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The Linacre QuarterlyVolume 44 | Number 2 Article 20May 1977How to Live with a TheologianAuthor UnknownFollow this and additional works at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/lnqRecommended CitationAuthor Unknown (1977) "How to Live with a Theologian," The Linacre Quarterly: Vol. 44: No. 2, Article 20.Available at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/lnq/vol44/iss2/20How to Live with a Theologian Author Unknown In the "good old days," theologians could talk to each other through learned theological journals and discussions without fear of being misquoted or misunderstood. Very few people knew what they were talking about and that was fine because their new theories had a chance to become clarified before they filtered down through semin-aries, universities, workshops, journals, parish pulpits and classrooms where they might begin to have an impact on the body of the Church . Now that situation has changed because of two developments. The first lies in the immense progress - way out of proportion to the achievements of the previous centuries - in the development of the tools for understanding the origins and approaches of scriptural docu-ments. We now make judgments based on better intellectual founda-tions. The second development has come principally during and after the Council. There has been an extraordinary decline in the control exercised by authority over theological scholarship. Previously "Rome says" could delay the appearance of "far out" theories from reaching the market place until they had been tested. Today a new theory appears and tomorrow it is printed in Time or Newsweek without benefit of the long-term challenge of professional criticism. Many people pick up their theology from the daily newspaper. As a result, they become confused and disturbed and wonder if the Church isn't falling apart. These people need guidelines to help them "keep the faith" and learn.to live with over-eager theologians, impatient with getting their views aired . Perhaps the following thoughts will help. 1) The opinion of a Catholic theologian, or even a cluster of them, is not necessarily the teaching of the Catholic Church. 2) Because of its purposes and procedures, the official teaching of the Church will always seem somewhat behind the times because it tries to be sensitive to the attitudes and practices of the people in the pews. 3) There is nothing in Catholic teaching which says that the teach-ing of the Church will not change. The fundamentals remain the same, but the Church can and does respond to new social situations, to new understandings of Scripture, of nature, of society and of men. There is always room for new insights and refinements. 4) Theologians can theorize all they want; a few may even find themselves questioning one or the other of these basic religious beliefs. May, 1977 185 But the authoritative teaching of the Church does not depend directly on them. The validity of a new interpretation of papal infallibility is not going to be determined by a column in a diocesan newspaper, by a religion teacher in the local Catholic high school or by a parish priest in his Sunday homily. 5) There is no need to get all stirred up by a news story that appears in the religion section of Time or Newsweek. They should be read thoughtfully and reflected upon. We have a responsibility to learn all that we can about God and our relationship to Him from whatever source . After all, the test of the religious person 's life is the quality of his religious response . 6) Leave the infighting to the pros. We'll continue to hear reports of controversies and disagreements between various Catholic authori-ties (scholarly and official) but we should not let these discussions disturb us. At least someone is doing some thinking. 7) Realize that hardly any of the most pompously announced new theories of today will stand without rejection or substantial modifica-tion five years from now. 8) Finally, try to convince yourself that the invitation of Jesus was not extended only to those who possess doctorates in theology. It was extended to all - the simple and the unlettered as well as the learned and the skillful. These are wonderful days. Let's use them to draw closer to God. Keep the faith . (Thanks to J . R. , C.S.C.) Early in the century G. K. Chesterton wrote: "A piece of peculiarly bad advice is constantly given to modern writers, especially to modern theologians: that they should adapt themselves to the spirit of our age. If there is one thing that has made shipwreck of mankind since its beginning, it has been the spirit of the age which always means exag-gerating still further something that is grossly exaggerated already." c. 1915 186 Linacre Quarterly 

How to Live with a Theologian

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How to Live with a Theologian

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