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What is a theologian? When I was growing up before Vatican II I never heard the word “theologian” so far as I can remember. When I entered the Jesuits I heard the word occasionally, but never met one until I had been a religious for about eight years. Before the Council, I think it is safe to say, theologians did not play a big role in Catholic life. A bishop here or there may have consulted one occasionally, but their role was very low-key. The big person in the Church in those days was the local bishop. At that time most of the bishops in the USA were practical men because they were building churches and schools from coast to coast. Their decisions were ruled by canon law, moral theology and the pious traditions of the Church. Very few, if any, in the whole country could be called “theologians” in the sense that they speculated on the deeper meaning of the Trinity or the Incarnation or the Immaculate Conception of our Blessed Lady. When these efficient hierarchs traveled to Rome for the Vatican Council they came face to face with many high-powered European theologians who towered over them intellectually. Unfortunately, many of our bishops were unnecessarily intimidated by the theologians; some even lost their self-confidence and turned to the theologians for guidance in ruling their dioceses. At the time I was teaching in Spokane, Wash. Our bishop, Bernard Topel, was a good and pious man who had previously taught mathematics in a small college in Montana. Before the Council he ruled the diocese with a steady hand and everyone knew who was boss; after the first session of the Council he changed and subsequently he seemed hesitant and a bit fearful in governing the diocese. He got caught up in bureaucracy and was intimidated by the bishops’ conference in Washington, D.C. The Council, therefore, witnessed a huge shift in power in the Church from the bishops to theologians. Here, we might ask ourselves, “What is a theologian?” And even more importantly, “What is a Catholic theologian?” For, there are theologians and theologians. According to its etymology, the word “theology” means “teaching about God.” When it is done systematically, it is the science about God. Any orderly reflection on God is theology. In this sense, Plato and Aristotle were theologians; so were Buddha and Mohammed. Religious Studies programs, which are now found in many so-called Catholic colleges, are not properly theology programs, at least not in the way theology is understood in the Catholic Church. For, these are all based on the use of human reason alone and so do not take their principles from divine revelation. For the Catholic, theology is based on faith in Jesus Christ and so is in the order of the supernatural. It is faith seeking understanding. For him, theology is the scientific exposition of the truths about God under the light of Divine Revelation as it is contained in the Bible, Tradition, and the Magisterium of the Church. It is important to note that the Catholic theologian is subject to the teaching authority of the Church. His (or her) function is not to dissent from Church authority and teaching—as happened recently when the Catholic Theological Society of America (CTSA) went on record as challenging the papal teaching that the Church does not have the authority from Christ to ordain women to the priesthood. In a sharp reply, Cardinal Law of Boston was quoted in the press as having said that the CTSA is a “theological wasteland,” that is, as a source of Catholic theology. Amen to that! That group would be more honest if they simply dropped the word “Catholic” from their name. What is a Catholic theologian? According to Pope Pius XII he is a scholar who points out “how the doctrine of the living Teaching Authority is to be found either explicitly or implicitly in the Scriptures and in Tradition” (Humani Generis 1950, #22). If there were more humility and obedience among Catholic theologians, there would be less confusion and more unity in the Church today. Kenneth Baker, S.J., Editor |