In the course of my life and certainly in the course of my academic career, I have had wonderful opportunities to meet with amazing people. The man on whom I would like to make my first entry is Paul Louis Lehmann (1907-1994). He had taught at Princeton, Harvard and Union Theological Seminary (both New York and Richmond). I was fortunate to have met him while was a visiting professor at Vanderbilt University Graduate Department of Religion.
We struck up an instant and amazing friendship. I would have lunch with him and we even went to the movies together. He hated Chariots of Fire, citing "all that God and King nonsense." When I would decline to go with friends to an event, the joke was always "Oh, Travis is dating Paul Lehmann."
He gave me insights to Dietrich Bonhoeffer that no book ever has and he told splendid stories of great theologians whom he had known. One of my favorites was regarding the great Karl Barth who told Paul that "theologians don't read the scriptures!"
I was struck by the comment then and it still remains. Others had thought it was a joke but I was intrigued and I asked my dear professor about it. "What did he mean, do you think?" he asked me. I replied that it is probably because the scriptures aren't very good theology. He slowly nodded his head. They are inspirational. They are an insight into cultures and personalities but they are not the best theology.
Perhaps that is where my interest in scriptures began to change. That is when I realized that it was the mind and experiences of the authors that really fascinated me. That is where my anthropological theology began.
© copyright 2011. All rights reserved.
We struck up an instant and amazing friendship. I would have lunch with him and we even went to the movies together. He hated Chariots of Fire, citing "all that God and King nonsense." When I would decline to go with friends to an event, the joke was always "Oh, Travis is dating Paul Lehmann."
He gave me insights to Dietrich Bonhoeffer that no book ever has and he told splendid stories of great theologians whom he had known. One of my favorites was regarding the great Karl Barth who told Paul that "theologians don't read the scriptures!"
I was struck by the comment then and it still remains. Others had thought it was a joke but I was intrigued and I asked my dear professor about it. "What did he mean, do you think?" he asked me. I replied that it is probably because the scriptures aren't very good theology. He slowly nodded his head. They are inspirational. They are an insight into cultures and personalities but they are not the best theology.
Perhaps that is where my interest in scriptures began to change. That is when I realized that it was the mind and experiences of the authors that really fascinated me. That is where my anthropological theology began.
© copyright 2011. All rights reserved.
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