Scholarly Integrity

Friends:

The recent death of Cardinal Avery Dulles reminded me of reading his book Models of the Church and of seeing him on campus at Catholic University when I was a graduate student.
I had an occasional conversation with him--but was not one of his students.

One thing I remember about his writing and conversation is his attempt to truly understand others. He really wanted to understand theological arguments and the people who made them. He had great respect for others.

This characteristic stands in tension with some current trends.
Now we have 'niche publications' that cater to different schools of thought.
It is easy to stay in the 'thought world' of those who 'agree with me'.
I think it is a mistake to stay exclusively in such limited worlds.
The truth can actually be with one's opponent.

I recall my predecessor Dick Abbott discussing a journal he subscribed to but often disagreed with. He said one day that the editor made him so mad! But the publication forced him to think things through from a different point of view--and sometimes he concluded that the editor was right.

I admire Cardinal Dulles for his willingness to engage the ideas of others in a respectful and peaceful way.

This may be old fashioned but I believe that scholars need to engage colleagues across their field and not only those in their school of thought. Likewise I think pastors should subscribe--or consult online--at least one publication they disagree with.

The truth can come to us in a variety of ways and from various sources.
I thinkw we need to stay open to the guidance of the Spirit--as I saw with Cardinal Dulles.


Peace,
John

Friends:

The last few days I have been writing Christmas cards.
I enjoy this as it reminds me of so many good folks--literally hundreds--who are interested in supporting the search for Christian Unity.

Since I teach Spiritual Ecumenism and think prayer is really important, I not only try to write a sentiment or message in the card but to pray for the people, most of whom I know personally, who are so generous with their time and energy in supporting our common efforts.

Christmas is a time to give thanks for divine blessings
The Friends of the Consortium are one such blessing in my life.

Peace,
John

Friends:

I was happy to attend the Inaugural Lecture of the Rev. Dr. Joyce Mercer at VTS this past Monday. Her title was intriguing--Contentiously Faithful: Practical Theological Reflections on the Tenacity of Belief"

I find such interdisciplinary work fascinating.
She holds that theory and practice are not to be divided.

She focused on practices--and after explaining what she means by practices, she pushed the envelope a bit to see if we could consider 'conflict' or at least some types of conflict in the Christian community to be practices.

She really wants to get at conflict transformation.

One of the strengths of the presentation is that, after reviewing some of the literature, she delves into some social practices to see what they teach us--in this case conflict as it involves adolescent girls, as presented by the media. This adds some 'texture' to the theory.

Much more could be said--but I hope you get a little insight into the presentation.
Dr. Mercer is currently investigating conflict--so this presentation was a beginning and not an end.

Peace,
John