Blogging in the name of the Lord: Cynthia Nielsen

This is part of a series of interviews with Christan bloggers. Today I'm talking to....

Cynthia Nielsen

GD: Hello and welcome, Cynthia. Could you tell us a little bit about yourself?

CN: I am a believer in Christ, happily married for 8 years (19th June was our anniversary by the way), and have a beautiful little girl who is two years old. I am also a doctoral student of philosophy at the University of Dallas, and I teach philosophy as an adjunct instructor at a local college.

GD: Belated happy anniversary! Your blog is called "Per Caritatem", which, being interpreted means?

CN: Per caritatem means “through love,” and is taken from St. Augustine’s statement, non intratur in veritatem nisi per caritatem, which roughly translates, “there is no entrance into truth except through love.”

GD: Very true. I knew that, of course, but not all of my readers may have Latin. What made you start blogging?

CN: I enjoy reading and writing and find that attempting to summarize what I read in written form is extremely helpful. I also greatly enjoy discussing what I am reading with others. Yet, given family and other responsibilities, I am not able to hang out at coffee shops and talk about these things into the wee hours of the night. So I thought, well, why not start a blog?

GD: Why not indeed! What have you found most enjoyable about blogging?

CN: The wonderful people that I have met from various expressions of the Christian faith and from all over the world (Ukraine, Russia, France, Germany, Australia etc.). I also learn a tremendous amount from the interactions and exchanges.

GD: What are some of the dangers of blogging?

CN: One can easily be misunderstood and one can easily misunderstand others given the absence of physical presence and, in some cases, given the lack of personal history with one another.

GD: Misunderstanding can certainly be a problem. Your blog contains a lot of philosophy as well as theology. The two disciplines have not always been comfortable bedfellows, "What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?" etc. In your view, what role should philosophy play in theological reflection?

CN: I think that philosophy is an extremely helpful tool for theology, but it should remain in a subordinate role to revelation. How this works itself out is a very complicated matter.

GD: Do you understand that you might believe or believe in order to understand?

CN: I strive for the latter, but I am sure that I am not always consistent.

GD: Who is your favourite philosopher?

CN: Though Hans Urs von Balthasar is more of theologian than a philosopher, I’ll answer with him anyway. I am still very new to his works, yet I find myself more and more drawn to his works. His ecumenical charity, as exhibited in his friendship with Karl Barth, his deep love and appreciation for the Patristics, his engagement with critical theology and philosophy, and the fact that his works are permeated with a Christocentric focus and an attentiveness to beauty that engages both the mind and the heart—all of these deeply resonate with me such that I am considering focusing on Balthasar as a dissertation topic.

GD: Have your theological studies helped you to grow as a Christian?

CN: Yes, most definitely. But, I find that I must regularly re-evaluate my theological understanding and ask whether it draws me closer to Christ and love for His people or whether it does the opposite. I also think that it is incredibly important to dialogue and form friendships with people from other traditions than one’s own—engaging in these kinds of relationships have formed me just as much as my formal studies, if not more in some instances.

GD: The world of theoblogs is dominated by (mostly Aussie) males. Why aren't there more female theobloggers?

CN: I’ve never notice the Aussie male domination of the theoblogsphere (and wonder whether I am stepping into an inside joke here), but it is evident that there are fewer women theobloggers than men. I was trained at what many consider a conservative theological seminary (and a good one in my opinion - Westminster Theological Seminary). Many of the women students with whom I dialogued with were hesitant to even participate in class discussions for fear of being perceived as crossing certain preconceived lines of so-called proper Christian masculinity and femininity. Perhaps there is a kind of hangover of that kind of thinking that causes women in more conservative circles to be reticent when it comes to theoblogs?

GD: It's a shame that women feel inhibited in that way. In the churches I pastor, we have a discussional Bible study on Wednesday evenings and all are encouraged to contribute. I don't believe that women should be Ministers of the Word (for biblical reasons), but I can't see the problem with women discussing theology! Wasn't it Priscilla as well as Aquilla who straightned out Apollos' theology? Anyway, now I'll stop ranting and move on to the next topic. Please tell us your top three songs or pieces of music.

CN: Dvorak’s Aus der neuen Welt (Symphony No. 9); Richie Beirach’s improvised version of Schumann’s “From Foreign Lands and People" (Scenes from childhood No. 1); and Bill Evan’s “Peace Piece”.

GD: What is the most helpful work of theology that you have read in the last twelve months. It is a must read because....

CN: Definitely Balthasar’s Love Alone is Credible – its beauty and Christocentricity makes it a must read.

GD: Lastly, which blogs do you enjoy reading most and why?

CN: Sacra doctrina because Joel is extremely thoughtful, and his tone is so irenic. I also enjoy Ben Myer’s blog because of his creativity and a blog called Evangelical Catholicism because Michael and Katerina interact with a number of important social issues from a distinctively Catholic perspective. There are of course other blogs that I could name, but I’ll stop with three.

GD: OK. Well, thanks for this conversation. It's been good to talk to you. Bye!

Later this week, I'll be talking to be the biggest, world-dominating Aussie theoblogger of them all....