Theology in Conversation

What language should we use when talking about God? How can we make sense of the passages in the Bible which depict the abuse and degradation of women? What lessons can we learn from the life of a lesbian nun living in seventeenth century Tuscany?

This year, a group from St James’s and St Pancras have gathered every two months to discuss these questions. Each conversation has centered on passages from three texts – one pre-Reformation, one modern, and one non-theological – ranging from the earliest known book written by a woman in the English language, Julian of Norwich’s Revelations of Divine Love, to innovative contemporary works, such as Patrick Chung’s Radical Love: Introduction to Queer Theology.

Drawing connections between these diverse authors and our own spiritual journeys felt hugely generative. None of us remained within our theological comfort zones. These texts, new and old, challenged us with new ways of thinking and talking about God.

For me, a stand-out moment was our exploration of mysticism. Julian’s book was extraordinary. Written in the midst of the Black Death (and almost certainly an unfathomable degree of personal grief), her vision of a maternal, overwhelmingly loving God felt both contemporary and timeless. Hellfire and brimstone this was not.

After reassuring ourselves that “all shall be well”, we considered the wonderful Evelyn Underhill, whose vision of the mysticism of everyday life was a compelling contrast with the cliché of ecstatic or otherworldly experiences. Above all, mysticism reminds us that the ground of our soul is the very ground of God, the same ground which underpins all outward reality. In the words of St Augustine: “You were more inward to me than my most inward part and higher than my highest”.

Medieval women mystics became a recurring theme of our conversations. We marvelled at the intellect and accomplishments of Hildegard of Bingen. A twelfth century mystic, composer, philosopher, medical writer, abbess and saint, Hildegard conducted preaching tours across medieval Germany, an almost unheard-of feat for a woman of her time. She established her own convent, composed songs we still sing in church to this day, and is considered a founder of scientific natural history.

We read – and listened to – Hildegard as part of a conversation on ‘The Importance of Surroundings: Hearing and Listening for Faith in a Noisy World’. During this conversation, we considered questions such as: ‘Is attention a moral act?’, ‘What is the connection between mindfulness and prayer?’ and ‘How can we recognise the importance of peace and rest, without closing our ears to voices of anguish and lament?’. I especially enjoyed hearing Revd Sarah and Revd Jonathan reflect on what it is like to live, work and pray in the tumult of central London.
With the help of Revd Lucy’s book, Our Sound is Our Wound, we connected these personal reflections to the continuing realities of crucifixion and resurrection in our world today.

Another highlight was our discussion of queer theology. Theological conversations about LGBTQ+ issues can too often be purely defensive – attempts to justify the very existence of queer love and queer lives in a Christian setting. The continuing scandal of prejudice towards LGBTQ+ people in the church means that this starting-point is, of course, essential. You will not be surprised to learn, however, that our reading group asked a much bigger question: how can we understand God in light of queer love? What does queer love, and queer theory, have to teach us about the atonement, the incarnation, or the Trinity? This more constructive approach was both novel and refreshing. We also touched on the relationship between Jesus, social hierarchy and gender binaries – a topic which I’m sure we will return to in the future.

Personally, I have found the theological reading group to be immensely enjoyable. If you are looking for thoughtful conversation and a deeper understanding of the theology which is preached at St James’s and St Pancras, I would wholeheartedly recommend it. I am grateful to all those who have attended and participated so far. In particular, I would like to thank Morgan for creating the group and for her ingenious selection of texts and topics.

The next meeting will be on 13 September, to discuss liberation theology, Black theology, and Origen of Alexandria. The following meeting on 15 November – under the topic “Keeping Faith: The Shape of Personal Faith in Turbulent Times” – will include a discussion of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship.