“Theology is primarily speaking about God; but, since God is
by definition not available for inspection as an object in the laboratory, this
entails speaking about the imprint of God on human lives – and thus what humanity
looks like when exposed to an active, intelligent transcendent reality. Many
who study theology may not believe for sure that this sort of language
describes a real state of affairs in the universe rather than just a state of
affairs in the human mind; but they study because the images of humanity and
its world that come from such language remain fertile, provocative and significant
at many levels.
For those who do believe, for whom the biblical languages
and the history of religious reflection and action still represent a world to
inhabit, theology has the added excitement of being the exploration of a
relationship more comprehensive and transforming for human beings than anything
else.”
The Right Reverend Dr Rowan Williams, then Archbishop of
Canterbury, in a letter dated 26th November 2009 commending the first issue of
The Oxford Theologian. He expresses “the conviction that what is done here in
the name of theology really has the capacity to help build that critical and
creative spirit without which no culture can live – and, for those of us who do
think it’s about a reality greater than the human mind alone, the capacity to
open us further to a transfiguring grace, a worship of intellect and heart
together.”
