Philosophy Now Forum

What domain is most important for theology to engage with, and why? Is it philosophy or literature?
or science? culture? liberation movements? I'm having trouble with answering this question because I am unsure what the goal of theology is -
but if it has anything to do with truth of the world i would think it has very little to do with literature.

unhappy37 wrote:What domain is most important for theology to engage with, and why? Is it philosophy or literature?
or science? culture? liberation movements?

Theology/Religion's main purpose is to guide the believer to a religious experience, everything else is a subsidiary issue. Unfortunately there are very few current religions that do this, most will insulate the believer from having a religious experience by setting everything in dogma and fixed ritual.

I think Theology has been superseded by Philosophy of Religion, in much the same way, and for correlated reasons, as Natural Philosophy has been replace by Physics and the other sciences.

unhappy37 wrote:What domain is most important for theology to engage with, and why? Is it philosophy or literature?
or science? culture? liberation movements?

Most important for whom? In order to achieve what?

thedoc wrote:Theology/Religion's main purpose is to guide the believer to a religious experience, ...

I'm not sure about that, doc. Can you say why you believe it?

why is this not in the Philosophy of Religion forum?

unhappy37 wrote:What domain is most important for theology to engage with, and why? Is it philosophy or literature?
or science? culture? liberation movements? I'm having trouble with answering this question because I am unsure what the goal of theology is -
but if it has anything to do with truth of the world i would think it has very little to do with literature.

That would depend on whether or not you think Theology is worthy pursuit.
If you want it to survive then it would be better if it engaged with nothing at all. Just consider what it is. It is a discipline which starts with an unwarranted assumption; engaging with other disciplines will run the risk of undermining the fuel which supports it: Faith.
There is no goal to Theology in a sense as it starts with a goal, and that goal is god.

mickthinks wrote:

thedoc wrote:Theology/Religion's main purpose is to guide the believer to a religious experience, ...

I'm not sure about that, doc. Can you say why you believe it?

I have been reading Zen Buddhism for many years, and more receintly Joseph Campbell. This concept is somewhat new to my thinking and I may not have all the details nailed down yet, but I can see that most of the western religions I am familiar with are dealing more with social issues than religion. Religion should be about an interaction with God through some experience of God, western religions do not promote this, but talk about fellowship, and what we can do for each other because we are Christians. This is not to say that these aspects should be ignored but the religious experience, (the direct experience of the Deity) would then be evident in a persons life by their actions toward others. As I stated I believe that Zen Buddhism has it right in that the master guides the student to enlightenment, which is the direct experience by the student, and not an attempt by the master to share the experience. My statement, as quoted above, is based almost directly on readings from Campbell, and supported by prior readings on Zen. There have been several times over the years, where I would be formulating a concept, and then would find it stated clearly on one of Campbells books.

unhappy37 wrote:What domain is most important for theology to engage with, and why? Is it philosophy or literature?
or science? culture? liberation movements?

You already posted this question on another thread. [threads merged - iMod]



That would depend on whether or not you think Theology is worthy pursuit.
If you want it to survive then it would be better if it engaged with nothing at all. Just consider what it is. It is a discipline which starts with an unwarranted assumption; engaging with other disciplines will run the risk of undermining the fuel which supports it: Faith.
There is no goal to Theology in a sense as it starts with a goal, and that goal is god.

thedoc wrote:

unhappy37 wrote:What domain is most important for theology to engage with, and why? Is it philosophy or literature?
or science? culture? liberation movements?

Theology/Religion's main purpose is to guide the believer to a religious experience, everything else is a subsidiary issue. Unfortunately there are very few current religions that do this, most will insulate the believer from having a religious experience by setting everything in dogma and fixed ritual.

Oh no. Theology's purpose is to claim and colonise the religious experience and to claim that it is generated from the God they choose to describe and talk about.

There are a range of psychological experiences that provide the human with states of ecstasy and/or disassociation. They can be induced by a range of practices (hypnosis, prayer, trance dance, drugs, group activities, massage etc.) but they exist in all human cultures and can also be seen in other species of higher animals. Theology claims that such experience has something to do with their version of god.
Far from separating you from a 'religious' experience, theology cynically exploits these experiences to it own ends.

Anthropology is the best antidote to theology as it easily demonstrates that these practices are not the domain of a single theology or belief system, but are common to all culture.

chaz wyman wrote: Anthropology is the best antidote to theology as it easily demonstrates that these practices are not the domain of a single theology or belief system, but are common to all culture.

This would support the premise that all Mythology has the same origin and therefore all Religion has the same source, but does not negate the validity of Religion or Theology

thedoc wrote:

chaz wyman wrote: Anthropology is the best antidote to theology as it easily demonstrates that these practices are not the domain of a single theology or belief system, but are common to all culture.

This would support the premise that all Mythology has the same origin and therefore all Religion has the same source, but does not negate the validity of Religion or Theology

If the vast range of cosmologies based on theological assumptions had ANY similarity then it would still not validate anything- but that fact that they are all dissimilar successfully invalidates all claims.
It invalidates all particular examples of theology and religion, and in doing so invalidates all of its claims.
It also demonstrates that all religion can be dismissed as easily as any other form of mythology.

Speaking as a theologian, I think the future of theology lies in its ability to dialogue with science; however, the discussion has to be between civil parties who are not pure fundamentalists. The disciplines overlap at places, like a Venn diagram, but must also be allowed their own domains as well. I find continental theologians to be much more broad-minded when it comes to the interface between the disciplines, and it is refreshing to know that your vicar isn't secretly thinking that all the biologists and chemists in the pews are going to hell for believing in evolution.

Negative SEO wrote:Speaking as a theologian, I think the future of theology lies in its ability to dialogue with science; however, the discussion has to be between civil parties who are not pure fundamentalists. The disciplines overlap at places, like a Venn diagram, but must also be allowed their own domains as well. I find continental theologians to be much more broad-minded when it comes to the interface between the disciplines, and it is refreshing to know that your vicar isn't secretly thinking that all the biologists and chemists in the pews are going to hell for believing in evolution.

What is in it for science? It seems to me that you might like to think there is a future in Theology, and perhaps it is true, as it has been for at least 300 years that theologians have had to go cap-in-hand to appease science, history has proven that science has suffered for its association with theology and has no need or desire to continue with any sort of association with theologians. The fact is that many scientists have had to face arrest, imprisonment, persecution and censorship from theological ideology, but now the boot is on the other foot. Think your self lucky that science minded people are not arresting, imprisoning, persecuting and censoring you for your falsehoods, and scientific heresies.

So, I would suggest you keep to your own "domain" as you like to call it, but either you listen to science and adapt or die.

Theology is only theology if it engages with every arena of life. There is nothing it doesn't touch. If it is not practical, then it is not theology.

brightlights wrote:Theology is only theology if it engages with every arena of life. There is nothing it doesn't touch. If it is not practical, then it is not theology.

I think you are thinking of something else.
No theology ever engages with "everyday life", it always, and by definition concerns itself with fantasy.

chaz wyman wrote:

brightlights wrote:Theology is only theology if it engages with every arena of life. There is nothing it doesn't touch. If it is not practical, then it is not theology.

I think you are thinking of something else.
No theology ever engages with "everyday life", it always, and by definition concerns itself with fantasy.

Only if you don't believe in God. Even then you still have theology. The belief "there isn't God" is one of your most important beliefs and affects all of your life.