Nobody Wanted The Theologians....

My daughter goes on to further education next year and so today we went to have a look around the local Sixth Form College.  I went there 26 years ago but it has changed a lot and I wanted to see what it is like now; and we both wanted to chat to course tutors about the courses she is interested in doing.

We passed different classrooms, or whatever they call them, full of potential students, parents and course tutors talking with enthusiasm about their subjects.  Both the Government & Politics and the Modern History rooms were busy and these are two subjects daughter is considering taking.  Both courses sound really interesting and challenging and daughter left the rooms full of enthusiasm.

On the way to the Music room we can across the Theology room.  They didn’t actually call it theology and I can’t remember what the exact title was, but we went past it.  The room was practically empty.  Just two tutors looking desperate for somebody to go in and see them and a rather well designed display.  Upon seeing me looking into the room one of the tutors more or less leapt into the corridor and asked “Are you interested in theology?”

“Well, I’m very interested” I replied, “I’m a Student Minister.  Unfortunately my daughter isn’t.”

Her face fell and I can understand why.  I got the feeling that we were probably the first people to show even the slightest interest in what they had to offer.  I remember being at my daughter’s school progress evening a few months ago and going to speak to her RE teacher.  Re is a compulsory subject at the school.  We had a good chat and I naturally enthused about the importance of teenagers getting a good grounding in Religious Education.  Sadly I found that my views weren’t shared by the majority of parents. Most hadn’t even bothered to make an appointment to see the RE teacher and some that had told her that it was waste of their child’s time and effort to do RE.

Few wanted the theologians at daughter’s High School then and it seemed that nobody wanted the theologians at the Sixth Form College today.  Richard Dawkins dismissed Theology as a non-subject; since theology literally means the study of God and he doesn’t believe God exists.

Naturally I think that the study of theology is very important indeed.  If God does exist, and I believe with every fibre of my being that he does; if Jesus Christ indeed died on the cross in our place and rose from the dead to give us the assurance of eternal life, and again I believe that he did: then that is the most important truth ever.  What could be more important than the study of the God in whom we live and move and have our being?