Name a theologist who is worth reading, regardless of faith or lack thereof.

[BurtWorm]

And please include an explanation of why he or she is worth reading. What are his or her main ideas about theology that anyone might learn from?

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Bishop John Shelby Spong of the Archdiocese of Newark.. Res ipsa loquitor.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Shelby_Spong

[kestrel91316]

13. Spong ROCKS!

[AngryOldDem]

38. Why Spong?

He takes a fresh look at theology and the Bible and explains why the old "tried and true" definitions and explantions of Christianity aren't necessarily the only answers. He also confirms that we all have the ability to think and reason about religion and its purpose in our lives. It's OK to question, because by questioning it's how we learn. In a word, he treats us like adults. No wonder most mainstream religious leaders see him as a threat.

I saw him at a bookstore several years ago, and have several of his books. I highly recommend "Why Christianity Must Change or Die."

ON EDIT: Anything by Thomas Merton is good, too, especially the collection of his letters.

[Stuckinthebush]

2. Walter Bruggeman

and Shirley Guthrie

[BurtWorm]

4. Can you say more about each?

Thanks!

[harrison]

3. Paul Tillich who wrote a book

called The Courage To Be. It is about affirming one's being despite the threat of nonbeing.

[Traveling_Home]

5. a few Christian Tradition

Theologian - Mystic (??????)

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
St Juan de la Cruz (St. John of the Cross)
Meister Eckhardt

[Meshuga]

6. What is worth reading or not worth reading is...

...in the eye of the beholder but I tend to agree (although not 100%) with Mordecai Kaplan whose theology says that God is not personal and that all anthropomorphic descriptions of God are at best imperfect metaphors. His theology also says that "God is the sum of all natural processes that allow a human to become self-fulfilled".

I like reading other opposing views and other theologies and ideas of God but that's me who has interest in the subject. I wouldn't expect others to have the same interest.

[BurtWorm]

8. Sounds a little like Spinoza.

No?

I read a very interesting little book a few weeks ago by Rebecca Goldstein called "Betraying Spinoza," in which she discussed her introduction to him courtesy of a yeshiva teacher in the 1960s who stressed that he was in error to argue that God is identical to nature, because, she said, nature is not God, and to think so is presumably to be guilty of idolatry. This was an orthodox yeshiva, so maybe conservative or reform Judaism is more tolerant of Spinozism? Or is Spinozism not compatible with any form of Judaism?

[Meshuga]

17. It does

Kaplan is the founder of Reconstructionist Judaism but he has influence both Reform and Conservative movements and these two movements have a big tent approach to what people believe or disbelieve. I don't think orthodox Judaism is friendly to Spinoza. Well, the orthodox sects will not accept spinoza nor they will accept Conservative, Reform, or Reconstrucionalist as legitimate forms of Judaism.

[cyborg_jim]

10. Sounds like a brilliantly vacuous phrase

God is the sum of all natural processes that allow a human to become self-fulfilled

What on Earth is that supposed to mean?

[Meshuga]

16. It means attaching the word "God"...

...to naturalists or humanists approaches.

Mordecai Kaplan takes a naturalistic approach where nature is all there is and all things supernatural do not exist. In Kaplan's opinion, "to believe in God means to take for granted that it is man's destiny to rise above the brute and to eliminate all forms of violence and exploitation from human society."

Kaplan holds to a sort of neo-platonic position and rejects classical forms of theism. To him salvation is attainable in this world by following the ethical teachings and becoming self-fulfilled via your deeds. Like Jewish tradition says, it doesn't matter if you abandon God as long as you follow the teachings because through good deeds you will find God. Through your means to achieve self-fulfillment you will find your spirituality. In other words, it masks a non-theists approach as theism by adding God to the terminology.

[cyborg_jim]

18. Ah, so it's the 'god of synonyms' god.

[Meshuga]

19. I guess you can put it that way

Since Kaplan tried to move the focus in Judaism from a conventional theistic idea to giving more importance to Jewish ethics, tradition, and peoplehood.

[BurtWorm]

20. It actually sounds Epicurian.

Interestingly, Goldstein notes that apikoros, or something like that, is the closest you get to a Hebrew word for "heretic." It stems from Epicurus, whose philosophy influenced the Sadducees, I believe.

[Meshuga]

23. Apikoros is right

"Apikorsim" or "apikoros" which is used as a generic word for a Jewish unbeliever. The Hasidim are contemptuous of non traditional Jews so they call us "Apikorsim" for having different opinions. The term does stem from Epicureans, like you said, and as the tradition says the "Epicureans (Apikorsim) don't have a place in the word to come." This is probably said as a Pharisaic attack toward the Sadducees for their denial of eternal life or the soul (perhaps an Epicurean influence?).

[BurtWorm]

24. Denial of eternal life is definitely Epicurean.

Whether the Sadducees really took it from Epicurus or arrived at it on their own, I can't say. (It happens to be where I am, myself.)

[pocoloco]

7. William James

His " Varieties of Religious Experience" sounds like what you may be looking for. You can substitute "Spiritual Experience" if you have doubts about religion, the process is similar. A description of the several pathways and results of the quest.

Excellent resource from a hundred years ago.

[BurtWorm]

12. Actually, what I'm looking for is what might be called "serious theology."

I'm looking for the kind that is at the cutting edge of contemporary theology, preferably.

[GeorgeGist]

9. just one...

your soul.

[cosmik debris]

11. Ovid

Because he taught me that the theology of the Roman pantheon is no more or less relevant than contemporary theology.

[Rydz777]

14. Blaise Pascal, Simone Weil

Pascal, a universal genius, had a "night of fire" after which he devoted himself to religious thought.

Simone Weil was another genius, who devoted her life both to social activism and to religious contemplation. She died in 1943 at age 34 but left behind an amazing corpus of thought. See "The Simone Weil Reader" (G. A Panichas, ed.), New York, 1977. It includes essays under the headings: A New Saintliness, Prelude to Politics, Language and Thought, Criteria of Wisdom, Paths of Meditation. She was a contemporary of Simone do Beauvoir at the Sorbonne and was at the top of her class (her brother, a mathematician, became an associate at Princeton of Einstein.)

Just a taste of her thinking: she said that solving mathematical problems was a form of prayer. Yes, kids may pray when confronted with math, but she meant it in the sense that "absolute attention is absolute prayer."

[Goblinmonger]

22. I would have to disagree with Pascal

his wager is a load of fallacious garbage.

I have not read Weil, but given your math description, I may give a glance.

[toddaa]

27. Depends on how you read Pascal

Chances are, you just hate him because you've had to suffer through a life time proselytizers thinking they've stumped you with the wager. Yes, the wager is full of holes, but Pascal was clearly a guy who wrestled with existential nihilism and lost. His wager is the creation of a notorious gambler who made one double down bet and lost. For existential literature on the absurdity of life, you can't get more depressing than Pascal's Penses. I love it! But then I read Kafka because he's fucking hilarious.

[HamdenRice]

15. John Dominic Crossan

He wrote "The Historical Jesus," an excellent study that encompasses theology, history, anthropology and textural analysis.

You don't have to be a believer or non-believer to be dazzled by the portrait of eastern Mediterranean society, anti-Roman revolutionary movements, or the Zen-like humanitarian philosophy that Crosson finds at the core of Jesus's teachings, once it is stripped of later commentary and exposition.

[Imperialism Inc.]

25. Crossan is certainly interesting. I have a question though.

Critics of Crossan, and others like him, say that they are essentially using Jesus as a ventriloquist dummy for their own views. He would be quick to admit that whatever the historical Jesus was like is very difficult to say and that anything we come up with will be , due to the nature of the scant evidence, very tentative. The critics say they are just cherry picking the evidence that matches their own personal views and that is why the portrait of Jesus that comes out always, conveniently, matches the culture of the day. So now-a-days scholars find, of course, a very humanist Jesus.

How do you feel about this criticism. Do you think it is valid at some level?

[Goblinmonger]

21. Bertrand Russell

Changed my life by giving a name to what I had been thinking. Much like I would suspect Harris and Dawkins are doing right now for younger atheists.

[Imperialism Inc.]

26. Not sure if he really qualifies but Robert Ingersoll.

Popularizer of freethought and very popular speaker .

http://www.infidels.org/library/historical/robert_ingersoll/

[NAO]

35. Robert Ingersoll is Laugh Out Loud FUN to Read

and his criticism is DEAD ON.

Ingersoll was an orator - eloquent, evocative, entertaining, and easy to understand. His lectures were delivered extemporaneously to packed houses and the crowds roared with laughter. They read very well because they were spoken, not written as dense prose.

Best short piece, IMHO is "What Must We Do to Be Saved?" http://www.infidels.org/library/historical/robert_ingersoll/how_to_be_saved.html . Best overall work is "Some Mistakes of Moses" http://www.infidels.org/library/historical/robert_ingersoll/some_mistakes_of_moses.html .

Everything Ingersoll wrote (I have the 12 Volume set from 1902) is a delight to read.

[toddaa]

28. Rev. Ivan Stang

Does he count as a theologian?

[BurtWorm]

31. At least as much as I do.

;)

[rasputin1952]

29. Reinhart Niebuhr...His collections of writings on Nazi Germany

are amazing in their introspection on how people can go down a dark road and never look back.

Google him for passages...)

[More Than A Feeling]

30. If you really want Niebuhr, take the "The Nature and Destiny of Man" challenge

*chuckles evilly*

[rasputin1952]

32. Aha...a DARE...

:D

But I must tell you, even a fool may seem wise if he keeps his mouth closed...me>>>

[NAO]

33. Robert M. Price - Critical Biblical Scholar

Dr. Robert M. Price is a critical biblical scholar. He was featured in the (HIGHLY recommended) film "The God Who Wasn't There" http://www.thegodmovie.com and there are downloadable clips of him there.

His books really make SENSE of what the bible means and provide insight into how they came to be written and edited.

Price does a weekly streaming radio show, "The Bible Geek" at http://www.freethoughtmedia.com which airs every Sunday from 4 PM to 6 PM EST. His website is http://robertmprice.mindvendor.com/

[NAO]

34. Richard Dawkins, of course.

Dawkins explains why there really IS a conflict between religion and science, why science is the best answer, and how harmful religion really is.

"The God Delusion" is great fun to read, and very educational.

[saltpoint]

37. 'Had the chance to listen to Dawkins on a PBS program and was

very impressed with his poise when fundie questioners tried to trap him.

He's a lot smarter than they are, and incredibly poised.

It was fine work.

[saltpoint]

36. I'll choose A.N. Wilson, who is a religious analyst and not exactly a

theologian.

And he's awfully good.

He's done sublime studies of Jesus and Paul, and it's some of the most creative and insightful scholarship ever done on either subject.

Worth a look.