Date: March 24, 2025
I arrived in the office on Thursday already running late for my next meeting. I had 110 emails waiting. But as I picked up my mail the latest issue of Anglican Theological Review was sitting on the side. I noticed that the Rev. Dr. Katherine Sonderegger had an article in it called The Future of Theological Journals: An Augustinian Reflection.
It was vintage Kate. Augustine on his death bed recalled a maxim from Plotinus – “Call no one great who thinks it a great wonder that sticks and stones should fall, and that mortals, who must die, should die.” For Augustine, he had seen the collapse of the Roman Empire. For Dr. Sonderegger, she is living through the ‘collapse’ of the traditional academy, where library carrels were the home of study, books were cited, arguments were honed in an academy where peer-reviewed journal articles and monographs mattered. She admits that this was not “Eden” – patriarchy and racism shape the academy in deeply ugly and sinful ways. However, there was a structure and a deep seriousness in this world. Yet thanks to technology, thanks to a web where everyone can be an instant purveyor of information, this world is disintegrating. She concludes the article hopeful that God is creating something new, while simultaneously recognizing that this is a difficult transition to live through.
I recognized so much in this article as true. I also share so many of the concerns. And perhaps, like Kate, I am called to trust in a future unfolding, but not at all confident that what is emerging is going to be able to do the work that is needed. So, thank you Kate. I really appreciated the distraction from the work that I needed to do last Thursday and once again marvel at what flows from your pen… well computer…
The Very Rev. Ian S. Markham, Ph.D.
Dean and President of Virginia Theological Seminary and the President of The General Theological Seminary