On Writing Interdisciplinary Theology

Abstract

Theologians face increasing pressure to do interdisciplinary work in their teaching and writing. While interdisciplinary theology yields useful and interesting results, many teacher-scholars, trained in one sub-field, find themselves lost and disjointed between methodologies, disciplines and even friendship groups. The ambiguities of interdisciplinary writing are aptly expressed by Karl Rahner: “A new literary genre is developing, because it simply has to develop. This genre is neither theological nor philosophical scholarship; nor is it literature; nor is it the popularisation of theology and philosophy as scholarly studies; it is – yes, what is it?” An answer to Rahner’s open-ended question can begin to be formed through an exploration of four discourses: interdisciplinary inquiry, democratic pragmatism, practical theology and aesthetic education. Each discourse suggests changes to the way academics write. Responding to the question “What does it mean to write interdisciplinary theology?” this essay suggests that interdisciplinary theology can be understood as an act of renunciation in which teacher-scholars see their boundary-crossing work as mission.