Something that happens a lot on social media is that someone will respond to something I have posted with a variant of “You’re not a theologian!” Generally this is because I have made a theological claim that contradicts a conservative Christians theological assumptions and beliefs, such as “being LGBTQIA is neither a sin nor a choice,” or “Jesus was big on social justice.” This has happened multiple times lately. One such time was when I responded to a conservative political scientists’ take on debt forgiveness. This self professed follower of Jesus posted a typical anti-debt forgiveness comment about student loan forgiveness, saying it was a “poke in the eye to the millions of us who borrowed money and repaid our loans.” This despite the fact that she borrowed money via a PPP loan and had had that debt forgiven rather than repaying it. Enter me, in my role as a public theologian, responding pithily, “What part of “Forgive our debts as we forgive our debtors” did you not understand?”

This being social media, it wasn’t long before a white, conservative Christian man, showed up to proclaim, “You’re no theologian,” by which he meant, your theology fails to conform to my fundamentalist or conservative evangelical opinions, therefore you are not a theologian. Unfortunately for Ron, for such is his name, I was literally quoting Jesus from the Lord’s prayer as found in Matthew 6:12 when I responded to the aforementioned political scientist. So, woke Jesus strikes again! It’s also unfortunate for Ron because, he and those like him, are engaging in a fallacious “no true Scotsman” argument. You can’t be a real theologian, because you’re progressive and no true theologian is progressive. Or LGBTQIA affirming, or a feminist, or disbelieves in hell, or don’t believe in penal substitution atonement, or inerrancy of the Bible. Or any other thing that a progressive theologian might believe that is contrary to something that John MacArthur or John Piper might say. The broad over generalization is why such an argument is fallacious.

It’s also simply untrue. I am by education and vocation a theologian who engages in public theology –which I talked about here on the What If Project podcast . My theological work has been endorsed by other theologians, pastors, and Biblical scholars, and I have spoken in seminary classes and the denominational headquarters for the Mennonite Church about the theological topics I write about. Being a theologian doesn’t mean conforming to a rigid set of theological beliefs. It begins with the study of God through the lens of scripture and tradition and moves to a communal sharing of ideas to make decisions about matters of faith and a relationship with the divine. As my theology professor Dr. Lee Barrett said, “Theology can’t be outsourced. It is the self critical aspect of a relationship with God.”

So yes, I am in fact a theologian — the tattooed theologian to be more precise — and I bring theological questions and ideas to the public sphere with a hermaneutic which filters those theological ideas through the golden rule and love of neighbor. I know some folks will be ready with a loudly resounding BUT…so let me preemptively address some of the “But you don’t…” or “but you…” type statements.

But you swear, so how can you be a theologian? True, I do swear. Rather a lot actually. You try having PTSD and not swearing… I get that some people don’t like it and traditionally it has been seen as a sin. But here’s the thing, Jesus never says anything about policing someone’s vocabulary choices, nor does he say that cussing is a sin. Paul doesn’t either and he actually used the word “shit” in Philippians. For me swearing is cathartic at times and sometimes just infinitely useful so I drop plenty of “F-bombs” on a daily basis and I truly don’t think God cares at all.

But you don’t believe (insert a typical conservative Christian belief here)… Christian history is replete with theological disagreements about many, many topics. Christians don’t even agree about what the communion elements (the bread and wine) actually are. Some believe in a miracle that transforms them into Christ’s body and blood, while other Christians believe that they are simply bread and wine (or grape juice). I don’t believe Jesus had to die or that he did to appease God’s wrath for example, nor do I believe in eternal conscious torment in hell. Many disagree. All of those views have precedent in Christianity and this is barely scratching the surface, therefore I am in good historical company when it comes to theological disagreements.

But you say the Bible is not inerrant… That’s because it isn’t. That is quite easy to prove, and has been proven many times over. It’s a collection of diverse texts, written, edited, and translated many times, that has a wide variety of voices and wildly different views about God, Jesus, and many other theological topics throughout its pages. It is replete with contradictions and stories that are utterly horrific, while other stories in its pages are of eternal beauty and importance. The Bible is a lot of things, but inerrant is not one of them, and this is a widely held view by many Christian scholars, pastors, and lay people, not just this heterodox tattooed theologian.

But you have pronouns in your bio… Yes, I do and I wrote about that here: https://tattooed-theologian.com/2023/08/07/pronouns-in-bio/

So, there you have it. Yes, I am in fact a theologian, even if I don’t look like, sound like, or believe like other theologians. Conservative Christians will just have to finally get used to the fact that they do not have the market cornered on theology. Neither do I.

Peace be with you.

P.S. If you enjoy my blog posts, you’ll enjoy my latest book Theological Musings Volume 1.