Book Project on Theological Method

The first book on theology or ministry that I distinctly remember opening a world to me was a book by Eddie Gibbs, published by InterVaristy Press. Over the years, I've come to appreciate IVP's approach to developing books that can reach a wide audience with world-opening ideas.

Several years ago, I got the opportunity to give a presentation at the Wheaton Theology Conference, and afterward an editor from IVP Academic asked if I'd be interested in publishing with them. I was just starting a new job and moving to a new city, and all I really had in the pipeline was my newly-finished dissertation that I was ready to set aside after years of work on it, so I asked if I could think about it for a while.

After finding a groove in university life (read, doing something more than furiously preparing for the next lecture that was starting in 12 minutes), I was able to do some creative work in the form of some introductory lectures on the way theology is done. I stumbled on an idea to look to figures in Scripture to see how these ancient text portray theological life and work, long before 'theology' was a distinct discipline in an academic setting.

I found that Mary can teach us how to ponder in the work of theology. Jacob reminds us how to wrestle. Thomas has a thing or two to teach us about doubt in the work of theology, and Sarah opens a space for us to reflect on laughter and humor as part of the theological life. In honesty, these lectures weren't only a lot of fun to write, they also seemed to connect with the students. One of them got a tattoo because of something I shared about Jeremiah and theological epistemology. I figured if she can get ink on her arm, I can put some ink on paper. So that's the book I'm writing. It still needs a title, so if you've got any brilliant ideas, I'm here for them.