Waiting for Gospel, by Douglas John Hall

Chapter Two - Theology and Quest for Gospel

1.  Hall begins by exposing a long-time problem with theology: it is an unknown science.  By and large, its meaning, purpose and application are not widely understood or embraced by the average person.  He attributes this phenomenon to the remoteness of theology from the life of the church.  In other words, who needed it?  “Power, and not engaged thought, kept Christianity going.”  Tradition, while rapidly losing its grip, has been the mainstay of previous generations.  Also, theology appeared to be a superfluous activity enjoyed primarily by a diminutive and elite group of religious professionals in the ivory halls of academia.  (Growing a beard and pipe smoking were optional.) 

Over your lifetime, how have you seen “theology” presented, interpreted, and applied in your various congregational and community settings?  What was the perceived value of theology?

2.  “Protestantism carried within itself the promise of undoing this unfortunate drift…and here and there still does introduce correctives to this tendency.”  Yet, it remains dependent upon Christian cultural establishment for its continuance.  “Neither the individual believer nor the church as a whole…is impelled to seek theological depth.  The individual can have whatever benefits he or she wants from religion without any serious exercise of the mind.”  As Hall emphasizes, without consistent intellectual nurturing, the church will continue to fade away…and we see it all around us in ever-visible ways.

All is not lost, of course.  Not all churches are disintegrating.  But intellectual/spiritual nourishing remains integral to our existence and growth.  What role does Christian theology (despite its many challenges) play in guiding us toward a genuine path of discipleship?  As you engage in worship, study, and service, how does this theology both inform and guide you?  Without such theological parameters (biblical grounding), what are we left with?  How far do personal opinions/preferences take us?

3.  Hall stresses the historical and existential/contextual components of theology.  They serve to address a variety of growing anxieties, identified by Paul Tillich as: fate and death; guilt and condemnation; and, emptiness and meaninglessness – with variations on the three.  Hall believes the third anxiety to be the most prevalent today. 

He writes, “Thus, along with large numbers of my contemporaries, I will go gladly to hear any preacher who seems to understand something of my own doubt concerning the purpose of my life, however haltingly he or she may attempt to assuage that doubt.  I do not need sermons that want to demonstrate once more that God really exists, the new atheism notwithstanding; I need sermons that know how frequently I doubt the purpose of my own existence!  Gospel today, I think, must speak to that kind of doubt.  There are no experts here.  There are only wounded and needy human beings who can pray, ‘Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief.’”

 How does Hall’s confession speak to your life and your search for purpose and meaning?  If Miguel Unamuno is correct in claiming, “Faith without doubt is dead faith,” then how do we balance our footwork in this mysterious dance with both?  How does theology provide the music and rhythm for our movements?