Theological reflections: On big words and big ideas

One of the threads that emerged in the recent conversation about theology that took place in and among Unitarian Universalist weblogs focused on the "big words" that theologians use. It was argued that words like eschatology, soteriology, and ecclesiology are words that indicate an advanced and specialized education, and so ordinary lay folk can not do theology.

Most of these words indicate concepts that people active in a religious communities have struggled with, for example ecclesiology refers to theological thinking about the nature of the church. What is the purpose of religious community? Is it to provide a sanctuary from a world of woe, or is it more like a filling station, which energizes its members so that they can function in the world? Does it deliver a message that informs us that our hope is in another world, or does it deliver a message about a vision for transformation of this world? Is it a model of the beloved community, or is it more realistic to think of it as a dysfunctional family where we learn the skills of family therapy and practice the spirituality of being non-anxious presence? I have heard all these ideas expressed about the purpose of church.

When we attend worship the opening words almost certainly contains a message about what the church thinks it is about, as do the hymns, the prayers and mediations, the sermon, and other service elements. Our theology of religious community is announced in pamphlets in the literature rack. It is also made manifest in the practice of the church, we ask just how welcoming is the church that says its mission is radical inclusion? and just how pluralistic is the church that claims to be informed by wisdom from the all the world's traditions?

We encounter ecclesiology, we reflect on what we hear and read, and we talk about it with others, and hopefully we practice our understandings about what religious community is supposed to be.

I believe lay members do theology "without knowing it." So how do we come to understand what we are doing, so that we can do it more intentionally?

I will explore this idea further in subsequent posts.