Gary Neal Hansen

Theology. It's good for you.

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You are here: Home / Archives for Augustine

Between Obscurity and Fame (The Writer’s Inner Life)

October 10, 2016 by Gary Neal Hansen 2 Comments

Obscurity and Fame

When I posted about the writer’s battle with “the demon of futility” I mentioned the frustration that can come from identifying yourself as a writer. People ask what you’ve written. They’ve never heard of it. They’ve never heard of you. In a way this is perfectly natural: A book can be a success by any reasonable […]

Filed Under: Saints, The Inner Life of the Writer Tagged With: Arsenius, Augustine, Desert Fathers, Fame, Motivations, Obscurity, Theodore

Making Friends in Seminary (Letters to a Young Pastor)

May 12, 2016 by Gary Neal Hansen 2 Comments

Making friends in seminary

Dear ______: Thanks for sharing your thoughts on my recent letter about making friends with John Calvin. I think you drew some conclusions that I wasn’t intending. Let me take a step back. As a person in ministry, you need a lot of different kinds of friends — and seminary is a great place to […]

Filed Under: Ministry Tagged With: Augustine, Barbara Brown Taylor, Barth, Calvin, John Chrysostom, Letters to a Young Pastor, Making friends in seminary, Teresa of Avila

On ‘the art of theological reflection’

March 9, 2012 by Gary Neal Hansen Leave a Comment

When trying to make good use of writings that stand at a great distance from us–whether because they come from long ago or from across the boundaries of cultures, we need some guidelines, some sense of how we might go about it. We pick up a patristic theologian, say John Chrysostom, and find his style […]

Filed Under: approaches Tagged With: Augustine, Calvin, Chrysostom, theological reflection

What to do with a giant?

March 3, 2012 by Gary Neal Hansen Leave a Comment

The giants should be easy to spot.  I mean, hey, they are big.  Maybe you heard the name of one in “Western Civilization” or “Introduction to Church History.”  Their name got mentioned because they wrote something that mattered.  Their words stood the test of time.  Or they did something that mattered so much then that […]

Filed Under: approaches Tagged With: Augustine, Chrysostom, theological reflection

Theology. It’s good for you.

I'm a Church historian by trade. My writing, speaking, and teaching explores the Christian past to equip today's disciples. Join me here for regular posts on the best of theology, spirituality, community, and ministry. read more…

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