Pastor as Public Theologian , livre ebook

Baker Publishing Group - J. Vanhoozer Kevin , Owen Strachan

Découvre YouScribe en t'inscrivant gratuitement

Je m'inscris

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

152 pages

English

Vous pourrez modifier la taille du texte de cet ouvrage

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

A propos
Informations
Extrait

Description

Many pastors today see themselves primarily as counselors, leaders, and motivators. Yet this often comes at the expense of the fundamental reality of the pastorate as a theological office. The most important role is to be a theologian mediating God to the people. The church needs pastors who can contextualize biblical wisdom in Christian living to help their congregations think theologically about all aspects of their lives, such as work, end-of-life decisions, political involvement, and entertainment choices.Drawing on the Bible, key figures from church history, and Christian theology, this book offers a clarion call for pastors to serve as public theologians in their congregations and communities. It is designed to be engaging reading for busy pastors and includes pastoral reflections on the theological task from twelve working pastors, including Kevin DeYoung and Cornelius Plantinga.

Sujets

Philosophie et théologie

Informations

Publié par	Baker Publishing Group
Date de parution	11 août 2015
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781441245724
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	1 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0691€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

© 2015 by Kevin J. Vanhoozer and Owen Strachan
Published by Baker Academic a division of Baker Publishing Group P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287 www.bakeracademic.com
Ebook edition created 2015
Ebook corrections 09.26.2019
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
ISBN 978-1-4412-4572-4
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2007
Scripture quotations labeled NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com
Scripture quotations labeled RSV are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Preface
Owen Strachan and Kevin J. Vanhoozer
Introduction: Pastors, Theologians, and Other Public Figures
Kevin J. Vanhoozer
• Problem: A Lost Vision
• Proposal: The Pastor-Theologian as Peculiar Public Figure
• Prospect: The Ministry of What Is “in Christ”
Pastoral Perspectives
Gerald Hiestand—Six Practical Steps toward Being a Pastor-Theologian
Josh Moody—Seven Ways to Theologize as a Pastor
P ART 1: B IBLICAL T HEOLOGY AND H ISTORICAL T HEOLOGY
1. Of Prophets, Priests, and Kings: A Brief Biblical Theology of the Pastorate
Owen Strachan
• The Ministry of the Old Covenant in the Old Testament
• Participating in Jesus’s Ministry of the New Covenant: The New Testament
• Conclusion: The Pastorate as Theological Office
Pastoral Perspectives
Melvin Tinker—The Pastor as Public Theologian
Todd Wilson—Human Origins: A Test Case for Pastor-Theologians
Jim Samra—A Practical Theology of Technology
2. Of Scholars and Saints: A Brief History of the Pastorate
Owen Strachan
• The Early Church
• The Medieval Period: Scholasticism and Monasticism
• The Reformational Awakening: Protestant Pastors
• Theological Shepherds: The Puritans and the Practicality of Truth
• Agents of “Divine Business”: The Edwardseans and Pastoral Dominion
• The Modern Turn: Populism, Professionalism, and the Taming of the Pastorate
• Glimmers of Hope: Harold Ockenga and Neoevangelical Boldness
• Conclusion: Toward What Pastorate?
Pastoral Perspectives
Wesley G. Pastor—How the Theology of Saving Faith Has Affected My Congregation
Kevin DeYoung—A Place for Truth
P ART 2: S YSTEMATIC T HEOLOGY AND P RACTICAL T HEOLOGY
3. In the Evangelical Mood: The Purpose of the Pastor-Theologian
Kevin J. Vanhoozer
• The Many Moods of Theology: Between Death and Resurrection
• A Ministry of Reality: Theology in the Indicative Mood
• A Ministry of Understanding: The Diakonia of God’s Word
• A Ministry of (New) Life: Theology in the Imperative Mood
• The Goods of Theology: What Are Seminaries For?
Pastoral Perspectives
David Gibson—On Death
Bill Kynes—Preaching the Doctrine of the Gospel as Truth, Goodness, and Beauty
Cornelius Plantinga Jr.—Reading for Preaching
4. Artisans in the House of God: The Practices of the Pastor-Theologian
Kevin J. Vanhoozer
• The Great Pastoral Commission: “Make Disciples”; “Build God’s House”
• Evangelist: Proclaiming What Is in Christ
• Catechist: Teaching What Is in Christ
• Liturgist: Celebrating What Is in Christ
• Apologist: Demonstrating What Is in Christ
Pastoral Perspectives
Guy A. Davies—The Drama of Preaching
Jason B. Hood—The Pastor-Theologian as Pulpit Apologist
Conclusion: Fifty-Five Summary Theses on the Pastor as Public Theologian
Kevin J. Vanhoozer
Notes
Contributors
Scripture Index
Subject Index
Back Cover
Preface
The idea for this book began with a shock (in a cemetery) and a scandal (in a seminary). Kevin was teaching in the University of Edinburgh when he happened to overhear two American tourists visiting Greyfriars Kirk (most come to see the statue of Greyfriars Bobby). The couple were looking at headstones when the wife suddenly blurted out, “Look, honey: they buried two people in one grave!” “What makes you think that?” asked her husband. The woman replied: “It says so right here: ‘Here lies a pastor and a theologian.’”
It is not comic but tragic that we instantly understand what’s funny about the anecdote, namely, the source of the woman’s confusion. The average American is simply not used to thinking of pastors as theologians or theologians as pastors. However, for much of church history, the distinction we today take for granted would have been viewed as an aberration. What happened? The reasons are complex, and though we will mention some of them, the primary focus of our book lies not in understanding how we got here, but rather in proposing how best to move forward.
As to the seminary scandal, it happened during Kevin’s office hours. A bright student came to ask advice about his future. Jordan (not his real name) was struggling between wanting to pursue further theological studies, which in his case meant applying for a PhD, and working in a church. He was not sure his grades were good enough (which was code for “Am I intelligent enough?”) to get into a doctoral program. “Please don’t tell me I’m only smart enough to be a pastor,” he pleaded. I found the implication that pastors were somehow second-class intellects wrong-headed. It took me a few moments to rightly order my righteous indignation and collect my thoughts. Then I replied: “I regret to inform you that you may not have the right stuff. It takes wisdom and joyful enthusiasm to be a pastor. To get a doctorate, you need only have a modicum of intelligence and the ability to grind it out. I’m afraid you may only be qualified to be an academic, not a pastor. Ministry is a lot harder than scholarship.”
These two anecdotes are revealing symptoms of a deeper problem, a vision problem that afflicts the twenty-first-century church, especially in North American evangelicalism. Though there are some shining exceptions, by and large there is widespread confusion about the nature, identity, and role of the pastor.
Elsewhere Kevin has said that the pastor-theologian ought to be evangelicalism’s default public intellectual. [1] This claim intrigued Owen, a former doctoral student, eventually prompting him to ask Kevin to coauthor the present book. Kevin and Owen had earlier worked together in connection with the Center for Pastor Theologians (formerly known as the Society for Advanced Ecclesial Theology), a fellowship of pastors with PhDs committed to engaging in biblical and theological scholarship for the twin purpose of the theological renewal of the church and the ecclesial renewal of theology. We briefly toyed with the title The Pastor as Public Intellectual , only to realize that, as a stand-alone title, it would probably be misunderstood. The original idea has nevertheless sneaked its way back into these pages. Readers are therefore advised to pay special attention to what we mean by “public” and “intellectual,” and why we qualify both with “theological.”
So much for the origins of the book. As to the actual process of coauthoring, we quickly came up with the book’s general structure after a little brainstorming. Owen wrote chapters 1 and 2 while Kevin wrote chapters 3 and 4, as well as the preface, introduction, and conclusion. Next we read and commented on each other’s drafts, then revised accordingly. We are particularly grateful to “the twelve”—not our disciples but rather our partners in the ministry of the gospel—who have contributed testimonies to the importance of reclaiming the vision of the pastorate as a theological vocation. These twelve affidavits—testimonies from everyday ministerial life—provide concrete evidence that the vision we set forth, far from being an abstract ideal, is indeed being lived out on the ground. They also provide practical advice about how to make our vision more visible in the local church. These twelve minor (i.e., in terms of length) prophets give our book’s argument, if not street cred, perhaps a bit more pew cred.
Speaking of credibility, what gives us, two professor theologians, the right to issue statements about the nature and role of the pastor ? We are acutely conscious of our lack of qualification. To be a theologian in the academy is to risk becoming a disembodied mind. To return to the graveyard: the theologian who is not a pastor is like a soul that, after death, has been separated from its body (i.e., the church). We regret this unnatural “intermediate state,” but as believers in resurrection, we look forward to the time when body and soul are reunited.
Theological minds belong in ecclesial bodies. We don’t wish to exaggerate: there is a place for academic theology, but it is second place. First place—pride of theological place—belongs to the pastor-theologian. It is therefore only fitting that we dedicate this work to Gerald Hiestand and Todd Wilson, cofounders of the Center for Pastor Theologians, and to all the members of the Center’s two Fellowships. These exemplary pastor-theologians embody the vision our book seeks to reclaim. May they be fruitful and multiply!
Owen Strachan Kevin J. Vanhoozer
Introduction
Pastors, Theologians, and Other Public Figures
KEVIN J. VANHOOZER
“Societies become secular not when they disp