Theology On The Blackboard
June 10, 2009, posted by Tyler, under The Practicing Church | | 7 Comments
Hi everyone, here is a snapshot of my senior project at Seattle University. Its called Theology On The BlackBoard; Teaching Theology With Simple Pictures. 
Inspired by Dan Roam’s book The Back Of The Napkin Solving Problems and Selling Ideas With Pictures, I decided to bring the ideas of this business book into the realm of theology. So I decided to start drawing theological doctrines, ideas, and concepts.
This project’s relevance comes out of the vested interest I have in my future. I want to teach theology after I graduate at either the high school or college level. I am committed to go on to graduate studies and finish my pastoral degree at some point in the future. (we will see how much money Duke or Emory gives me) This project is an important piece both in the synthesis of my education at Seattle University and for future lesson plans in my career. I also hope it will help me create a visual teaching style that assists student comprehension. I believe that a truly successful teacher today has to employ as many visual models as possible to capture young audiences, Sir Ken Robinson said “there are no boring subjects, only boring teachers”. This project ties into The Practicing Church because I believe inspiring people fits into the personal. The best teachers inspire the next leaders.
Here are four quick lessons out of the over 20 I created for this volume. These are simply teaching aids, ideally when another teacher is asked by a student what is up with Karl Rahner. That teacher could quickly draw out and diagram his doctrine of the the anonymous christian or the Vorgriff and the student could understand it clearly.
1.)The Evolution of The Dual Natures of Christ: Doectism was a common 2nd century C.E. heresy that proclaimed that Jesus was simply God in a man suit (like a Halloween costume) and lacked a fully human component. This is a very common heresy today: if you really pushed someone who wasn’t theologically trained, you would most likely end up with this answer. Gnosticism is a heresy that was very popular especially in North Africa during the 3-4th century C.E. The Gnostics believed in a kind of radical dualism, where the God of the Old Testament was evil and Jesus, as the God of the New Testament, was good. The Gnostics believed that there were two different Gods, an evil creator (Old Testament God), and a good redemptive God (Jesus). Arianism, discussed above, asserts that Jesus was not fully divine, but rather a creature above mankind. Nestorianism is a 5-6th century C.E. heresy that stated that the union between the dual natures of Christ was moral, not ontological. Nestorians were accused of dividing the person of Christ in two by the western church.
2.)The Atonement Theories: In the Ransom View (Gregory of Nyssa), humanity is in slavery to Satan and the cross is liberation from Satan. This liberation occurs because Jesus, the perfect life, is sacrificed for us and our imperfect lives. In the Satisfaction View (Anselm of Canterbury), humanity has insulted God and only through Jesus’ perfect sacrifice is that anger lifted. The Satisfaction View is very similar to Substitutionary atonement championed by John Calvin, where Jesus takes the place of the sinner and the punishment for sin. In Moral Influence View (Peter Abelard), the cross is a representation of God’s love for us. The Holy Spirit then moves humanity and we respond to God’s love.
3.)Anonymous Christians and Karl Rahner (1904-1984): Rahner was a principle theologian during Vatican II, especially in the areas of ecumenism and religious dialogue. During Rahner’s work in thinking about other faiths and globalization, he forms the idea of the Anonymous Christian. According to Rahner, all of humanity can be saved through Christ even if they’ve never heard the gospel. This ties in with Rahner’s understanding of the knowledge of God as something everyone is born with. If the non-Christian follows their conscience, is moved by grace, seeks God, and does God’s will, that person can be saved by Jesus. Anyone who lives the “Christian” life will get to go to heaven, because they are accepting Jesus in the way they live, regardless of whether or not they know they are leading a “Christian” life.
4.)The Omega Point and Christogenesis: Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955): Chardin was a paleontologist and Jesuit priest. While working in China on a scientific dig, Chardin and his team discovered the Peking Man, which was a crucial specimen in the understanding of how humans evolved from apes. As a Jesuit priest, Chardin struggled to reconcile his scientific training with his Catholic belief and attempts to make a synthesis. He comes up with the idea of Christogenesis and the Omega point. Christogenesis is the idea that all of humanity is evolving to become more Christ-like, much like humans evolved into apes. This is how Chardin begins to synthesize evolution and the Bible instead of just having to choose between one and the other. The Omega point is just Christogenesis on a larger scale, where all of matter and conscious evolves toward the Omega (God).
you are not boring
Thanks Jim, I always knew you had faith in me.
Wasn’t another facet of Gnosticism that Jesus wasn’t fully human… since they considered the fleshly body evil? Am I off there? Just thought that might be helpful to include.
Hey aulance,
The Gnostics considered the body to be evil, and the mind to be good. So In a way the Gnostics were also Docetist’s because they believed that the redeemer God couldn’t take an “evil” human form. So its God in a human suit again.
no comment yet on the content but the pedagogy is GREAT! Keep posting stuff like this…I’d like to see more!
Robin Dugall
I. Love. This. As a teacher and also a church history/theology enthusiast, I admire this deeply. Keep up the good work!!
could i use the atonement theory pictures for a worship presentation? or at least borrow the idea?