Book Review

Book Review

Reconstructing Pastoral Theology , a Christological foundation by Andrew Purves

Practical Theology, as central to church leadership, pastoral practices and missionary contexts, is emerging as a distinct discipline in 'theological education' . Struggles of life analyzed in theological and ethical deliberations often call for a review of our perception and practice of theology. Thus, centrality of context and hermeneutic in the practice of theology inspire educators and ministers to critically analyze the traditional ministerial practices. More over, the rapidly changing socio-economic scenario of the world inspires the believing community to be keen on guidance at the theological and practical issues they encounter daily. On the other hand, Christians serving the secular world with their expertise in behavioral sciences, sociological studies and other humanities disciplines, have key insights, still to be identified, explored and incorporated by the Christian community. Critical dimensions that question the effectiveness of the current training in terms of holistic and lifelong formation of student are varied. This paper attempts to present the predicament of fragmentation in theological education prior to its advocacy to utilize Practical Theology as a discipline that integrates the disciplines of theology and the skills training in theological education. Projecting the transformational vision of Practical Theology as a discipline as such for church and society, the paper elaborates on its major approaches.

Practical theology is introduced and advocated as a potential theological construct to facilitate coherence by integrating the philosophy, objectives and tasks in theological education, in view of the lack of consensus in the stated and espoused objectives of training in the church, theological institutions and missions. The burden for theology re-iterated here is that all theological education is/has to be practically grounded theology. Being aware of the dissonances among the formational dimensions as well as the specialized disciplines in theological education, this article attempts to portray Practical Theology as an academic discipline that encompasses the philosophical and practical underpinnings of problem-based and context-oriented learning.

Fragmentation and Integration Crisis in Theological Education

Churches, theological institutions and mission fields- Christianity in general seems to be embracing division rather than unity on these dimensions. Defining 'church and its ministry', 'theological education and its objectives' and 'mission work and its outcome' become the most difficult task in theological analysis particularly due to its tendency to build walls of separation rather than bridges to connect. Generally, churches express their dissonance with the current theological training; theological colleges fail to show intense commitment to meet the felt needs of the churches or mission fields; missions, in response to this crisis, resort to their own contextual training and plans. The concern here is to highlight theological education on its pressing need of integration by praxis, for which Practical Theology is advocated as a resourceful alternative. Practical Theology's expanded definition does not divide Theological Education from church ministry or mission field as it says, “theological education, as we use the term, includes not only seminaries and divinity schools but also other institutions that deliberately foster the education and formation of pastors ...