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What would theological reflection look like if scripture were the starting point? For many, beginning the process of formation the bible is already a natural place to begin, and models of theological reflection which start in other places can be hard to swallow. All too often, as a result, they reject the idea of reflecting theologically altogether, an outcome which is damaging for their future ministry and for the church as a whole. This book to re-discover the theological heart of the discipline of practical theology and develop new methods which take scripture and tradition more seriously. Offering an alternative to the usual models of theological reflection, this careful and helpful guide demonstrates to students the possibilities which emerge when the starting point for theological reflective practice
Why do contemporary Christians seem to routinely talk past one another amid contentious theological debates? In this illuminating study, Sean M. W. McGuire argues that interpreters' lack of self-critical reflection on the process of interpretation and compounding cultural factors are problematizing interpretive practice. Thus, to work through difficult topics, Christians need to develop the ability to reflect on the complexity informing how they interpret Scripture, and how they see others interpreting Scripture, so that they can coherently and constructively discuss their interpretations with others. Grounding the study in the discipline of practical theology, McGuire utilizes the cultural theory of metamodernism and the hermeneutics of Hans-Georg Gadamer (1900-2002), together with a proposed revision of the Wesleyan Quadrilateral, to develop a paradigm for observing and describing differences in biblical interpretive practice. Using current debates regarding sexuality as an illustrative example, the project reveals the complexity underlying contemporary interpretive practice, showing that amid this complexity the prioritization (or lack thereof) of theological reflection sources prompts certain interpretive conclusions. Perceiving the multivalent nature of interpretation, readers will be equipped to think carefully and critically about how they come to their biblical interpretive conclusions and how those conclusions inform transformed living in Christ.
This book aims to introduce a distinctively evangelical voice to the discipline of practical theology. Evangelicals have sometimes seen practical theology as primarily a ‘liberal’ project. This collection, however, actively engages with practical theology from an evangelical perspective, both through discussion of the substantive issues and by providing examples of practical theology done by evangelicals in the classroom, the church, and beyond. This volume brings together established and emerging voices to debate the growing role which practical theology is playing in evangelical and Pentecostal circles. Chapters begin by addressing methodological concerns, before moving into areas of practice. Additionally, there are four short papers from students who make use of practical theology to reflect upon their own practice. Issues of authority and normativity are tackled head on in a way that will inform the debate both within and beyond evangelicalism. This book will, therefore, be of keen interest to scholars of practical, evangelical, and Pentecostal theology.
System and Story is intended to develop a means for bridging the gap between critics of system and those who may find value in doing systematics from a Biblically oriented context. Narrative theologians have rightly identified and critiqued the development of system in academic theology. Unfortunately, they have not identified the ways in which systematic elements have always played a role in theological knowledge. This study demonstrates the inherent systematic tendencies that still exist in narrative approaches to theology, while at the same time acknowledging the appropriateness of aspects of the narrative critique of system. The reaction against Enlightenment modernism is examined from the perspective of the heightened role of system in religious epistemology. The work of Stanley Hauerwas serves to carry much of the conversation regarding the critique of system and a narrative alternative as it is discovered in communal formation. After "summarizing" Hauerwas' theology, if such a thing is possible, the final chapters explore the ecclesiological concerns of narrative theologians according to a more systematic rendering of pneumatology. A Biblical rendering of pneumatology from the perspective of the Spirit's role in ecclesiology allows for a modest (i.e., pre-modern) systematic presentation commensurate with narrative communal formation. Thus, the narrative attempt to once again "do" theology for the church is seen as compatible with a Scriptural (i.e., modestly systematic) theology of the Spirit.
Karl Barth famously argued that all theology is sermon preparation. But what if all sermon preparation is actually theology? This book pursues a thoroughgoing theological vision for the practice of preaching as a way of doing theology. The idea is not just that homiletics is the realm of theological application. That would leave preaching in the position of simply implementing a theology already arrived at. Instead, the vision in these pages is of a form of theology that begins with preaching itself: its practice, its theories, and its contexts. Homiletical theology is thus a unique way of doing theology--even a constructive theological task in its own right. Homiletician David Schnasa Jacobsen has assembled several of the leading lights of contemporary homiletics to help to see its task ever more deeply as theological, yet in profoundly diverse ways. Along the way, readers will not only discover how homileticians do theology homiletically, but will deepen the way in which they understand their own preaching as a theological task.
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An NPR Best Book of 2017 “Shirk is a generous writer whose penchant for detail and poetic observation will surprise even the staunchest skeptic.” —Juan Vidal, NPR’s “Best Books of 2017” "Shirk writes with sincerity. In these stirring vignettes, she mixes historical accounts, interpretations, and fictionalized encounters to provide insight into her personal journey tracing the steps of American women who have sought out an alternative spirituality."" —Publishers Weekly “Shirk’s first book examines and exalts the often overlooked histories of religious movers and shakers . . . and offers as a timely antidote to our culture’s current schism between fundamentalist conservatism and radical progress . . . Divine.” —Bitch And Your Daughters Shall Prophesy is a powerful, personal exploration of American women and their theologies, weaving connections between Adrian Shirk's own varied spiritual experiences and the prophetesses, feminists, and spiritual icons who have shaped this country. Each woman presents a pathway for Shirk’s own spiritual inquiries: the New Orleans high priestess Marie Laveau, the pop New Age pioneer Linda Goodman, the prophetic vision of intersectionality as preached by Sojourner Truth, “saint” Flannery O’Connor, and so many more. Through her journey, Shirk comes to believe that, as the culture wars flatten religious discourse and shred institutional trust, we should look to the spiritual visions and innovations of women, who, having spent so much time at the margins of religious discourse, illuminate its darkened corners.
Judith Butler and conservative Christian theology are often perceived to be antithetical on questions of gender. In Reforming a Theology of Gender they are shown to be strange bedfellows. By engaging in dialogue with Butler on her terms—desire, violence, and life—this book absorbs the heart of Butler’s critique, revealing a righteous law and a seductive image in conservative theologies of gender. The law of Adam and Eve manifests in the unjust administration of guilt, grief, and death. By confronting this law, which in fact condemns all in their bodies, further reflection on Butler’s thought leads to thinking about where one finds life in one’s body of death. The seductive image of Adam and Eve is revealed to be a false hope and a site that induces slave morality or body-works-based righteousness. Butler’s voice is strangely prophetic because it calls the church to offer hope and life by reorienting its gaze from the beautiful yet lifeless bodies of Adam and Eve to the bloodied and scarred, risen body of Jesus Christ. Gender, in the end, is shown to be a vocation of becoming what one is not.
Rieger offers an enlightening way to understand the chief strands or options in theology today and a valuable proposal for resituating theology around the crucial issue of inclusion. He sees four competing vectors at work in Christian today's theology: Theology of Identity, Theology of Difference, Theology and the Postmodern and Theology and the Underside.
The Church is currently experiencing a transition in the way it understands and practises both mission and ministry. It is to be outward-looking, engaging with the wider community, involving all its members in mission and clergy are to play the role of enablers and equippers of the ministry of the whole church. However, ministerial formation in colleges and courses throughout the country lags behind this emerging consensus. ‘Theological education’ is still largely based on academic models. Reimagining Ministerial Formation offers a new way forward, where ‘ministry’ comes to be about the whole church, and ministerial formation is about collaboration between clergy and laity. It argues strongly for a shift away from ‘front-loaded’ training, to a new focus on formation as a life-long process.