The Society for the Advancement of Ecclesiological Theology

November 29, 2009 by Gerald Hiestand

Taxonomy of the Pastor-Theologian, Part 4: The Pastor-Theologian as Academic Theologian

When I tell people the SAET is a theological society for pastor-theologians, I am initially understood to be speaking of the local theologian model (part 2). When my listeners come to realize that I envision a writing ministry as a vital component of the pastor-theologian’s identity, they quickly assume the popular theologian model (part 3).  When I explain that we are going for something more robust than popular theology, they immediately envision (often with skepticism) this last model—the pastor-theologian as academic theologian. (After all, isn’t academic theology the only alternative to popular theology?)

The pastor-theologian in this model is fully abreast of the academic discussions, and the bulk of his writing consists of articles in academic journals and scholarly monographs related to ongoing academic debates. His intellectual center is the academy, not the local church. And most significantly, like academic theologians in the academy, the pastor-as-academic-theologian subjects his theological project to the demands and presuppositions of methodological agnosticism. He writes not as a pastor or a Christian, but as a disinterested scholar. Pastor-theologians of this variety are few and far between in wider evangelicalism, though perhaps more prevalent in certain denominational contexts. Frequently, the pastor-as-academic-theologian is a freshly minted PhD who has taken a job at a local church while he looks for a teaching position in the academy.

Of the three pastor-theologian models discussed thus far, I am least enthusiastic about the academic theologian model. First, I am not convinced a pastor is called to engage in this sort of writing. It distracts, rather than serves, his ecclesial calling as a shepherd. Secondly, even if there are legitimate reasons for pursuing this model, such writing is decidedly not in keeping with ecclesial theology. It does not seem particularly helpful to use the term pastor-theologian to speak of a theologian whose theological project differs in no substantial way from that of an academic theologian. To be useful, the term pastor-theologian must denote more than simply the vocation of the theologian. It must denote a certain kind of theological project. Thus the pastor-as-academic-theologian model is not sufficient for the SAET project.

Ultimately, the SAET is not concerned to resurrect the pastor-theologian model simply as an end in itself. (We are, after all, not the Society for the Advancement of Pastor-Theologians). Nor are we interested in advocating a pastor-theologian model that fails to terminate in ecclesial theology. Indeed, the final telos of our entire project is ecclesial theology.

Categories: Academic Theology | Pastor-theologian