When I was in college, I formed a short-lived group called the Dead Theologians Society. Obviously riffing on a movie with a similar title, the goal of this group was simple: a group of friends, getting together, and reading various works by dead people. In particular, we read works by dead people who were also theologians, pastors, and missionaries. This meant reading pretty much anyone who was not alive in our time, but who desperately loved the Lord and sought his glory more than anything else in the world.
What was the point? After all, Ecclesiastes is still true: of the making of many books there is no end (Ecc 12:13). There are plenty of modern authors to keep me occupied for the rest of my life as new book after new book after new book seems to pour forth on an near daily basis. So why go to the dead theologians?
Let’s start by answering the question, Why go to dead authors? Whether we like it or not, and as much as we try and push against it, we are products of our culture. Of course, we believe and cherish the sanctifying power of God‘s grace. It’s possible (and expected!) to grow beyond these things. However, we will never completely disconnect from the time, place, and circumstances in which we were born and lived our lives. There’s always going to be a certain kind of frame of reference that’s going to color our thinking and feeling about certain things. This is what makes that dead author so valuable to us.
Books written by dead people are also writing out of the circumstances of their own lives, as they sought to be faithful and living for God. Thus, they are going to give us a fresh and unique perspective. They had different blind spots from us just as they had greater clarity on other issues. Humbly reading their works and listening to their arguments can sharpen our thinking today and help see what we might have otherwise missed. The best of these dead authors are going to bring decades of insight and wisdom, completely unrestricted by the shackles of our own culture and experience. Why deprive ourselves of such viewpoints?
Then, secondly, why dead theologians? To borrow a sports phrase “theology is life.” Or perhaps better: life is theology. We all have some belief about God. For some people that belief may not be about the Christian God, or even the Muslim god, or the Hindu god. As Pastor Greg made clear in a recent sermon, it may be any kind of god (even ourselves!). The point is that how we live our lives—how we think and move and have our being—is driven by our thoughts about God. Our highest and best thoughts come to us when we have our minds fixed on our Creator and our Lord.
Therefore, more than just reading some dead author on beekeeping, pie-baking, child-rearing, naval warfare, or anything that may be interesting to us, some of the best use of our time comes when we read dead authors who give us a fresh perspective on the God we love and seek to serve. Controversies in theological discussions of our day were likely not the pressing matters for previous generations. Therefore, their works help shift our mind away from the things that would normally occupy our thinking and priorities, helping us focus on other characteristics and attributes of our all-glorious God.
So, this then is the invitation I offer to you. . . . Whether formally or informally, whether alone or with a group, whether with much time or little time, join the Dead Theologians Society. Take time out of your week, your month, your year to pick up the writings of those saints who that have gone on before us. For though dead, their writings allow them to still speak into our lives (Heb 11:4).
I promise that you will have your mind expanded, your heart encouraged, and your soul affected. In short, by reading from the dead theologians, you will find yourself motivated to more deeply worship and more faithfully serve our God.
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