Favorite Theologians

[Akita Suggagaki]

Or even just spiritual authors.

Lately I am reading Paul Ricoeur and David Tracy but balancing with Henri Nouwen.

My interest is memory and narrative and that takes us to hermeneutics and rhetoric.

 

[d taylor]

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Zane Hodges https://www.youtube.com/@ZaneHodgesLibrary/featured

 

[trophy33]

J. A. Comenius - John Amos Comenius - Wikipedia
G.W. Leibniz - Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz - Wikipedia

 

[prodromos]

St John Chrysostom

 

[PloverWing]

Two of the authors who influenced me a great deal earlier in my life were Walter Rauschenbusch and Rudolf Otto.

Two contemporary authors whose works I've been reading are N. T. Wright and Esau McCaulley.

 

[2PhiloVoid]

Or even just spiritual authors.

Lately I am reading Paul Ricoeur and David Tracy but balancing with Henri Nouwen.

My interest is memory and narrative and that takes us to hermeneutics and rhetoric.

I have too many influences in my overall thinking to list, but I am familiar with Paul Ricoeur since he is within the Hermeneuticists camp.

At the moment, I am reading Peter Enns.

 

[The Liturgist]

St John Chrysostom

Indeed, also St. Athanasius, St. Basil the Great and the other Cappodacians, whom I will address, and St. Irenaeus, St. Epiphanios, St. Ephrem the Syrian, St. Cyril the Great, St. John of Damascus, St. Maximos the Confessor, and, controversially, St. Severus of Antioch and St. Jacob of Sarugh (since I advocate for EO-OO reunification as our friend @dzheremi will attest), based on the successful reconciliation of the Antiochians and Syriac Orthodox and between the Greek Orthodox and Coptic Orthodox churches of Alexandria.

Or even just spiritual authors.

The Eastern Orthodox, while on the one hand declaring that anyone who prays is a theologian, and a theologian is one who prays (St. Evagrius), formally venerates only three theologians: St. John the Beloved Disciple, St. Gregory Nazianzus (one of the Cappadocians and the best friend of St. Basil) and St. Symeon the New.

I would argue that most modern scholars of theology, especially outside of Orthodoxy, are not even worth reading, except for those who are specialized into particular areas of interest, such as liturgiology or ecclesiastical history or in articulating Patristic theology. In other words, there was no need for the reinvention of the wheel that we see in the Scholastic and Calvinist systematic theologians such as Karl Barth, although that said I prefer Karl Barth greatly to the large number of left-wing “theologians” who advocate “Queer Theology” “Womanist Theology” “Liberation Theology” and so on, which I do not regard as theology per se, since theology literally means knowledge of God, and someone who advocates sinful behavior does not have a particularly compelling claim to knowledge of God.

 

[Akita Suggagaki]

“Liberation Theology”

I was curious about the contemporary status of Liberation theology. Interesting article
Critics of liberation theology have proclaimed it is passe, irrelevant, even dead – but prematurely, it seems. Today, liberation theology’s reach has spread far beyond Latin America and Roman Catholicism: from Black theology of liberation to Islamic liberation theology; from Hindu to Jewish and Palestinian ones; and to feminist and queer theologies that have been influenced by liberation theology.

After 50 years, ‘liberation theology’ is still reshaping Catholicism and politics – but what is it?

The influential movement, which is still controversial both inside and outside Catholicism, must be understood in the context of Latin American history.

theconversation.com

I have Gustavo Gutiérrez in my bookshelf. Not moved to dig in though. Still enjoying David Tracy. Paul Ricoeur not quite for me at this time. Maybe later.

 

[PloverWing]

The insights of Liberation Theology were formative for me, though I didn't list those authors in my earlier post because I know Latin American Liberation Theology chiefly through secondary sources. Gustavo Gutiérrez is also on my bookshelf; there are a few books ahead of his in my to-read queue, but I'll probably work through his book later this summer. It's time I read him in his own words.

 

[The Liturgist]

I wrote a reply but realized I need to edit it a bit more.

 

[Rose_bud]

I have too many influences in my overall thinking to list, but I am familiar with Paul Ricoeur since he is within the Hermeneuticists camp.

At the moment, I am reading Peter Enns.

Peter Enns which one are you reading?. I enjoyed his honest reflections in the sin of certainty.

 

[Rose_bud]

Two of the authors who influenced me a great deal earlier in my life were Walter Rauschenbusch and Rudolf Otto.

Two contemporary authors whose works I've been reading are N. T. Wright and Esau McCaulley.

I enjoyed reading NT Wright surprised by hope and the resurrection of the Son of God.

 

[2PhiloVoid]

Peter Enns which one are you reading?. I enjoyed his honest reflections in the sin of certainty.

Right now, I'm reading his book, The Evolution of Adam. And while I may not agree with some of the adjustments in his theological positioning he may have made over the past 10 years, I will say that this specific book generally represents my line of thinking hermeneutically and theologically.

Lately, though, in listening to a few podcasts he has been on, I notice more aspects of his current view which align with mine as well.

On his idea of the sin of certainty, what did he say that you thought was most revealing or applicable?

 

[Rose_bud]

Right now, I'm reading his book, The Evolution of Adam. And while I may not agree with some of the adjustments in his theological positioning he may have made over the past 10 years, I will say that this specific book generally represents my line of thinking hermeneutically and theologically.

Lately, though, in listening to a few podcasts he has been on, I notice more aspects of his current view which align with mine as well.

Yes, I agree his views on taking into consideration the background of the ancient audience and the reason why Genesis was written is important. It offers a different perspective for the whole science vs creation argument. It also made sense to me as there are many different African creation stories, every tribe has their own. So the Genesis accounts is a rebuttal for all of these as well.

He is regarded as one of the most controversial writers, along with Michael Heiser, but I enjoy reading controversial. Although I don't agree with everything they present, it has helped me to think critically about what I believe. For others it may be different, but all it has done for me, is too stand in awe of Jesus, that loved me to die for me in order to raise me up in power. I'm quite okay with not placing God in a box or giving Him a category, limiting Him to the limits of my understanding. It brings to bear Rudolf Otto's mysterium tremendum.

On his idea of the sin of certainty, what did he say that you thought was most revealing or applicable?

I read his book when I was going through a very difficult time. I had to make major decisions in my life. My analytical mind was crunching numbers and weighing all possibilities and scenarios, when all I needed to do was trust God. His honesty in relaying the truth that sometimes we don't need to know everything in order to trust was inspiring. Through his story, he testified that we don't know everything about God before trusting Him. But what I did know I could trust. I had forgotten that He always had my best interest at heart, even when I couldn't 'see' it in that moment. Retracing my steps back to the fundamental. Sin of certainty reminded me of that.

 

[Akita Suggagaki]

I am reading David Tracy's Naming the Present: God. Hermeneutics and the Church . It was published in 1994 but I am finding it helpful and relevant for today. I only finished the intro and first chapter though. He describes Modernism, anti-modernism and post-modernism. We see these all around us and her on the forum. A lot is over my head but I like that. So far he articulates the need for a mystical-prophets, polycentric theology that listens to the poor and oppressed.

Starting chapter 2 tomorrow: On God; The Paradox of many faces of God in Mono-Theism

 

[Akita Suggagaki]

Layman's Guide to Protestant Theology book by William E. Hordern

I am enjoying this survey through Christian theology and theologians. All in 258 easy to read pages.