the theologian as mapmaker
"maybe redemption is not a place you find, but a system of mapmaking"
a note to subscribers: thank you for bearing with me these past few weeks of scattered posts. June concluded with a vacation, a hectic week of work, and two manuscript deadlines. With all that finished, TCL is back in full swing.
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My friend Tim is a cartographer. From the little I know about this field, that means Tim makes maps—brilliant, thematic maps. He worked for Apple and was accepted several years ago into a highly competitive MA-PhD program at Penn State along with a prestigious fellowship.
Tim’s work focuses on the trustworthiness of maps: how do we know that the maps we use are accurate? How do we know GoogleMaps is conveying the correct distance between our location and our destination? How do we know the radar on the local weather channel is accurately depicting the forecast in your city? How do we know the maps covered in gradient red and blue during an election aren’t biased or manipulating select data? How does a map presenting data around segregation and the impact of redlining on major US cities change when it is created by FoxNews versus CNN?
As I understand his work, Tim is helping people rightly see the world around them, make sense of it, and then locate themselves within it. I think theologians share a similar task.
Maybe redemption is not a place you find, but a system of mapmaking. Sketch a land. Pencil in dragons. Imagine it real, resplendent, and broken under a waxing moon.
— John West, Lessons and Carols: A Meditation on Recovery
Theology is a map. Study good theology and it will illuminate our world and locate the reader within that world. Theology draws boundary lines around different concepts and beliefs and creates highways and town roads between them, connecting them through prose and thought.
These conceptual maps help us look out at the world and make sense of it: the heavens delcare the glory of God (Ps. 19)…the stones cry out (Lk. 19)…Hear O’ Israel, the LORD is our God, the LORD is one (Deut 6)…Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation (Mk. 16)…if you besiege a town for a long time…you must not destroy its trees by wielding an ax against them (Deut. 20).
Maps, though, are subjective. If the theologian works with faulty equipment, their map will be inaccurate. If they see a river and say “ah ha, a tree!” or record only the paths that lead to one specific destination, the map will be of little use (unless you also confuse a river with a tree, or intend to arrive at the same destination as the map maker).
Like Tim, we must evaluate the trustworthiness of any given map. Rather than assuming any given map is accurate, we must interrogate the source material and location from the map makers are looking out to the world.
Why does one theologian color in the highways between sexuality and hamartiology (sin), while another only draws thin, back roads between these two locations?
Why might one theologian have all roads leading to Christology (Christ) while another may have them leading to ecclesiology (the church)?
Why does one map include topics like ecology, justice, queerness, liberation, disability, and women in ministry while another excludes them?
It is the task of the theologian to create and refine these maps, taking note of undiscovered roads and unmarked cities. But it is the task of the Christian to utilize these maps and navigate the world faithfully.
Some may choose the most literal maps that trace with the sharp tip of a pencil the finest paths and trails. Others may prefer a larger map that focuses on offering an overview of the landscape rather than prescribing a path to take. And some, like John West, might choose a map that is wonderfully magical—filled with the mystical work of the Holy Spirit coursing through the wind, giving us divine breath to continue our sojourn through this world.
No matter the map we choose, as Christians we are called to travel these paths. Take up your cross and follow me, Jesus says (Mt. 16). “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Mt. 28). However, we do not need to travel them alone. Instead, we may do so through the wisdom and knowledge of those before and around us to journey toward and participate in the redemptive action of God in the world today.
Reading:
Kevin W. Hector, Christianity as a Way of Life: A Systematic Theology (Yale University Press, 2023). [[My review coming in the Christian Century later this year]].
Kristin DuMez, “Demonization & Complicity” in
Melissa Crowe, “The Thing Itself” (Image Journal, Issue 116)
Watching:
The Bear - Season 1 (Hulu)
Black Mirror - Season 6 (Netflix)