This thread is a continuation of the original. If you have a question it might be a good idea to look through that thread or this one to see if it's already been addressed. In the next post I shall give some links to sections of the threads where various things have been discussed. The rest of this post is a copy of the OP of the original thread.
I should make it clear that there are basically two meanings of theologian. The first is someone who thinks or speculates about God etc and writes what they think. Such a person is actually religious and tries to describe God (or whatever) as they think he really is. It was in this sense that Evagrius Ponticus, a fourth-century theologian, commented that theologians pray truly and that, if you pray truly, you are a theologian.
The second meaning of theologian is the academic sense and it basically means someone who studies theologians in the former sense. For example, my old tutor is an expert in Duns Scotus, which means he studies Scotus, writes about him, and tries to establish what he believed and why exactly as a historical philosopher might study Plato or Descartes. But that doesnt mean he actually agrees with Scotus on anything. Theology in this sense has considerable overlap with history, literary criticism, anthropology, and so on, especially since the people or groups under consideration could be contemporary as well as historical. Clearly you dont need to have any religious faith at all to do this, any more than you have to be French to study Balzac. In fact I think that modern academic theologians probably divide roughly equally between those who are religious and those who are not. Perhaps there are more of the former than of the latter, but it would probably depend to a great extent on where you are.
So Im a theologian in the latter sense. Im not religious and I dont expect to become religious, at least not through studying theology.
Credentials: I have a BA in Philosophy and Theology and an M Phil in Theology. Im currently doing a PhD in Philosophy and am writing my thesis on Leibniz. Im also trying to finish writing my sixth book. My books are all on church history, historical theology, and philosophy of religion. The one Im on now is a biographical encyclopaedia of ancient and medieval Christian theologians. The research on that alone has been like doing another degree.
So Im fairly well versed in the history of Christianity, especially as it relates to the history of philosophy, and the development of doctrines and spiritual movements in the church. Since these days Im technically a philosopher rather than a theologian, Im also fairly up on philosophy of religion, which is when you apply philosophical methods to subjects raised by religion (such as the existence or nature of God, life after death, etc).
I should also specify that I mostly know about Christianity. I dont know much about other religions.
So feel free to ask anything that relates to any of this. If I dont know the answer I might at least know where you should go to find it...
I should make it clear that there are basically two meanings of theologian. The first is someone who thinks or speculates about God etc and writes what they think. Such a person is actually religious and tries to describe God (or whatever) as they think he really is. It was in this sense that Evagrius Ponticus, a fourth-century theologian, commented that theologians pray truly and that, if you pray truly, you are a theologian.
The second meaning of theologian is the academic sense and it basically means someone who studies theologians in the former sense. For example, my old tutor is an expert in Duns Scotus, which means he studies Scotus, writes about him, and tries to establish what he believed and why exactly as a historical philosopher might study Plato or Descartes. But that doesnt mean he actually agrees with Scotus on anything. Theology in this sense has considerable overlap with history, literary criticism, anthropology, and so on, especially since the people or groups under consideration could be contemporary as well as historical. Clearly you dont need to have any religious faith at all to do this, any more than you have to be French to study Balzac. In fact I think that modern academic theologians probably divide roughly equally between those who are religious and those who are not. Perhaps there are more of the former than of the latter, but it would probably depend to a great extent on where you are.
So Im a theologian in the latter sense. Im not religious and I dont expect to become religious, at least not through studying theology.
Credentials: I have a BA in Philosophy and Theology and an M Phil in Theology. Im currently doing a PhD in Philosophy and am writing my thesis on Leibniz. Im also trying to finish writing my sixth book. My books are all on church history, historical theology, and philosophy of religion. The one Im on now is a biographical encyclopaedia of ancient and medieval Christian theologians. The research on that alone has been like doing another degree.
So Im fairly well versed in the history of Christianity, especially as it relates to the history of philosophy, and the development of doctrines and spiritual movements in the church. Since these days Im technically a philosopher rather than a theologian, Im also fairly up on philosophy of religion, which is when you apply philosophical methods to subjects raised by religion (such as the existence or nature of God, life after death, etc).
I should also specify that I mostly know about Christianity. I dont know much about other religions.
So feel free to ask anything that relates to any of this. If I dont know the answer I might at least know where you should go to find it...
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