In my last post entitled, How can you tell if you are doing critical scholarship, I discussed the joy that comes with learning & unlearning embedded concepts, challenging ourselves with various beliefs.
Today, I would like to talk about challenging an author’s author-ity. Do you take a scholar at her word? Or do you hold for yourself a hermeneutic of suspicion for some thinkers and not others? I suggest, while being open to a scholar’s argument, do not go along with each proposition as if the author is all-knowing. A case in point is Amanda’s reading of Michael Horton’s latest book. Amanda is familiar with the late Clark Pinnock‘s work, so when Horton makes a Reformed case against Pinnock’s Most Moved Mover, Amanda double checks with MMM and concludes that Horton is incorrect in his assessment of MMM. This is the sort of critical scholarship that I am talking about.
Two personal examples, again from this blog. First, comes the day when I randomly decided to re-read Joerg Reiger’s Christ and Empire, especially his chapter on Christus Victor. I saw that Reiger had paraphrased James Cone’s God of the Oppressed, and the specific context was Cone’s criticism of J. Deotis Roberts’ view of reconciliation. I checked both sources, and I concluded that Roberts’ view of CVA was much closer to Gustav Aulen’s then I had first noticed, and not Cone.
Second, happened yesterday, in the midst of my conversation with CDM about William R. Jones. He mentioned that James Cone responded to Jones’ charges of Cones’ “inadequate theodicy” in Cone’s God of The Oppressed. CDM was not sure what chapter it was, but I double-checked, found the source, and text messaged the source to CDM. Even though I have read GOO three times, I always managed to fly by that 8th chapter, Cone’s response to Jones. As I took a closer look, I understood the nature of the debate better, especially after reading Jones’ Is God A White Racist?.
So, how can you tell if you are doing critical scholarship?
1. You are challenging your own pre/post-suppositions
2. You do not take an author at her word, but double-check from time to time. In other words, you engage her primary sources.
Related articles
- Monday Musing: Horton, Pinnock and the Influence of Theology (politicaljesus.com)
- How Can You Tell If You Are Doing Critical Scholarship (politicaljesus.com)
- How do you organize your research? (politicaljesus.com)
- New Group on Facebook: Theology and Critical Race Theory (politicaljesus.com)
- James McGrath, Lady Gaga, and The Bible (politicaljesus.com)
- Christus Victor and Reconciliation: Cone and Roberts (politicaljesus.com)
Good post. Also, should we be surprised that a Reformed theologian poorly assessed Clark Pinnock’s views? I’m beginning to think they do it on purpose for how blatantly wrong him (and other open theists) to be.
Pingback: How Can You Tell if You are Doing Critical Scholarship 3 | Political Jesus
Pingback: August 2011 Biblical Studies Carnival « Daniel O. McClellan
Pingback: November Biblical Studies Carnival: The Undead Edition « The Musings of Thomas Verenna