The Role and Place for Theologians and the Academy in the Next Methodism

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I am not an academic.

In seminary my most beloved professor called me into her office and did her best to encourage me toward a Ph.D. I had to politely explain that my master’s degree was a means to an end. While I have some aptitude for academic study, I have no love for it. I am not one who consumes books and devours blogs. I don’t get excited about someone’s recent dissertation. Time in the library endlessly buried in research isn’t a thrilling adventure.

Yet in 2020, I worked with Billy Abraham, Rusty Freeman, and Todd Still in founding and funding the Wesley House of Studies at Truett Seminary (Baylor University). Subsequently, I have become an instructor at Baylor’s Pastoral Study Program for those seeking ordination in the Global Methodist Church. So, while I am not an academic, I have spent quite a bit of time around them.

I understand that there is more than a small amount of debate making the rounds in the Global Methodist Church as we consider the role and place of theologians and the academy in our movement. There is understandable temptation to steer our movement away from the academy and academics. After all, more than a few mainline protestant seminaries have abandoned their core Christian mission in favor of ubiquitous “religious scholarship.”

I will never forget touring one of those seminaries when deciding where I would get my theological training. After seeing everything the school had to offer, I spoke plainly to the admissions officer. I told her that I was hoping to come to her school because the scholarship money was abundant and it was close to home. I added that I was also considering Asbury Theological Seminary, even though it would cost me an arm and a leg and Wilmore seemed a long way from Texas. I explained: “I want to get a well-rounded education. I am not afraid of being challenged theologically. I’m also willing to be asked to think critically. However, I want to know that at the end of the day, my professors absolutely profess the Lordship of Jesus Christ for themselves and over their families.” Her response was, “You will be happier at Asbury.” And I was!

It seems to me that some religious scholars are theologians in name only. They no longer seek understanding into the nature of God and his preferred relationship to humanity. Rather, they now seek understanding of how humanity can best construct god-concepts to serve their preferred relationship to each other. They don’t study the Bible because it is the written Word of God, but because it is a fascinating ancient text.

These anthropologists, posing as theologians, have foisted more than one heresy on the church in recent years. They have perpetuated a string of ideologies that have served to corrupt the veracity of the faith once delivered. Though their work is laced with scriptural references, they have merely committed what Wesley once spoke of, saying:

The first and great mark of one who corrupts the word of God, is, introducing into it human mixtures; either the errors of others, or the fancies of his own brain. To do this, is to corrupt it in the highest degree; to blend with the oracles of God, impure dreams, fit only for the mouth of the devil! And yet it has been so frequently done, that scarce ever was any erroneous opinion either invented or received, but Scripture was quoted to defend it (“On Corrupting the Word of God”).

On the other hand, theologians have historically helped the church to synthesize and articulate the orthodox understanding of the self-revelation of God found in Holy Scripture. The words “Trinity” and “Triune” do not appear in the Bible. Yet the Christian church considers the doctrine of the Trinity foundational to what it even means to be a Christian. It was theologians who helped stitch together an image of the person of God from the pages of his Holy Word in a way that allowed the church to wrap both their minds and their hearts around the loving Deity. That work is not yet finished. To believe that we have arrived at a full understanding of the person and nature of God, of his will, and plans for humanity is to position ourselves as the greatest of arrogant fools. Until this age ends and the kingdom has come in full, there will always be more of God to discover and love. It is not that he changes. Rather, his infinite nature makes the study of his identity the work of more than a few lifetimes! It is rightly the work of the whole of human history. We need good theologians to drive this work.

Having these great, faithful theologians inevitably means that we will have some bad ones as well. Even so, should the church really abandon the theological task altogether? Should we steer away from formal systems of theological training? If you happen to visit a bad doctor, do you give up on medicine altogether?

At its heart, the theological task is about peering into the grand mysteries of God and seeking understanding. It is about stretching the limits of the human mind by systematic inquiry into God’s infinite nature. Christian theologians must be both brilliant and humble. They must maintain childlike wonder at God’s sheer greatness while doggedly trying to understand ever more of his personhood.

I repeat: I am not an academic, but I am smart enough to appreciate a good one. And I know my own need for them to exist and to inform our work and life together.

God is not simple. People are not simple. The world is not simple.

We need brilliant, gifted people to apply the minds and hearts God gave them to study, debate, and publish on weighty matters. We need Christian ethicists, philosophers, and theologians in our ears helping us understand the great mysteries of God and the complexities of a broken creation.

I am a pastor who leads a busy church. Most days I don’t need a theologian. But when I do, I really do.

Pastors face extremely challenging situations, often without time to prepare. For example: a couple walks in with questions about in vitro fertilization and the sanctity of human life; a grieving widower wants counsel about cremation versus burial; a mom asks if she should disclose to her kid that his conception was the result of a home invasion; or a kid asks about the status of his dad’s salvation after he committed suicide. In those moments you need a theologian who has spent countless hours pouring through the scriptures and invested days buried in the library contemplating the attendant questions. And you need a theologian who from their heart professes the Lordship of Jesus Christ! These theologians aren’t vending machines from which we get good answers to hard questions. Rather, they are disciple-makers who teach us how to think theologically. They show us how to sew Scripture together faithfully to allow God to reveal truth in dire circumstances.

We need these scholars to hold us to our distinctly Methodist identity. Each of the scenarios listed above have happened—and not just to me. Pastors never stop being taken by surprise at what walks into their offices. What’s more, every one of the complex questions we seek to answer not only informs how real people experience life, but it also informs what they believe about the nature and person of God! We need Wesleyan scholars to make sure we are answering with a Methodist accent.

The Book of Job teaches us that platitudes really don’t help when the world falls apart. When a grade-schooler is tragically killed, her parents need more from us than: “God needed another angel.” Our people deserve pastors who are theologically well-trained by Christ-professing Wesleyan scholars!

We also need these theologians to help inform our work as we build out our new denomination. We need them in our ears, reminding us of God’s power and transcendence. We need them to prevent us from reverting to human structures and institutions simply because it is all we’ve ever known. We need them to draw on all their knowledge and wisdom to push us to do better and more for future generations than what was done for us.

Don’t get me wrong. I do not think we should put the theologians in charge. I don’t want them designing the bureaucracy, determining budgets, or engineering systems of operation. We have great people who can do that, but we need wise theologians in the ears of those people. Like a prophet in the king’s ear who won’t let him forget who is really in charge, we need theologians.

And we need the academy.

We need highly trained pastors and leaders for the church. Anyone who wants to be a pastor but who doesn’t believe they should pursue the highest and best training for their faith and mind shouldn’t go into ministry. That will look a little different for everyone. Some will continue through Ph.D. work. Others will do masters-level work. Still others will use an approved alternate educational pathway. Each is admirable and available for our people.

At the same time, the academy must continue to adapt. Seminaries must be responsive to the needs of the local church and the state of Christian work and witness in the real world. For too long, Methodist seminaries trained students to be prepared to satisfy boards of ordained ministries and be considered “appointable” by a bishop.

In the changing landscape of Methodism, seminaries must train pastors for the local church. Going forward, churches will continue to have greater agency in defining the important characteristics needed for disciple-making in their local community. We need seminaries to be listening to the local church—and responding. It is not enough for us to produce graduates capable of quietly contemplating the great mysteries of God. They must also be well equipped to preach, teach, lead, and to equip lay people for fruitful work in the Kingdom of God. We need a new generation of what Wesley would consider practical theologians. In some ways, seminaries must form part of their curriculum as though they were a trade school. An electrician who understands the ionization of particles and the transference of energy but cannot make a light switch function will have a hard time finding a job.

God is so big. His love is unfathomable. His power is limitless. Our commitment to lifelong learning is a declaration of humility. We keep learning and pursuing knowledge of God because there is always more of him to know! When I finished my undergraduate work, I boldly declared that I was finished with formal education. I did the same when I finished my MDiv. I kept my mouth shut when I finished an MBA. While formal learning remains a means to an end in my life, I have discovered that the end is so phenomenally important that I should never stop exercising the means!

Finally, I want to say a word of appreciation and grace to our Global Methodist Church academics. For almost twenty years, I was either on the national board of directors for the Confessing Movement, Good News, or the WCA. That made me a bit of a pariah among my mainstream ministry peers. While I don’t know for sure, I think I have an inkling of how our faithful academics are being looked upon by mainstream faculty peers as they make their way into the Global Methodist Church. I applaud your courage and your conviction.

I need you to do what is uniquely yours to do. And the Global Methodist Church does, too.

Ryan Barnett is Lead Pastor of First Methodist Church, Waco, Texas.