Lack of Big Name Theologians: Catholic Style

The other day I posed the question, "Why aren't there theological giants anymore on the cover of Time?" The most likely reason I thought caused this was that an increase in postmodern values in the church and our society shifted the focus from detached systematic theology (and the leaders of that) to cultural movements in the church and the behavior of believers (and the pastors and clergy that drive that).

Here's an article that asks a similar question, a bit more broad than mine, "Where have the dominant theologians gone?" This is from a 2005 issue of National Catholic Reporter so it's focused on Catholic theologians (ironically, the writer of the article is a professor at a Methodist university). The article is here.

Here are a few quotes highlighting his position:

"First, there are exponentially many more professional theologians working and writing today than there were 50 years ago. As a result, it will be more difficult for one or two people to dominate the field."

"The complexity of Catholic theology today means that no one can claim expertise in all areas of theology. People have to specialize in specific areas such as Christology, eschatology, ecclesiology or anthropology."

"Now and in the future we need many different Catholic theologies emerging in different cultures and contexts and diverse areas of specialization. No one person or small group of theologians of one station in life, or one sex, or one color will ever again dominate Catholic theology."

Is Theology Important?

Someone older than me may remember Time Magazine's April 20th, 1962 cover featuring Karl Barth.  Someone even older may remember March 16th, 1959 when Paul Tillich was on the cover.  You would not expect to find the face of theologians in today's newsstands.  In fact, most people probably could not name a modern day theologian.  We can name preachers, famous pastors and televangelists, but how many theologians do we talk about in public life?

Why is this the case?  I think trying to explain this away as increasing secularism or bias on the media is insufficient.  Christianity is still the majority religion in America and most media outlets pander to their consumers regardless of their personal beliefs (the blog Marginal Revolution summarizes and links to a study about this here).  Another explanation is that there are no smart Christians anymore, or that theology is an intellectual practice and the intellectual community has expelled Christianity.  This doesn't seem to be the case in Philosophy, where there is a developing Christian presence (article from William Lane Craig here, the Time article Craig mentions is here).

Here are some reasons I think are more likely:
1. The ecumenical nature of the evangelical movement has made theology seem like a waste of time.  We are supposed to stick to the most basic, Biblical form of Christianity and theology muddies the waters.
2. Postmodern Christianity is driving believers to act on their faith without bothering to articulate it in detail.  Theology is mostly an in-house activity and its adherents fully admit to its link to culture and society.  Outsiders have no reason to be interested in it, therefore periodicals targeting mass appeal avoid it.
3. The focus of Christian academics has moved from theology to apologetics given the loud clamor of modern skeptics.  Still, not too many Christian apologists appear on the cover of Time or are mentioned by anyone outside the debate.

If I could somehow verify this I would bet money on number 2.  Postmodernism isn't just a strong element in our society but is growing among and influencing Christians.  If theology is a function of culture then the real leaders are not those who confine themselves to theology but those who represent the cultural aspects of their religion.  These real leaders would be the pastors and clergy who motivate the actions and trends of the believers and not the stuffy academics who sit at a desk writing "if A, then B."  I know that Postmodernism has had its day among philosophers and scientists, but it's still alive in the humanities (art, language arts and anthropology especially) and seems to have left a strong imprint in the public mind.

Is this a bad thing?  I'm not sure.  Different cultures and times have had different ways of expressing their faith in God.  This doesn't mean God changes, but that we do.  On the other hand, articulating the particulars of your faith help get a better understanding of the logical coherence of God's plan.  Wouldn't believers benefit from having that?

Have we lost anything significant now that theologians are no longer media superstars?

Update 2010/05/03: I should say that many popular pastors and preachers are theologians as I would understand theologians (that is, philosophy of religion from inside the religion) but their theology takes a background role to their influence on cultural movements they lead within their religion. No one can preach or lead a religious movement without at least dabbling in the philosophical nature of their belief system. The reason why I still think that theology is not seen as important today is because their theology is not what makes them popular.