A question for those who are religious

[Zenmervolt]

For one reason or another, the question of whether the sorts of traits that naturally lend themselves to happiness in a theological pursuit are inherently adverse to a position as a priest or preacher.

My own temptation is to say that they are indeed so.

To be a theologian is to be an academic; to delve into not only the scriptures of one's own faith, but also into the scriptures of all faiths and to seek a full and complete understanding of one's faith (knowing though that such a goal is not attainable). It seems to me to be a world of academic technicalities and of obscure phraseologies that are often confusing to those outside of the theological circle, though they may be of the same faith.

To be a priest or a pastor is to be able to come down from the theologian's world and phrase that understanding in such a way that it is not only comprehensible to the parishoners, but also is not shocking or distracting to them. The consequences of speaking in theological terms to a non-theological audience can be disasterous, as illustrated by absolute nightmare caused a few months back when the Pope quoted a medieval document in a speech (the Pope was speaking theologically, but he mistook his audience and the fallout was awful). The detachment and desire for logical consistancy that accompany theological pursuits do not seem to mesh well with a more emotional world.

(Before anyone claims that I am setting theology above a real-world application, I am not. I only mean to point out that in some places I see the two as requiring opposite mindsets. Mindsets that are sufficiently opposed as to make it difficult at best for a single person to be adept both theologically and pastorally.)

Does anyone here have thoughts on this?

ZV

 

[SirStev0]

I had a friend in high school who was dumb as a box of rocks. He hardly made it through vo-tech let alone regular high school. The one thing he had found interesting was religion and was more or less obsessed with different religions. He knew the ins and outs of even made up religions ( I swear he could probably name every major diety in D&D). He considered himself a satanist because he liked it for what he saw as its non-hippocritical and down to earth world view (most people probably thought it was an attention thing, but knowing him I new he actually believed in the philosophy). For a pretty decent time he wanted to go to school to study religions, which was basically an impossible dream due to his grades in, well, everything. He was always an interesting converstaion and could really debate well against someone if they tried to bring up religion. (he was especially good at countering people who dismissed his opinion because he believed in satanism. Don't know if this really goes along with your topic... just reminded me of it.

 

[MAME]

god does not exist

 

[Viper0329]

I'm not quite sure what you're asking by the initial question.

Specifically:

the question of whether the sorts of traits that naturally lend themselves to happiness in a theological pursuit are inherently adverse to a position as a priest or preacher.

How does happiness as a theologian become inversely proportional to those you might find in a priest or a preacher?

I don't see the two mindsets of Theologian and priest/pastor as being directly opposed to each other. You are correct in stating that theologians are by nature academic. They work to study faiths in depth. Relating some of these ideas in philosophical or thelogical language can prove to disasterous, as you have shown with the example of the Pope.

However, I don't see that it makes this a completely different mindset from that of the priest or preacher. I think it takes a great amount of skill on the theologians part. Priests and preachers need to be good theologians in the first place. They need to be trained in an academic setting that teaches them the technicalities of their religions so that they understand them to the best of their ability. The good priest or pastor will then be able to take these thoughts and present them in a way that is easily understood with respect to his audience.

It is this ability that distinguishes good priests or pastors from great ones. The best priests and pastors that I have known have the ability to speak very technically with an audience on the academic level while being able to present that same material to another audience in a pastoral manner. It's easy to grasp by all.

The best preachers or priests are those who can present information to both audiences at the same time. That takes great skill.

I don't think it takes opposing views. It just takes great understanding and mastery of language and theology.