Why Should Theology be Public?

By David H. Jensen

When I was growing up, I remember hearing people say, “Religion and politics don’t mix.” I heard this sentence in churches, at social gatherings, and at school. I also remember, at times, being convinced by this statement. My school-age years coincided with the rise of the Religious Right, where a self-proclaimed Moral Majority sought to mold the American political and legal system with “Christian principles.” Something about that movement disturbed me. Maybe it was because I understood “Christian principles” differently. Maybe it was because some of my friends, who were not Christian, convinced me that establishing laws based on such principles was a profoundly bad idea.

If religion and politics don’t mix, then one consequence would be to make Christian faith a private affair. I have my beliefs; you have yours. Just as we wouldn’t want to impose our understanding of faith on anyone else, we should keep our religion in the realm of quiet devotion, never in public life. The problem with this view, of course, is that it results in a posture profoundly different from that of Jesus and his followers. Jesus didn’t call disciples to retreat piously from the world. Nearly every aspect of his ministry was decidedly public: he called leaders to account for their actions; he invited followers from all walks of life; he spoke openly—and controversially— about money, possessions, allegiances, and political arrangements. “Public theology,” in other words, seems to be what Jesus was all about.

Over the last several years, Austin Seminary—faculty, staff, and students—has increasingly embraced the practice of public theology. The term is more frequently heard now in our classes, faculty meetings, and institutional announcements than ever before. At its heart, the term expresses the idea that Christian faith is lived. Our faith flings us outward. We live the faith with others. Jesus came that all might have life in abundance (John 10:10), and those who follow Jesus seek abundant life for the world. Public theology rejects the idea that Christian faith is essentially a private affair by recognizing that our faith has political implications. This is not to say that religion and politics always mix, but that our faith affects all dimensions of our lives.

Public theology, however, rejects the strategies and approaches that the Religious Right made popular in the 1980s. It does not seek to establish laws based upon biblical principles. It does not claim a direct translation between the scriptures and traditions of the Christian church and state constitutions, courts, or political parties. Public theology recognizes that diverse Christian voices are part of a choir that includes many other voices. This work, of course, will never be finished and will always require fresh perspectives, approaches, and partners as churches present their voices and labors in the public square.

How does Austin Seminary embrace the ongoing task of public theology? This year, we began a concentration in our residential master’s-degree programs. Students who elect this concentration explore the ways in which Christian traditions engage, shape, and challenge practices of peace and justice in our wider society. They do this by taking an array of courses focused on Christian faith and contemporary public issues, such as ecological sustainability, racial justice, immigration, human rights, and gender and sexuality. This public theology concentration retains the broad exposure to the classic theological disciplines and the practice of ministry that has always defined an Austin Seminary education, while allowing those with particular passion for justice and reconciliation to dig more deeply within these traditions.

In our Doctor of Ministry program (see page 11), we offer a track in “Leadership for Witness.” This concentration reclaims the presence of the church at the intersection of the Good News and the Common Good. In this course sequence, for example, students travel to the Texas-Mexico border to learn from immigrants who have recently crossed that border and from the churches that are involved in the life-and-death struggles these immigrants often face.

In our Education Beyond the Walls (EBW) programs, we offer an 18-month cohort-based program, “Pastoral Leadership for Public Life” (see page 9) that broadens pastors’ awareness of public life and civic issues, increases confidence for engaging public life through interaction with civic leaders and public officials, and enhances leaders’ capacities for theological reflection at the crossroads of the Common Good and the Good News. EBW’s “Practicing Theology in Public” series (see pages 12 and 14) offers a compelling suite of educational opportunities for pastoral leaders to deepen their skills for faithful engagement of issues of social concern as they reflect on the public, incarnational character of the Christian church.

These programs represent some of the ways in which Austin Seminary understands public theology as a critical dimension of our shared Christian faith. In equipping leaders for this moment in time, we understand the faith to be something more than a private retreat. Jesus calls us out into the world, even if we are not to be “of” the world. He makes public disciples. This work has made me reconsider the phrase about religion and politics I often heard in my childhood. Now more than ever before, I’m convinced that Christian faith makes us more responsible and compassionate citizens, concerned with the Common Good, committed to the mending of the world.

Dr. David Jensen is academic dean and professor in The Clarence N. and Betty B. Frierson Distinguished Chair in Reformed Theology at Austin Seminary. His teaching and research explore the interconnections between Christian theology and daily life. Jensen is the author of ten books, most recently Christian Understandings of Christ: The Historical Trajectory (Fortress, 2019). He is also editor of Compass: Christian Explorations, a book series with Fortress Press that encourages theological reflection on everyday practices such as eating, shopping, playing, and working.