On Saturday 1 March, Prof Hull addressed an online conference sponsored by the Theological Educators Network entitled, ‘Developing Theological Educators’. Forty or so participants joined to consider what the possibilities might be for exercising a range of ministries in theological education institutes, which train and form future lay and ordained ministers, with a few short talks from folks already in this area of work.
Prof Hull’s talk, ‘The Vocation to Theological Education’, is as follows:
The vocation to theological education is a vocation to holiness and truth (2 Thess. 2.12–13). Few roles are as vital for the Christian Church, particularly in Episcopal and Anglican churches, than that of a theological educator. The vocation to form others for ministry is a call from God deeply rooted in the Sacrament of Baptism (Jn 3.35; Acts 2.38) and the Great Commission (Matt. 28.19–20) insofar as theological educators are called not only to discipleship themselves, to be holy, but also to facilitate the discipleship of others by their prayers and good example as they give a reasonable account of the faith (1 Pet. 3.15).
St Paul exhorts us to lead the lives ascribed to us, to do that which God has called us to do (1 Cor 7.17); he further reminds us that the ‘standard of teaching’ is inseparable from baptism into the mystery of Christ (Rom. 6.17). To accept the vocation to form others for ministry, then, is to plunge deeply into the mystery of divine revelation both in our spiritual and intellectual lives. And it is to do so within the body of Christ and the heavenly liturgy (Revelation 4–7) in which, along with the angels and saints, we are constantly participating since our baptisms, following Christ the Teacher as our model.
St Basil of Caesarea is surely correct in saying, ‘Everyone is a theologian,’ so too in saying, ‘even those who have stains on their souls’ (On the Holy Spirit 30.77). The consolation of Basil’s wisdom is that our spiritual journeys are ongoing as we embark on our vocations as theological educators. The archetypical calling is Abraham’s. Abraham accepts the Lord’s call, and off he goes, making mistakes along the way yet developing on every stage of his journey because he is secure in his call (Gen. 12.1–5; 15.5–6; cf. Mt. 19.29). Our spiritual lives ought to find us abiding in the truth (cf. Jn 8.31) and confident that the Holy Spirit leads ‘to all truth’ (Jn 16.13), despite our sins and failings and faults. In other words, we ought not to lose heart thinking we are unworthy vessels because we fall short vis-à-vis personal unworthiness; or that we are not up to the intellection tasks, as the Psalmist says because, ‘Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain’ (Ps. 139.6). If God is calling us to theological education, then let us be assured by God’s words to Isaiah: ‘Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand’ (41.10).
If we know that our holiness is a work in progress, so too is our own theological vigour. St Anselm defines theology as fides quaerens intellectum, faith seeking understanding. The quaerens, the seeking, is very much a present participle, a continuous tense. To accept the call to be a theological educator is to accept a call to lifelong learning in the sacred discipline of God’s own revelation. Theology is, indeed, the queen of the sciences; it is founded in the Holy Scriptures; it is, absolutely, wonderful and lofty; it is of unfathomable depth whist at the same time a source of unending reward and richness. All secular, profane or human learning pales in comparison with the fulness of truth in our God who is love (Eph. 3:19), for God is at once the ultimate of truth, goodness and beauty.
Dedicating ourselves to the formal study of theology in the mystery of our baptism is perforce a response to our vocation: no one can become a disciple if the truth found in the word of faith is not given to them (Rom. 10.14–15). A rigorous and ongoing life of study is both feeding our own souls and storing the staples we hand on to those whom we are charged to train, form and educate for ministry among God’s people. That rigorous and ongoing life of study, though, happens within the Christian community. Just as none of us is an island spiritually because we are a part of the mystical body of Christ in which we all have a role to play, so too theological reflection happens in community. We frequently gather as Christians to encourage one another (Heb. 10.25), to serve one another (Gal. 5.13), to share the Eucharist (Acts 2.46; 1 Cor. 11.33) and to confess our sins (Jam. 5.16). There is no life in Christ outwith a plethora of forms of community with other Christians, including gathering to break open God’s Word in all aspects of theological endeavour.
Christian theology demands dialogue, interaction and argument—argument in the positive sense of academic disputation—not only with fellow Christians, but also with other believers and non-believers or anyone in between. It means leaving our comfort zones, closed ecosystems and safe environments to understand God’s truth and revelation from a variety of facets and fronts. It means exposing our own weaknesses and misconceptions. We do this for a purpose, namely, to become theological educators who have been tested in the crucible of serious contemplation of reason and revelation in order to help others to do the same so that they can go forth and serve the people of God in ministry.
I cannot imagine anything more exciting than to hone my craft as a theologian whilst living the Christian life and aiding and abetting the discipleship of others, particularly those who are called themselves to ministry! Still, I know it is not easy, neither in the first century nor in the twenty-first century. Let me offer an example. Dietrich Bonhoeffer resigned his post at the University of Berlin in 1935 to pursue theological education in an ever-darkening situation in Germany. He wrote to a friend: ‘The next generation of pastors, these days, ought to be trained entirely in church-monastic schools, where the pure doctrine, the Sermon on the Mount, and worship are taken seriously – which for all three of these things is simply not the case at the university and under the present circumstances is impossible.’ I make no judgment on the early twentieth century in Germany or on the early twenty-first century in Britain, but I think there is something in Bonhoeffer’s remarks for you and me to appreciate today.
As theological educators we need to take very seriously the importance of truth, of sound theology, as well as the importance of holiness vis-à-vis the Sermon on the Mount. To do so in community is crucial as is a hearty liturgical life. The vocation to theological education is, ultimately, a vocation to be a disciple who follows Christ the Teacher in holiness and truth, and participates in the divine liturgy throughout this life and into the next.
