Academic Community and the Life of the Mind

Abstract

The leading question in this closing article is whether from previous contributions a ‘state of the art’ of contemporary Dutch Baptist academic theology can be distilled. In order to come to a conclusive suggestion, first a recapitulation will be given of the articles that have been presented to collect what can be derived from their content and aims. Prima facie, the foremost interest of Dutch Baptist academic work is with history and primary theology (experiential theology). Its basic concern is with the bi-focal balance between primary theology, the church as the laboratory of theology on the one hand, and the chronicles of these churches on the other. In particular, the Baptist Seminary functions as a counterbalance in reaching equilibrium by invoking and stimulating the qualities of inquisitiveness, sense-making, and above all interpretive leadership.