The Music of “A Perfect Circle” as Public Theology

When the word theology is mentioned people either have no idea what you are talking about or they think you’re talking about something religious. This week I listened to the new album by A Perfect Circle and their songs TalkTalk and Doomed spoke to me. Theologically! This band illustrates some aspects of what I mean by public theology.

Public Theology

Among many characteristics it is supposed to exhibit, theology is supposed to be public. It must have a public nature or else it fails to fulfill its purpose namely to address people in their existence, where they are at, in a way that communicates to them and in a way that is relevant to them. While public theology is a special branch of theology, theology, in general, must have a public function in order to avoid slipping into irrelevance.

Some people actually like the irrelevance of the self-chosen marginality of a subculture with its own jargon that caters to the religious feelings of its members. The religious discourse produced by such communities, however, does very little to change the world, resist evil, spread love, or walk the talk. Again, for some — perhaps for many — this is not a problem. However, for those who take the Christian tradition and what it stands for seriously, and who are intent to heed the words of Christ, such discourse…