In this article Isaac argues that all theological studies at a tertiary level should have a thesis component, even Bachelor’s degrees. We realise that for various reasons this won’t be true of many theological institutions and colleges. So we aren’t calling those institutions out but are rather inviting them to consider why they should.
A thesis is a sustained, structured, and original reflection answering a well-defined theological question. It offers a clear argument in response to that question while critically engaging with authoritative sources, including the Bible, Christian tradition, and academic or scholarly voices. The depth of a thesis will vary across the level of your studies. A Doctoral thesis should surpass a Master’s, which should surpass a bachelor’s and so on. But the bottom line is that theological students in training—should—be given time to research and write a thesis. That is the contention of my article, which I argue below.
A thesis is a sustained and original reflection answering a well-defined theological question.
I’m convinced that theological studies without a serious writing component are like serving a meal without any dessert. At best, it feels incomplete; at worst, it lacks true satisfaction. In theological training, the dessert shouldn’t be an optional indulgence. It crowns the meal, revealing its true depth and determining whether the entire experience was genuinely enriching. While writing for the Church more broadly speaking is useful, theses offer a unique moment, a single opportunity to produce precise work that is academically scrutinised for subsequent better thinking and writing. By exposing their writing to keen theological eyes and receiving critical feedback, theological students engage in a crucial component of ministry preparation.
In some ways, then, this article is a call to leaders of theological institutions, urging them not to let go of their students before they’ve persevered through and passed the requirement of writing of a thesis.
Theology Must Produce
A thesis is the cream of one’s theology. If you want to know a writer’s theology, read their thesis. In some ways, theological coursework is a bit like the cold, lonely laboratory of a scientist who tests formulas or theorems against established laws and scientific operations. While necessary, that work is sterile until it’s been tested, improved, retested and confirmed by the scientific community. The best formulas are those that lead to verifiable results in the real world. A lot of theology, happening behind closed doors without producing anything, is like those formulas that are never tested. Thus, they are largely useless in the real world. In fact, why do all that work without the possibility of a serious output?
Why do all that work without the possibility of a serious output?
To use a slightly different analogy, theology that never sees the proverbial light of day is like preparing a bomb you never launch. The thesis is a bit like a launcher. It’s a mode of delivery. Without the launcher, a bomb is basically useless; or, at most, it will have a minor, minimal or local impact. Worse still, bombs that never get launched could potentially blow up their makers. Local theology that’s locally consumed without the risk of outside interaction and evaluation—even from the intellectually hostile—runs the risk of intellectual stagnation. Locally detonated bombs backfire.
Prepare a thesis. Launch your thoughts. Face the risk of interception. Be willing to follow through on your launch trajectory and see if you can make a direct impact on your target audience.
Test Your Theology via Thesis Writing
Sticking with the above analogy, your thesis is like the missile launcher that allows for all your hard theological work to be calibrated, compacted, tested, and delivered for richer, wider, broader impact. Here is where the analogy doesn’t quite fit. Unlike a bomb or missile that destroys, the thesis builds by shaping minds and giving new ways of thought. It gives those in theological training the precious chance to think and reflect at a sustained, rigorous level. Contrary to bomb debris that sets refineries, among other things, on fire when they are intercepted, thoughts that are intercepted do not create debris but dialogue that builds up and creates more ‘refineries’ of theologians.
Localised studies that are closed-in on themselves defeat the purpose of education.
This is why it is dangerous to have a local seminary within one’s own church that is closed to the outside world and where the local pastor’s theological views shape the entire school’s theology and philosophy of education. Such localised schools not only backfire but also never positively impact other schools of thought. Localised studies that are closed in on themselves defeat the purpose of education.
The Value of Public Dialogue
When you trace the history of formal education as we know it today, you’ll realise that it developed considerably in the medieval period (or Middle Ages). A classic figure like Thomas Aquinas would travel across countries to speak and share his thoughts on the scriptures and theology. Any recognised theological education included interaction with Peter Lombard’s Sentences, which were recognised in medieval academia as classic Christian theology. The academic freedom and intellectual independence developed in the medieval period were foundational for the 16th-century Reformation as Martin Luther, John Calvin and others could engage freely in theological discourse with other trained theologians.
Writing shores up the elusive strength of memory and tradition.
In a much smaller, though important way, writing short articles like this one helps exercise that muscle which could one day culminate in a long, sustained and coherent thesis. TGC Africa serves as an incubator for Christian writers. Writing has had a mixed reception on the continent, in part owing to our oral culture. But writing shores up the elusive strength of memory and tradition. Furthermore, writing a thesis depends on robust methodology, rooting your work in the stream of Christian thought and literature. I’d suggest that writing has a depth and continuity that orality does not. In fact, despite common pushback against it, writing actually fosters richer and more refined dialogue.
Critical Development
To conclude, a thesis gives the theologian an opportunity to interact with others at a deeper level and refine one’s own original thoughts, contributing not only to the field of education but also to the upbuilding of the Church. A thesis exposes bad theology and refines good theology in the fires of other well-tested theologians. Its demands mean it also profoundly develops the writer, theologian or pastor. A thesis usually requires explorations in exegesis, biblical theology, dogmatics (or systematic theology), practical theology. Bringing those together, a thesis forces the theologian towards unity and coherence, both in their writing as well as their theology.
Do you want to know if you’re a theologian? Then write your own thesis.
When done well, especially at the level of supervision, it makes the scriptures come alive. It enhances clarity beyond one’s thinking to God’s revelation. Do you want to know if you’re a theologian? Then write your own thesis. And I dare you to launch it!
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