Having Gotten a Little Ahead, Let's Back Up
The book under discussion here is part 2 of a 3 part systematic theology by James Wm McClendon. Jim was a teacher at Fuller Seminary for many years before his death a few years ago. He and his wife, Nancey Murphy, were powerful influences on my life and thinking. EthicsPart 1 of his set is on the topic of ethics and I don't have the time to get into this book now.
Witness This is part III of his series and it has all to do with the postmodern shift in thinking that has occured. Again, for anyone in Emergent who wants to see cutting edge thinking as it relates to the Church and faith, go here now.
Why Doctrine Now?
Frankly, there are a lot of people fumbling around this whole postmodern meteoric blast into the church which has spawned a great deal of energy into thinking anew. But it would behoove all of us interested in doing so to watch the masters do it, if there are masters in fact doing it. The 'doing it' I'm referring to, of course, is postmodern theological reflection. Jim McClendon is a heavyweight. He was working on these issues before most in emergent were even born. In Doctrine, he gives an example of someone who is putting pen to paper doing the very theology, in a very different way, than most people do today. It is important not only to listen to his voice, but to watch how he goes about his work.
In the words of a friend, "I'm tired of reading about theological postmodernity. I want to see someone do theology. I want to grapple with theological ideas."
So that's what this is all about for me, and hopefully for a few others.
Witness This is part III of his series and it has all to do with the postmodern shift in thinking that has occured. Again, for anyone in Emergent who wants to see cutting edge thinking as it relates to the Church and faith, go here now.
Why Doctrine Now?
Frankly, there are a lot of people fumbling around this whole postmodern meteoric blast into the church which has spawned a great deal of energy into thinking anew. But it would behoove all of us interested in doing so to watch the masters do it, if there are masters in fact doing it. The 'doing it' I'm referring to, of course, is postmodern theological reflection. Jim McClendon is a heavyweight. He was working on these issues before most in emergent were even born. In Doctrine, he gives an example of someone who is putting pen to paper doing the very theology, in a very different way, than most people do today. It is important not only to listen to his voice, but to watch how he goes about his work.
In the words of a friend, "I'm tired of reading about theological postmodernity. I want to see someone do theology. I want to grapple with theological ideas."
So that's what this is all about for me, and hopefully for a few others.
posted by Jimmy at 7:46 PM
5 Comments:
My first comment is that I'm intrigued by the idea of non-propositional theology or non-propositional doctrine. What would non-propositional theology / doctrine look like?
PLStepp
theophiluspunk.blogspot.com
McClendon, I'm quite sure (and I will find his reference to this later), does not 'propose' that propositions have no place at all in doctrine, rather he expands doctrinal content to largely be based on the multiple narratives of scripture. Narrative is far more prominent in his thinking and he strongly would argue against pulling propositions out of their narrative context in order to build a theology off of them in isolation.
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