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Eating at the Theological Table
For one of my classes at the seminary, we were required to read 1000 pages of Luther. It could come from any of his writings, with one exception – no more than 250 pages out of his Table Talk. The exception of course piqued the interest of those who had never discovered the crass, boorish, joviality that is Luther in his Table Talk. But it was there for a reason – seminary students when left to their own devices apparently gravitated toward Luther in his baseness more than they gravitated toward Luther in his brilliance...
For one of my classes at the seminary, we were required to read 1000 pages of Luther. It could come from any of his writings, with one exception – no more than 250 pages out of his Table Talk. The exception of course piqued the interest of those who had never discovered the crass, boorish joviality that is Luther in his Table Talk. But it was there for a reason – seminary students when left to their own devices apparently gravitated toward Luther in his baseness more than they gravitated toward Luther in his brilliance.
I don’t suppose that much has changed for these seminarians as they become pastors. An examination of the Lutheran blogosphere shows that the hot topics on message boards are more often than not the church political ones. The hard work of doing theology often takes a back seat. As a parish pastor, I can empathize. It is a lot easier to read the pithy and the fun than it is to slog through the technical. One gives the brain a theological sugar rush; the other’s rewards are not as clearly seen.
Growing up, when we would go hiking we always made a batch of GORP (Granola, Raisins, Peanuts and somehow the O stood for M&Ms). I am no scientist, but as a lover of the outdoors I am told that it is designed to give you the nutrients that you needed to make it through the journey. A mix of simple sugars to give your body an immediate boost coupled with complex carbohydrates and proteins to sustain you during the long haul. As a child the temptation was, of course, to always pick out the M&Ms – but then that defeated the purpose of the whole mix.
At its best Lutheran theology is GORP - It is fun, witty, and engaging, but it is also serious, intellectual, and creative. As a teacher of pre-seminary students I always tell the students that for every hour they spend visiting a blog or message board, they should spend an hour reading a theology text or journal. Or better yet, get the Forum package – you get pithy, witty, engaging Lutheran commentary every month in Forum Letter, and solid, substantive, theological discourse every quarter in Lutheran Forum. Not a badly balanced theological diet.