Integrating theology and spirituality

All too often, we hear about a divide between academic theology, on one hand, and lived spirituality, on the other: intellectual life versus spiritual life, academy versus church, and so on. Mark McIntosh was someone for whom that divide did not exist. He was a rigorous scholar, deeply knowledgeable about the broad tradition of Christian theology, and also a sincere person of prayer and a faithful priest.

As a doctoral student, I was struck by the extent of Mark’s knowledge of the Christian tradition. As I got to know him more, it became clear that his approach to theology was deeply grounded in both a rich prayer life and a strong sense of ecclesial and ministerial context. When it was time for me to seek out a chair for my comprehensive exam board, and later a director for my dissertation, Mark was the obvious choice. Indeed, in some ways it was less a matter of his expertise and research areas as it was about his overall ethos as a theologian.

In the course of reading through my exam list—which covered texts from the early Church Fathers to the present day—I often met with Mark to discuss questions that had come up, and I continued to be impressed with his knowledge of these writings, despite the fact that he had probably not read a number of them for some time. But he also did not hesitate to refer me to other faculty members in some cases—not, I am convinced, because he could not answer my questions himself, but because he was humble enough to acknowledge where someone else’s knowledge might exceed his own.

Indeed, Mark often demonstrated a great deal of sincerity, grace, and humility. He was forthcoming about how he had grown and changed in his approach to pedagogy, not ashamed to admit ways he had been “doing it wrong” in the early years of his career. One of his latter insights that he impressed upon me was to help students make connections between the learning material and the things they care about most.

Someone once told me that Anglican spirituality is more “caught” than “taught.” I have found that Mark’s ethos as a theologian and educator was much the same. I do not recall making a conscious decision to model my research, writing, or teaching upon his, but I eventually realized that this is what I was doing, simply from the time I spent under his mentorship. Mark remains an excellent example of how we can, in fact, integrate the academic, ecclesial, and spiritual sides of theology.