Changing Emphases in Recent Theology

Abstract

lege teacher, and more specifically a college teacher of religion should be, above all, a lover of truth and truth is not always represented by the latest trend. It might be the duty of a college professor of religion, and likewise of a theologian, to oppose the dominant theological movement of his time. Certainly he should not be an adherent of what J. Paul Williams appropriately calls, BandWagon Theology. (See article of that title by J. Paul Williams in The Christian Century, Vol. 70, No. 34 [August 26, 1953], pp. 962-63.) 'However, it is important that the teacher know what the trends are, even if the most important implications for his work are warnings of battles he is called upon to fight for what he believes to be truth. Moreover, the trend is rare from which no good can be gleaned, whether by outright appropriation or by the suggestion of related ideas. Actually, it happens that I believe the most characteristic trends in theology evident during the last five years have been in the main wholesome and useful in the quest for truth and for holiness. Moreover, I am convinced that they have useful implications for the teaching of undergraduate courses in religion. The trends to which I invite attention may not be universally acknowledged as trends. It may be argued that they are only projections of my own subjective impressions. The long view of hi tory may eventually show that some were only minor eddies soon swept away in stronger and broader currents. I make no claim to powers of predictive prophecy. I am only describing with considerable trepidation what I think can be observed by anyone participating fairly widely in current theological discussions. Most of the trends to which I shall be pointing have been commented upon by other men and women representing widely varying points of view, particularly in oral discussions of the American Theological Society.