From: Valence (valence10@hotmail.com)
Date: Mon Mar 31 2003 - 05:48:28 BST
Hey DMB,
> RICK said:
> The theologian studies that which the disciple believes. He doesn't learn
> 'how' or 'what' to think about god, rather, he learns 'how' and 'what'
> various given groups think about god. I would think that generally jives
> with what Sam means by "A theology student, in my experience, is taught
> various ways HOW to think about God." Only I see it as an objective
> process, and Sam thinks it's a matter of sectarianism.
>
> DMB says:
> Did you earn a degree in theology too?
RICK
No. I just took the one intro-level theology class, I most certainly did
not intend to hold myself out as some sort of expert on the topic. Sorry if
I implied otherwise.
DMB
Learning "how and what various given
> groups think about god" sure sounds like comparative religious studies to
> me.
RICK
Perhaps that was a poor choice of words, the emphasis was supposed to be
on 'god', not on the 'various given groups'. Please allow me to begin
again. The term "Theology" is derived from the Greek "theos" meaning 'god',
and "logos" meaning 'discourse'. That is, "theology" is discourse on the
topic of 'god'. This is only one area of the larger category of 'philosophy
of religion' because not all religions have a recognizable 'god' concept
(that is, not all religions are 'theistic'). A religion that isn't
*the-istic* would obviously have no use for a *the-ology*, but it's study
would still fall into the category of 'philosophy of religion'.
'Comparative religion' is also a subset of 'philosophy of religion'. It is
the subset that proceeds by studying the similarities and differences
evident in different systems of religious belief. It does not necessarily
hone in on the theistic religions or on conceptions of 'god' (like theology
does).
In short, 'philosophy of religion' embraces both 'theology' the study of
concepts of god, and 'comparative religion' the study of different systems
of religious beliefs. When I wrote to Sam, "...when [Pirsig] says
'theology' is an intellectual pattern he's talking about the objectification
of religious doctrine for study..." what I really meant to say was that he's
talking about the objectification of 'concepts of god' for study.
DMB
And doesn't that impartial approach conflict with the idea that "the
> theologian studies that which the disciple believes"? That sounds far less
> "objective" and far more sectarian, don't you think?
RICK
I didn't mean it to sound sectarian. Maybe I should have written that the
theologian *impartially* studies that which the disciple actually believes.
Hope that clears up my thoughts at least a little bit for you,
take care
rick
MOQ.ORG - http://www.moq.org
Mail Archives:
Aug '98 - Oct '02 - http://alt.venus.co.uk/hypermail/moq_discuss/
Nov '02 Onward - http://www.venus.co.uk/hypermail/moq_discuss/summary.html
MD Queries - horse@darkstar.uk.net
To unsubscribe from moq_discuss follow the instructions at:
http://www.moq.org/md/subscribe.html
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Mon Mar 31 2003 - 05:48:50 BST