In the business of theology it is hard not to be controversial - Jurgen Moltmann

Tuesday 29 May 2007

Believe in the Mirror: afterthoughts on cooking theology

【stir fry vegetarian chicken pieces with mixed peppers -
the dish I offered to the gathering of North Sea Shepherd Gang last Saturday】
(a better view of this and other dishes of the evening is HERE)


Let's face reality.

Normal human beings do not give an x to that so-called 'theology of cooking', categorically. Period. (In case you have no idea what I am talking about, please kindly take the trouble to have a glance at my last post.)

Having had centuries of experience with the media, I am conditioned to read audience pretests or sneak previews skeptically, and I know very well that they are often more positive than what eventually turns out with the real thing.
Initial market response to my proposed 'cooking theology', as evidenced in this round of sneak preview, is gloomy. So far, only 3 persons in the whole world have explicitly expressed interest in it. (See: the 2 comments and here)
Among them, only one said he would like to buy a book like that. (Thanks, Ben, for being so gracious!)
At the same time, the number of visitors to this blog has reached a record low shortly after that post appeared.
Even though a great editor from the Oxford University Press regards the book idea as publishable in the form of their reputable 'very short introduction' series (see here), general market response suggests otherwise.

Apparently, more people are interested in cooking than in theological thinking on cooking, and still more are interested in eating that which is cooked.

Though my core (read: professional) research has nothing to do with cooking whatsoever, still, this phenomenon is suggestive of the prospect of my whole theological endeavour (or theological career, to make it sound more personal).
More people are fond of being 'entertained' by the media than reflecting on the media critically and theologically, albeit everybody (???) agrees that what I am trying to do is important.

A small stumble of one man, a big stumble for humankind. (adapted from Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon)

Alas, wow to the general disinterest in theology -- which is, in essence, the indifference toward thinking seriously about the interrelationship between the Divine and human life.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

出版=倒錢落海,成本高,難回本,在香港的情況尤甚。賣到一、二千已經好叻。不過另一方面,又不可以完全由市場主導,否則書店內只會有那些教你如何賺第一桶金、工具書等。
你本書,我都有興趣買架。