Part of my influence in attending seminary was to help bridge the gap between the academic realm and the realm of the average congregant. In the four religious studies classes I had taken at U of O, I saw so much value in scholarship and wanted to help find a way to bring it all to those who are doing other things, but still showing up on Sunday mornings. I wanted to break it all down into little nuggets that people could take with them and look into in their own free time. Yet after one year of being in seminary, I am left wondering if it is even possible to fill that gap.
I know most people are not like me; not interested in the Bible more than a little reading each day and a sermon on Sunday, not interested in thinking critically about our beliefs and theologies, and not interested in the original languages of the biblical text except for a few Greek and Hebrew words. Yet I also know that one doesn’t need to be interested in all these things to learn a little more about them. But what I have found is that when it comes to theology and thinking critically, those less exposed to the biblical criticisms of recent scholarship (or even within the last century) seem much more hesitant to try on a new idea. I get that. New ideas are hardly ever comfortable ones, especially if it means changing the way one perceives a “near and dear” text as the Bible. But that hesitancy often turns into resistance, which is leaving me feel quite exhausted in my endeavor to bridge that gap.
No, I don’t mean to imply that scholarship is always more correct than one’s pastor or congregation. Nor do I assume that I’m smarter than the average church-goer in subjects pertaining to the Bible. Yet I have had more exposure and know that different ways of viewing a text – even if one disagrees with that view – is healthy for understanding, which is healthy for finding ways of sharing the gospel. But more often than not, it seems as though discussions of scholarly ideas run either to prove one idea false and therefore heretical or true and further support for a church doctrine. Treating scholarship this way, though, seems to limit our understanding of the biblical text and of God, which I find also cripples whatever growth we might have made toward God.
In your experience as a seminarian, pastor, professor, or biblical scholarship enthusiast, how has scholarship shaped your understanding of God? Has this shaping had a positive or negative influence in your ministry or instruction of others? Do you think the gap between scholarship and the average congregant can be filled? What are some ways you see as potentially helpful for filling that gap? And do you think I’m being too cynical or have you shared a similar experience?
the archives near Emmaus 
Thanks for laying out some vital issues and laying out yourself, your struggles at the same time, Jeremy! I can speak to a couple of your questions and will have to summarize way down. (I’ve been briefly in the “church ministry” occupation though not recently, and long on the periphery as counselor, teacher and now blogger about to launch into a major hands-on teaching, guiding, coaching program on career and “spiritual vocation” development, in a church setting. So I’ll have more to report in a few months.)
In addition to many years of formal “biblical scholarship” and related education, I’ve been sort of a b.s. (cf. antecedent for right reading) nerd, so far from typical of “person in the pew”. But in answer to your first q., “scholarship” has shaped my understanding of God massively and positively. Some of it I now see as typical stage-development, from a small, provincial kind of God, never quite as “involved” in my life as I wanted, to a God so expansive now I will barely venture to try to describe him/her (and some might say, per my theological alliance with Process, not a “personal” God, though I don’t agree.) But at least part of my development I am confident would never have come without both my second seminary experience (working on a PhD, 2 yrs. FTE) and years of ongoing exploration beyond that as well. And being a bit nerdy and obsessive, I enjoyed all of it, and the more-so the further along I got. You could never motivate me, or anyone, to put in extensive time on such a quest unless they have at least some internal “wiring” by gifts and personality, to pursue such a course. But those who DO, you can guide and encourage, to real benefit. I wish I could give you a % of Americans that would involve… Sure can’t and even a guess is wild, but I’d say it’s probably no more than 10%.
My second point will just be a recommendation you read a short book, if you haven’t, which addresses some of the issues you raise and personally struggle with. It is “Transforming Christian Theology for Church and Society” by Philip Clayton. At least, look at it at Amazon and/or read my review of it here: http://wp.me/p5oBn-xq. Very researched, thought-through and practical. Clayton is a remarkable man and scholar. Strong Evangelical bkgd. similar to mine, moved all the way to, for a couple years or so, dean of the very progressive Claremont School of Theology (where I did PhD work) and Claremont Lincoln Univ., and now just a professor there, training ministers of many kinds from many denominations. You will hear both his evangelical “voice” and his progressive one in the book… I don’t know of a single book of quite its nature, and consider it HIGH priority reading for anyone in or heading into church ministry these days.
@Jeremy: This may be the most depressing result of serious study. You find your previous thinking has been challenged, and you become excited by the adventure of new questions and answers, only to find that most of the people with whom you worship on Sunday are more concerned with their teenager surviving their freshman year of high school or whether or not they will be employed next week when their company seems to be failing. This isn’t to say that people don’t want to “know”, but they want to “know what they know”. This is why apologetics conferences receive so much attention from evangelicals: life is too stressful for a paradigm shift, so tell me how I can win an argument in defense of what I want to believe.
I don’t blame people for wanting to believe what they believe. We all do this at times. But this may be one of the greatest challenges you’ll face as someone interested in both scholarship and the thinking life of the Church. People won’t be as open to changing their views as you’ve become because of your studies and so you’ll either need to learn how to challenge their views subtly (i.e., affirming over and over again shared beliefs while slowly introducing new one) or throw yourself on the grenade if you will by being a thorn in the flesh of those who’d rather not think about their beliefs. I’ve tried both approaches, succeeding very little with either.
One thing to remember, and maybe this will help: I think what your experiencing is the freedom of the pursuit of knowledge, not necessarily the victory of being right, but quite often those who fear pursuing knowledge may see your evolution wrongly as you thinking you’ve “arrived”. While there is no reason to poo-poo what you’ve come to see as a more clear understanding of this or that subject it will be important to remind people that you remain on a journey, a journey on which they share even if they don’t put much effort into it, and maybe that will help lower people’s guards….maybe.
In my life and studies scholarship has always been given a negative characterization by those not involved in it. When I first began my course of study the excitement of exposure to new and fresh information led me to attempt ‘bridging the gap’ at church and with family/friends. However, new ideas that rub against the grain of lifelong held ‘facts’ about reality, doctrine, etc. were more often than not received with hostility, as if even hearing another point of view (or talking to someone who had strayed into such dangerous territory) would be an offense against God himself. My experience with scholarship has been more negative than positive, that is, from the point of view from where I began. I eventually gave up on bridging the gap, because no one seemed interested to build from the other side to meet me in the middle. What started as a subject I wanted to study with an aim of going into ministry has become mostly a hobby after it resulted in a gradual loss of faith on my part. I don’t think you’re being cynical, it’s just that most others don’t share a passion for scholarship as a career path or hobby.
JC
@NoNotThat_JC
I think that the gap can be filled to some extent. I don’t have a seminary degree but I do about 10 hours of reading per week in various theological fields (though mostly NT). I find that the easiest way to do it is through relationships. I get questions from friends about the Bible or various theological issues. They know me and trust me, and know that I won’t judge them for asking “off limits” questions.
In our church we also do small group Bible studies. I help our small group find good resources to aid our studies and occasionally present some very basic background for the book we are about to study. You can actually teach a fair amount in 5 minutes in that type of setting. A lot of what I’m trying to do is to just get people to the point where they see the Bible as a historical document, not God’s word dropped out of the sky.
I also have a good relationship with our pastors. I do some writing on the side that tries to wrestle theologically from the basis of the Bible critically interpreted. My goal is to tackle a topic, deal with the relevant passages presenting mainstream scholarly interpretations of the passages and topics as a whole, and then move on to the task of doing theology. I pass these papers onto our pastors, and they appreciate them, even though I’m substantially more liberal than they are. I’m also doing a class on Jewish backgrounds to the NT for a couple of our pastors and a lay leader, again just trying to present as much as possible ideas from the scholarly mainstream. The class and papers help our pastors get a sense for where the mainstream is and gives some framework and focus if they want to do any additional reading.
I think about this as I consider pursuing a career in adult theological education for a few years after college – if internships or non-M.Div.-requiring positions for that sort of thing exist outside high schools! I will share a great piece of advice I once got from a professor. I was very frustrated with an acquaintance, a fundamentalist Catholic who didn’t seem to know (or want to know) that Catholics had ever embraced higher criticism. I felt it my duty to convince him that he was wrong. My professor quipped, “My students come to me. I don’t feel it’s my duty to teach everyone else.”
That piece of advice has come in handy many times. It’s sad, but often people aren’t interested in learning, or they have very stressful lives and don’t have the time or energy to think deeply. All I can do is offer my limited talent and expertise, say by advertising a bible study or something, and the people who are interested will come. Thankfully I attend a congregation where people are interested in matters of the mind (I live in a very educated area in Silicon Valley). Once I let go of my need to convince others I felt far less stressed!