Thursday, April 12, 2007

Which Theologian Are You?

Apparently I am Karl Barth. Keep in mind however that the first time I did this quiz I was John Calvin (!). I could not live with myself if that were true so I took it again with only slight variations to my very self conscious answers (the questions on these things are woefully loaded of course) I managed to divest myself of my latent Calvinism only to find out I was neo-orthodox. Dang! I really wanted to be John Wesley! Hang on! He's not even on the list. Oh, it's that old chestnut again is it? Wesley was not a real theologian. Right, and Chalres Finney was I suppose?

You scored as Karl Barth. The daddy of 20th Century theology. You perceive liberal theology to be a disaster and so you insist that the revelation of Christ, not human experience, should be the starting point for all theology.

Karl Barth


67%

John Calvin


67%

Jürgen Moltmann


60%

Martin Luther


60%

Anselm


33%

Augustine


33%

Friedrich Schleiermacher


33%

Charles Finney


27%

Paul Tillich


27%

Jonathan Edwards


13%

Which theologian are you?
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10 comments:

K E Alexander said...

Let's just be thankful there's anyone who believes in free will on the list!! One of my students was Anselm!! AAUUGGHH!! That's worse than Calvin! How could he be MY student and be Anselm?

The Calvinists within the COG (even Wesley had the Countess!) say that Wesley was a "failure as a theologian" to which I often respond, "Yeah, he only wrote sermons, letters, hymns, etc....no wait...that was the Apostle Paul!"

I was a nice mix of Moltmann and Finney (which sounds like a lethal combination), though mostly Finney. Must be the Prosecuting Attorney side of me.

By the way...was your thesis published? I'm glad you see us as a Holiness Church! The revisionists in our midst like to neglect that part of our history?

Glen O'Brien said...

My thesis is not published as yet. Three journal articles have appeared and three are forthcoming. You may have these in your library. “A Dogged Inch-by-Inch Affair: The Church of the Nazarene in Australia 1945-1958” The Journal of Religious History (vol. 27, no. 2), June 2003. “Old Time Methodists in a New World: Kingsley Ridgway and A. B. Carson,” Lucas: An Evangelical History Review, Special Issue - His Dominions: Explorations in Canadian-Australian Religious and Cultural Identity, no. 29 (June 2001), 63-83. “Just Another ‘Queer Sect’ from Over the Pacific”: Anti-Americanism and the Wesleyan- Holiness Churches in Australia,” Aldersgate Papers vol. 4 (September 2003), 29-58.

Forthcoming are: "'A Beautiful Virgin Country Ready for a Revival of Bible Holiness': Early Visiting Holiness Evangelists to Australia" which will appear in the Fall 2007 issue of the Wesleyan Theological Journal. "Joining the Evangelical Club: The Movement of the Wesleyan-Holiness Churches in Australia Along the Church-Sect Continuum," has just been through it final revsiosn and approved for publication in a forthcoming issue of The Journal of Religious History. And the one you would be most interested in, which I am currently doing final revisions on for Lucas: Evangelical History Journal, is entitled "They Made a Pentecostal Out of Her: The Church of God (Cleveland) in Australia," which is about the loss of Wesleyan-Holiness identity among COG people here. As for a book - here's hoping. I have to get around to doing the necessary editorial preparations and shopping around for a publisher, but as a full time lecturer as well as a pastor it's hard to find the time. The working title I have for the book is "Hallelujah Under the Southern Cross: North American Wesleyan-Holiness Churches in Australia."

If your library would like to subscribe to Aldersgate Papers, the Theological Journal of the Wesleyan Theological Consortium (of which I am editor)let me know. In fact, if you give me a postal address I'll post you some complimentary copies and you can try to talk your librarian into it. (Submission of articles always welcome by the way.)

K E Alexander said...

Your work sounds really interesting. I'll try to get copies of the articles. (I teach History of the Holiness-Pentecostal Movement and I'm always looking for ways to expand the study beyond the US). You may send a copy of The Aldersgate Papers to me:
Kimberly Ervin Alexander
Church of God Theological Seminary
900 Walker St. NE
Cleveland, TN 37311
USA

I'm sure the librarian will be interested!

Ross said...

Just as well Thiering, Spong, and the like don't rate a mention...

Steve Wright said...

I must be a little confused, I tied as Luther, Calvin, Moltmann, Augustine, and Schleiermacher!!!

Apparently I have a few issues to sort out with myself.

I think that the problem with this test is that you actually have to place yourself somewhere within the spectrum of opinion. This is radically different from the typical theological answer to any question: 'Well, there are a number of differing opinions regarding x. For instance theolog A thinks x1, while theolog B thinks x2. Thank you for your excellent question.'

Ludicrousity said...

Apparently I'm Anselm. Here's the description they gave:

Anselm is the outstanding theologian of the medieval period.He sees man's primary problem as having failed to render unto God what we owe him, so God becomes man in Christ and gives God what he is due. You should read 'Cur Deus Homo?'



However, given teh earlier reaction, I don't think this is a good thing! But I don't reall yknow who he is.

Anonymous said...

I got a tie between Anselm and Calvin.
Is that bad??!?!?

Bear in mind that I didn't know what some of the questions meant or how to answer them :s I had to read a few of them more than once!

I think I have a lot of studying to do!

xoxo
elle

Anonymous said...

100% Anslem.. hmmm. I've never heard of him :O!


Anselm 100%
Jonathan Edwards 80%
Jürgen Moltmann 80%
John Calvin 73%
Martin Luther 67%
Friedrich Schleiermacher 67%
Karl Barth 53%
Paul Tillich 47%
Augustine 33%
Charles Finney 20%

Anonymous said...

speaking of 'theologians'.. I was listening to the wonderful ABC classic fm this morning, and ex bishop Sponge was on there.... and he seriously does talk ridiculous *CRAP*.

He IS seriously whacked, apparently there are no miracles, the gospels cants be trusted and well, apparently God is outside his theistic defintions, in fact theism is wrong, and its only the love from his second wife that holds him together, and the whole universe, love. from human to human... arrr. I cant comprehend how someone speak such things and not feel deeply convicted somehow... poor fellow. he was so so so so off the side. i think he may have even claimed that atheism was okay...

Glen O'Brien said...

Yes, the church used to burn heretics. Now we make them bishops. (Not that I advise the former but it shows how far we've come!)

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