New Book Outline

Here's the outline of the book I'll be finishing up over the next few weeks. Of course, writing projects can sometimes take on a life of their own, but so far, this one is staying pretty close to outline.

Introduction – “What Shall I Say In Return to the Lord?”

The introduction turns to the Psalms as it opens a pathway toward reading Scripture as an invitation to a dynamic of ‘inspired’ modes of doing theology. Theological method will be presented as giving attention to the dynamism of divine activity. Rather than treating method as insipid prolegomena on the way to doing theology, this approach likens method to an invitation to dance lessons; method is learning the capacities necessary to move well in response to God. Theologians are invited to a methodological sensibility embodied in the lives of our biblical ancestors who moved responsively, albeit sometimes clumsily, to divine operation. I will also address a few subtle matters of biblical inspiration, hermeneutical strategies, and the use of biblical texts for the purpose of methodological reflection.

Chapter 1 – Jeremiah: On Not Knowing How to Word

Jeremiah’s own story of responding to God in words begins with his confession that he doesn’t know how to speak. Engaging methodological themes of epistemology and humility, this chapter holds young Jeremiah’s response up as a virtue of theological work, and offers a sense of humility as a vision of the starting point for doing the work of theology.

Chapter 2 – Jacob: On Wrestling

The work of theology doesn’t need to shy away from the struggle of wrestling. What if wrestling was embraced as part of the journey? What if theologians were those whose gait was blessed with a limp, an identifying marker of their encounter with a living God? A life of theology will not be a life free from wrestling with the biggest questions facing humans. Wrestling is our method.

Chapter 3 – Sarah: On Laughing

Theology can be done as laughter, with attention turned to what God is doing in the world. Theology done without laughter has probably missed the joy of its task. Sarah was moved to laughter by the strange activity of God, and theology can be done like this, too. This chapter also examines what happens when theology loses its sense of humor. As one who is moved to laughter by God’s activity, Sarah teaches us well, and we can learn to laugh with her.

Chapter 4 – Moses: On Morality

The methodological relationship between theology and ethics is often close to, but just under the surface of theological work. When theology turns to the question of ‘How now shall we live?’ the methods of correlation between theological reflection and moral reasoning bear the weight. In this chapter, then, we’ll look to the life of Moses and the way morality and divine encounter are situated alongside one another. The arrival of the Decalogue follows closely behind divine encounter, and the methodological importance of this ordering is substantial.

Chapter 5 – Miriam: On Courage

Picking up her tambourine and singing a song of deliverance into the winds of the wilderness, Miriam offers a profile in theological courage. She tells the story of God’s movement and faithfulness with an eschatological song in her mouth, giving us the opportunity to learn how themes of eschatology might be methodologically incorporated into one’s theological work, woven together with hope.

Chapter 6 – Isaiah: On Being Undone

Isaiah’s ministry begins with speaking to a particular people, in a particular place, making this a chapter on the role of context in the work of theology. Ultimately, though, Isaiah’s story models the way divine encounter and context gesture to the work of theologians. He is ‘undone’ by his encounter with God’s call to speak to his people, and so this chapter will examine the theologian as one who speaks in context, working God-words for their people in their time, being ‘undone.’

Chapter 7 – Mary: On Pondering

While the public life of a theologian is often visible, Mary’s example of pondering provides a striking response to divine encounter, and especially the call to be a ‘God-bearer.’ This chapter examines the vital place of pondering, inwardness, and contemplation in the life and work of the theologian.

Chapter 8 – John the Baptist: On Standing at the Edge

The work of a theologian can be edgy. Theologians can often be pressed to the edges of categories, expectations, and popular movements, and yet this is where we find John the Baptist, as one crying out in the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord. The work of theology can often be wilderness work, and it will often be decentered from the places of attention, but it is precisely there that a theologian can work well, crying out in preparation for the Lord. We’ll deal here with issues of theology’s place in the academy and society, looking especially at methods from the 19th century onward that sought to make theology a ‘respectable’ enterprise.

Chapter 9 – The Woman Wiping Jesus’s Feet: On Service and Praise

An unnamed woman can teach us a lot about responding to the divine. While theologians are known for the words they craft in response to the divine Word, this woman opens to us an example of the theologically reflective life that centers service and praise as the work of theology. We will let her enliven our imagination for a way of doing theology that results in service and praise.

Chapter 10 – Thomas: On Doubting

Though he is most often known for his doubt, Thomas has more to teach us. John’s narration of Thomas’s theological journey begins with zealous certainty, transforms to questions, moves to suspicion, and ultimately to confession of faith. Theologians in many stages of growth can find a friend in Thomas, from those who have undertaken the work of theology in earnest and urgent naiveté, to those who have entered a season of genuine questioning, to those who operate from postures of suspicion. By turning to Thomas, this chapter examines the role of earnestness, questioning, doubt, and confession in the work of theology.

Chapter 11 – Martha: On Grieving

Theology often happens at points of grief, loss, or trauma. Various methods in modern theology have grown out of experiences of oppression or death, and Martha’s story not only evokes such approaches to theology, but reminds us of their potential. Fresh off the loss of her brother, Martha confronts Jesus with his absence in an honest moment of pain. Her approach yields a fascinating display of divine faithfulness as Jesus joins her in her grief, and then opens a new reality. With Martha as our witness, we will examine the potential of doing the work of theology in the midst of grief, sorrow, or trauma. Ultimately, Martha’s ‘method’ allows her to witness the dynamic redemption of divine activity, without dismissing her grief.

Chapter 12 – Nicodemus: On Doing Theology at Night

Methodologically speaking, Nicodemus’s choice to approach Jesus at night invites us to examine the dynamics that emerge when a person in a powerful position begins to have his theological categories reoriented by an encounter with Jesus. Under the cover of darkness, a reorientation unfolds, culminating in one of John’s most profound gospel affirmations: “For God so loved the world…” This chapter turns to Nicodemus as a theological mentor who, having been placed in a powerful position of theological authority, covertly allows the knowledge and power he had to be reoriented by an encounter with the Word made flesh.

Conclusion

We’ll conclude with suggesting a few ongoing practices for a theologian, including prayer, community embeddedness, and practices of examination.