Theology on the street

 Life can be messy, painful, difficult, and disorienting. No one is immune from the breakdown of relationships, health, or finances. This is true even for upper-middle-class Australians such as myself, who have access to significant resources (social networks, education, wealth, stable government, ...). If a person wants to follow Jesus how do they make sense of their life and find the spiritual resources to keep going? What role does theology play? And how might one connect the messiness of life to theology, to what might be taught (and modeled) at church, the Bible, and different Christian traditions?

Answering such questions is some of what Theology on Tap Brisbane is about. A  book, Pub Theology, recently published; each of the twenty-two chapters is based on a presentation by the author at Theology on Tap. The common theme is that each speaker was requested to reflect on their life experience in light of scripture and their own theological tradition. Most speakers are "lay" people, i.e. they are not clergy, academic theologians, or doing full-time paid work in Christian organisations. They have spent most of their working lives in the "real" world. Many have a Ph.D.

The book has received very positive reviews and endorsements from diverse reviewers. See for example, a review by Tim Dickau. 

Hard copies are available at Book Depository and Amazon sells a Kindle version.

This week for our theology reading group we discussed the book. Most members of the reading group also have a chapter in the book. Mine is based on a talk Theology of Weakness, that I gave in March 2019.

What are my reflections on the book? 

It was great to read the chapters, both those based on talks I had heard and talks that I missed because I was overseas at the time (pre-covid).

There is an emotional "rawness" in many chapters. Authors are honest and vulnerable about their own personal failures and struggles. There is depth, both intellectual and spiritual, to the theological reflections on the authors' own life narratives. There is a sincere and earnest struggle to connect their story to God's story. 

Life can be tragic, confusing, messy, and painful. There are no simple answers and solutions, theological or practical, to the complex questions and problems that life throws up.  Authors do not resort to platitudes, escapism, denial, relativism, despair, nihilism, cynicism, or bitterness. 

In some sense, the book presents neither a modernist or postmodernist perspective on the Christian life. Modernists will focus on certitude,  doctrine, reason. Little room is given for diversity of perspective and experience. Postmodernists will focus on ambiguity, diversity, and experience. the "validity" of each person's version of their story and affirm whatever interpretation they wish to put on that story. As a whole, the book affirms individuals' stories and experiences while putting those stories in dialogue with a specific normative narrative, that of the Bible and the work and presence of the Triune God in the world.

The book is powerful testimony that theology is relevant to all of life. Theology is not owned and defined by academics, pastors, or denominations. Theology is not just private or spiritual. Theology is and should be public. It has something to say about big issues such as the immigrant experience, family life, climate change, mental health, poverty, trauma, indigenous issues, and social justice. 

In life, some of the authors have been "activists" who have constructively engaged with our broken world in a way that is driven by their theology. But, their theology has also been modified or reconstructed based on the experience of their activism. I found those chapters particularly inspiring. They include those working with reconciliation following the Rwandan genocide, living in a slum in South Asia, care for children dying of cancer (and their families), indigenous health, ...

Life experiences are a powerful force, for better or worse, in shaping people's theology. This book is testimony to that and for me stimulates me to think more about the relationship between experience, tradition, scripture, and reason. One way of relating them is the Wesleyan Quadrilateral, Another is the tricycle promoted by Richard Rohr. I hope to come back to the complexities of this issue later.

Converting the presentations into book chapters does miss one significant dimension to the live presentations. A book is static, not dynamic. After each presentation, small groups discuss the presentation and compose written questions for the presenter. The presenter then responds to these questions. This element of processing and dialogue is obviously missing from the book. I wonder if it might be captured by a short response from another author and then a final word from the author.

What might be ways forward that build on this book?

Theology of Tap is characterised by hospitality. It is an open space that aims to be welcoming and neutral. It is not sectarian, as reflected in the diverse backgrounds and perspectives of both presenters and attendees. Can there be more room for dialogue, debate, and constructive criticism, including with non-Christians?

Most presenters, attendees, and authors are in the demographic of fifty to eighty years old. There is a lot of life experience and hard-earned wisdom. How can this be passed on to the younger? And what can the elders learn from the younger?