This article addresses the question of the role of theology and theologians in a secular environment, such as a university. Due to social changes theology is no longer the self-evident ‘Queen of the Sciences’, but is challenged to review its position among sciences, which often look with suspicion at its purposes. Instead of calling to reclaim the throne, and drawing on the historical figure of the Fool, it is argued that theology (or, rather theologians) should redress themselves as ‘Clowns of the Sciences’. By way of a conversation with the propositions of James McClendon and Stanley Hauerwas, a comic framework is set out that makes fun of the Queen, and thereby allows theology to participate by its oddity. Towards the end, and with the assistance of the prophet Jonah, a preliminary outline is made of the Clown’s Speech.
If we study processes of social innovation in organizations from the perspective of Dorothee Soelle’s liberation theology, various issues for mystagogic counseling emerge. Mystagogic counseling inspired by Soelle’s liberation theology may help organizations to deepen the understanding of the processes of social innovation they are involved in. Soelle’s liberation theology may also provide valuable input on how students can develop a critical, socially engaged view on issues in the field of ‘business and society’.
The Lectorate Theology of the CHE focusses on the interpretation and communication of ‘salvation’ within new faith communities. The goal of the Lectorate is to find new ways for contextualizing the Gospel in our secular society, through investigating theologies and processes of sense-making in emerging faith communities. One of the current research projects is ‘Heeft meedoen zin?’ (‘Does it make sense to participate?’), a practical-theological research in six faith communities in the Netherlands. In each community six carefully selected participants were interviewed. In this project we try to find an answer to the following questions: What do participants of pioneering faith communities experience of (the) good life when they get involved? In what ways is participation meaningful to them? What lessons can we learn from their experiences for mission in the West? To map the answers of participants, we developed a holistic research model with eight dimensions of meaning. This ‘Compass of Meaning’ is based on a holistic interpretation of salvation, as well as on modern perspectives in social sciences and healthcare. In this short paper we introduce this model and its backgrounds. In our presentation at the Conference, we will share the first results of our research. We invite you to reflect critically on the validity of our model and to help us interpret the first results.
