theologians and their crazy talk

A fascinating discussion is about theologians is taking place. What is it? Well it’s long and wander-y as you might imagine, spanning various blogs, so I’ll try and sum it up. First, Halden at Inhabitio Dei stepped to, writing:

“Its hard to find a more scandalizing bunch of people than theologians, and not in the good way. One would think that among a guild of professionals dedicated to getting to know God as well as possible you’d see less infidelity, churlishness, affluence, and apathy towards injustice than in other professions.”

But Adam of An und für sich was like

,...to act like theologians are unique in their lack of attention to the poor is appalling, in the face of the massive indifference displayed by the vast majority of church members….Theologians should be exemplary in two areas. First, they should be exemplary in the degree to which they reflect intellectually on the gospel. I’d say that we’re on pretty firm footing here, on average — there are a lot of intelligent, reflective Christians out there, but few of them are going to reach the level of someone who earns a PhD, teaches, and publishes in the field. It’s elitist to say so, I know, but academic theologians really do consistitute an intellectual elite. “

Dag, yo! Halden played it off smooth:

That our attempts to talk about God often end up condemning us is, you might say, far better than the alternative. If our God-talk simply validated us, clearly we’d be doing something far worse. Though, of course this happens all the time, too.

Finally, Kuehn’s summary crushed it with, “Theologians talking to one another about themselves.”.... Child, please!

It's a topic dear to my heart, and I've been thinking about it for a while, at least from the angle of "how theology and churches interact." I will post some inadequate ramblings myself, tomorrow, but I'd love to hear your own thoughts - how do theologians exist in your world? What is their role in the church you attend?