Surrounded by Ghosts: Theology After the Great Conversation

I am surrounded by ghosts.

They are not the ghosts of people who have died, though many of them have. Rather, they are the spirits of what used to be. They remind me of a time when theology was a conversation, a discipline, and a vocation. They remind me of a world that now seems strangely distant.

There was a time when theology was a unified field. That does not mean everyone agreed. Far from it. Christians have been arguing about theology since the apostolic age. The history of the Church is, in many respects, the history of vigorous disagreement. Augustine and Pelagius disagreed. Luther and Erasmus disagreed. Barth and Brunner disagreed.

What united them was not agreement but method. They shared a common conviction that theology required work. It required languages. It required history. It required careful reading. It required the humility to listen to those who had gone before. One earned the right to speak by first learning how to listen.

Today, we live in a very different age.

We live in an age of opinions. Many of those opinions are sincere. Some are even insightful. However, they are often based more on intuition than research, more on personal preference than disciplined inquiry. The question increasingly asked is not, ‘What is true?’ but ‘What do I think?’ or, more often, ‘What do I feel?’

That shift has profound consequences.

When I first entered theological study, I knew where to look for guidance. There was a constellation of scholars whose work illuminated the landscape. They disagreed with one another on many issues, yet they shared a commitment to scholarship, intellectual rigor, and the life of the Church.

During my years of study and research, I found myself in the company of remarkable theologians and church historians. Men such as Steven Sykes, Gerald Bonner, Henry Chadwick and Charles Kannengiesser represented a generation for whom theology was never merely the exchange of opinions. It was a discipline demanding both intellectual honesty and spiritual seriousness. Even those with whom I disagreed, such as Timothy Barnes and R.P.C. Hanson, were always accorded respect and were closely listened to in lectures and conversations.

The corridors of theological education were alive with “the great conversation.” One could attend lectures, share meals, and engage in debates that stretched late into the evening. Questions mattered. History mattered. Sources mattered.

Moreover, that conversation extended far beyond an office in Wheaton, a cloister in Oxford, a lecture hall in Durham or a café in Paris. Michael Ramsey continued to shape my understanding of the Church long after his death. Rowan Williams demonstrated that intellectual depth and spiritual sensitivity need not be enemies. Robert Webber challenged evangelicals to rediscover their roots in the ancient Church. Countless others contributed to a rich and ongoing dialogue that crossed denominational boundaries.

What strikes me now is not merely that many of these voices are gone. Every generation eventually passes from the scene. What troubles me is that the culture which produced them appears to be disappearing as well.

Expertise itself has become suspect.

In many circles, the opinion of a lifelong scholar carries no more weight than the opinion of someone who watched a ten-minute video online. We would never entrust complex surgery to an amateur. We would never ask an untrained individual to design a bridge. Yet when theology is discussed, years of study are often treated as irrelevant.

The result is a strange flattening of knowledge. Everyone speaks. Few listen.

Social media has accelerated this trend. Platforms designed to reward speed, outrage, and certainty are not particularly hospitable to theological reflection. Nuance struggles to survive in an environment built around immediate reactions. The patient work of reading, thinking, and reconsidering is increasingly replaced by declarations and slogans.

The Church has not escaped this cultural transformation. Indeed, it often reflects it.

Many theological discussions now begin with conclusions rather than questions. Evidence is sought not to discover truth but to support largely social positions already adopted. Historical theology becomes optional. Tradition becomes negotiable. The communion of saints is replaced by the preferences of the present moment.

Yet theology was never intended to function this way.

At its best, theology is an act of listening. It is listening to Scripture. It is listening to the Church. It is listening to voices from centuries past who wrestled with many of the same questions we face today. It is a recognition that we are participants in a conversation that began long before us and will continue long after we are gone.

Perhaps that is why I think of these theologians as ghosts.

Their books remain on my shelves. Their voices still echo through my memory. I can still recall conversations, lectures, sermons, and insights that shaped my thinking. In many ways, they remain my companions.

However, they also remind me of something that has been lost.

The great conversation has become fragmented.

The challenge before us is not to recreate some imagined golden age. Every generation has its blind spots and failures. I have often said that nostalgia is not a theological virtue. Our task is something more modest and more important. We must recover the habits that made serious theological conversation possible in the first place.

We must learn again to read deeply.

We must learn again to listen carefully.

We must learn again that wisdom takes time.

Most importantly, we must remember that theology is not simply the expression of our opinions. It is the disciplined pursuit of truth in the presence of God.

The ghosts still speak.

The question is whether anyone is willing to listen.

Collect

Hosea 5:15–6:6

I will return again to my place,
until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face,
and in their distress earnestly seek me.
“Come, let us return to the Lord;
for he has torn us, that he may heal us;
he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.
After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will raise us up,
that we may live before him.
Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord;
his going out is sure as the dawn;
he will come to us as the showers,
as the spring rains that water the earth.”
What shall I do with you, O Ephraim?
What shall I do with you, O Judah?
Your love is like a morning cloud,
like the dew that goes early away.
Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets;
I have slain them by the words of my mouth,
and my judgment goes forth as the light.
For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,
the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

Psalm 50

The Mighty One, God the Lord,
speaks and summons the earth
from the rising of the sun to its setting.
Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God shines forth.
Our God comes; he does not keep silence;
before him is a devouring fire,
around him a mighty tempest.
He calls to the heavens above
and to the earth, that he may judge his people:
“Gather to me my faithful ones,
who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!”
The heavens declare his righteousness,
for God himself is judge!
“Hear, O my people, and I will speak;
O Israel, I will testify against you.
I am God, your God.
Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you;
your burnt offerings are continually before me.
I will not accept a bull from your house
or goats from your folds.
For every beast of the forest is mine,
the cattle on a thousand hills.
I know all the birds of the hills,
and all that moves in the field is mine.
“If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for the world and its fullness are mine.
Do I eat the flesh of bulls
or drink the blood of goats?
Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,
and perform your vows to the Most High,
and call upon me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”
But to the wicked God says:
“What right have you to recite my statutes
or take my covenant on your lips?
For you hate discipline,
and you cast my words behind you.
If you see a thief, you are pleased with him,
and you keep company with adulterers.
“You give your mouth free rein for evil,
and your tongue frames deceit.
You sit and speak against your brother;
you slander your own mother’s son.
These things you have done, and I have been silent;
you thought that I was one like yourself.
But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you.
“Mark this, then, you who forget God,
lest I tear you apart, and there be none to deliver!
The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me;
to one who orders his way rightly
I will show the salvation of God!”

Romans 4:13–18
For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.
That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.”

Matthew 9:9–13
As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.
And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

We had another hacking incident that took us offline for a while.

We have a temporary “captcha’ to try to keep the bad guys out for a while.

Now, it’s all yours today…

The photo above shows LiamtheCat occupying his preferred space…on my desk, in front of the iMac and sitting on my Macbook.

I either move my keyboard before he arrives or he pushes it on the floor…he is a large boy and needs the room.

From here he gets to decide whether I can get any work done or just focus on whatever need Liam has in the moment…I have learned to acquiesce quickly to the latter in hope of doing some of the former…

To acquire this space requires Liam to leap from somewhere, land on the desk, and somehow overcome the inertia generated by his leaping and his substantial girth to stop.

Occasionally, he misjudges this feat and slides directly into my bookcase behind the desk.

I have learned to keep beverages off the desk…or should have learned to do so.

Yesterday, he made his leap and slid directly into a full cup of coffee I had just put on the desk…and with one leap Liam soaked the following;

My Macbook

My AirPods

My iPad

My Apple TV

My mouse

My remote control for the TV

My iPhone

Another pair of ear buds

Something loud came out of my mouth…I’m not sure what it was, but I probably couldn’t share it here anyway.

Liam fled the scene and I started doing damage control with a towel and prayers I’ve known since childhood.

One of my housemates heard the ruckus and asked what happened. I explained the situation whilst frantically trying to save my stuff and he said “you must be really mad at Liam!”

In truth…I was not angry in the least…anger didn’t even flash for a moment.

My housemate found this…odd.

Upon refection, I suppose that it is…in that strangeness I discovered a few things.

First, I love my cat unconditionally…even when he almost ruins my few worldly possessions.

The reason Liam wants to be on my desk is to be close to me and the reason I allow it is that I want Liam to be close to me.

Getting to where we both want him to be involves risk…but that stuff is replaceable, Liam isn’t.

All of this, of course, leads to some theological truths.

God loves us unconditionally and even when we make a ruin of things… if you’re His…He’s not angry with you.

It broke my heart to think Liam thought I was mad because of the sound I made…I just had to move quickly to redeem the situation.

God isn’t mad at you…He’s in the process of redeeming you….you’re more than worth the mess you make and the stuff you break.

Getting you to where He wants you involves risk…but He believes His love will cover it .

He’s able to redeem it all.

I think I was able to save everything…and I think He will too.

Make your own application…

In an effort to convince the most gullible congregation in the country that his church is making “real change”, Dollar Bill Johnson is refusing to platform grifters it never should have allowed to be there in the first place.

What courage it must take to sever ties with Todd Bentley...who will have to supplement his income by working as a carny somewhere…which is basically what he’s been doing  for the last twenty years, any way.

Anyone with a Bible and enough sense to pour urine out of their boot knew he was a fraud from day one.

He’s also cutting ties with Mike Bickle (rhymes with despicable) and prophetic fraud Shawn Bolz who was exposed for exposing…himself...and being a prophetic charlatan.

Who the hell would have ties to this kind of vermin in the first place?

What courage …has been lacking for so long.

The problem here is that the whole New Apostolic Reformation is nothing but a carny show…everyone who ever set foot on that “platform” was a fraud.

There isn’t enough gold dust or goose feathers falling from the ceiling to cover this compost heap of religious manipulation and fraud.

Just as most sane people know carny games are rigged, so most sane Christians watching these thieves should have a clue that they are never winning the big stuffed animal…and they will go home broke.

One last thought…any real accountability will have to come from outside the walls of Bethel.

Always remember that the way to survive in circles like this is to have dirt on everyone else in the circle…and be willing to use those nuclear codes if necessary…

I Was Surprised…

A few days ago, I learned that an article I had written in 1982 with my professor and friend, C. George Fry, had been published in the Summer 2026 issue of the Concordia Historical Institute Quarterly. The article, “Lutheranism in the United States of America (1483–1983),” had been written for a seminary class and then quietly disappeared into a file cabinet. Forty-four years later, it unexpectedly resurfaced in a UPS package with complimentary copies of the journal inside.

I was surprised, to say the least.

The experience has caused me to reflect on the strange ways in which our lives unfold.

Most of us spend our time looking ahead. We think about the next project, the next responsibility, the next challenge, the next article, or, God forbid, the next book. Rarely do we imagine that something from the distant past will return and ask for our attention. Yet there it was: a paper written by a young seminarian who was still trying to find his voice and discern his vocation.

At the time, neither George nor I could have imagined where the years would lead. The decades that followed would bring further study, parish ministry, teaching, writing, friendships, disappointments, joys, and countless opportunities for growth. The young man who helped write that article in 1982 is not the same man who reads it today. Time has a way of changing us.

However, I was struck by how familiar parts of it felt. The questions that interested me then still interest me now. The love of history, the desire to understand the Church’s story, and the conviction that the past still speaks to the present were already there. Looking back, I could see the beginnings of a path that would eventually lead to Athanasius and Augustine, Durham and Cambridge, parish ministry and scholarship.

Perhaps what made the publication so gratifying was that I had not sought it. I was not revisiting old files in search of forgotten material. The article simply reappeared, and others judged it worthy of publication. There is a quiet affirmation in that. The work was not published because of anything I have done since. It was published because someone believed the work itself still had value.

There is also something fitting about its appearance in a historical journal. Historians spend much of their lives recovering forgotten voices and neglected documents. We preserve memory so that what has been lost might be found again. This time, however, I found myself on the receiving end of that process. An old manuscript, in reality, became a historical artifact, and its author discovered that he had become part of the history he once studied.

As I reflected on all of this, I found myself grateful—not merely for the publication, but for the reminder. Regardless of our desire for the immediate, vocations are not instantly built in dramatic moments. They are formed patiently over years and decades, one class, one conversation, one book, one friendship at a time. Looking back, we can often see connections that were invisible while we were living them.

A forty-four-year-old article is not likely to change the world. Nevertheless, it has reminded me of something important. The seeds planted in our youth often bear fruit in ways we never anticipate. Sometimes, by the grace of God, they bear fruit long after we have forgotten where they were planted.

That was the surprise.

It was a welcome one.

Duane W.H. Arnold, PhD

Collect

Almighty and everlasting God, you have given to us your servants grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power of your divine Majesty to worship the Unity: Keep us steadfast in this faith and worship, and bring us at last to see you in your one and eternal glory, O Father; who with the Son and the Holy Spirit live and reign, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Genesis 1:1—2:3

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.

And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

      So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

Psalm 150

Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens!
      Praise him for his mighty deeds;
      praise him according to his excellent greatness!
Praise him with trumpet sound;
praise him with lute and harp!
      Praise him with tambourine and dance;
      praise him with strings and pipe!
Praise him with sounding cymbals;
praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
      Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!
      Praise the Lord!

2 Corinthians 13:5–14

Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test! I hope you will find out that we have not failed the test. But we pray to God that you may not do wrong—not that we may appear to have met the test, but that you may do what is right, though we may seem to have failed.

For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. For we are glad when we are weak and you are strong. Your restoration is what we pray for. For this reason I write these things while I am away from you, that when I come I may not have to be severe in my use of the authority that the Lord has given me for building up and not for tearing down.

Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Matthew 28:16–20

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Among the many damnable positions of Christians Nationalists, one in particular galls me…that being the demonization of empathy.

If one claims to follow Jesus, one should be praying for more empathy, not mocking it.

“Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins!”

(Isaiah 53:4 NLT-SE)

“This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.”

(Hebrews 4:15 NLT-SE)

It has always been both a burden and a privilege for me to be deeply empathetic…I can’t even watch a movie unless I know that it has a happy ending…so I watch very few movies.

I have constructed elaborate emotional defenses to cope.

It is a good and holy work to feel another persons emotional pain…in fact, we would be even better off if we could also, even for a second…feel another persons physical pain.

Most people don’t want to complain about being in pain, especially if it is a constant in their lives.

What if we could take someone’s hand and for a moment feel what they feel?

Would we be kinder and gentler, more understanding of others situations if we could?

Perhaps…but it wouldn’t be long before we were kinder and gentler to the wrong person and then we would be “woke” and scorned by other Christians.

Now, it’s all yours today…

Liam and mousie…

As I write this there are two cats sleeping very soundly on my bed.

You can tell when a sleeping cat feels completely secure…they stretch out to their full length, often on their back…, because they have no fear of predators or danger.

It’s a good thing I don’t want to get in my own bed because these cats have left no room as they stretch out in complete security.

They are in my room, on my bed, and as long as I’m here they believe all is well.

When they wake up, they will hop off my bed and go to the food bowls…which they know are either already full or will be filled on demand.

The cats do not worry about whether anything will harm them or that they may go hungry…they assume that they will always be provided for…including copious amounts of treats.

I, on the other hand, am a mess.

I’m worried about maintaining a place to live for myself, let alone the cats.

There are big financial worries, health worries, worries about almost everything.

Sometimes, I’m scared.

Sometimes the fear keeps me awake while Liam the Cat slumbers in peace.

The difference between me and my cats is our trust in our fathers…they assume that I will care for them while I fear my Father won’t do the same for me.

““That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

“And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?

“So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

“So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”

(Matthew 6:25-34 NLT-SE)

In other words, be like my cats.

They are “believers’.

““I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!””

(Mark 9:24 NLT-SE)

Maybe i need a nap.

Make your own application…

It’s not all good, man... (on the decline of the church)

How worship music became the soundtrack of the political right…

Abortion, Israel, and homosexuality top clergy’s political topics…

The five main takeaways from Pope Leo’s encyclical on AI…

Gen Z’s incompetent converts…

Wolves in the church…

Texas Senate race pits the Christian right vs. the Christian left…

If I were a young earth creationist…

Will we sing in heaven?

What do you do when you can’t care about every issue?

Saved by bad art…

All Christians should listen to Pope Leo on AI…

Why should Christians care about quantum physics?

Why one theologian changed his mind about women in leadership…

The life of Oswald Chambers…