People can get very put off by the thought of “thinking theologically”. It’s something other people do. We want to suggest that it is exciting, creative, helps you use your imagination and can be really satisfying - even if it sometimes disturbs the cosy and quiet little worlds we have built up for ourselves.

You might be familiar with statements like:

• We will now examine the social and political implications of the free market (or wealth creation, the welfare state, recent immigration or education policies) in the light of our Christian faith.
• The current legislation on stem cell research (or organ transplant or gm food) is contrary to the values of the Kingdom of God.

And so on. For many of us this task of relating faith and contemporary life is daunting beyond belief. Questions to terrify flood the mind.

We have designed this exercise as a process to follow, working through the units provided one after the other. In this way you will be able to build up a picture of thinking theologically and get a hold of some skills to do it for yourself which you can apply as you go about your work in the college.

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