Theological Education: The Next Ten Years
You. Know, as you as you likely know we've been celebrating our tenth anniversary of, the school theology, and ministry throughout, this academic year. And. As we conclude the celebration. This evening we're taking a look not. So much at the past but at the future, of theological education kind. Of what it may look like over the next ten. Years or so, I'm. Pleased to introduce to you the panelists, that we'll be, presenting. All of whom are on the faculty at school theology, and ministry and, each. One will speak from his, or her own area, of expertise. Bible. Historical. Theology morality. Practical. Theology and, systematics, I'm. Gonna introduce them, in, the order in, which they will speak and then just allow them to to speak so. First is Andrew, Davis who. Earned the PhD. From John Hopkins University. Andrew. Is originally from Raleigh, North Carolina and. Is associate, professor of Old Testament, his. Research, interests, include literary, approaches. And historical, method in the biblical narrative, prophetic. Literature, feminist. Approaches to the Old Testament, ancient. Israelite, religion in, the book of Job. Bryan. Dunkel SJ, grew up in Freeport, New York and his assistant, professor, of historical, theology. He. Holds the STB, from. The Gregorian, University of, Rome and the STL, from Boston College School, theology, and ministry and, then, his PhD is from Notre Dame we'd like to diversify a little bit. Brian's. Area of interests and expertise, include, fourth century, Christology. And Trinitarian, theology, Ambrose. Of Milan the. Cappadocia, ins and Agustin. Early. Christian hymns and poetry and nature. And grace in the early in early Christianity. Mary. Jo io Co is professor, of moral theology. She. Earned her doctorate from Fordham University, Mary. Jo works, her. Work focuses on fundamental, moral theology, Catholic. Social ethics, feminist. Ethics, virtue. Ethics, and theological, ethics in the. Area of social justice she, has a special interest in disability. Studies. Anti-racism. And access. To health education and, economic stability. Colleen. Griffith holds. A doctorate, in theology from, Harvard Divinity School and, serves. As professor, of the practice of, theology, and director. Of our spirituality, studies. Historical. Contemporary, spirituality. Theological. Anthropology with. A concentration. On a theology, and spirituality, of the body. Method. In theology. Constructive. Theology, practical. Theology those. Are all the focuses, that Colleen brings to her research and teaching and. Finally. At the end is Dominic. Doyle Dominic. Was born in London England and is associate, professor of systematic theology.
A Graduate. Of Cambridge University. In England and Harvard he earned the PhD, from Boston, College, Dominic's. Area of interest include theological, anthropology, the. Theology, of culture and, the doctrine of God, particularly. Thomas, Aquinas and Karl Rahner. Now. Obviously. To, talk about the, theological, education over the next 10 years is, a daunting, task. And. Clearly, there, are present. And emerging, trends, that shape society. And the church which. Must be taken into account when we engage in theological education. Now. These can be perceived as either positive, or negative trends. For. Example we can speak of the rise of diversity, as both. A positive, and, as, a challenge. We. Can speak of the contribution, of latino/latina. Population. In church and society. Or. We can point to the growing awareness of the need for accountability and, transparency within. The church and other institutions. Those. Are just some of the diverse. Dynamics. And trends that are impacting our society, in our church, all. Of these are important, and they're important to the way in which we do theology and. While. Recognizing. That we cannot do theological. Education and, ignore these trends, where. They be gifts, or challenges, or probably. A little of both the. Lens we're picking up, tonight. Is different. It's. Looking at the trends, and the movements, and the themes that, shapes the, itself, and more. Specifically, still, the. The theology, is expressed, in the sub disciplines of, the people on the panel. Theological. Education, particularly. Is it's done the school of theology and ministry is. Fundamentally. In service to the church and ultimately to our world even. What, sometimes it seemed to be obscure, has. As the deep question, behind it that the Christian, theologian, asks, how. Do we more adequately, teach, and ultimately. Live out the. Reality, of God's love expressed, in Jesus, that's. What we're all about. So. That while we're focusing, here on the theological. Themes we, recognize, that those are impacted, by the culture around us so. With those remarks on to the panel each. Person, has about 10 minutes and I've got a clock, followed. By a brief time for conversation among. Among yourselves, and then question the response from the panelists, so without, further ado, thank. You Jane I, want to first thing you Jane and think continuing education, of this opportunity, to predict the future in biblical. Studies I, thought, it was a way to start my remarks I might read to you from four. Job descriptions, that came up on the biblical studies job market, in the last two years not because I'm on the job market or planning on leaving if there's anything about biblical studies at BC the next 10 years I plan to be here for those 10 years and, see where see, what I got right and what I got wrong but I thought job descriptions, of recent, job postings, would be an interesting way to identify. What I see is an emerging trend in the field so. This is from a recent New Testament posting this past year at Columbia Theological. Seminary. Asking. For a candidate to engage, in research and writing in New Testament and biblical studies which, may include sub, specialities. Or interdisciplinary, work. In such fields as moher, ISTA womanist. Feminist, interpretation. Disability. Studies queer. Theory minoritized.
Hermeneutics. Or post-colonial. Studies. And. The job hosting from santa clara university and, old testament, quote. In addition to firm grounding, and traditional, methods of interpretation. Applicants. With facility, in such a pro as literary, cultural, post-colonial. Feminist criticisms, of texts, and the, ability to teach all levels of Hebrew are invited, to apply, at. Holy Cross just, down the road from us they, ask for we particularly, welcome candidates. With contemporary, methodological. Frameworks. Such, as post-colonial. Ecological. Critical, race theory or feminist, approaches, and, the. Last one from Yale Divinity School for, Hebrew Bible two, years ago preference. Will be given to candidates, who can effectively engage with, post historical. Critical approaches, such, as but not limited to feminist. Post-colonial. And literary interpretation, and. I think what these. Four examples highlight, I'm sure you can already tell is that, there's a real interest. In biblical, studies I think. And. What. We might call contextual, approaches, and I think the language I just read, from these job descriptions I don't, think you would have seen in job descriptions, maybe ten years ago and. So I think to. My friends were still in the job market this, has been something that they have noticed and I think it's reflective, of a larger trend within. Biblical, studies which. Is that, there's a shift away from I'd. Say. Interpreting. Focusing, on the, historical, context, of the biblical, authors, who. Produce the biblical text and a, shift in focus to. The. Contexts. Of different, communities, who, have received, the, biblical texts and. Especially communities. Whose. Perspectives. Have been marginalized in. The history of interpretation. And. So that in my opinion is the biggest. Trend. Going, on right now on biblical studies and I see this trend increasing in the next 10 years as, more. And more communities, whose, perspective. Has been left out are being, brought, into the mainstream and, in some ways into the center, and. I think that this trend, represents. A, great, opportunity for the field of biblical studies but I would say there's also a big, risk here. And. The risk is that, biblical. Studies because. Of this new development I think is becoming bifurcated. And. So on, one side you have scholars. Who are trained and historical, critical method ology, and are, interested in exploring, the historical linguistic. Background, of the biblical authors, who produce the biblical texts on the, other hand are these, scholars. Who are more interested in the context. In which the biblical text is received, and the, problem the risk here I think, is that those two, groups of scholars don't, often enough talk to each other and in, some way this is a product, of graduate, programs, in biblical studies that you really. Programs. Either specialize, in one or the other of these types of scholarships, and so, you're producing scholars. Professor. Is a Bible, who, are able to do one and not the other and. So in my opinion this, is the biggest challenge facing the, field of biblical studies for the next ten years is, will, this gap continue. To widen in biblical studies where, two, approaches. To the Bible will. Essentially, be developing, on parallel tracks that don't intersect, or, will, our field find, ways to bridge, this, gap and, what. I want to say about the future of biblical studies at BCS TM is that I'm actually, hopeful, that. BCS, TM can play an integral role and, being one, of those bridge builders, and, that's because our, Bible faculty at STM are all trained, in. Historical. Critical method ology, and are all specialists. I say and, knowing. The, historical, context, linguistic, context, of the, biblical authors, and yet by the fact, that we're at a school of theology and ministry all.
The Work that we're doing is contextual, and. So for us it's not an either/or but we're trained and the historical, critical method ology. But, we're teaching students, were going out to work in pastoral, settings, and so everything, we're doing is, oriented. Towards, the sort of communities, of faith who, are ultimately going to receive this text, and so for. Me I'm hopeful, of the role that BCS, TM can play and, these, in both developing. Fields, of biblical studies and hopefully. Being, part of the bridge and. Not, contributing. To the further division, within the field, thank. You. Thank. You and thanks, for organizing us, again Andrews, going, to show me up at least both in the brevity of his remarks, and in his, doing it off the on the COFF the cuff it's pretty impressive, but. A lot of what he mentioned certainly, will resonate with my understanding. Or my experience, in the field of history of Christianity, so. I begin, with a bit of a caution, because I study. Texts. And, periods, that are over 1500. Years old when. I am, given, the prophesy, about the next ten years my, expectations. Are pretty modest. And. I'd say if we if I consulted, most of my colleagues in the history area we'd find that the syllabi, were using, ten years ago are. A lot like the syllabi, we're using today now tweaking, and adapting, each year especially in response to, scholarly trends, but, realizing, that there is an important, body of literature. That we ought to be returning to a perennial, revelant, relevance. But. I do want to talk about some trends in the field that. Were hinted at by andrew but i'm gonna build on a bit what i talked about this, related, area, of discipline. Really disciplinary. Area of historical. Theology and, church history. Which. Informs. How we teach everything from the. Development, of Christological, doctrine, to women, doctors of the church to, our, core surveys, in the, history of Christianity. Now. My area of specialization, typically. Labeled patristic. S--, has. This. This, division. Or maybe you say distinction. Arise, even discussion. In the discussion of the it's the, name of the field, we. Refer to when. We use the term patristic, refer, to the Fathers, of the Church which. Can seem remarkably. Out of date and not just because of the kind of patriarchal. Residents. But in fact more. Importantly, and I think this is shared among scholars in the field the idea that these are father's, in the sense of authorities. But. These are thora T's so. There can there. Are many scholars, in this field who have no vested. Commitment. And seeing. St. Athanasius, or. St.. St. Agustin, or st. basil as fathers. Having. This kind of role and they. Would even argue that by treating him as such you can't remain objective, scientifically. You, can't be honest and critical, about, their teaching, in. An in a scholarly way, and. Yet the. Enduring, power of this paradigm, can shows, up in the in, a in a variety of ways but especially in, the very name of my guild which. Is the North American patristic. Society, they've been some debates about the name primarily. Because its. Acronyms. Knapp's. But. It sticks. We'll. See in a few years it's under debate. So. At the heart of this this history. Theology. Sort. Of distinction is I, think a necessary, balance that I hope we can preserve at the, STM, as. Historical. Theologians, or as historians. Of Christianity, you, have to both learn about, the. Essential. Figures in Christian history but, we're also expected, to learn from them about verses. From so. In my, field scholars. Generally proud, prioritized, one of these two approaches. Some. Those who are historical. Or even contextual. Historians.
Subject. To scientific probing. And analysis, the, majors and fix in texts, from, the early Christian period and, from. What's known as late antiquity. They're. Often correcting, traditional, views of church history which. Can be biased by confessional. Or apologetic. Motives in order. To rethink, narratives. About the beliefs and methods, and the reception, of these. Great. Major figures in the past, so. In this, line you define scholars more inclined. To locate. The dark side of Augustine's, legacy, or to. Focus, on the political, rather, than the purely, scriptural, or theological. Explanations. For some of his famous arguments. For instance predestination. And. Some of the, the trends come up in the way that scholars have moved away from traditional, analyses. Of basic. Theological. Controversies. Through the centuries you might think of Arianism, to, focus more, on the idea of identity. Formation, identity. Formation so, he suggests that through Orthodoxy. Developed. Only, as a chance to kind of shore up a group identity, to distinguish, our, crowd, from that crowd rather. Than because. Of any enduring. Philosophical. Or theological commitments. And. Again here we'd have the enduring relevance of, critical. Theory in today's. Academy. Now. On, the other hand more in theologically. In kind scholars, and I include, myself in, this camp, tend. To treat the. Item, the ideas, and the modes of thinking of these, great Saints and teachers as enduring. Models and guides for, contemporary. Discussions, of belief. We're. Not denying. The essential, role that good rigorous, history must play in learning about the sources, to. Determine precisely what, they have to tell us in the first place but. I still think there are two develops, even in this area, that still, looked to these as sources. First. There's. A, realization. That we have to rethink standard. Notions of evolution. Or, development. Of doctrine, and a kind of linear unfolding. Of a process, and second. There. Is a much greater attention to marginal. Sources, sort of unattended, voices, that, may have been lost through the centuries especially. Voices, that don't survive in the mainstream languages. At least mainstream, for me of of, Greek and Latin, so. I think. Theologians. Are more critical or questioning. Views. Of the history, of doctrine, on ideas. Like the two natures of Christ or, the definition, of the Trinity as three. Persons, sharing, one essence that. They're kind of inevitable, conclusions. Of a. Standard. And steady pressed process, rather. They look to find. Voices. That may have been lost or kind of even considered, dead ends in early, Christian. Discussions. To see what they like they might shed on, theological. Discussion, today so. For instance one of my favorite theologians, st. gregory of nazi ANZUS likes, to think of talk about how were united to, christ and he uses the philosophical. Language of mixture, it's. Blending. Now. It's language that was a banded when everybody wanted to draw a sharp division, between creator, and created, but, maybe it's worth recovering. Understood, in a proper way to shed light on how we get to so intimate, a union. Now. Second theologians. Are more deeply taken, with the, approaches, of minority, traditions, especially. From areas like syria and ethiopia where, we have tons of texts, that survived but are very often not translated. Because we don't know the languages or people don't study them as much and. They employ, distinctive.
Theological. Language, generally. More symbolic. You might say than philosophical. And that's sort, of in vogue in itself and it's, been underappreciated. So, historian. Histories, of doctrine, that are more global and, of global histories, and there's. One in particular by Robert Wilkins called the first thousand, years, they. Call attention. To these marginal, voices. So. On either front whether more, properly historical. Or more, properly theological. There's a lot of work T to be done in the, scholarly landscape, will shift have, not changed, radically in ten years and so our syllabi. But. I do want to point us to one particular. Challenge, in, historical, theology that we have to identify I. Think. The backgrounds, of our students, are, going to raise the challenges, for assumptions. That we traditionally make about that. What students come with. Well. I think in previous, generations, professors. Teaching, and graduate, programs, could. Presume, something like general. Education, especially, in a Western tradition, which we inevitably. Favor in tracing, the history of doctrine, that's, just not the case except. In limited instances. Liberal. Arts programs, are closing down humanities, programs, like, for, instance recently, at, Wheeling Jesuit University. Are kind of showing up to become more focused on stem, and professional. Training and, in, the process, we've got students. Coming I think with much better sensitivity. To. Issues. Of critical, thinking, and you know hidden biases, but, with elf often, without the kind of global, historical. Training. That we may produce oom, previously. So. I put, on a prophetic, alert to, say that we'll, have to balance, this concern, to learning about the sources with. A learning from them always. Ready to rethink, received, narratives. On the basis of new evidence, and new perspectives. But. Of course at the SDM we've got the special challenge, the special call to, see how both of those processes are. Related. To ministry. Be. Kind of relating. To training our students to serve, and to bring this, wisdom, accumulated. Through, centuries to, the service, of those, in need and those, who need to hear Christ's voice thank. You. So. As with others thank you for the invitation thank, you all for your attendance here with us this evening yes. We are not wearing the. Prophecy. Or the prophets hats and looking into the future the seers, but. We're doing the best that we can. Knowing. Where, we. Started. And where we are today, I could. Venture to say that each one of us has grown. Quite a bit from the days when we were in. Graduate school and, the. Body of literature that's available has. Likewise. Grown. More. Than any one scholar could read is, now produced in all of our disciplines. So. Moral. Theology, a living. Tradition, and transition. Is the, way I'm framing my comments. Over. The last 50 years or. More you're the discipline. Of moral theology, has burgeoned, from. Its enclaves, and seminaries, and monastic. Houses of study and perhaps houses. Of religious, formation, with, a fairly, homogenous, student, body, and a, fairly homogeneous, set. Of faculty, members. The. Discipline, is now present, in both private and public, colleges. And universities with. Far more heterogeneous. Student. And faculty populations. As you can tell from the, panel, right. Here we have among. Us only one person, who, is a valid, religious, the. The the, other four of us are, our. Lay persons, engaged in. Theological. Work. It's, fairly new, both. In moral, theology and all of the theological, disciplines. So. What. Had been an almost uniform. Dominant. Male postulant. Or cleric. Composition. Of persons. Interested in the field of moral theology, -, now laymen, and laywomen -. Persons of minority, communities, into, the gender diversity in, our, consciousness. Now more broadly this. Is the, change that happens not only in the discipline, but in the disciplines, subject, matter. This. Shift has influenced. The ways that the tradition, is taught or traditions, are taught, the, materials, that we professors, use and the, audiences, that. The discipline, now reaches, so.
It's Not just as, it, had been in, seminary. Formation, for the purposes, of you studied moral theology, for all intents and purposes to. Learn, how to conduct. Confessional. And penitential. Services. For the faithful. In. A Catholic setting anyway. It's. A very exciting, time in. The guild and for. Some it's more than a little dangerous, to be, in moral theology, especially. For, though for those who dare to delve into subject. Matter that questions, time bound, conclusions. That. Have been pronounced, by the church's, teaching authority. We. Can, probably. Recall a few times the, silencing, of some theologians, of recent. Memory. Elizabeth. Johnson and systematic, theology, was called. To. Cease and desist with, some of her work in systematic, theology and Margaret. Farley, was, called to cease and desist her, work in, sexual. Morality a moral, field field in writing on sexual morality both, women religious, so, the church has at some level, tentacles. That can reach to women religious. Where. Lay women, and lay men have. A little more. Freedom to, speak. And to write and to teach as. Those. Ecclesial. Authorities. Can. Only speak then to their Dean's and/or, presidents, to. Request, silence. So. Historical. Consciousness, has been key, to a shift, in moral theology from a focus on particular, acts is this. Sin or not sin, how, grave a sin is this what, penance, what I to do to repent. We've. Moved from that singular, focus or, what had been a single somewhat. Singular focus to, an appreciation, of moral agency more, broadly, the. What's and the whys and the how's of what, moral, agents. Do every single one of us is a moral, agent and, what. We do is our, expression of moral agency, our freedom, to do X Y or Z, thing. Given. The parameters of, our our. Being. Raised, in. Certain, cultures and. What. Rules we have decided. To abide and what to disobey, members. Of the guild in, moral theology, likewise. Recognized, the multiple. Contexts. In which formation. Of moral, agency or the lack thereof. Has. Become, determinate. Determinative. Of, a. Moral. Agents, freedom, to. Do and to be as she. Or he wishes to become, in. Their. Best sense, of, future. Determination. Self-determination. This. Awareness, of context, this critical, for the field and will remain critical for the field insofar as we begin to recognize more. And more, the. Differences, between, for. Example privilege. And a lack thereof. So. Change. Change. In this awareness of context, as unfolded, relatively, quickly in the scheme of the discipline, that, can trace its start to the literature of the penitential, period. Excuse. Me the penitential, literature, of the patristic period, of time. Brian's. Area. Of study, as. Well, as andrew's, area of study where we have prescriptions. In scripture, to, direct us. So. We've gone from penitential. Literature, of the patristic period, to the medieval scholastics. Su-mei Summa. Thomas. Aquinas is Summa theologia, for example not the only one of the Summa that had been written in, the, 1213, 14th and even. Into the 15th centuries, to, the pre-modern. Development. Of casuistry. To, the modern manuals. Of moral theology, again a lot of that being confessional. Literature.
In In. General, that's. Eighteen to nineteenth centuries, of development. Eighteen. To nineteen centuries. That's. 1,800. 1,900. Years. From the start of what could be called the discipline, to today. Alright, so in the last 100. Years, the. Discipline, has changed. Dramatically. For. Many of the reasons that I mentioned in my opening remarks now. There are lay persons, in. In, the field and the. Discipline. Has moved out of still. Remains in the seminaries, but has moved beyond seminary. Instruction, to, the, wider public and a, professional, Guild of ethicists. Has emerged. So. In less than 100 years the discipline, has broken. Free we can almost say from the boundaries, that were set by ecclesial, structures. And authoritative, directors. For. The benefit of the faithful, has. Broken free, because the faith full are similarly. More educated. Than. The. Lady, had, been previously. So. As laypersons. Went to university, some of those persons, such, as myself and, others in the room have, engaged, with the theological, disciplines, this, is relatively, new. Nevertheless. Did, this is the discipline, remains concerned, with the search for truth for the moral truth whatever that might mean that's attentive, to today's, contexts. And that. Is expressed, rather differently, today than it was in the past but it's the same. Insights. The same interest. In looking for what is the right thing to do here. So. While the academic, discipline, has moved from confessional. Utterances, to sin no more and to avoid the, near occasion, of sin to, forming, consciences. That. Formation, requires examination. Of the contexts. And the structures, that contribute. To or thwart, human. Flourishing, for. The moral agent herself, or himself and, the. Ecclesial. Educational. Institutional. Political and, social milieu, in, which each. Agent. Is to thrive. Now. In the last 50, years the, discipline, has moved from those seminaries, and universities. To other settings beyond, strictly, academic instruction, to. An application. This. Is going to continue. Application. Of, professional. Ethics of moral theology. Philosophical. Ethics to hospital. Ethics, committees, for example research, universities. And research protocols. How will we treat, the. Subjects, of our research, corporate. Boards, for, profit and nonprofit institutions. Professional. Societies. I see. A couple of my colleagues here in the room there, is in the United States alone the Society of Christian ethics the, Catholic Allah Society, Catholic. Theological Society, of America, which has a group. Dedicated, to moral theology, there's the College theology, Society, which has a group dedicated to moral theology, and the American Academy of religion kind. Of a zoo for all. Has. Many. Multiple. Dedicated. To the subject matter of theological, ethics religious, ethics of. All. Religions. Not, just the the Christian faith. So. Into. These different places consider, where, did this come from why did moral, theology end up in, institutions. Non. Academic and, non seminary, formation. Type institutions. They ended up there in many ways as a result, of the. Nazi. Pogrom. Against, the Jewish community, where, medical, doctors.
Were. Performing. Experimental. Procedures, on. The. Adult. And children, prisoners. At. The Nuremberg trials, this. History. Of experimentation. Gross, experimentation. On. Unconsenting. Participants. Participants. Was exposed, and. Rejected. Outright the. Nuremberg trials, formed, for us what has. Become known as the Helsinki. Agreement that, we will not allow medical. Professionals to, do this again, so. It's extended, from the medical professionals, to all other kind, of professional, organizations. These. Protocols, require, assessment. By persons, who are trained in moral theology or, philosophical. Or theological ethics, the. Reach of the discipline, reminds, me of the first dictum, of what I refers to what I like to think of as the first dictum of morality and that is that every human Act is a moral Act. So. Everything. That we do has, moral, value, positive or negative very. Few things that we do have are, neutral, they, are there will have positive or negative, value, in the scheme, of a, moral evaluation or. Assessment of. The. Of. The action. So. It's fairly clear. That the discipline, has plenty, of material, about which to opine, the. Concerns, of the 20th century, ethics. Committees, needs, will continue, and have continued, into the 21st century as the, 21st century unfolds we find ourselves facing, new questions in search of an that will protect human, flourishing more, broadly. Perhaps. You read the op-ed in today's globe by Bill McKibben, called, the clock keeps, ticking, in the fight to save the planet. Following. The alarm that Rachel. Carson, sounded, in 1962. In her text, the Silent Spring and perhaps. Even before that with 2-yard the Chardon and and his work. In. Cosmic. Consciousness we, could call it I suppose. Environmental. Sustainability is a critical concern in moral theology and many other disciplines, as. Many members of the guild are laypersons the discipline, has entered also an open engagement, with concerns, regarding family. Planning, intergenerational. Family care, household, budgeting, matters, as well, as concerns, for our sisters and brothers relegated. To the margins and/or. Oppressed. As a result, of inequality. And outright, poverty. Similarly. Scholars, recognize, positive. And a positive and, critical array of gender and sexual diversity as well as the intersections, of race culture. And disability. Attention. To global realities, have taken center stage in, Catholic, circles especially.
With The development of a global network of scholars through the Catholic theological ethics in the World Church. These. Initiatives, of CTE WC for lack of spelling. It out every time. These. Initiatives. What. Where did I was, myself. Of. International. And regional mean, it's the, initiatives, of this organization, of international, and regional meanings, scholarships. And a monthly new news read or letter, are read by over 100, people are filled. With contributions. From new and emerging scholars, as well as scholars who have been in the field for decades. For. For. Many. Of the people. That our students, are reading are, involved. As well in Catholic theological ethics and our, younger scholars are involved, in Catholic, theological ethics in the world church thus. While the contours. Of the discipline, have been enlarged, in response, to contemporary, need and challenges. The, sources, coupled. With scientific. And other disciplines, specific. Data again, this is the intersectionality. That's, coming up remain. Stable the. The tradition. Of moral theology the discipline, of moral, theology, I believe. Will always hold, fast. To, the. What. Is often. Known as the Wesleyan, quadrilateral that. Is scripture. Tradition. Reasoning. About what needs to be done and experienced. Thank. You. Good. Evening and it's great to see so many familiar faces out there thank, you for coming I'm gonna make a practical, theological. Move right now a very, bodily, oriented, one without, leaving your spot, in place could we just all stand we're a large panel and we've gone over 30, minutes so far so let's just stand and stretch for a minute thank you I'm. Very happy to, speak this evening about the. Standpoint, of practical, theology you know it's a younger discipline, with, respect to its appearance in the Academy and yet, practical, theology today, stands. As an academic discipline. With, substantive, international. Scope it's. The focus of several scholarly, journals, it's, a growing choice of study within university, doctoral, programs and Catholic. Practical, theologians, have become significant, voices, within this field making. Contributions from, European, Asian, African. Australian, North. And South American, contexts. Practical. Theology or PT as its referenced, often is, an umbrella term under which one finds a wide variety of offerings. Contextual. Theologies, pastoral. Theologies, praxis. Based theologies. Public. Theologies. Whatever. The strike, practical. Theologians, share, in common some, core commitments. That, are evident, in the work being. Done by, these theologians. Four. Of these major commitments. Are firstly. A commitment. To the study of the realm of practice. Personal. And communal practices. Of lived faith. Consideration. Of these as theological. Carriers. Practical, theologians, the. Realm of practice, is not that, of application. Of theory. But. Rather a bonafide realm, of knowing unto itself that. Becomes a very important resource in the doing of theology. Practical. Theologians, look, to the embodied, practices of, lived faith those. Of individual, persons and communities, of faith alongside. Of texts, and view. These practices. As part, of the noetic content. Of the, Christian tradition as, resource. Material, to. Be drawn upon and studied.
Second. Commitment of practical, theology. Practical. Theology stays, keenly, aware of, contextual. Dynamics, in the, doing of theology. Considering. Plural, contexts in which faith gets practiced, paying. Attention to the socio ecclesial, cultural, standpoints, of those, engaged, in practices, of faith and those, of the researchers, the, theologian, herself, himself, and two, aspects, of the situatedness. Of praxis, including. Gender race. Sexuality. Class. Power. Dynamics. Geography. Landscape. Etc. A. Third. Core commitment. Practical. Theology is, committed, to. Interdisciplinarity. It. Attempts, to read, and describe, and interpret the. Realm of practice, all the, while engaging, central christian claims and knows. That, this requires, thick. Description. That. Is often, served, well by the incorporation of, an interpretive, lens from, a further discipline. Be. That social science Natural, Science, neuroscience. Psychology economics. Political science, not. All of these of course but. A further. Discipline. Judiciously, chosen for. Its help in interpreting. More fully, the, practice the situation, the climate and the people. Practical. Theologians, see benefit, in boundary. Crossing, in. Purposeful. Interdisciplinary. Zigzagging. And do not favor what's, been named quote gated. Communities, of discourse, a. Fourth. Core, commitment, of practical. Theologians. Practical. Theologians, do their theology in, the, service of life the, church and the world. Practical. Theologians, keeping, the lives and struggles of real people in view, bring. Ethical, and spiritual. Imagination. To their work and always. Have an expressed. Emancipatory. Interest. There. Is what, one of my colleagues bill Rosenbaum likes to call a liberabit of edge evident. In the, aims of practical, theologians, I like. To say the practical, theologians, are forever Lobby. Errs with. Respect to the work that they do they. Seek more, than understanding. They. Wish to effect, specific. Change. Now. In recent years leading, to the place that we sit today, practical. Theologians, have worked hard to identify shared. Core. Commitments, operative. In the discipline, in, the. Next 10 years in my, humble, view, practical. Theology will, want to be mindful of the, following and I have four points here, firstly. Having. Shown a lot of leadership in, establishing. Practice, as its, self content. Full and an. Important, locus of study and, having. Shown that the lived faith experiences. Of persons, and communities, provide. Important. Points of access to the census feed a and the sensus fidelium the. Sense for the faith in people and. The. Sense of the faithful. Practical. Theology in, these next 10 years we. Want to focus closely.
On. Hermeneutical. Guidelines, governing. The, study of the, practices, of faith, now, this work has already begun it. Has to continue and it, will be a helpful contribution to the theological, enterprise as a whole, a. Second. Thought in. Recent, years the. Dominant, dialogue partner, of practical, theology has. Been social. Science, yes. Psychology, education, others, as well but. I think that new avenues, of exploration. In future years will, most definitely want, to include, interdisciplinary. Conversations with. The physical sciences, and very. Significantly. With the arts I see. In our group tonight, a wonderful, colleague dr., Eileen Daley from Boston, University thanks. For joining us Eileen who really is attended, to practical, theologies. Conversations. With artists, and that, kind of dialogue has only just begun it is, a fertile area for for. Growth a. Third. Observation. Practical. Theology will, need to keep ever at the forefront, that. It is a theological. Discipline. Practical. Theology remains. Theology. And not. For example sociology. Of religion. Theological. Interest and theological, methodology, must, be evident, in practical, theology study. Of lived, faith and. Hopefully. Theological. Interest and method will be articulated. By, increasingly. Diverse voices, in this field, we. See for example how. The entrance, of women in theology, continues. To shape shake and move theology, forward and. A. Fourth thought. More. And more there. Is, cross-disciplinary. Evident. NPT, and, we. All look forward to yet, more of this there. Are lots of fruitful, conversational. Exchanges, and collaborations afoot. With other, areas, within theology, and, more. And more theologians, are speaking about themselves, in hybrid. Terms I'm. A system, ax Titian who embraces the methodology, of practical, theology I'm. A practical, theologian. Who, resembles, in several ways a moral theologian, I'm. A religious, educator, committed. To practical, theological, pedagogy, etc. Which. Leads to my final, point about the, future of theological education in, general. The. Boundaries, that, we have had some time very hard and fast boundaries, between. The major areas, of theology have. Become, much, more fluid, in our time and this. Is healthy. Holding. The potential, for more creative and collaborative work and hopefully. An end to hierarchical. Ordering of the various areas that, you find sometimes in theologists, and in, theological, education.
Point. Effect interest. In real life situations and. Incorporation. Effects, on the ground where people live must. Assume, a port importance, for, the whole of the, theological, enterprise and, answering. To the three publics identified, by David Tracy namely, the Academy, the, church and the world is the, job of all theology. Finally. Interpreting. Christian faith in. Ways that are relevant and meaningful, today, is, really. The responsibility of, each, and every, branch, of theology. Thank. You. Thank. You Jane I'm, going to begin with a definition. Of systematics. And then. On the basis of that definition state, what I think is one of the main tasks, for systematics, over the coming decade and, then. Conclude. With a few areas within. Systematics. That. Americans. Politely call areas of growth attention. So. What is systemic, systematics. Is done by hyper-organized. Grumpy, Thomas detached from the real world who think they have all, the I'm sorry reading Colleen's piece on. Systematics. Is a study of the central, claims of the faith for doctrines, as they relate to each other and to, other natural, truths and so. Systematics, is about two things one about identity, the central doctrines, of the faith and two. About relevance, how these doctrines relate to other disciplines. Science. Economics so. On so. On the basis of that definition. We. Can see there are two central features identity, and relevance, of belief, and I. Think, systematics. Attempt. To hold these together can address one of the main challenges that we'll get even more. Difficult. Over the coming decade and that is polarization. Which. Is essentially, when someone. Chooses, one of these polls at the expense of the other for. Example an exclusive, concern, with identity, makes someone who might be a good conservative into, a preservative, put, it in a jar and, it's not that useful no one can get at it when it's tightly closed. In a jar or an, exclusive, concern with relevance, makes, a progressive, Christian, indistinguishable. From their secular neighbor and so what's the point the church becomes an nco within sense. So. I think what systematics, should try and do this is the ideal is to show how tradition, and change, are, not opposites, but, they're closely related and in. Fact tradition, is really the best wisdom of the past answering. The most difficult, questions of that day. So. For tradition, to be alive it has to be open to new questions, but. For change to be authentic. It has to be rooted in, the tradition. So. I think this is the task of systematics, not to fan the flames of polarization, of opposites, but to achieve, some. Fusion of horizons, as gadem I put it, as. A direct result of this awareness that tradition, and change are the rhythm of systematic. Inquiry it follows. That system. Atisha --nz will need to bone up on their history and take, some of brian's classes. Because. In a sense ideas, aren't really intelligible, unless you see how they develop over, time as Carla. Donna told us his book on the Christological doctrines, or Buckley's on atheism or David, Barone on medieval. Inter-religious, dialogue have shown you, only understand, an idea when it's grasped, in its developments just as a person, is only understood when you get their history it's like when I taught high school someone.
Said To me when you meet the parents a lot of lot slots into place. So. Now some, growth. Areas, I think like. With Colleen. I think interdisciplinarity. Is going. To be one of the the, main areas, of growth because there's so many rapid, advances, in other areas, of knowledge that challenge, can. Inform Fiat, theology, I'll. Give four examples, first. Oh gee laudato. Si is an obvious example that's, had enormous appeal and in this. Crisis, if there are more decades to come hopefully, will show us we. Have to rethink the notion of humanity's, place in creation, so. That's a lot of work to be done in there it's inspiring, to see the. Papacy, retrieve, a sense of religious, authority that's respected, in worldwide, for its leadership you, even had all the leaders of ExxonMobil and all these oil, magnets, come and listen to the Pope talk. On this that's a nice. Change, of the usual direction. Of. Lecturing. Second. Area, is evolutionary. Biology, which. Puts even more pressure on. The notion maybe a fragile doctrine, of original sin, which one colleague, of mine described, as a doctrine, under construction, it's hard to square evolution, and original sin and in, some ways and. More positively, evolutionary. Biology, could give more evidence, and precision to Rene Gerard's. Flamboyant. Monomania. About mimetic, desire and, scapegoating, and all that kind of stuff I think it gives a lot of evidence, and. Backing, to Gerard's, interesting, take on desire. Third. Area neuroscience. Negatively. I think theologians, will have to try, and respond, to the philistine claims, of reductionism, that. Reduces, the human to mere brain functions. Semantically. If. Neuroscience. Can help her shift perhaps, one of our key terms in theological, anthropology, from, the soul to. The self as, we become more aware of the. Inextricably. Bodily, nature of human experience, and, then, positively, I think, neuroscience. Can provide at a theory of the. Neural. Mediation. Of religious, experience, how, the self that we've become, aware that is emerged in evolution, there's, capable, of rational reflection and, voluntary, impulse. Control that. Self. Which. Is in extraordinary, treatment in religious, experience. Can be taken offline. This. Is Patrick McNamara as accountant, at Boston University. In. That it's cessation, of cognitive certainty. And voluntary, control, we can search in these intense, religious, expiry, Liturgy. Prayer worship meditation. And so on we, can search for an ideal self a different self that's better than the one we have and. Hopefully. We can come back online in, a, more cooperative. Altruistic. Pro-social. Self it. Seems, to me that fear is like this the non reductionist. Accounts of neuroscience, and religious experience, can. Provide a cross-cultural. Point, of comparison, between. Different religious, traditions, that. Can inform the project of comparative, theology perhaps, another area if we had time a, 6-figure. Could talk about that but in any case there are all these different areas of knowledge. But. We should I think systematic, theology, wants to say that however much we focus, on this or that area this regional, anthropology, this sectional, interest, it's.
Important, Despite the intellectual. Fashion industry, to remember that Christianity, does have a grand narrative and. Any. Withdrawal. Into this or that area is for the sake of return, and we. Should attempt, to express, the unity, of human knowledge how. It is that what we learn in politics, or economics or, philosophy, or literature, or Natural, Sciences, or history, they. All together grow from the same theological. Stem and that. They can all be bearers, of the good news and that's the nature of the good news itself that nothing is left untouched the. Fourth, area is ecclesiology. What, it means to be church how, does grace look like when it's experienced. Together, it's. Given by a group and it's shared and grows as a group. And. It seems to me this area of ecclesiology, is perhaps the biggest growth area, and also the most acute tension. Within, systematics. First. Off is the obvious issue of what is the social context. In which the church tries to preach and even tries to exist, and. I, think the more we understand, that the more we can respond, to the privatization. Of faith the. Spiritual. Not religious, I don't, like organized, religion which. Is someone quipped you know do. You want disorganized, religion, and if the church is a hospital, would you want to disorganize hospital, so it's what, are the value in the merits, of the organization, institutional. Presence of, religion. But. In order to provide, that understanding, systematics. We'll have to find a new handmaid, as it were a theology, not just philosophy, but sociology. As Colleen was saying or even better culture, that is the meaning, dimension, of social, groups. This. Greater sociological. Awareness, will address what I think is one of the greatest problems in Catholic, theology, in the Catholic Church is how to get the message out it seems, to, me that the Catholic tradition has enormous depth and richness in, its, tradition. The. Society, has enormous demand. As. You the, lack of meaning, and hope and so on but, how do we get supply and demand intersects, we. Not we're not very good at it it's. My impression and. I know I haven't seen you see and hear you I, listened. To your homilies in Harvard in the basement of the church and you could you know you could hear you could hear a pin drop because. People were so hungry for it and you communicated. It so effectively, and it's. We're. Not always successful. At. That I think would be fair to say so. Supply and demand how do we make that intersect, and I think that problem, is really just a symptom, of a much deeper problem and, that. Is the mismatch between the structure, of the church on the one hand it's. A pyramid it. Has. One. Might say not. Much transparency or, accountability it's. A broadcast model, based on authority so. There's a contradiction between the structure, of the church on the one hand and the, reality, of the culture and the other especially in light of a new social. Media. In. Which just not just a tool we use but the forms our consciousness, in a way that it's flat structure, it's. User generated, and shared. Content, it's not a broadcast, model it's a network model based on authenticity, not, Authority, the. Survival, of the wittiest as one of my students put it in his presentation. And. This. Task. How do we address. Had, we a be honest and bring to light this contradiction, and. How do we address it I think there many tools that practical. Theologians, can help, us address that issue, my. Time is up thank you for your attention. So. Questions, yes Teresa. Thanks. This was really interesting Thank. You Colleen for getting us to stand up, I. Appreciate. That all of you spoke within your disciplines, and perhaps that was the expectation, but. When I was thinking about this I was thinking about the school itself and so. The only one who spoke to the the. Student. Audience was Brian you spoke a little bit about the, kind of background were coming to expect but. What, do you anyone. Have thoughts on what you imagine, theological, education will. Look like in. 10, years time, given, where we are now. Ok. Sure. Ok. So, it's. A great question, one, of the things that I do see, is this, fluidity with, respect to the various areas that are named as. Specific. Distinct, areas, in theology a lot, more crossing, of those boundaries, which.
I, Do think is healthy but. I think theological, education is, going to be happening, in places, other, than just, the Academy would love to see theological. Education. Happening. More in our parishes, and congregations, in a more intentional way, I'm. Also, imagining, that theologians, will also push themselves, to, enter. Into realms that are less familiar to them outside, of the Academy and do, things like blog. Etc. With respect to their their their. Theology and their message. So I, sense. That the the, contexts. In which theological. Education will, happen will. Not be limited simply. To. The University. Yes. Thanks, for the question. Colleen. Mentioned blog. There's. A Catholic moral theology, blog that, was started. Probably. Well. At least five years ago maybe, longer than that I don't, frequent, the blog it's, clearly, an initiative, of younger. Scholars in, the field so, so. What's happening, in. In. The. Blogosphere. Are. Conversations. That. Some. Of older. Folks are, not. Engaged. With although, they are conversations. And concerns, that we have, experienced. In, the. What. Is common to our experience, face-to-face. With. Persons, who are, questioning. What. We have written or or what we are predicting, for the future, or. How we have handled a particular, situation. What. I see, in terms of the, future similar to what Brian. Was. Saying that, our students, are different than. My generation. Clearly. And. It's curious. To see I, don't consider myself old but it's curious. To. See that over the 30 years of my academic. Career. The. Changes, in the student population what. The students, come with the, questions, that the students ask and. The. Resources, that. That an. Attentive, faculty, member is going to access, in order to respond, ever more effectively, to that student, or those students, so they're not isolated concerns. Among them, so. It's a challenge, to keep, on top, of, the. Discipline. So. I, have. To be reading in both. Genres, I. Have to be reading in the tradition. Because. There are certain things that qualify. As moral, theology, there. Are certain texts, that you must at least have what. Earnest of if, not have read some, of it it's you would not have a bit less is never referring, to the Bible and expecting students to read the Bible say, in moral theology there are some texts, that are the, critical sources, Aquinas. Bonaventure, from, the from the medieval period clearly, there, are things earlier. In, in. The patristic literature that. Can be mined, there's the. Didache II there's all these sorts of texts. From the tradition, as well as what's, happened, in the 20th century as. I had, spent, a time. Rehearsing. In my, earlier comments, so the students, are. Somewhat. Reluctant. To want to go there and. To. To. Learn the, the. Way. Of reaching. The. Modern student, the, contemporary, student I should say is. Challenging. For us so the the next generation. Of. Education. In moral theology is, going to, to. Be. Ever more adept, at. Communications. Technologies. As well, as presenting material, in ways that, will, invite. The student to go to the sources, in their original. Form. I. Just. Like to ask Theresa what even, you teach this at youth and young adults good what are your thoughts what do you think the, kind. Of student will be. We. Have a message, we have an incredibly, valuable message, we, have a huge, rich tradition. But. We have a mental. Mindset. In our society. Among our not just our listeners. But our people in general and their Catholics, that, doesn't see the need for it, I, preach. Every, Sunday, to an increasingly. Small, population. I don't. Think it's entirely my experience. But, I do think that the. Need, to identify the. Point, of contact, between the, contemporary. Mindset, which goes back to theology, and, all the rest of it and so, sociology. And the, message that we have is the, critical task of theology, in the next 10 years if we, don't do it we'll. Be preaching tradition. But to people who don't have the slightest, interest in it and that, I worry about that hugely. You. Know both as a priest and as a preacher that. Not. To prolong this but an organization. Of which I serve as a chaplain, was talking, about how we, need to reorganize the, church well I suppose, we do but. I said well if we reorganize. Every church in the world but it doesn't have a message, that people want to hear, that people resonate, with, it'll. Just be a museum. So. I mean I really, think you. People. I'm. Out of it now but. I think you people have an enormous, task, ahead of you and if. We don't get on with it the. Benches, will keep emptying and, the people will keep being indifferent, ten, years ago we had O'Flaherty gave a paper in this room on religious, indifference. He. Was a religious.
Sociologist. And it, was it, never got published for he died some. Years ago and it. Was critical, really. To analyzing. The contemporary. Mindset, I keep, thinking of it as they listened to you talk today but anyway, I hope. That was, some I. Didn't part. Of the battle I. Think. One of the questions that has, to be dealt with is who funds theological. Education, because. Historically be going back to lists and long enough those. Who are in. Theological. Education were, in seminary, settings or houses of formation, and nobody. Outside that all, right now. Majority. Of a student body are. Lay. People who. Are funding their education, either, on their own dime or, at. The. The. Generosity, of a university, like Boston College, and. We have to kind of think about who's, who, do we invest in in order to create a leadership. Within the church and so I think the funding of well. Education. More broadly but theological. Education I, think is going to somehow be part of the picture so I'm focusing, less on the. Student in the. Sense that you guys were asking I'm, focusing, more on who, can actually afford to come and how, do we create mechanisms by, which it's, possible, for, people who will have an inclination a, proclivity for this are able to come I. Would. Just point out that that's especially relevant, in this area when we've seen two divinity. Schools or theologists, more or less I mean not close close but really, downsize and we see theology. Departments, across the country shrinking. Reflecting. Demographics. And liberal arts broadly speaking so I think that's a very, very, valid question and we. Tend we can sometimes, sort. Of ignore it and fantasizing, about the, the, bright future or the all the things that we are going to get done and those real questions are very important yeah thank you I. Think. That also raises the question, of. That. The you had raised about, who, are we preparing people to be teaching - who, are we bring the theologians, to be ministering, to. And what that what. How how we how, we presented any comments. Well. I was gonna ask you Jane about your online well. I mean that's that mean that's that you reach people in. Their sit in their context, in their concrete situation, you can reach so many more people, I mean, maybe we're maybe we just put Michael Holmes on a video and cut out the middle people, like us. Yeah. I do I do think to some extent that online. Particularly. As you, had said moving it out of the acket the, Academy and into other settings, I think, the online work, is often a context, in which that's done and can. Be done effectively. So. Yeah I think that is one of them other. Questions. Yes. Thanks. So much for your comments it was really interesting my. Question, is where, within. The Train of theological studies. Does. The living tradition and academic, discipline, of spirituality, fit, in, especially. Because I think that's often the doorway. Through which people, are attracted to go in to understand, more deeply the, tradition, of our faith, so. Where does it fit. Explicitly. So. I was actually going to mention. The, importance, of the twinning of theology, and spirituality, but, I thought I'd be speaking too much here, we are back again but. People, have definite, hungers of hearts and that's eternal, the hungers of the. Human heart are very real and for. As long as theology. Is. Is. Communication. Of. Doctrines. Without, any sense. Of the practices, that gave rise to doctrines. The, early Christians were interested, in a lived way of faith, and. That gave rise to a lot of thorny. Questions, and, yes, christological. Controversies. And all the rest but. Practices. Preceded. Doctrines, and doctrines. Actually, the best of them will, always point, in the direction of practice, as well so in, theological education I, think more, incorporation. Of spiritual, practice, alongside.
Of. The doctrines, of faith is absolutely. Essential in terms, of addressing. People's. Real hungers I. Find. In I find in biblical studies what I think. The found challenge I face most often and especially the intro class is, students. Are afraid, to engage in, critical analysis, of the Bible because they're afraid it might, do some harm or, will be irreverent, to deal with the Bible in this way and so I find a lot, of my, own kind of pastoral sensibility, coming through in class and, wanting, to preserve for students a sense, of reverence for scripture but also being, able to hold that together with, a critical, analysis. Of Scripture and so I think. Getting. Students, to even. As we're analyzing, Scripture with critical, methodologies, to always, be maintaining. A. Sense, of reference, for Scripture as the Word of God and, also, not. Maintaining. A sort of spiritual. Mindset. With Scripture even as we're engaging in a critical analysis. So. In just, in, just the past two years I've. Begun the practice, of starting, each class with a prayer, I'm. Not the one to initiate the prayer I set, up a schedule and they the students sign up for, a day and. And. They. Will offer a prayer before them would begin, the class. And they can, have. The, prayer being something, that is, a prayer that everyone knows or could be a meditation, it could be a passage, from Scripture it. Very. Often has turned into being, a, response. To something that's happening. Contemporaneously. And, in, fact the reason that I started, this practice is. Was. The result of the, the. Horrible. Violent, incidents. Of racism in, the United States over the past two years that we've been have, been broadcast, widely. Past two and three years and, and. I. Brought that to class. And then. I asked the students to bring their concerns to class. Now. It's moral theology, if we're, not talking about what's happening. Now. We're, missing the, the, purpose, of. Learning. How. To apply. The. Discipline, of moral theology, to, critical. Subject. Matter to, understand, what's happening here what. Is, what. Can I do in response to this or that good, thing or bad thing you know it's not always the bad thing fortunately. It's. Not always a horror it could be the first day of spring for. Example. But. It's always the question of moral, theology is not this, dead discipline, it's something that is. Responsive. To what's, happening, in real. People's, real, lives and. To. Bring a theological. Reflection, to that is the. Way that at, least in the past three years I have been very conscious and deliberate about inviting, the students, to. Think more deliberately, and through. A theological. Lens about what's going on in our world, thank. You, address. That question concretely. I think, maybe in 10 years from now the, biggest. Reflection. Will be on the success of our recently, begun, spirituality. Program, you know this so, Colleen could speak directly to that and. I, think one of the struggles we've had as a faculty is determining, not, so much what counts as spirituality but, what doesn't because. It's so much informs I think what we do and obviously, ancient. Aramaic isn't, going to get your credit but nevertheless. But. It does show the kind of pervasive, presence and. To use a clumsy. Even. A pun of the spirit and everything we're doing with spirituality. The. Question. Comments. That father in. The front row made the. Challenge of effectively. Representing. Our faith into a contemporary consciousness. Which, of course basically. Proves the point of the most important, sub discipline of theology is, religious, education, which this, is not a self-serving. Comment and clearly but, but but unless we could communicate it effectively obviously. What good is all our theology. But, I want to go back to I think it was Dominic's if I understand, him correctly his. Closing comments, which in a sense implied, that, this rich, faith that we have that the world is desperately, in need of that. We have a structure we've, been a tzl structure, that is no longer capable of, communicating. It effectively, or credibly and into. The into the into the present, situation and that where do we go with that I mean. In. Many ways it's the last surviving, monarchy, in the Western world the inadequacy, I think of the church's. Structures, to address the clergy sex abuse issue, a problem, has in, a sense writ large the, inaptitude, of, the and the ineffectiveness, of the structures, at this point in time structures, that may have served, well, at. Another time in place but, are not serving, as well now where, do we go with out how do we attempt, to reform that I'd love to hear the panel's comment. Well. I mean our. Previous. Boss like masa in, his inaugural, job. Talk lecture, talked about their two types of religion that thrive in, America. At least and that's, either the. The. Mormons or the bricks-and-mortar, Catholicism.
Of The ghetto where, you went to school the. Catholic school with Catholic neighbors and married a Catholic and send your kids to Catholic school and those sociological. Conditioners don't exist anymore the Mormons might have them that we don't the. Other the only other model, that's actually increasing, in numbers are, the evangelicals, versus low flat structure, entrepreneurial. Spirit very. Grounded on the Bible and. As this appeal of authenticity because it's not sort of receiving orders or you know so. That that evangelical. Model he suggested, is, tends. To be nurtured. Best in religious orders in terms of that charism, of the founder. That. Was his response to someone who studied a lot of sociology, of religion. So. I'd. Have any answers but I think Lutheran. Would say lots of the, close, proximity to the study of the Bible and been, open to new forms that we hadn't emerged hadn't, thought, could emerge as, being. Open to surprises I, think would be one example. I. Think there's difficulty. And I, think. There are so many great things about the tradition the past I mean you know from your upbringing, in Ireland and I think of my father his upbring
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