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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.
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I imagine you’re getting to this… but I’ll jump ahead, at least in my own mind.
I envision a “‘tweener” of sorts: someone who resides in between these three poles, and offers something to each in measure.
As a pastor, there’s no way I could fulfill what you describe here:
Furthermore, there’s not much there that I would want to fulfill. If I had the time/energy to stay “fully abreast” of academic discussions, that might be one thing. The rest, not so much.
Anyone whose intellectual center is not in the local church ought not be serving as a pastor. Period. Which isn’t to say that someone cannot engage both the local church and the academy– and many do this effectively; I’m thinking of Philip Graham Ryken as an example– but the essence of the calling as pastor (even a pastor-theologian) is his ministry in the context of the local church.
Furthermore, I’ve never met any pastor OR academic who was a “disinterested scholar”. I’m not sure that methodological agnosticism is possible for an evangelical academic; certainly I’m skeptical about an evangelical pastor-theologian.
As I said, my sense is that you’re already headed where my mind is naturally going, given that you’ve said that this model is insufficient for SAET. Still, I thought I would offer a couple of queries for clarification.
11/30/09 11:31 AM | Comment Link
Ed,
Agree in every respect with your comments here. The pastor-theologian-as-academic-theologian is the model I’m least enthusiastic about.
Gerald
11/30/09 2:20 PM | Comment Link
SAET » Taxonomy of the Pastor-Theologian, Part 5: The Pastor-Theologian as Ecclesial Theologian » The Society for the Advancement of Ecclesial Theology said...
[...] discussed the reigning models of the pastor-theologian (local, popular, academic), the SAET’s vision for the pastor-theologian begins to emerge—the pastor-theologian as [...]
11/30/09 2:48 PM | Comment Link