The Society for the Advancement of Ecclesiological Theology

May 25, 2009 by Gerald Hiestand

Writing vs. Reading: A Few Thoughts on the Piper/Carson Lectures

I’ve finally had a chance to listen to the Piper-Carson event hosted by the Henry Center. In as much as the title of the event—The Pastor as Scholar and the Scholar as Pastor—intersects with the mission emphasis of the SAET, I was particularly interested to hear what the good doctors had to say.

I won’t summarize the content of the lectures beyond stating that Piper’s talk was primarily directed toward pastors, and Carson’s talk was primarily directed toward academics and graduate students with an academic calling. I enjoyed the lectures, and appreciated the sage counsel offered on a variety of issues. Piper’s introductory comments regarding his dissatisfaction with F.F. Bruce’s “non-emotive” scholarship were particularly noteworthy, as were Carson’s thoughts on how to keep one’s scholarship in service to the church. But it became clear throughout both lectures that Piper and Carson’s vision of a “pastor-scholar” is not identical to that of the SAET’s.

In short, the difference between the SAET and Carson/Piper on this issue can be summarized as follows: Carson and Piper view a pastor-scholar as a pastor who reads theology. The SAET views a pastor-theologian as one who writes theology.

Based on their lectures, neither Carson nor Piper views the identity of the pastoral-scholar primarily in terms of writing biblical and theological scholarship. To be sure, both men are keen on encouraging pastors to grow robustly in their understanding of the Scriptures and theology. But neither men used their lecture to encourage pastors to actually write theology. Indeed, when our own Owen Strachan referenced Edwards as a model of the ideal pastor-scholar, Piper and Carson largely discouraged pastors (even pastor-scholars!) from trying to replicate the genre of Edwards’ most penetrating theological discourse. No doubt emulating Edwards is a tall order for any theologian, pastor and professor alike. But would Carson and Piper have likewise discouraged a group of academics? Probably not.  One was left with the distinct impression that a pastor-theologian is not really a theologian—at least not in the sense one typically understands the term when used in reference to academic-theologians.

In contrast, the SAET conceives of the “pastor-theologian” as a pastor who not only reads theology, but actively writes theology. And not just popular-level theology, but the kind of theology written by Augustine, Calvin, Luther, Edwards, etc. And not merely academic theology, but ecclesial theology. To be sure, the SAET has no grievance with the kind of theological writing and reflection done by a pastor like Piper. Indeed, this constitutes one important aspect of ecclesial theology. Yet it is only one aspect. For the good of the church, and for evangelical theology as a whole, pastor-theologians should be writing to other theologians, just as much as they are writing to non-theologians.

As both Piper and Carson pointed out, not every pastor has the intellectual curiosity, stamina or motivation required for being a pastor-theologian. Agreed. But some do. And those that do should be encouraged to make use of the gifts God has given them. Not just for the good of their own local churches, but for the good of the church catholic.

Too many graduate students today mistakenly believe that the academy is the only viable context for sustained, robust theological engagement. Consequently, many would-be pastor-theologians abandon an ecclesial calling largely because they can’t conceive of a vision of the pastor-theologian that actually allows one to be a theologian in the fullest, historic sense of the term. I have a great deal of respect for both Carson and Piper, but their lectures did nothing to overturn this false assumption, and perhaps, in many ways, reinforced it.

The lectures as a whole reaffirmed my conviction that the SAET’s vision of the pastor-theologian represents a paradigm shift away from the contemporary understanding of the term. A good deal of work needs to be done in recasting a vision of the pastor-theologian that runs along more historic lines.

Categories: Ecclesial Theology | Pastor-theologian