1.0Sgwrs Tei Bowhttp://52.19.228.105/cyClarke Robertshttp://52.19.228.105/cy/author/clarke-roberts/rich600338<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="gcmnczqvQT"><a href="http://52.19.228.105/cy/2014/08/27/importance-liberal-theology-theo-hobson/">Pwysigrwydd Diwinyddiaeth Ryddfrydol: Ymateb i Theo Hobson</a></blockquote><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" src="http://52.19.228.105/cy/2014/08/27/importance-liberal-theology-theo-hobson/embed/#?secret=gcmnczqvQT" width="600" height="338" title="“The Importance of Liberal Theology: A Response to Theo Hobson” — Bow Tie Talks" data-secret="gcmnczqvQT" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" class="wp-embedded-content"></iframe><script> /*! This file is auto-generated */ !function(d,l){"use strict";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&"undefined"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),c=new RegExp("^https?:$","i"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display="none";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute("style"),"height"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):"link"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute("src")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener("message",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll("iframe.wp-embedded-content"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute("data-secret"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+="#?secret="+t,e.setAttribute("data-secret",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:"ready",secret:t},"*")},!1)))}(window,document); //# sourceURL=http://52.19.228.105/wp-includes/js/wp-embed.min.js </script>It’s been a hellishly long time since I’ve written anything to the blog, and the second podcast episode is way overdue; I apologise for this. The summer holidays have actually been fairly busy for me this year! With moving house, being in Ibiza for a week and spending most of my time in Scarborough with my girlfriend, I haven’t quite found the right moment to record episode two of The Word Podcast. Whilst on holiday in the beautiful town of Cala Llonga in Ibiza, I continued reading a recent publication by British theologian Theo Hobson entitled, Reinventing Liberal Christianity. Since I began reading and studying theology, the idea of theological liberalism within Christianity has been my main area of interest and focus; unsurprisingly the title of Hobson’s book had my intrigue and I was keen to discover a modern theologian who shared my passion and desire to see liberal theology re-emerge as a dominant discipline within Christian Theology. As I’m sure you can tell by tone, my initial excitement was short-lived as within the introduction alone, I came to discover that we were reading from slightly different hymn-sheets. Probably a mistake by my own admission, the title of the book is Reinventing Liberal Christianity, not Reinventing Liberal Theology. Nonetheless, Hobson deals with the strand of theology to which I belong in order to clearly set out his point right from the off. He makes an important distinction between liberal Christianity and liberal theology; the former (by my limited understanding as I have yet to finish reading the book), is a framework of Christianity that sees the faith play an important role within society and politics, shaping the the way legislation is crafted and ethical dilemmas are provided with moral solutions. The liberal Christianity that Hobson appears to be seeking is one that is subtle in its existence yet, has a strong resonance with the general populace; it is the failure of ‘Christendom’ thus far to implement this, that has inspired his publication. Of course it is entirely possible that I have completely misunderstood his intentions (I am only still Clarke Roberts BA, not MA) but regardless of this, the fact still remains that I was disappointed to see that Hobson sees theological liberalism as something that died out in the latter part of the 20th Century and should indeed remain extinct. He appears to share the view of many conservative theologians (Brian Hebblethwaite and Karl Barth come to mind), that liberal theology or Liberal Protestantism as so named by Alister McGrath is corrosive to the Gospel and damages the integrity of Christianity. To put it another way, my mentor Oliver Davies once said of Christianity, that he loved the mysticism and ‘mythic’ nature of doctrines such as the Incarnation and the Trinity; they couldn’t be properly explained nor did he want them to be, for they are what made Christianity great! Liberal theology seeks to ‘properly explain’ these doctrines by means of reason and logical argument. To the conservative theologian and my mentor this task is futile; to find rational […]http://52.19.228.105/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/9780802868404-200x300.jpg