Using the Bible and Christian Tradition in Theological Reflection by Roger Walton
(The Wesley Study Centre, Durham, UK)
Since about 1970, there has been a growing interest in the notion of 'theological reflection' in a variety of Christian and theological education spheres and in Church-related discourse. The literature on the subject has grown exponentially in these 30 years, though as the Dutch Theologian Johannes van der Ven points out it has not necessarily led to a clarity about the subject:
Anyone who dips into the abundance of literature on theological reflection has a hard time suppressing first of all a sense of astonishment at so much productivity, but also amazement at so much confusion. . . this enormous production has not led to a clear insight into the essence and aim of theological reflection and has perhaps actually raised the level of confusion (van der Yen 1998: 210).
The apparent lack of clarity has not, however, inhibited this notion from exerting enormous influence over Church discourse and on planning and curriculum design, especially in theological training institutions. In an exploratory survey of institutions in the UK, carried out in 1999, 40 institutions claimed to be teaching courses in theological reflection or seeking to nurture skills for theological reflection in their students. Of these, 25 (62.5 per cent) were seminaries, theological colleges or ministerial training courses. In all these institutions, students are asked to engage in assessed exercises in theological reflection via placement reports, other written assignments, structured discussions or student-led seminars. In addition to the obvious problems for students of knowing what theological reflection is and where to start (Pattison 1989; Ames 1987; Scofield 1994), students appear to be given little by way of guidance on how to use the Bible and the Christian tradition in these tasks.
Kelsey (1975) demonstrated that the Bible is not used in any consistent way by theologians. His study of seven major twentieth-century theologians suggests that all look to the Bible for authority, but each construes the nature of its authority and thus uses the Bible to support theological argument in individual ways, shaped to a large extent by the way the individual theologian perceives the Scriptures in the life of the Church and God's presence among his people (1975:205).
Dunes (1983) described five different ways in which the Bible is perceived and used according to the model of revelation held.
Both writers recognize that the way in which the Bible is used is interrelated with theological and ecclesiastical positions. In other words, no one way of using the Bible in theology is likely to be agreed upon. Typologies have been identified for describing how the Bible is used in ethics (Curran 1971; Deidun 1998), though none as yet has emerged on the use of the Bible in practical theology. The typology of Deidun in particular has proved useful in thinking through the nature of typologies. The types identified here, however, emerge from and are particular to this study. This is partly because not only how people use the Bible is considered, but how they move from experience and practice, often with an analysis provided by other disciplines, to engagement with the broad Christian tradition which includes the Bible, but also 2,000 years of other writing, art, poetry, hynmody, liturgies and rituals and buildings. If there is no agreement as to how one should perceive and use the Bible in theological thinking, it is even less likely that there is any agreement of the 'proper' way to engage with the Christian tradition as a whole for theology.
Using the Bible and Christian Tradition in Theological Reflection by Roger Walton
(The Wesley Study Centre, Durham, UK)
