I just saw this book on The Gospel Coalition Blog. It looks wonderful. A few key points from an interview with the author:
Theology as a pilgrimage
Kapic urges humility in doing theology, and from this perspective: “Our different personalities and experiences often shape — in one way or another —how we approach and understand theology. Among other things, this background tends to mean each of us will face different temptations, blind spots, and struggles as we come to theological conclusions.”
Understanding our sinful limitations is the key here. He is not espousing relativism, but rather the fact of our inability, as an individual, to be 100% correct. This is why an understanding of history and tradition, as well as the wide Christian community, along with your local church community, is absolutely critical in doing theology.
Finally, we must maintain a willingness to revise our theological misunderstandings and misapplications. This is hard.
Core Disciplines of a Theologian
Study, while critical, is not the lone path to becoming a theologian. We must not belittle study, but neither must we worship it.
The core disciples Kapic lists (in this interview) as providing a healthy context for our theology are:
- prayer and study
- humility and repentance
- tradition and community
- love of Scripture
- and a concern for justice and suffering
Looks like an excellent book! Sounds like a way more advanced and complete version of a session I gave at GCC’s Faithwalker’s national conference this last winter on The Right Pursuit of Theological Knowledge.
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