"MY DADDY'S A THEOLOGIAN"

I'm pretty sure none of my children ever said that of me.  Kids do ask each other what their parents do.  I imagine mine said something like "He's a teacher", referring both to my stints in the States as a Religious Education Director and Professor of Theology, and to my career in France training managers.

One of the reasons they would never have spoken of me as a theologian is that they would have had no idea what a theologian is or what he does.  I sometimes wonder what adults think theologians do.  I guess they would say they teach and write books.  But what do they teach and what do they write ?  It's a bit harsh, but many professors of Philosophy would have to admit that, unlike the great philosophers, most of them do not really contribute personally to advancing philosophical thought, but spend their time and their courses, and devote their publications, to presenting, analyzing and commenting on what authentic philosophers, the Masters, taught and wrote.

So it is with most of those S.T.D.s (with or without the thesis) who teach Theology.  But what does Theology talk about ?  Even etymologically the answer is clear : it is a discourse about God.  In fact, more often than not, it is a rehashing of what other people through the ages have said about God.  More specifically, it has to do with the doctrines more or less based on what is considered by the clerics which theologians usually are, as the sacred if not divinely inspired sources of their Church's faith and practice : for non-Catholic Christians, the Bible, and for Catholics, the Bible and Tradition.

If we were to compare the profession of a theologian with that of a scientist, it is clear that both need a solid grasp of the content of previous research.  But there is an obvious distinction between the contents they are dealing with.  The scientist is dealing with established, proven facts and is either engaged in furthering research or applying established scientific data.  He is in the realm of the factual.  The theologian is not dealing with facts but with beliefs, the equivalent, for the scientist, of the illusions of a past age such as those relating to alchemy.  It may be interesting, for a professor of Science, to analyze and inform others about the discarded myths of previous Dark Ages.  But that is all Theology is : the perpetuation of the myths and illusions accumulated virtually without change since the origin of the religion they teach and promote.  Recent centuries have seen enormous advances in every scientific field, thanks to rigorous application of scientific, rational methods.  Theology continues to promulgate the irrrational fantasies of primitive societies and times.  I blush when I recall I once thought being a "theologian" was a highly respectable profession.  I'm glad now that my children never called me that.  But I'm glad above all that I learned enough Theology to be able at present to expose it for the smoke and mirrors that it is.  Much ado about, literally, nothing.

                                                                        DELENDA   RELIGIO