Comments on: Theological Educator As…(Ruminations of a Novice, Pt. 2)

By: Theology as Apprenticeship « Theology Forum

Theology as Apprenticeship « Theology Forum — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 00:21:51 +0000

[...] resonate with Hauerwas’s description (see here), and it is an apt metaphor for the professor. I step into the classroom as a theologian and [...]

By: Kent Eilers

Kent Eilers — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 00:43:21 +0000

Thanks Don, and I like “theological instinct; that is very much what I am trying to get across here.

I can always count on you for a good TF Torrance reference.

By: Don Payne

Don Payne — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 17:24:49 +0000

What you are describing, Kent, is very much along the lines that T.F. Torrance used to argue when he talked about “theological instinct”. This, he contended, is learning a way of thinking that was is shaped by the nature of God’s revelation in Jesus Christ. It is NOT merely the acquisition, packaging, and transfer of theological data, which so often masquerades as doing theology. Torrance also repeatedly warned against the danger of overassociating our theology with God Himself, such that we lose the ability to have our theology corrected or grown. This approach, reflecting Michael Polanyi’s epistemological emphases, depends on the priority of the object of our knowledge over the means and structures of our knowledge, thus creating an “artistic” approach to theology. So, your reflections have already put you in esteemed company!