Fr Gerald O'Collins sj - Broken Bay Institute

By Debra Vermeer
The Church needs theologians – Fr Gerald O’Collins sj
The Church needs theologians to effectively expound the Word of God in the third millennium with
fresh language and new images, because where theology is weak, the Church will not be healthy,
according to distinguished Australian theologian and biblical scholar, Fr Gerald O’Collins sj.
But, Fr Gerald said that these
fresh approaches must include
a commitment to rigorous
scholarship, including the study
of ancient languages.
Born in Melbourne, Fr Gerald
earned his PhD from
Cambridge University and
spent 33 years teaching at the
Gregorian University, Rome,
where from 1985‐1991 he was
also Dean of Theology. He has
been a visiting professor at
universities in Ireland, the UK,
the US, Australia and other countries. Fr Gerald has authored or co‐authored 60 books and is a much
sought‐after lecturer and presenter at universities around the world.
The Jesuit scholar was the keynote presenter at a Summer School for The Broken Bay Institute in
January, where he spoke on the topic of Access to Jesus as part of a ‘Faith, Revelation and Theology’
course. He was joined by a team including one of the youngest theologians in Australia, 25‐year‐old
PhD candidate, Dan Fleming, a BBI faculty member.
Fr Gerald said he was happy to be back in Australia, after many years living and working overseas,
and to be getting out and meeting so many different people engaged in the study and teaching of
theology.
“I’ve been everywhere – Bendigo, Lismore, Western Australia and other places – and you get fresh
audiences wherever you go,” he said. “I’m often talking to people in education, in schools, and I’m
really full of admiration for what they’re doing.
“I also did an eConference with BBI (Jesus the Christ in 2010) and that was wonderful. You’re
reaching thousands of people doing that ‐ it seems very worthwhile.
“And the people I’m working with here (at BBI) are much closer to ordinary people and
educationalists, so I’m very interested to hear what’s on their minds. And I can pass on to them
things I’ve learned and gleaned in the last few years,” he said.
One area of current international scholarship that he has been sharing with his students is the
eyewitness testimony of the Gospels.

“After all, Jesus died and rose about 30 AD – well Peter doesn’t die until the 60s,” he said. “Some of
them died earlier and some of them died later, but these eyewitnesses, they’re controlling the
tradition. They’re saying, ‘no, you’ve got it wrong, I was there’ or ‘yes, you’ve got it right’. And some
of these were minor eyewitnesses like Bartimaeus, somebody who was cured by Jesus. Why was he
named in the Gospels? He was named really because he told that story. Or Simon of Cyrene, he
could tell that section of the Passion story – that seems to be the reason why their names are there.
“So there’s a lot of interesting work being done on eyewitness testimony. I feel I can pass on things
about Jesus scholarship, what’s happening there.”
Reflecting on the changes he has seen over the decades, Fr Gerald said one of the big positive moves
has been the opening up of theological study to more people.
“Well, far more women are studying it, and many more lay people in general, so that’s a major
change. Because theology was mainly a study for people aiming to become ordained priests – and
now all sorts of different people from different walks of life are studying it, so there are a lot of
pluses there,” he said.
“And I think theology is much more aware of the world, of the global village. You can’t do your
Christian theology without thinking of Judaism too and Islam and so forth. I mean theology today is
often taught along with the study of religions.”
Fr Gerald welcomed the modern pastoral application of theology but urged students not to overlook
the more rigorous academic pursuits that underpin good scholarship.
“The one thing I suppose I’m a bit concerned about is, that about 50 years ago people were willing to
spend a lot of their life in libraries, learning the languages, the ancient languages and the modern
ones. And really, I don’t think there are as many willing to do that now,” he said. “I can understand
that. They find it so tough that they want to have some pastoral ministry in their lives and so forth ‐
a theology that’s practiced and preached. But we have to have the other people that know Aramaic
and Hebrew very well and the other ancient languages, and read Spanish and German and French,
otherwise it's not the full picture. That’s a concern of mine, that tough scholarship ‐ and that very
often involves languages ‐ is falling away.”
But, he said the growth in people studying theology was good news, because the need for
theologians was as strong as ever.
“The Church needs theologians ‐ it needs all kinds of things ‐ but where theology is weak I don’t
think you’re going to have a healthy church,” Fr Gerald said.
And, he said, theology had to keep moving forward, while always grounding itself in scripture and
tradition.
“People talk about Vatican II changing things, well it did, but some of those changes were retrievals.
The Second Eucharistic prayer is retrieved from the 3 rd century, it’s the earliest Eucharistic prayer
that we have. Those changes are often beautiful, wonderful retrievals.

“But theology that is just repetition is no real theology. I mean we have to expound the Word of God
in the third millennium with fresh language and new images. The best of theology has been like
that.”
A prolific author, Fr Gerald has more books in the pipeline, including a book on Vatican II and other
religions, which is due to be completed later this year and published in 2013. He has also written the
first volume of his autobiography, A Midlife Journey (to be published around June 2012 by Connor
Court Publishing), and has co‐edited a book on Christ with a group of scientists and theologians.