An Introduction to Practical Theology (eBook)

History, Theory, and the Communication of the Gospel in the Present

Christian Grethlein (Autor)

eBook Download: PDF

2016
278 Seiten
Baylor University Press (Verlag)
978-1-4813-0520-4 (ISBN)

Infos

Serious theology is systematic theology. Or so the story goes. Practical theology—with its focus on the church, its life and its practices—has sometimes been understood as the second order application of the  real work of academic theology. However, in this abridged translation of his magisterial Praktische Theologie, Christian Grethlein realizes the rigorous methodology, critical commitments, and expansive sweep of practical theology ​as both an academic and an ecclesial discipline.
 
Grethlein roots his practical theology in communication theory, but does so in a way ordered to a specific end: the communication of the Christian gospel in the present day. He distinguishes practical theology from simply a guide to specific ecclesial praxis, on the one hand, and some general theory of religion, on the other. Grethlein then blends empirical observation with biblical texts to reveal practical theology’s unique nature as a discipline oriented toward rigorous examination of both the gospel and the intentional ways in which it is shared. In so doing, Grethlein opens the possibility of a truly encyclopedic and embedded practical theology.
 
Part 1 provides a historical introduction to practical theology, positioning it on a global stage, and in relation to other academic disciplines—particularly the modern sciences—as well as within ecclesial and theological traditions. In part 2 Grethlein develops practical theology as communication of the gospel by examining the hermeneutical, empirical, and theological foundations necessary for a systematic practical theology. In part 3 Grethlein turns his attention to ways the gospel is communicated both in time and place, as well as the forms of that communicating (telling, talking, preaching, praying, and singing).
 
In An Introduction to Practical Theology, Christian Grethlein offers students the foundations and frameworks for practical theology while guiding its scholars in the crafting of their academic discipline.

Autor

lt;P>Christian Grethlein is Professor of Practical Theology at Westfalian Wilhelms-University.

Uwe Rasch is, among other things, a freelance academic translator and Assistant Editor of Aldous Huxley Annual and the Human Potentialities series of the Center for Aldous Huxley Studies at the University of Münster.

Inhalt

Foreword
Introduction

Part 1. Historical Introduction to Practical Theology

1. Practical Theology in Germany

2. Practical Theology in Catholicism and the United States

Part 2. Practical Theology as the Theory of the Communication of the Gospel

3. The Hermeneutical Framework

4. The Empirical Conditions

5. The Theological Foundations

Part 3. Methods for Communication of the Gospel

6. Understanding Time and Place

7. Communicating About, With, and From God

Index of Names
Subject Index

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 1.8.2016
• Übersetzer: Uwe Rasch
• Verlagsort: Waco
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Religion / Theologie
• Schlagworte: practical theology, theology, theological history, methodology of practical theology
• ISBN-10: 1-4813-0520-4 / 1481305204
• ISBN-13: 978-1-4813-0520-4 / 9781481305204