You know, if you’ve followed my thoughts for any length of time, that I am convinced that is IS possible to be renaissance men of sorts in our service to the Lord. That is, one can be an good husband, father, writer, artist, musician, gardener, teacher, politician, church laymen, soldier, etc. all in the same lifetime. Those guys that are famous for making that scientific breakthrough or writing that great novel but burned through 3 marriages in the process and cursed God before they died… they took the low road.
Our minds are not infinite; and as the volume of the world’s knowledge increases, we tend more and more to confine ourselves, each to his special sphere of interest and to the specialised metaphor belonging to it. The analytic bias of the last three centuries has immensely encouraged this tendency, and it is now very difficult for the artist to speak the language of the theologian, or the scientist the language of either. But the attempt must be made; and there are signs everywhere that the human mind is once more beginning to move. towards a synthesis of experience.
-Dorothy Sayers, The Mind of the Maker
I believe that theology is not just for theologians. Artists need to learn it too. So do plumbers. And computer nerds. And theologians and computer nerds are not exempt from learning a bit of plumbing.
As mentioned above, one of the keys to pulling this off is found in language. Using more and more specialized language cuts us off from each other and from we need to learn and do. Learn what those big esoteric words mean, but then don’t stay there. Bring it back toward the center when you can. It’s not dumbing down the meaning. It takes a clever mind to make the intricate plain.