Rusty Reno of Creighton University has again written up his ranking of the best theology programs, establishing what many might take to be a regular report on his part. His first, published at the beginning of the 2006-2007 school year, was quietly the talk among many in our Department here at Marquette—positive assessments being made perhaps in proportion to either one’s having been named or to one’s intellectual proximity to someone who was named! And of course it was nice to see that Marquette made it into his ranking, both in 2006 and now (where he accounts us, all things considered, in the fifth spot). Not a win, place, or show, but something to crack a smile about. Here is what he says about Marquette:

The one Jesuit exception (i.e.: to Reno’s diminished assessment of BC/Fordham/SLU) is Marquette, which I put in the fifth slot. Michel Barnes, Alexander Golitzin, and Mickey Mattox are superb historical theologians. Susan Wood, Ralph Del Colle, and Stephen Long provide a great deal in systematic theology. Overall, Marquette seems to have avoided the narrow parochialism of the now old and often narrowly liberal Catholic theology. As a result, the Jesuit tradition of adventuresome intellectual fidelity fits nicely with a graduate program that is interested in the riches of the theological tradition.

The whole ranking endeavor is a hard thing, and to his credit Reno has provided his criteria for what make a program to be good; his mention of programs and of individuals within programs are obviously signs of his having seen his criteria verified in these singular instances. Having served for a brief period as our Department’s Director of Graduate Studies I know that the phenomenon of rating departments is real, and matters. So his comments are an encouragement to me to think again about what it is we do as a Department. From day one my assessment has been that we intend good, do good, and are good. And his general comments on us (“…Marquette seems to have avoided the narrow parochialism of the now old and often narrowly liberal Catholic theology. As a result, the Jesuit tradition of adventuresome intellectual fidelity fits nicely with a graduate program that is interested in the riches of the theological tradition”) ring true to me in the main. Making it into Reno’s Book of Life of course doesn’t ultimately matter—we seek admission into Another’s—but being part of “a graduate program that is interested in the riches of the theological tradition” is what I see every time I walk into Coughlin Hall here at Marquette.

So whether his ranking effort in general, or at his particular rankings, leave you with the reaction, “Oh, come on!,” or “Huh?,” his having made this list at all is an implicit challenge to you, and to me, to do the same. Uncork Chianti. Sip. Think.