Thin books (1) ‘A little exercise for young theologians’

I have never forgotten the declaration by a much esteemed teacher of theology to me, a student: ‘This is the age of thin books and thin theology’.

True, I came to love the theology contained in large volumes, such as Tillich’s Systematic Theology and Barth’s Church Dogmatics, and Caherine Mowry LaCugna’s God For Us, and then many volumes of Moltmann’s theology.
But over many years I have remembered his statement, as I have gained much insight from a number of thin books, which not only have good theology in them but present it in ways that ‘ordinary humans’ can appreciate. I want to nominate some of these and would invite readers who wish to do so to add to this series. I’ll gladly post your contributions in this series.

To begin with I want to nominate Helmut Thielecke’s A little exercise for young theologians. First published in German in 1959 and in English translation in 1962, it is indeed a thin volume—just 41 pages. Yet it is still available in print, on Kindle, and as an audio book. Yes, it is dated in many ways: it is written with the assumption that ‘young theologians’ are seminary students, preparing for pastoral ministry. Some of the illustrations used, together with the gender-exclusive language, would not be accepted for publication today.

Having said that, what is so valuable here is the pastoral guidance to all who would engage with theology, as faith seeking understanding. Thielecke, who also wrote large volumes of dense theological argument, puts his finger on many of the dangers for anyone engaged in theological study, teaching or research, but also sets these against both the joys and vision of this study.  Each ‘chapter’ is just two or three pages long. The character of the work is evident from the headings:

A preliminary understanding with the reader—in which he explains that he sees himself concerned not only with students but with persons: he calls them ‘souls’, and that in studying theology they are encountering many dangers. He intends to help!

Then follow several chapters about some of these dangers: ‘The anxiety of the ordinary Christian about theology’; ‘Unhappy experience with a theologian’s home-coming’; ‘The theological change of voice’; ‘The shock of infatuation with theological concepts’, and ‘Pathology of the young theologian’s conceit’.

In these chapters, Thielecke deals with the allure of theology as something special, which makes the student stand out from others within the local church. He names conceit as a constant temptation, but in the chapter on an ‘unhappy homecoming’ recounts the story of a student who returns (after one semester!) to the local church, where another young person has been invited to lead the bible study group. After the session, the student pronounces upon the naivety of the leader’s approach to biblical texts, and nominates areas they have not yet understood. Thielecke observes that in this way a ‘theologian’ can crush the spiritual life and commitment out of others. The pathology of conceit, indeed.

What is fundamental to Thielecke’s approach here is that theology should make us more humble and more able to engage with others and their journey of faith, to encourage and support, precisely because we encounter the great mystery to which we attribute the name ‘God’. It should enable us to know and acknowledge how little we know. This is not thin theology!

Then follow chapters sketching something of the prospects and joy of theological study. We travel in hope, and we do not travel alone.

Thus we find chapters on ‘The wisdom of the world as the ally of faith’, and ‘The instinct of the children of God’, both affirmations of theology in relationship with other scholarship and our life within the community of the church. In a beautiful image, perhaps more a hope than a reality, he writes ‘the church is our pastor’. Chapters specific to theological study follow: ‘The lofty and difficult art of dogmatics’, ‘The hazard of the aesthetic’—again relating to how we may be captured by a framework, or system; and then the heart of the work itself, ‘The study of dogmatics with prayer’. Like Barth, Thielecke insists on an interweaving of rigorous, critical study and the personal engagement with its subject. Here he is touching on the ancient reality that theological formulation first arose out of worship and prayer and that is its proper destination as well.
The final chapters again note the ambiguities and prospects before the ‘young theologian’: ‘Sacred theology and diabolical theology’, and ‘On theological work in high altitudes’.

This thin volume is a work of theology, albeit not directly a work of ‘dogmatics’ on any specific theological idea. It is, however, addressed to the experience of seeking to know or say something about God: theo-logia. It sketches the dimensions of the task, an impossible one, demanding all we can offer, intellectually, morally, relationally, communally, and thus spiritually. It is a work of wisdom, for which is it rightly described as a classic.