On becoming a practical theologian: Past, present and future tenses (original) (raw)
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Theology and the Lure of the Practical: An Overview
Religion Compass, 2007
Current trends in practical theology are found both within and outside of the typical divisions of theological education into the four fields of biblical studies, church history, systematic theology/ethics, and the so-called 'practical fields'. Although this fourth area was initially confined to ministerial/clerical practices, attention to the full complexities of lived faith have compelled developments that transcend that limiting definition, even if the constraints of that structure have not entirely disappeared. Movement from pastoral care as psychological treatment of individuals to its wider framing through contextual-political understandings illustrates the impact of critical social theory and liberation theologies. Interest in philosophical accounts of phronesis and bodily habitus that overcome the split between belief and practice shape and expand what counts as work in systematic theology. Continuing debates include the degree to which dynamics of power through political and global forces must be factored into lived faith and the desire to protect Christian identity versus appropriating knowledges from other 'sciences' of the human. Developments in religious studies on lived religion expand the complexity of the category practice and challenge traditional categories in theological education. In the world of theological education, practical theology is one of the more difficult academic enterprises to pin down, both semantically and institutionally. Now this would seem odd, given its importance for this kind of education. The ultimate end of theological education's academic discourses, whether study of scripture, church history, doctrine or ethics, is not only knowledge in the tradition of Wissenschaft and its critical reflective research skills, but enhancement of the practice of religious faith as well. If theology is good for anything, it should be practical in the sense of enabling faithful living in the world. Defining practical theology, however, is another matter. Insofar as a 'discipline' is a specialized intellectual activity with a distinctive subject matter along with methods and criteria for studying that subject matter, it is not clear how to define practical theology. Its variety of subject matters-from clerical tasks like preaching and pastoral care to strategies for addressing poverty-and its different institutional locations prevent its easy identification. To explore the current meanings of practical theology along with problems and possibilities connected with what I will identify
The theology and praxis of practical theology in the context of the Faculty of Theology
HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies, 2011
Notwithstanding the carefully defined parameters of the various departments within theology, the aspirant student sometimes finds it difficult to define the precise department within which a specific study would best be located. We have discovered that these various fields and departments have many areas of commonality and the borders between them are tested often, even in our own studies. However, we have learned that crossing between one field and another should not be seen as a problem but as strength, as it will enable the researcher to motivate and test his or her theological convictions. It is in this context that the subject of this article finds its motivation. Through it we have argued for a practical theology that will be responsible for engaging with its own theology, in order to find the necessary energy to sustain itself. Not only should practical theology be energised by its theology, it should also, as its name implies, be practical in its nature, offering help to all...
2012
This dissertation has sought to examine how a post-foundationalist approach to Practical Theology might look. This was done through a critical appraisal of the paradigms of foundationalism and non-foundationalism. These paradigms were explored in their historical context and development to illustrate the defining differences and features of both. The researcher then explored Practical Theology in its historical development to examine whether it has moved beyond foundationalism. This was further done by examining the last three decades of Practical Theology by a comparison of methodologies currently proposed. It emerged that, in many ways, Practical Theology has moved beyond the paradigm of foundationalism. This was seen in its affirmation of the local context, its use of a correlational hermeneutic and the pastoral cycle. These areas were then fleshed out in further detail in an attempt to delineate a truly non-foundationalist Practical Theology. A missional perspective on Practical...
A Theopoetics of Practice: Re-forming in Practical Theology
International Journal of Practical Theology, 2019
This article articulates a challenge to discern what form theopoetics might take within practical theology and, further, to engage with the construction of modes of theopoetic making appropriate to the discipline. To date there has been little conceptual engagement with theopoetics by practical theologians. In order to begin to address this lack Catherine Keller’s work is taken as indicative of the potential significance of this project. An examination of theopoetics within constructive theology highlights the necessity for practical theologians to create their own distinctive forms of theopoetical reflection honouring their disciplinary heritage. It is suggested that a ‘theopoetics of practice’ might be created in the manner of a bricolage from neglected cultural resources. The work embodies in its writing style the creative work it advocates.
International Journal of Practical Theology, 2000
One of the key moments of any conference of the International Academy of Practical Theology (IAPT) is the presidential address. It is an occasion for the President to address the conference topic or, as it has become customary in recent conferences, to present his or her view on the "state of practical theology". I therefore eagerly awaited the address of Bonnie Miller-McLemore at the 2011 IAPT conference in Amsterdam. The topic that she chose for her presidential address -Five misunderstandings about practical theologymade me listen very attentively. The questions running through my mind were: What are the common misunderstandings about practical theology? Who misunderstood practical theology? How would she address these common misunderstandings?
2017
Can theology be ‘practical’?1 One of the clergy at my church asked me what my job title was at Regent University. I told him that I was Professor of Practical Theology. He laughed out loud and said: ‘Isn’t practical theology an oxymoron?’ To which I replied, ‘Well, it all depends on what you understand theology to mean and indeed whether you buy into a particular kind of dichotomous thinking: theory and practice, with that which is “practical” reduced to things like hints and tips for ministry. For example, how not to drop the baby at its baptism and what not to say at a funeral, for example, “Have a nice day!”’. But what we mean by the term ‘practical’ when we use it in this context is an interesting question. Similarly, what do we mean by ‘theology’? As Pete Ward has observed, practical theology has been derided for neither being properly practical nor properly theological.2
This article elaborates on the sixth movement of a postfoundational notion of practical theology and is concerned with giving a description of experiences, which are thickened through interdisciplinary investigation. The experiences of interest are those of the co-researchers who formed part of the larger research study, conducted in 2010, and who were at the time adolescent male orphans, affected by HIV and AIDS, poverty and father abandonment. The research was conducted within the theoretical frameworks of a postfoundational notion of practical theology, narrative therapy and research, and social constructionism. A qualitative research strategy was employed, with the case study design as point of departure in collecting and analysing research data. Various key aspects were investigated with the use of the model of narrative and the seven movements of a postfoundational notion of practical theology. The aim of this article is to provide an illustration of the application of the principles of a postfoundational notion of practical theology, and its sixth movement – an interdisciplinary investigation – as it is applied within this specific research context. Four interdisciplinary conversationalists, each from a different academic field, were invited to reflect on the three narrated stories of the co-researchers. This article, then, gives a report on their feedback and the value of interdisciplinary investigation in aiding, with the understanding of the meaningmaking process behind collected narratives.
Towards a Practical Theology Model for My Ministry
Towards a Practical Theology Model for My Ministry, 2019
This assignment explores the following areas, among others: the biblical prototype of practical theology, where the social sciences stand in practical theology and offers a survey of practical theology. Its arrangement will be in the same lines and in order to achieve this I will use the reader, the Bible and other scholarly sources.
A post-foundational Practical Theology? The pastoral cycle and local theology
Nederduitse Gereformeerde Teologiese Tydskrif, 2013
The article argues that Practical Theology has moved from the uncertainty of simply being applied theology to a point where its methodology, here described as the pastoral cycle, has gained such confidence, that it is seen as the natural way of doing theology. This shift in confidence occurred because the inherent theological and epistemological fault lines in foundationalism are no longer obscure. The article defines foundationalism but then concentrate on describing the local and glocal dimensions of the pastoral cycle as well as the importance of doing it in an interdisciplinary way.