As I mentioned previously, I hope to write a series of posts on the concept of Christian love as set forth in Kierkegaard's Works of Love (of course, given my sporadic posting of late, it remains to be seen whether I follow through on this promise). Interestingly, a quick glance around the theology blogosphere confirms that the urge to serialize is very widespread, as the internet is suddenly full of interesting series on a wide range of theological topics. Here's a short list:
Although it may be too much of a generalization, I think that the proliferation of these series may represent a coming-of-age of the theological blogosphere. No longer content to simply comment about current events or other random matters, people are actually using blogs to formulate and experiment with theological systems - a development that perhaps has implications for experts and non-experts alike. Blogs allow people like Ben, who has a scholarly career independent of his blog, and students like D.W. and Patrik, who clearly have bright futures as theologians, to broadcast their nascent insights to the general public. And, conversely, this format gives the rest of us an opportunity to organize our own thinking on various matters, and then get feedback from well-educated amateurs and professionals.
Much has been written about the democratization of journalism and politics that has arisen from the popularity of blogs. But I wonder if the internet will also produce an era of theological democratization, with all the possibilities and dangers that such a situation would offer. Any thoughts about where this enterprise will lead?
- Ben Myers at Faith and Theology has written a comprehensive series "Theology for Beginners", which is the sequel to his stimulating guest series "For the Love of God."
- At The Fire and the Rose, D.W. Congdon has put together a weighty dogmatic sketch entitled "Why I am a Universalist" (you can see the outline here).
- Over at God in a Shrinking Universe, Patrik has begun an exposition of Tillich's Systematic Theology (also, please check-out his "Ideas for a Theology of Decline").
- Andy at Sinning Boldly has just started a series dealing with the issue of authority in Scripture.
- Lee at verbum ipsum has just finished an illuminating series on science and religion, using Keith Ward's Pascal's Fire as its starting point.
Although it may be too much of a generalization, I think that the proliferation of these series may represent a coming-of-age of the theological blogosphere. No longer content to simply comment about current events or other random matters, people are actually using blogs to formulate and experiment with theological systems - a development that perhaps has implications for experts and non-experts alike. Blogs allow people like Ben, who has a scholarly career independent of his blog, and students like D.W. and Patrik, who clearly have bright futures as theologians, to broadcast their nascent insights to the general public. And, conversely, this format gives the rest of us an opportunity to organize our own thinking on various matters, and then get feedback from well-educated amateurs and professionals.
Much has been written about the democratization of journalism and politics that has arisen from the popularity of blogs. But I wonder if the internet will also produce an era of theological democratization, with all the possibilities and dangers that such a situation would offer. Any thoughts about where this enterprise will lead?
No comments:
Post a Comment