SKILL
#4 – Reading: Taking Your Mind to the Woodpile
As I mentioned above under skill #2, scholarship
is about mastering a body of work. This is done primarily through reading. Now,
there are three basic kinds of reading in my arsenal: 1) reading for gist; 2)
reading for breadth; 3) reading for specialty.
Reading for Gist
Gist is the “substance” or “essence” of a text.
So reading in this way is about quickly gleaning the substance or essence of a
text.
Here’s how it works by way of example. In my
email software right now are about 30 emails in a folder titled “Journals to
Read.” Each of these emails contain TOCs – Table of Content alerts from a
variety of journals, some in biblical studies and theology, others from other
disciplines, particularly science. Each week, for an hour or two, I plow
through the TOCs of these journals. Let me emphasize “plow.” That’s exactly
what I’m doing. I’m plowing (somewhat methodically yet deliberately) through
the titles and abstracts of a number
of recent journals. I’m assuming that I don’t need to read everything in all these journals, so I’m reading for gist. Here’s a small sample section
(just the ‘articles’) from the TOCs from the recent edition of Theology and Science (Vol. 12, Issue 4,
Nov. 2014):
The Role of Experience
in the Assessment of Human Nature
Jan-Olav Henriksen
Pages: 324-337
DOI:
10.1080/14746700.2014.954397
Explaining and
Explaining Away in Science and Religion
David H. Glass &
Mark McCartney
Pages: 338-361
DOI:
10.1080/14746700.2014.954398
Barth and Darwin: What
is Humanity?
Philip Chapman
Pages: 362-377
DOI:
10.1080/14746700.2014.954399
Intellectual Tennis
without a Net? Thought Experiments and Theology
Yiftach Fehige
Pages: 378-395
DOI: 10.1080/14746700.2014.954400
Whiteheadian Societies
and Peirce's Law of Mind: Actuality and Potentiality in the Cosmic Process
Joseph A. Bracken S.J.
Pages: 396-412
DOI:
10.1080/14746700.2014.954401
As I briefly peruse each entry, I can tell you
right away which articles, just from their titles, that I am likely going to read for gist (that is, just titles
and abstracts), and which ones I am going to read for specialty (reading it in depth because the article intersects or
falls within my field or specialty). I am going to read the “Barth and Darwin:
What is Humanity?” and “Intellectual Tennis without a Net? Thought Experiments
and Theology” for specialty, and I am going to read the rest for gist.
Why? Well, in terms of the first article, it’s
because my area of theological specialty/interest is Barth studies, and I want
to work with his theology in my doctoral program. Also, I was an evolutionary
biology major as an undergraduate. Also, I have a passing interest in
theological anthropology. So this article, just from the title, seems to be
hitting on several areas I am very interested in. It may be a dud (who knows?)
but I’ll read it in depth before I decide that is the case.
In terms of the second article, I am interested
in Barth’s method for making theological proofs, so this article, based on its
title, might spur something helpful. Again, I will read it in depth. Perhaps it
will prove to be useful.
The rest look like I can read for gist by plowing
through their titles and abstracts. By the way, in case you don’t know, an abstract
is a summary of the contents of a book, article, or formal speech. It’s an nice
little condensed summary which can be quickly digested. So, I’m reading for
gist and covering lots of ground. If any of these other articles that I’ve
decided to just read for gist prove really interesting or relevant to me, I
will switch modes, and read them for more depth.
Now, I read for gist in a number of ways, not
just TOCs in emails from journals. As I write this section, I am sitting in my
home office, pounding away on my Macbook Pro. Across from me on a coffee table,
sit stacks of Science, Chess Life, Perspective on Science and
Theology, The Christian Century, and more. I will “journal graze” through
these when I have time each week. In other words, I will read for gist. You get the idea, right? By the way, reading for gist is my way of “keeping
up with the literature.” Remember what I said about our time – it’s a finite
resource. There is only so much time. Reading for gist can help you stay aware
of what’s going on while not getting too bogged down in your wider reading.
Reading for Breadth
Reading for breadth is reading for wide range or
extent. Meaning, reading that will expose you to more than just your chosen
field. In my case, my chosen field is systematic theology. Because I like to
read for breadth, I also read journals and books on the Old Testament and New
Testament, journals for the general sciences, magazines on chess and ministry.
You get the idea. I try to stay broad by reading stuff outside my field.
Why do this? Because lightning is more likely to
strike (in the form of fresh ideas and new connections) when you survey stuff
outside your field. I remember attending a talk by a hotshot ecologist when I
was in my undergraduate days. He was talking about the big breakthrough the led
him to his chosen field and the great problem he was working on. He said he
discovered it while reading about the microbiology of chicken farming. Yep, the
poultry literature had somehow led this scientific hotshot to his great
discovery. Read for breadth, my friends. You never know what is going to give
you your great idea.
Nota
Bene: you can read for breadth
and read for gist at the same time. I mention this in case you are
wondering what the difference is between the two reading styles. There is a
difference between them, but it can sometimes not seem obvious. For example, I
like to read for gist while I am reading for breadth in the journal Science.
Reading for Specialty
Reading for specialty is about mastering a corner
of the literature. In my case, I’m wading through more and more of the
literature of systematic theology. Despite this area being a “mere” corner of
the vast literature of the Christian Tradition, it is itself VAST, and this is
no small task. Nonetheless, this is an area I want to add to by writing, so I
am trying to master a certain area within systematic theology, particularly the
area of Barth studies.
Reading for specialty is something where you read
stuff in depth and more regularly than in the other areas of the literature.
When I read journal articles for specialty, I usually add them to my
bibliographic software (in my case, Sente 6). I save this stuff. I might even
print it and mark it up. When I am reading for specialty, I am reading to
“grok” the material.
“Grok” is a word coined by Robert A. Heinlein for his
1961 science-fiction novel, Stranger in a Strange Land, where it is
defined as follows:
Grok means to understand
so thoroughly, that the observer becomes a part of the observed—to merge,
blend, intermarry, lose identity in group experience. It means almost
everything that we mean by religion, philosophy, and science—and it means as
little to us (because of our Earthling assumptions) as color means to a blind
man.
In other words, “grok” connotes intimate and
exhaustive knowledge. “Grokking” is like reading for specialty because it is
reading that you want to deeply, reading that falls well within your
wheelhouse. It is reading of materials that you really need to know.
And just to be clear how these different reading
styles relate to each other, I don’t let my journal skimming or perusing Chess Life take precedence over reading
for specialty. Reading for specialty is primary, followed by reading for gist,
and then reading for breadth. All are important though.
Just in case you’re interested, here’s a snap
shot of the journals I regularly engage as someone who is both a pastor and an
aspiring scholar in systematic theology:
Journals that feed me as a pastor:
Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology:
Word and World
Review and Expositor
Expository Times
Currents in Bible Research
Themelios
Journal of Spiritual Formation and Soul Care
The Other Journal
Journal for the Study of Paul and His Letters
McMaster Journal of Theology and Ministry
Currents in Theology and Mission
Denver Seminary Journal
Journals that feed my academic aspirations in
systematic theology:
Modern Theology
International Journal of Systematic
Scottish Journal of Theology
Studies in Christian Ethics
New Blackfriars
Political Theology
Neue Zeitschrift für Systematische Theologie und
Religionsphilosophie
Literature and Theology
Heythrop Journal
The Other Journal
Journal of Theological Studies
Reviews in Religion and Theology
Theology Today
Could I read other stuff? Yep, and sometimes I
do. Particularly when I am reading for gist and reading for breadth, but when
it comes to reading for specialty, things will narrow a bit.
The important thing is to always be reading. So, tolle lege. Go and read. And try out
these three different ways of reading for yourself. I think you’ll find your
reading productivity increasing.