tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post6076444537709579856..comments2024-03-25T13:40:30.747-04:00Comments on Faith and Theology: The last theologian: a short storyBen Myershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03800127501735910966noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-48036710956827392992008-06-03T20:39:00.000-04:002008-06-03T20:39:00.000-04:00Very entertaining. And so, so saddening. It's such...Very entertaining. And so, so saddening. It's such an intellectually and spiritually impoverished world we live in where these stimulating and fulfilling pursuits seem so inherently eccentric and comical.<BR/><BR/>Things are a bit better for those of us over in Islamic Studies, where "obscure" theological tomes still can have a direct impact on the world and therefore have perhaps a smidgen more street cred. (The downside is that a lot of this interest is geared towards more effectively targeting Muslims.)<BR/><BR/>I wonder if theology has a bit more contemporary relevance in people's minds in the Orthodox world thanks to Caesaropapism, something we Muslims can obviously relate to.<BR/><BR/>There is a solution, though. Bring back Canon Law.<BR/><BR/>Imagine, Catholic "sharia" in most of the Western hemisphere. And eventually it would have to rub off onto Anglicans, too.<BR/><BR/>The phone would be ringing off the hook with for you guys. I say petition Benedict.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-90271967381284932682008-04-11T07:39:00.000-04:002008-04-11T07:39:00.000-04:00Vonnegut lives!Vonnegut lives!David Williamsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15336069872848288062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-76014134671007131762008-04-07T18:59:00.000-04:002008-04-07T18:59:00.000-04:00Thanks for these comments: loved the Melville (Mob...Thanks for these comments: loved the Melville (<I>Moby-Dick</I> is my favourite novel!). And yes, CSPellot, the narrator of this story was intended to be at least as despicable as the the character.<BR/><BR/>Anyways, I'm already planning a sequel: perhaps "Maxwell McKim Goes to Church", or "Maxwell McKim Steals a Manuscript". Stay tuned!Ben Myershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03800127501735910966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-56484603484793545432008-04-07T12:28:00.000-04:002008-04-07T12:28:00.000-04:00Ben, my apologies, I should have provided that lin...Ben, my apologies, I should have provided that link to my post myself but was technologically challenged and in a hurry and then forgot. Thanks to anonymous for doing so.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-89569864847877476612008-04-07T10:40:00.000-04:002008-04-07T10:40:00.000-04:00That theological divisions vie as exaggerated pseu...That theological divisions vie as exaggerated pseudo-species later to “sink .. to one common pool” (Melville), or to Mozart’s common grave, I see no reason why the generative results in theology differ much from reproductive results in biology, where dissociation like meiosis ache through variation unto variety. “For God does speak – now one way, now another – though man may not perceive it” (Job 33:14).<BR/><BR/>JimJRhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07674489078935633842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-32685377785786165352008-04-07T10:37:00.000-04:002008-04-07T10:37:00.000-04:00Ben,How long has "Eminem" been floating in your mi...Ben,<BR/><BR/>How long has "Eminem" been floating in your mind? I'd find it hard to believe he just popped up into your head and you just wrote a story. <BR/>Is "Eminem" the liberal theological archetype?<BR/>I prefer to think he is crazy, purely mad. Which in my view makes for the genius of your story.<BR/>Do you think the last paragraph serves your story well? It stroke me as a bit odd not necessarily because of content, I guess I still need to figure it out. However, I'm also tempted to think that it simply states that all who consider him as such, especially the "most eminent" part of it, are just as crazy as he is.<BR/>Gracias for a great story and an even better character.<BR/><BR/>CSCSPellothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14866735774560039501noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-42881790828574110752008-04-07T07:39:00.000-04:002008-04-07T07:39:00.000-04:00Hi Anonymous,Be very careful: in describing and la...Hi Anonymous,<BR/><BR/>Be <I>very</I> careful: in describing and lamenting the departmentalisation of theology, Louth appeals to Eliot's thesis of the "dissociation of sensibility" - which implicates Ben's beloved Milton as a baleful influence on post-seventeenth century English poetry! Moreover, one of Ben's favourite novels, <I>Moby-Dick</I>, is, in turn, inconceivable without <I>Paradise Lost</I>. There are those who say that Eliot had it in for Milton more for his Puritanism and his politics than his poetry.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-82070103773617635412008-04-07T02:46:00.000-04:002008-04-07T02:46:00.000-04:00There's some commentary on this story here: Louth ...There's some commentary on this story here: <A HREF="http://avowofconversation.wordpress.com/2008/04/06/louth-on-the-division-in-theology/" REL="nofollow">Louth on the division in theology</A>.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-43041220758091506892008-04-06T19:15:00.000-04:002008-04-06T19:15:00.000-04:00... p.s., sorry if the reference was too vague. Tw...... p.s., sorry if the reference was too vague. <BR/><BR/>Twas Captain Ahab, to the whale, in Moby Dick: <BR/><BR/>“Towards thee I roll, thou all-destroying but unconquering whale; to the last I grapple with thee; from hell’s heart I stab at thee; for hate’s sake I spit my last breath at thee. Sink all coffins and all hearses to one common pool! and since neither can be mine, let me then tow to pieces, while still chasing thee, though tied to thee, thou damned whale! Thus, I give up the spear.”JRhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07674489078935633842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-15096429277165319472008-04-06T19:06:00.000-04:002008-04-06T19:06:00.000-04:00Ah, the end of theology: “.. that capacious buildi...Ah, the end of theology: “.. that capacious building – crammed full with all the world’s theologians, all come to hear him speak – had erupted in a violent conflagration, before collapsing with a roar and the hideous shriek of twisted metal.”<BR/><BR/>A great riff. <BR/><BR/>But, really, the “last theologian?” <BR/><BR/>Sure, the entire theological corpus will be tried by fire, and, “if any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire” (1 Cor 3:15). <BR/><BR/>But, c’mon. Only trained theologians were there. That’s not the end! <BR/><BR/>To someone who loves “Moby Dick,” a question - to just what formal school did Melville go to learn his infinite sea of feeling? <BR/><BR/>I mean, c’mon, do it right. <BR/><BR/>Have the falling cigarette SPEAK to the theologians – "Towards thee (theologians) I roll, thou all-destroying but unconquering (school of theologians) ... to the last I grapple with thee; from hell’s heart I stab at thee; for hate’s sake I spit my last breath at thee. Sink all coffins and all hearses to one common pool! and since neither can be mine, let me then tow to pieces, while still chasing thee, though tied to thee, thou damned theolgians! Thus, I give up the spear (spark!)!" <BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/>JimJRhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07674489078935633842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-12439513437621753942008-04-06T16:59:00.000-04:002008-04-06T16:59:00.000-04:00Ben. Thanks for the laugh. I needed that tonight!Ben. Thanks for the laugh. I needed that tonight!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-64191721861570322002008-04-06T16:55:00.000-04:002008-04-06T16:55:00.000-04:00Ben you should get out more... I'm worried that th...Ben you should get out more... I'm worried that that office of yours is just too tidy and peaceful... or is it all this thinking about apocalyptic is sparking the imagination.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-13943332327074373992008-04-06T15:40:00.000-04:002008-04-06T15:40:00.000-04:00OK, I recognise this is a Palm Sunday short story,...OK, I recognise this is a Palm Sunday short story, and indeed it did cause me to lose my faith (in the terms of a recent sermon you posted). So when do we expect the Easter post-script which will tell us what sort of faith in theologians we should have?<BR/><BR/>Yours in Christ - JOHN HARTLEY.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-57165347275804510232008-04-06T12:28:00.000-04:002008-04-06T12:28:00.000-04:00I just have one question: Why do you call him a th...I just have one question: Why do you call him a theologian?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-71393914348781721952008-04-06T12:03:00.000-04:002008-04-06T12:03:00.000-04:00Newman wrote that the essence of a university is t...Newman wrote that the essence of a university is the quality of the relationship among its students, "who are sure to learn from one other, even if there be no one to teach them"; and that, as the goal of education is the equipping of students for living, not researching, he could quite easily imagine a professorless university, one "which did nothing over that which exacted of its members an acquaintance with every science under the sun."<BR/><BR/>So theological departments should not be closed simply because there are no theologians left to teach, rather it should be done as matter of principle. As Stanley Hauerwas observes: "the attempt to make theology a subject among other subjects cannot help but make theology something it is not. Theology properly understood as knowledge of God means theology cannot be restricted to one 'field.'"<BR/><BR/>Thus I would advise Professor McKim (any realtion to Donald?), over a few martinis, to make that move to the history department. Preferably at a Finnish university.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-24249694599321564542008-04-06T10:49:00.000-04:002008-04-06T10:49:00.000-04:00(Recognising a woman’s accent, Maxwell McKim had s...<I>(Recognising a woman’s accent, Maxwell McKim had struck up a friendly conversation in Finnish, and twenty minutes and two martinis later found himself back in his room, his best suit crumpled and her pelvis grinding him hard against the mattress, while he glanced furtively at the clock beside the bed.)</I><BR/><BR/>I'm apparently going to the wrong conferences.Shanehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14594090275917087869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-20415362812602833052008-04-06T10:14:00.000-04:002008-04-06T10:14:00.000-04:00Ben, this is great! I wonder if some place like "...Ben, this is great! I wonder if some place like "Christian Century" would want to publish it...<BR/><BR/>The only plot hole is that PhD students advanced in their programs at the time of the catastrophe would be able to fill in for the dearly departed faculty. Perhaps you need to get them into the building as well; perhaps for a workshop of some kind required by a universal accredidation network.W. Travis McMakenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12347103855436761304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-55241561464889945232008-04-06T08:35:00.000-04:002008-04-06T08:35:00.000-04:00what a sad story (the book titles especially)what a sad story (the book titles especially)Patrick McManushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10717639457555961172noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-37667978350122813132008-04-06T06:57:00.000-04:002008-04-06T06:57:00.000-04:00I truly enjoyed that little read Ben.Perhaps you c...I truly enjoyed that little read Ben.<BR/><BR/>Perhaps you could expand it into a full on novel...wait there is a series there. <BR/><BR/>I particularly liked how you drew the distinction of his being a academic theologian with no concept of sin...Craig Bennetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15588042075470456058noreply@blogger.com