As a missionary- and theological educator, I (Joshua) spend a lot of time in my study. Today I am spending some time with Prof. E. Bôlaji Idowu (1913-1993, Nigeria 🇳🇬). I was delighted to find this gem:
… a theologian who thinks that he is an intellectualist is only wasting his time. A theologian who is worthy of the name is first and foremost a man of prayer, waiting upon God for a message, God’s own message.
— E. Bôlaji Idowu, “God,” chapter 1 in Biblical Revelation and African Beliefs, 17-29, ed. Kwesi A. Dickson and Paul Ellingworth (Lutterworth Press / United Society for Christian Literature, 1969), p. 23.
I want to note this assertion, with which I agree:
A theologian who is worthy of the name
is first and foremost a man or woman of prayer.
As a historian, I am immediately struck by how much this echoes one of my favorite patristic quotations, Evagrios of Pontus defining what a theology is and what a theologian is. But I’ve written about that elsewhere.
So let me ask us: are we people of prayer?