Teaching in a Theology Department in a Secular University: Reflecting on the Spirituality of Learning

Abstract

THIS PAPER SEEKS to address two things I have sensed from lecturing in a theology department in a secular university. First, most students who choose theology expect to engage with a discipline that deeply affects life. This is so whether or not they profess religious belief. Second, they are disappointed when their course does not live up to that expectation. It would strain the discipline of theology to suppose that it is indifferent to the transformation and redemption of life. So how can theology departments educate people within a secular environment with the sorts of goals suited to redemptive transformation? It is proposed in this paper that because education itself has transformative effects, learning is a spiritual practice. Rather than worrying about ‘sacred’ versus ‘secular’ disciplines, and confessing versus non-confessing practitioners, we might consider how best to practice the spirituality of learning with respect to everyone. If teaching in theology departments were to become unashamedly transformative in its concerns, more students might find theology to be the discipline they were hoping for when they chose their degree course.