Abstract
It is a delight and privilege to take on the role of editor of Theology. My first article was published in Theology when I was still a postgraduate and the late, great Gordon Dunstan was editor. He liked to help young authors, giving my article priority well beyond its merits and remaining a mentor on public ethics for the next four decades. Appointed to the staff of Church House in 1955 and to the new F. D. Maurice Chair at Kings College London in 1967, he was instrumental in shaping professional ethics within and outside the churches especially in medicine and family related areas. Minutes of the Church Assembly’s Board of Social Responsibility for February 1960 (kindly shown to Theology by its then secretary George Wedell) show Gordon Dunstan present at a meeting chaired by Sir John Wolfenden (of Wolfenden Report fame). Both the topics covered (race relations, sexuality, industrial relations and international justice) and the politically influential chair suggest a significant link between this committee and emerging social legislation in Britain.
What an editor to follow!
Building upon the excellent editorial work of my immediate predecessor, Stephen Plant, I have been planning a number of developments as you will notice. All are designed to keep Theology relevant and accessible. It has never been the intention that Theology should be a technical journal catering just for specialists or archivists. Articles need to be as jargon free as possible and understandable to specialists and non-specialists alike. And they should be relevant to changing churches and to a changing world. I hope to promote courteous debate about relevant theological, pastoral and ethical topics and to encourage new and established authors – women and men – to contribute to this debate. The debate between Theo Hobson and Alister McGrath on ‘A new approach to liberal theology’ in this issue of Theology is, I hope, the first of many such debates in the future. Alongside this article by two established authors is a challenging, pastoral article by a new author, Susannah Cornwall, on ‘Telling stories about intersex and Christianity’.
Another development is a series of articles on ‘New directions in…’, with Lucy Peppiatt contributing the first on ‘New Directions in Spirit Christology’. With the astonishing growth of Pentecostal churches around the world, Spirit Christology has become particularly relevant. In the next issue of Theology David Jasper will contribute a second on ‘New directions in ecumenical liturgy’, with other articles on ‘New directions in New Testament Studies’ and ‘New directions in Christian ethics’ planned for the future.
A third development is short articles (no more than 1000 words please) on ‘Difficult Texts’. John Hull contributes the first on Matthaean texts that treat blindness as a metaphor for moral or spiritual failure. He has written so well and movingly over the years about his own experience of blindness and uses this experience here to challenge thoughtless and uncritical uses of this biblical metaphor. I hope that others will be encouraged to contribute short articles on other ‘difficult texts’ suggesting how they can be interpreted both critically and faithfully.
A fourth development is to have a regular Poetry Page edited by Frances Ward, Dean of Bury St Edmunds. She will have complete editorial control over this page and possible contributions of new, previously unpublished, religious poetry should be sent directly to her at <fefward@gmail.com> and all other articles (but not book reviews) to me at <r.gill@kent.ac.uk>.
Finally, not a new development but a return to an old practice, I intend to discontinue ‘Books Received’ and to include, instead, ‘Short Notices’ on important new books that would not usually be reviewed – because either they are too expensive or they are second editions of books that have already been reviewed in Theology.
I hope you will find these developments helpful and stimulating, and look forward to receiving your comments and suggestions on topics that the journal addresses, or might address in future issues.