girlscandoanything

The Great Walter Brueggeman

This weekend, between doses of Tylenol 3 for my teeth which must come out, I was priveleged to attend a lecture by the famed Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggeman. It was kinda cool to be sitting only a few feet away from a scholar of legendary proportion. But then, about 15 minutes into his presentation I had the strange feeling that I am a scholar of legendary proportion. Now, I am not delusional, though I was feeling a little giddy from my prescriptions and lightheaded from lack of solid food. I really have finally determined that I am not only smart, but wise and learned.

Okay, if I ever failed your class it is time to get up off the floor, muffle your laughter and read on.

If being at Fuller has taught me anything---and it has taught me much---one of the most important things is that I am able to do this. No matter how tough it gets, no matter the disappointments and the struggles, the financial burdens and the desperate days, I am still here. And not only am I here, but I think the same things as Walter Brueggeman. I too think that the Old Testament Exodus is about a change in regime--a change of the system. I too think that the world today is slave to a system of consumption and meaningless production. I too think that we need a modern Exodus of the mind and the will to change the system. And I thought all of these things before Walter ever said them aloud--or at least in my hearing.

I have found that there is an amazing sense of solidarity overwhelming me. I stand with Gustavo Guitierrez. I stand with Walter Brueggeman. I stand with Bonhoeffer and Lewis and Nouwen. I stand with Luther and sometimes even with Calvin. And even my ideas that are over the top and out on a limb are supported by some great theologian that I am yet learning about. John Stott is an anihilationist. CS Lewis was an inclusivist. What I think and what I find to be true when I study is what great thinkers and writers and theologians also think and also conclude.

I am a theologian.

I've been wondering lately why I am here and what is my motivation. This is why I'm here and this is my motivation. I am a theologian. This is where theologians belong. This is what theologians do. I am a theologian.

posted by CT @ 2:19 PM