Jaarboek Thomas Instituut 1995 - Thomas Instituut te Utrecht

14 H.W.M. RIKHOF
theology from all other forms of human inquiry and speaking" (36, p.
72).
De Grijs appeals to the definition of theology as sermo de
Deo and to what it entails when he tackles two problems that face
contemporary theology. These problems are closely related, but can be
distinguished, for one comes, so to say, from the outside and is
concerned with the relation of theology to other sciences, while the
other is an internal theological problem. The first problem surfaces
when e.g. a theologian is asked to reflect upon the value of a human
life. Characteristic of thinking about human life and of dealing with
human life in our time is the 'fragmentization': all kinds of
specialisms and professions concern themselves with aspects of life.
For theologians the temptation is great to number themselves among
these specialists, especially since they have become aware of their
contextuality, of the influence of their historical, social, economic
surroundings on their work. The result of such a fragmentization is
that the problems related to human life are divided and isolated. That
facilitates short time solutions, leads to placing the responsibility with
a certain group of individuals, invites manipulation, results in
contradictory claims held by one and the same person with regard to
e.g. the protection of the unborn life, euthanasia and the arms-race.
Most of all, the fragmentization keeps things as they are and prevents
a thorough, fundamental and critical discussion of the issues at stake.
It is precisely to that fundamental discussion that the theologian should
contribute. "In my opinion systematic theology should try to find an
orientation on a level so fundamental that it makes contextual
differences possible" (44, p. 3). "Amidst all these processes and
habituations it is of the utmost importance that systematic theology
should offer a principled orientation of its own. And it is not its first
task to reflect on or clarify fragments of the total area" (44, p. 7). It
is precisely the relation to God in the definition of human life that
provides this basic orientation
The second problem De Grijs tackles with sermo de Deo as
definition of theology is a more internal theological problem. It is
closely related to the already mentioned awareness of contextuality or
historicity. Apart from setting limits and making the theologian
modest, the entrance of history in theology broadens the theologian's
horizon: new knowledge, new issues, new problems. But in view of