Theolog

James Alison: Drown the inquisitor

By Jason Byassee

I don’t know anyone who’s gotten through the first semester of seminary without feeling overwhelmed. The sheer mass of reading is too much for anyone to master. I worry that future ministers and theologians are being shaped to read in undigestible quantities rather than to read carefully and well. It’s a long way from the habits of contemplative reading that ancient Christians taught—learning to chew on scripture like a cow does its cud, to use a popular medieval example.

Gender and the academy

By Jason Byassee

When we white male academic professionals get together, and no one else is around, we occasionally pity ourselves along these lines: “Boy, it sure would be easy to get job x if I were minority y.” Every school has too many white guys and needs minorities or women, so we figure our minority or women colleagues have a leg up for jobs. I’ve never attended an academic conference where I haven’t been in on this conversation several times.