Documentary Visions, Theological Insights (original) (raw)

The Craft of Teaching: The Relevance of Newman for Theological Education

Christian Higher Education, 2003

This article connects John Henry Newman's understanding of university education with the contemporary setting of theological education. In particular, it shows how Newman's notion of a philosophical habit of mind and his understanding of the role of personal influence help facilitate the transformation of a classroom setting into an authentic community of inquiry.

Student Theological Research as an Invitation

Theological Librarianship, 2011

Seminary students, despite having graduated from bachelors programs, struggle to make sense of the goals, processes, skills, and resources of research as graduate students. Beyond brief introductions to research, a scattered number of seminaries have developed either a separate theological information literacy course or have taken a through-the-curriculum approach to enhancing the information abilities of students. The former, however, separates information literacy from the curriculum, while the latter is difficult to implement and maintain. Living in a world of information glut, seminary professors are finding that traditional information dissemination models of education are becoming less viable. What is more, such models tend to teach students about a discipline rather than inviting them into it. These problems present a unique opportunity to place the teaching of information literacy at the foundation of theological education. With such an approach, students may be invited into...

Wesley and Beyond: Integrating the Wesleyan Quadrilateral and “Praxis Cycle” to Support Tertiary Student Theological Engagement

Journal of Adult Theological Education, 2012

Christian students often struggle with the challenge of integrating the faith of their upbringing and traditions with the critical perspectives and the plurality of viewpoints required in tertiary education. This article argues that a useful framework for integrating this diversity of viewpoints and their faith traditions is provided by combining the notion of a quadrilateral of four sources of knowledge that Christians most value, namely tradition, bible, reason and experience, combined with a theological reflection model, such as Thomas Groome’s praxis cycle, which promotes reflection on the application of these sources to life and mission. This enlarged epistemological framework is shown to be useful for promoting intellectual development and faith maturation, through a process of experiential learning such as described in the writings of David Kolb (1983). It is argued that this framework for learning and reflection is more closely aligned with holistic approaches of the ancient Hebrews and Scripture than the narrower singular secular approaches to knowing and learning taken by many tertiary institutions. Keywords: epistemology; praxis cycle; quadrilateral; theological education; theological reflection.