I had been thinking for a while that I should explain what I meant by Theologian in Training. I’ve called myself a theologian in jest, never in seriousness — my husband and I would joke about it or I would say to my kids, “One day, when I’m a world famous theologian …” They began to think that meant Brittany Spears famous and I had to explain to them that Billy Graham was the only Christian who could come close to Brittany Spears famous (R. C. Sproul didn’t even make the cut).
But that changed when I read this and I’m enough of a brat that I’ve been calling myself a Theologian in Training ever since. (So, you think you can tell me I can’t read the Bible in its original language or be a theologian I’m going to do it anyway nya, nya, nya or in the more mature words of Martin Luther, another world famous theologian, “Unless I am convicted by Scripture and plain reason… my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me. “)
Why a Theologian in Training and not just a theologian? The reason I use this title is because I believe that we are all Theologians in Training. In training because we never quite get there in knowledge and a theologian because we are all theologians, women and men both. We usually pick up the theology of whatever pastor or Bible teacher we are listening to and then when we sit down to study the Bible, we bring them all with us in our interpretation of the Bible. And our theology is not consistent or even logically coherent and is often contradictory. Studying theology helps us to systematize our theology.
My manifesto is written as a reminder to us all that as we share what we have learned in the word with others, we should do so with love, care and compassion. Over the next couple months I will be adding to my manifesto, I’ve been thinking about a couple more tenets that I’ll add over the next couple weeks.