WRITING THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION WELL Starting Points Adapted from Chapter 2 of Writing Theology Well: A Rhetoric for Theological and Biblical Writers, Lucretia B. Yaghjian
WHAT IS THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION? (I) To define theological reflection, we must first define theology. Theology is God-talk (theos logos): thinking, speaking, or writing about God. Theology is a language used by a specific group of people to make sense of their world (or of their experience). Theological reflection is one dialect of this language.
WHAT IS THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION? (II) Reflection is the deliberate and dynamic process of attending to the reality before us within a given interpretive framework. Theological reflection is the disciplined and creative exercise of the theological imagination in dialogue with our individual and communal experience. The theological imagination engages our individual and communal experience in conversation with the Imago Dei.
For example, see how Belden Lane invites the image of Rublev s Trinity to engage him in theological reflection and empower his writing:
Contemplating the icon, I will take myself out of the tower, tracing a path down to the bottom of the scene, at the base of a table around which the three persons of the Trinity are seated. Like a child playing in Kindergarten, I will imagine myself sneaking up to the small drawer in the middle of the table, crawling into it and pulling it shut behind me. The members of the Trinity will pretend not to notice, going along with the game. They will ignore me, as I lie there in the darkness, surrounded by Father, Son, and Holy Spirit speaking together in lively conversation. In that place I will try to write out of the sublime forgetfulness of what I hear. --Belden C. Lane, Saints and Writers On Doing One s Work in Hiding, Theology Today 59 (2003):616.
HOW SHALL WE WRITE IT? What distinguishes the writing of theological reflection from other kinds of theological writing is its appeal to experience, or to the particular issue, question, problem, or text that we are trying to make sense of, (WTW, 21) as a starting point for the reflection.
WRITING THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION: A PROCESS Writing theological reflection integrates the processes of reflection and writing into a Reflecting on Paper Process in which we Describe the experience in writing Correlate the experience with the Christian tradition, story, symbols Identify a question for reflection Construct a new imagination of the experience through the writing process
For example, see how Nora Gallagher arrives at a transformed understanding of her vocation to priesthood in the act of writing :
IT CAME TO ME, IN THE ACT OF WRITING.... All of the work of discernment led me to this place. I had thought I was discerning a vocation to the priesthood, but in fact I had been discerning my relation to my brother s death, to my husband, to the world I live in, and, finally, to myself. I had found the sacred again, but in different places.... I was not sure what I would do, finally. I was free to study for the priesthood. I had another book to write. Then it came to me, as I was writing these things down, in the act of writing, that I was meant to remain in the middle for a while, between clergy and laity, a hybrid, a crossbreed, not the one and not the other. An inhabitant of the borderlands, in order to inform not only myself but the church too. I needed to live out the priesthood of the laity to find out how far it could be taken inside the church, and what it might mean outside her walls. Nora Gallagher, Practicing Resurrection (NY: Vintage Books, 2003), 207-208.
WRITING THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION AS PROBLEM SOLVING (cf. Haight, Women in the Church Reflection on the problem in conversation with the Christian tradition Explanation/ analysis of the problem in the light of experience Proposal for a solution of the problem via reinterpretation or reconstruction of the tradition Concluding appeal to the reader reasserting gravity of problem and need for a solution
Nota Bene: In writing theological reflection well, process and problem solving are not mutually exclusive. See how Sheryl Kujawa-Holbrook moves strategically from identifying a problem to proposing a process as a solution in her article, Beyond Diversity :
BEYOND DIVERSITY : FROM PROBLEM TO PROCESS As the population within our religious institutions and the United States grows Increasingly diverse, the need for a greater awareness of cultural and racial differences is a challenge facing theology students who will live and work within a changing context. For European American students this challenge includes an understanding of the power dynamics inherent in whiteness and how the resultant social power affects persons of other races and cultures. This article focuses on the need for cultural competence among current theology students, and outlines a five-stage developmental process whereby they have an opportunity to embrace their understanding of multiculturalism and anti-racism within their own context. Sheryl Kujawa-Holbrook, Beyond Diversity: Cultural Competence, White Racism Awareness, and European-American Theology Students, Teaching Theology and Religion 5/3 2002: 141.
WRITING THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION: STYLE, PURPOSE, VOICE Style: What kind (or genre) of paper is it? Purpose: Why is the paper being written? Voice: Who is speaking? In what context?
PASTORAL REFLECTION PAPER Style: Pastoral Reflection Purpose: To reflect on a pastoral question or situation, or on a text that illuminates that question/situation Voice: Personal (engages the pastoral reflection from one s own personal experience) Example: Why Do You Follow Jesus?
See also Sheryl Kujawa- Holbrook s Pastoral Reflection Process for Reflection Papers (Haight- Kujawa PDF File) in the Writing Theological Reflection Well Materials on the Canvas Course Page.
SYSTEMATIC REFLECTION PAPER Style: Systematic Reflection Purpose: Take a position on a theological question, viewpoint, or text, and argue coherently for the position. Voice: Academic (a scholarly voice that projects a more formal, public process of logical analysis and reflection). Example: Was Jesus a Feminist?
See also Roger Haight s Theological Reflection Paper (Haight-Kujawa PDF File) in the Writing Theological Reflection Well Materials on the Canvas Course page.
WRITING THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION, WRITING THREE TIMES To find out what you want to say! To say that and only that! To write so that others will read it!
A CHECKLIST FOR REVIEWING, REVISING, AND REFINING PAPERS Is it CLEAR? Is it CONCISE? Is it COHERENT? Is it CORRECT? Is it CONSIDERATE (of the reader)?
I chose Andrei Rublev s icon of the Holy Trinity to accompany this introduction to Writing Theological Reflection Well because for me it illustrates theological reflection as an ongoing conversation within the Trinitarian heart of our faith, and invites us into that conversation. It is also central to the theological reflections of two authors in our Course Pack. Belden Lane uses the image as a launching pad for writing theological reflection (CP 67-78), and Elizabeth Johnson proposes a reinvigorated Trinitarian theology, inspired by its evocation of communion in relationship (CP 156-168). What do you see as you contemplate this image? What thoughts, questions, or images does it evoke from your own experience? Please conclude this PPT session by writing your own theological reflection in response to this icon of Rublev s Trinity.