Saving Wisdom

Is theology possible within a Christian university? Beneath the emphasis of contextual, philosophical, and ecclesial pluralism, what is its academic nature? Further, who can participate in it? Recent debates and discussions by theologians that touch upon these questions seem to run in circles: theology is an academic specialty enjoying academic freedom; theology must bolster ecclesial identity, become more catechetical, and serve the church; theology must contribute to and shape public policy. Though such positions recur, they overlook latent but interrelated characteristics embedded within the nature and place of theology within the Christian university that affect them all.
 
Upon analysis of four major theologians, Friedrich Schleiermacher, John Henry Newman, Avery Cardinal Dulles, S.J., and Edward Farley, I argue that there are two major patterns at work. First, theology is more a sapientia or wisdom than a traditional academic discipline. Second, all descriptions of theology in the university possess an inclusive or exclusive soteriological character. These patterns pervade diverse topics: the relationship of theology to the church authority, a theologian's ecclesial and academic commitments, the preconditions of faith for theological understanding, participation in a religious symbol system, theology as wisdom, and the difference between religion and theology. How one implicitly defines Christian salvation regarding the place of theology in the Christian university opens or closes the practice of theology to those who teach and learn it.

""In Saving Wisdom, Brian Hughes has made a very important contribution to the question of the place of theology in the modern university. His lucid and detailed comparative analysis of four outstanding Christian thinkers is a must-read for those seeking to place this debate in its broader intellectual and historical context.""
--Dominic Doyle
Assistant Professor of Systematic Theology, Boston College

""Saving Wisdom offers a fresh take on a nexus of questions surrounding the relationship of theology to the university, and on the connection between faith and reason. Using two of the nineteenth centuries greatest minds---the recently beatified Cardinal Newman and the progenitor of modern theology, Friedrich Schleiermacher--Hughes faithfully and artfully traces their positions on this set of questions. This is a learned and careful book, of interest to any academic theologian and any intellectual concerned and invested in the fate of religiously affiliated universities. Saving Wisdom ushers in a fresh perspective that will keep this important discussion about the role of theology in the university moving forward.""
--Grant Kaplan
Associate Professor of Theological Studies, Saint Louis University


Brian W. Hughes is Associate Professor of Theology at the University of Saint Mary, Leavenworth, Kansas.