Tim Nichols wrote a fantastic article today about Theopoetics.
What are Theopoetics? Well, it is where I hope “theology” goes.
We must get away from studying God and the Bible as if they were science projects. They are not. But that is what theology does. Instead, Theopoetics invite us to relate to Scripture and God in ways that involve all the senses, using the full range of our creative abilities, rather than just spoken or written words.
Here is some of what Tim Nichols wrote:
Theopoetics is the appreciation of — no, the embodied luxuriating in — God’s words and works as art. The same God wrote the Bible as spoke the world, so theopoetics extends from the exegesis of Paul’s use of kosmos to the dancing of taste buds at breakfast this morning.
Away with the temptation to write scholarly papers! Let no man say when he is tempted to write a scholarly paper, “I am tempted by God,” for God is not tempted to write scholarly papers, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. If God ever inspired a scholarly paper, He had the mercy not to inflict it on His people in Scripture; let us follow His good example. Let the scholarly paper’s laboriously footnoted pages be few and let another medium take its office. Let there be stories, songs, poems, vignettes, parables, sculptures, tapestries. Let there be dances!Let us learn the lessons of the Tabernacle by sculpting one, even a miniature one, and the more detail and prayer goes into it, the better. Let the plagues be painted on murals, complete with the crushed heads of the Egyptian gods. Let dances be choreographed in honor of the Red Sea crossing. Let beer be brewed in honor of Jael slaying Sisera. Let bread be baked in honor of the feeding of the five thousand — and let it be given to the poor and homeless in the name of Jesus. Let rattlesnakes be barbecued in honor of Moses’ bronze serpent (we can eat off St. Peter’s sheet; why not?) Let vibrant old liturgies be revived and adapted in honor of the resurrection of the Son of God. Let our grasp of the nature and character of God be embodied to the hilt — something we can eat, drink, watch, touch, feel, smell.
Yes and Yes! This is what God gave to the Israelites at Mount Sinai – theology they could eat, drink, watch, touch, feel, and smell. This is the kind of “theology” we need today. To find out more, head on over to the post on Theopoetics by Tim Nichols.
I was trained to do research, to write those “scholarly papers” with endless footnotes.I was led to believe that this was doing ministry. Theology must be systamatized, organized and arranged otherwise your research is sloppy! Before I knew it I was quoting Pink, Bonar, Piper, Driscoll, Studd, Martin, Jones and others as much as Jesus or Paul. I thought it was the Calvinism I was so heavily involved in until I notice the same behaviors among other men I admire just as much; Chay, Bing, Fruchtenbaum, Ryrie, Crouch and others, we were all doing it regardless of what you believed.
I will tell you the truth, I never counseled anyone with theology or hermeneutics. When I shared my love of Jesus, that is where I made inroads to the hearts of those I was speaking to.
Now I literally have all the degrees from a to Z to warrant a hearing and I am a really big guy; ex law enforcement, ex military, etc… but none of that means anything to someone who is hurting or lost. I just tell them about Jesus the same way I did before I lost 16 years of my life to the seminary where I was supposed to learn a more effective way to do it.
Just tell Jesus stories.
Peace,
Mike,
That is great! Have you written more about this anywhere? If not, would you like to write a few posts about it for my blog here, or for GraceGround.com?
Theopoetics – My new favorite concept.
Thanks for introducing me to this phrase. Reading Nichols’ post was like finally finding the source of that noise that’s been driving me crazy for years.
You know…that clicking sound that you hear when you get above 50 mph on the highway…the one that the mechanic can’t find and you can never get the car to duplicate when someone else is riding with you. It was freaking theopoetics in the glovebox!!!
Thanks, Jeremy. You did good this time.
Tim will make you think! He’s a down to earth scholarly guy!
Theopoetics in the glovebox! Sounds like a good movie title.
Hi; I follow you on Twitter but this is my first time commenting on your blog. Thanks for your thoughts!
I love the portion of Tim Nichols that you quoted–particularly the last portion. I just wanted to throw this out; simply, how can a pastor use a group-sculpting of the tabernacle to teach about it, without learning about the tabernacle in the first place? How can someone be attentive to the meaning of images, symbols, dances, etc., without having done some study? Can eating snakes actually shape us, without reflecting as to why we are doing it?
Furthermore, shouldn’t pastors also be aware of different interpretations of these symbols, that there isn’t always universal consensus, so that pastors can at least be attentive to the range of meanings in a symbolic activity?
And can teaching not include these elements? It almost sounds as if we can replace teaching with these activities, although I understand that I’m working with limited information from this one blog post. But I guess my concern is seeing theology become not just a historical phenomenon to be studied, OR a drama to re-enact, but ALSO (in addition to the other two) the act of teaching pastors how to DO theology, both critically and constructively, in their contexts, so that that they show people in their churches how to do the same. I think drama and story are crucial components for helping us move to that kind of approach, but I also do not think that all forms of study, teaching (although more dialogical), and research all go out the window.
Oh, and PS, and be sure to let me know what Sunday your church is brewing beer… so I can drop in.
Joshua,
Really good questions. I am not sure it would be possible to do all of them every time. But I do think that churches need to get away from every meeting being only a time for one person to get up and talk, or having a group of people sit in a circle and have a discussion.
Certainly, study is part of the process, but experiencing the truth would also be helpful.
And I’m not just talking about object lessons where a pastor brings a ladder or a watermelon on stage, and illustrates a sermon point with them.
I heard that Rob Bell planted Mars Hill in Grand Rapids by “teaching” through Leviticus. But he didn’t just teach it. He showed the people the rules, laws, and regulations of Leviticus. He brought in sheep, and while he didn’t actually kill the sheep, he painted lines on it for where the priest would cut, and so on.
Again, this is pretty close to just an object lesson as part of a sermon, but it gets a bit closer to the point.
I don’t have too many answers, but I do think all of us who teach Scripture need to think far beyond just the spoken words from our mouths (and the typed words on the website). It would be fun to be part of a creative group of people who wanted to investigate some of these areas.
Great to see some interest in theopoetics popping up here and there! If you continue to be interested, you might want to pop over to theopoetics.net, a website that I host which has lots of info about the topic.
Blessings,
Callid
Thanks so much for the invite, Callid! I look forward to dropping by.
Great idea! I especially like this when it is not just something to observe, but when it includes interaction between the art and the viewer – “something we can eat, drink, watch, touch, feel, smell”. “Let bread be baked in honor of the feeding of the five thousand — and let it be given to the poor and homeless in the name of Jesus.”
Many, many times I have stood outside the door of the church talking with people while the church “service” was in progress. Almost without exception, these people told me that they “get nothing” out of the service, including the sermon. They want interaction.
In addition to us inviting others to interact with us and “God’s words and works”, we find it important to interact with people in various settings, especially in their celebrations and parties. Apparently Jesus did this, since he says that the religious folks got upset because he was eating and drinking with sinners. He did not say he was sinning with them, but joining them in eating and drinking. This is theology we can eat, drink, touch, feel and smell, as can those whom we are joining in their celebrations and parties.
Sam,
Great points. Theology that involves all of the mind, body, soul, and spirit. Not just our intellect and will, but our emotions and senses as well.
When we divorce theology from our physical body, we become guilty of dualism, and our theology become idolatrous.
I look forward to hearing more from you on all of this.
Dan, God smells like roses and root beer.
Just so you know, “theology is dead” is a theological assertion. oh, and what does God smell like? obliged.