Both Bok and Hanson said Thiemann's ideas ofuniting the practical and theoretical study ofreligion and then making the product available toscholars in other parts of the University is thebest solution to the Divinity School's identitycrisis.

"No other conception would be appropriate forany graduate or professional school in thisuniversity," Bok said. After working to overcomethe school's danger of "impending bankruptcy," Boksaid the dean could work to revitalize theologicaleducation, "as it is in evident need ofinspiration."

With Thiemann's plan, "we will allowtheological reflection to permeate all aspects ofthe school's curriculum," Hanson said. "This willgive us something to unify" practical andhistorical training in religion.

Most other faculty also sympathized withThiemann's plan. "It's important to turn thingsaround and overcome this bifurcation" of religiousscholarship, said Parkman Professor of DivinityJohn B. Carman, who served as the school's actingdean before Thiemann took over.

"A dose of reality added to the abstract andtheoretical work at the school will help[professors] see that it has a relation to thepresent. It is important to link the present andthe past," Carman said.

Same Old Problem

In many ways, the Divinity School's problemsreflect the longstanding conflict betweenscholarship and practice in Harvard's professionalschools.

The New Pathway Program at the Medical Schoolwas designed in part to bring the teaching ofphysicians together with medical research, twomissions that had become increasingly divided atthe school.

The Business School's "case method" of learningwas adopted specifically to bring scholarship inthe field to bear on the everyday tasks ofbusinessmen.

"In an odd way, what we're doing is very newbut also very old," Carman said. "There are awhole lot of subjects [at the Divinity School]that have to be adapted to the new plan if we areto recover what we had before.