Writing Theological Reflection Well - Bloomsbury

WRITING THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION WELL

Starting Points

Adapted from Chapter 2 of Writing Theology Well: A Rhetoric for Theological and Biblical Writers, Lucretia B. Yaghjian

WHAT IS THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION? (I)

? To define theological reflection, we must first

define "theology."

? Theology is "God-talk" (theos logos):

thinking, speaking, or writing about God.

? Theology is a language used by a specific

group of people to make sense of their world (or of their experience).

? Theological reflection is one dialect of this

language.

WHAT IS THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION? (II)

? Reflection is the deliberate and dynamic

process of attending to the reality before us within a given interpretive framework.

? Theological reflection is the disciplined and

creative exercise of the theological imagination in dialogue with our individual and communal experience.

? The theological imagination engages our

individual and communal experience in conversation with the "Imago Dei."

For example, see how Belden Lane invites the image of Rublev's Trinity to engage him in theological reflection and empower his writing:

"Contemplating the icon, I will take myself out of the tower, tracing a path down to the bottom of the scene, at the base of a table around which the three persons of the Trinity are seated. Like a child playing in Kindergarten, I will imagine myself sneaking up to the small drawer in the middle of the table, crawling into it and pulling it shut behind me. The members of the Trinity will pretend not to notice, going along with the game. They will ignore me, as I lie there in the darkness, surrounded by Father, Son, and Holy Spirit speaking together in lively conversation. In that place I will try to write out of the sublime forgetfulness of what I hear."

--Belden C. Lane, "Saints and Writers" On Doing One's Work in Hiding, Theology Today 59 (2003):616.

HOW SHALL WE WRITE IT?

"What distinguishes the writing of theological reflection from other kinds of theological writing is its appeal to experience, or to the particular issue, question, problem, or text that we are `trying to make sense of,' (WTW, 21) as a starting point for the reflection."

WRITING THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION: A PROCESS

Writing theological reflection integrates the

processes of reflection and writing into a

"Reflecting on Paper Process" in which we

? Describe the experience in writing ? Correlate the experience with the

Christian tradition, story, symbols

? Identify a question for reflection ? Construct a new imagination of the

experience through the writing process

For example, see how Nora Gallagher arrives at a transformed understanding of her vocation to priesthood "in the act of writing":

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