|
Speaking of "theologian/theology" here's one -- time honored.
An Amazon review of a Stanley Hauerwas book said, "the test of a theologian is how they pray." That's not a new comment. Google 'theologian' with 'pray' and see what I mean. Here is just one: "A theologian is one who prays, and one who prays is a theologian." (Evagrius of Pontus)
Going further is this contemporary reworking, with a reminder, ". . .the theologian is, par excellence, the one who prays, and real theology is done while standing in that prayer which reaches the stillness of the deep heart. By this understanding, there are few real theologians and little or no "written" Theology."
"Little or no 'written Theology.'"
I guess all that is left is 'lived.' Lives of prayer.
Know any? Any who pray and know the Lord that much? Who embody prayer? (Have you seen Jesus my Lord?)
.
One seminary's website councils: "Indeed, a person is not a theologian unless he not only knows about prayer, but actually prays. A theologian, in short, is nothing more than a good Christian who prays, studies and acts, and then continues to pray. It is in close association with the place of prayer par excellence, the monastery, that the seminarian finds himself in the environment which is most conducive to the development of his spiritual life, without which any theological or pastoral effort would be in vain. To that end, St. Tikhon’s Seminary and St. Tikhon’s Monastery strive to maintain a well defined and mutually fulfilling relationship, one altogether natural in the Orthodox Church."
(o) |