I remember distinctly during undergraduate studies my Theology instructor telling our class, “Theology is controversial.” There were two maxims our instructor had us repeat throughout the class, the former more frequently than the latter, and they were, “I am a theologian,” and “Theology is controversial.”
Theology is messy business. Case in point: recently Peter Leithart critiqued theological musings from David Bentley Hart’s newest book. Leithart defends the literal sense of Scripture, contra Hart, and Leithart’s comments are excellent, but, additionally, the article is a good reminder that, as my undergraduate professor said, “Theology is controversial.” So, here we have two learned and well respected churchmen, but they just don’t see eye to eye. Thus, controversy.