Hasil untuk "Practical Theology"

Valerio Aversano, Ellen Van Stichel

In recent decades, a novel right-wing nationalist and populist tendency has emerged on a global scale, frequently framing Christian identity as one of its central pillars. This article explores the relationship between right-wing populism and Christianity, by addressing how populism considers the role of religion on the one hand, and how Christianity position itself in relation to populism on the other hand, with a specific focus on Pope Francis’s social thought Although the relationship between right-wing populism and Christianity appears to be ambivalent, the response of Pope Francis, as elaborated in the encyclical _Fratelli Tutti_, is not. In the section entitled “A Better Kind of Politics,” the distinction between the “popular” and “populist leader” is employed as a hermeneutical tool to investigate current political developments. Furthermore, it enables us to respond to the allegation that Francis himself could be considered a populist, as some claim, referring to his alleged affinities with the political culture associated with Peronism. In his interpretation of the notion of political love as delineated in _Fratelli Tutti_, Francis leaves us with a legacy regarding the ethical response of Christians to populism, promoting instead a “culture of encounter” and a “better kind of politics.”

Mogomme A. Masoga

There are concepts which have received little attention in scholarship and important aspects of real-life situations have not been addressed by believing communities. Politicians and policy makers have taken advantage of the laxity on the part of the sacred institution to both exploit and mismanage the natural habitat because the latter is preoccupied with matters of eternity at the detriment of the particularities of everyday life among communities. First, the inquiry will critically engage previous studies that have touched on ecotheology in South Africa (SA) to substantiate my arguments on the failure to address practical issues (hence, practical theology) affecting local communities and the environment. In other words, the study seeks to answer the following questions: (1) what is the contribution of the church in both the collection and disposition of garbage in our cities? (2) what is the relevance of Practical Theology as a field of study in addressing the increase of street loitering and deterioration of sanitary conditions in our major cities? (3) Is it not possible for a church or group of churches to adopt either a community or a street in an effort to maintain it? Second, the present study seeks to decolonize the myth of erecting massive mega churches as if to suggest that God abides in a building. It is argued that the extravagant expenditure by the church could be put to better use by way of awareness campaigns against poverty, poaching, and veldt fires. Ecotheology should encompass awareness on disposing garbage. The present research utilizes the theory of constructivism.

G. Dames

The ecological crisis in the world necessitates the reconfiguration of the hegemony of modern science, theology, politics, economics and technology – the root cause of a pending ecological catastrophe. The aim is to redress a growing culture of apathy in the context of devastating weather conditions, social and political discord, and unrelenting violent wars. Public theology serves as a conceptual framework with transversal rationality as an interlocutor between the different theological (systematic, ethics, pastoral care and eco-theology), religious and philosophical perspectives. The theological ontology of care is presented followed by the role of communities of critical prophetic discourse. The notion of earth as a community leads to the prospect of a new eco-theology. Finally, the pending ecological catastrophe is reconceptualised in and through Christian eschatology. This is an inter- and intra-disciplinary discussion on the disastrous consequences of modernity and anthropocentric behaviour in terms of the current environmental crisis. Various scholars offer valuable insights into what the problem is, who responsible is for the environmental crisis, and how Christian communities should forge an accountability of care for the earth and vulnerable human beings. The eschatological reality of God’s preferred future remains a constant of hopeful and sustainable life in the Anthropocene age. It is recommended that we change the way we exist by transforming modernity as developed and sustained through theology, socio-political, economic and technological ‘advances’.Contribution: This article focussed on the ecological crisis because of anthropocentrism and distorted theological, political and socio-economic paradigms to serve human interests despite the consequences for the earth. We need to reconfigure interdisciplinary and intradisciplinary scientific approaches to embrace earth as a key scientific interlocutor. The ecological crisis should be conceptualised within the reality of Christian eschatology – Jesus Christ is ultimately, the eschaton.

Abednego Tri Gumono, Yusak Tanasyah, Amos Naolaka

The realization of character education is a shared responsibility of both parents and educational institutions. Higher education as an integral educational facility has a responsibility to develop aspects of character. This is because character is an important domain in forming a student's personality as a whole. In this way, students can grow cognitively, affectively and psychometrically. The Faculty of Education, Pelita Harapan University has a profile of students who are competent, have character, have a calling as Christian teachers (Calling), and have compassion (compassion). To realize this profile, it must be supported by the professionalism of lecturers with the characteristics of having a loving spirit like the good Samaritan and a spirit of self-emptying of Christ in serving. The aim of this research is to determine the relationship between lecturer professionalism and student Christian character. The results of this research will provide an overview, evaluation, and input to build Christian character in a sustainable manner. The method used in this research is a correlative quantitative method. The research results show that lecturer professionalism is significantly related to students' Christian character. The research results show that there is a correlation between lecturer professionalism and student Christian character of .537. Thus, it can be concluded that the correlation between lecturer professionalism and student Christian character is in the strong category. The test results show the significance value (p = .000) is smaller than 0.05. This means that there is not enough evidence to accept the proposed hypothesis (reject Ho). Thus, it can be concluded that there is a significant correlation between lecturer professionalism and student Christian character. BAHASA INDONESIA ABSTRACT: Perwujudan pendidikan karakter merupakan tanggung jawab bersama antara orang tua dan institusi pendidikan. Perguruan tinggi sebagai salah satu sarana pendidikan yang tidak terpisahkan memiliki tanggung jawab untuk mengembangkan aspek karakter. Hal ini dikarenakan karakter merupakan domain penting dalam membentuk kepribadian mahasiswa secara utuh. Dengan demikian, mahasiswa dapat berkembang secara kognitif, afektif dan psikomotorik. Fakultas Keguruan dan Ilmu Pendidikan Universitas Pelita Harapan memiliki profil mahasiswa yang kompeten, berkarakter, memiliki panggilan sebagai guru Kristen (Calling), dan memiliki belas kasih (compassion). Untuk mewujudkan profil tersebut, harus didukung oleh profesionalisme dosen dengan ciri-ciri memiliki semangat mengasihi seperti orang Samaria yang baik hati dan semangat mengosongkan diri seperti Kristus dalam melayani. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui hubungan antara profesionalisme dosen dengan karakter kristiani mahasiswa. Hasil penelitian ini akan memberikan gambaran, evaluasi dan masukan untuk membangun karakter kristiani secara berkelanjutan. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah metode kuantitatif korelasional. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa profesionalisme dosen berhubungan secara signifikan dengan karakter kristiani mahasiswa. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa terdapat korelasi antara profesionalisme dosen dengan karakter kristiani mahasiswa sebesar 0,537. Dengan demikian, dapat disimpulkan bahwa korelasi antara profesionalisme dosen dengan karakter Kristen mahasiswa berada pada kategori kuat Hasil uji t menunjukkan nilai signifikansi (p=.000) lebih kecil dari 0.05. Hal ini berarti tidak terdapat cukup bukti untuk menerima hipotesis yang diajukan (tolak Ho). Dengan demikian, dapat disimpulkan bahwa ada hubungan yang signifikan antara profesionalisme dosen dengan karakter kristiani mahasiswa.

Charel D. du Toit

The parable of the Prodigal Son is traditionally viewed from an androcentric perspective, focusing on the male characters, such as the father and brothers. However, this article suggests that the original listeners may have perceived female characters as present and significant. It briefly explores the roles of the Prodigal’s mother and the father’s mother, proposing an alternative interpretation. Evidence indicates that a 1st-century audience might have envisioned a parallel narrative, termed ‘the Parable of the Two Mothers’, within the story. This imagined parallel parable could reflect the high-context understanding of the original hearers. The article aims to reconstruct this proposed parallel parable not only as a potentially imagined narrative within the Prodigal Son but also as a counter-narrative tool. This tool seeks to aid faith communities in addressing gender-based violence (GBV) by offering a narrative device that brings women’s voices to the forefront in congregational and social contexts. Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The interdisciplinary nature of this article contributes to the debate on the roles and importance of women in the church by investigating the value that women had in the parables of Jesus. Furthermore, this article promotes an inclusive reading of biblical texts aiming to combat the pandemic of GBV in South African communities. By reading women as present in the text, emphasis is given to the voices of women in the Bible and the importance of their representation today. This research is also in line with the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Gender equality and women empowerment.

Mesut Arslan

Ulema ve münevver bu çalışmada Osmanlı klasik çağı ile Tanzimat sonrası modernleşme sürecini temsil eden iki aydın tipidir. Bu iki tip aynı zamanda dönemlerinin düşünce yapısını, olaylara bakış açısını ve Osmanlı tasavvurunu da temsil etmektedir. Doğası gereği bu iki aydın tipi arasında bir farklılıktan ve çekişmeden söz edilebilir. Bu durum pek çok konuda kendini göstermektedir. Bu çalışmada bu düşünce ve bakış açısı farkının merkezine Kürt dili özelinde yerel dilleri koyacağız: Osmanlı’nın klasik döneminde geleneksel tarzda eğitim almış uleması ile modern dönemde Batılı tarzda eğitim almış münevverinin başta Kürtçe olmak üzere Osmanlı’da konuşulan yerel dillere bakış açısını inceleyeceğiz. “Bu iki eğitimli grup Osmanlı’nın mevcut durumunda ve gelecek planlamasında Kürtleri ve Kürt dilini nereye koyuyordu?” sorusuna cevap arayacağız. Osmanlı klasik çağında imparatorluk atmosferi içinde sıradan bir olgu olan çok dilliliğin Tanzimat sonrası dönemde nasıl çözülmesi gereken bir “sorun” hâline geldiğini örneklerle inceleyeceğiz. Bu bağlamda Gelibolulu Âli, Evliya Çelebi, Namık Kemal, Şemseddin Sâmi, Babanzade İsmail Hakkı, Said-i Meşhûr, Abdullah Cevdet, Ziya Gökalp gibi şahsiyetler ile İstanbul’da yayımlanan Kürd Teavün ve Terakki Gazetesi, Rojî Kurd dergisi, Serbestî gazetesi ve Diyarbekir’de neşredilen Peymân gazetesi başlıca araştırma kaynaklarımız olacak.

S. Roberts

Bash comments that ‘there is not a single modern category that adequately combines the empirical and theoretical approaches to emotions’ (p. 153) and concludes that ‘the new ways of identifying the sources of modern knowledge are problematic . . . there is no agreement about what necessarily constitutes moral wrongdoing.’ (p. 176). Bash then turns his attention to criminal-justice (chapter 9), exploring the relationship between remorse and punishment. He argues that whilst, in principle, there is a place for remorse in consideration of prison sentences, there are significant practical issues such as how we might ascertain ‘to what extent a person’s claim to be remorseful is genuine’ (p. 199). He suggests a ten-point taxonomy for creating an evidence-based approach to assessment. Bash brings his analysis to a conclusion in chapter 10 with an outline Christian perspective that encompasses remorse towards both God and victim. He finishes the book by stating his conviction that remorse represents a ‘compelling Christian emotion and ethic, and we neglect it at our peril. It is . . . one of “eternity’s emissaries” that leads to “purity of heart” and so to blessing and the way to “see God” (Mat 5:8),’ (p. 226). In this book Bash bravely takes on an assessment of an impressive array of contexts. Whilst possessing and demonstrating extensive expertise in his understanding of biblical text and Church history, Bash is not afraid to engage in critical dialogue with the less familiar (to him) territory of secular thinking in scientific and philosophical disciplines. Whilst not claiming to be an expert in the details of these, Bash provides an excellent summary of the relevant philosophical themes and trends sufficient to highlight both where there are helpful contributions to our understanding of remorse and where competing and conflicting theories make this impossible. Practical theology engages the modern world in dialogue with Christian perspectives in those (many) areas where we cannot simply turn to the Bible for an analogue of the modern world. In this book Bash demonstrates a strong ability in this dimension and has provided a welcome ‘fleshing out’ of our understanding of remorse based on Christian perspectives. Having forcefully argued the case that the ancient world, with its ethics of divinity and community, and the modern world, with its ethics of autonomy and community, lack a full understanding of remorse, it would be interesting to understand how Bash sees his Christian ethic of remorse working out in practice – influencing and shaping the modern landscape.

J. Klaasen

Higher education institutions in South Africa are still dominated by colonial traditions, course content, staff with colonial privileges and attachments, and discriminatory structures and systems. Practical theology and theologians are no exception. This article seeks to investigate the correlations between social just pedagogies and social justice. Social just pedagogies consider the role of the students, lecturers, and non-human phenomena as contributing to epistemology and agency formation. Normative pedagogies remain important criteria for knowledge production and graduate attributes within the South African higher education landscape. Within practical theology, the pedagogies that are used to form students and impart knowledge are still dominated by classical teaching methods that are power-centred and biased towards the privileged. The aim of this article is thus not to replace the normative pedagogies but to challenge the normativity and essentialism that has characterised colonial, race-related, and top-down knowledge production. I will introduce a social just pedagogy of teaching practical theology that critically engages and challenges the privileged normative position of classical practical theology. A social just pedagogy will bring the centre of learning and teaching into the structure of the lecture room, a participatory method of knowledge production, students, and the lecturers. The hierarchical structure of the South African university system will be engaged with as an instrument of traditional classical knowledge production systems. Teaching practical theology through social just pedagogies will also contribute to social justice within democratic South Africa. The question that I will address is how teaching practical theology at higher education institutions can contribute to the agency of social justice in South Africa.

A. Brunsdon

ABSTRACT This article is an exploratory contemplation of practical theological and pastoral engagement in the so-called green war in the African context. It first provides an overview of eco-theology, the Anthropocene age, biodiversity, eco-practical theology, and eco-pastoral care to create a theoretical framework for the research. As it is aimed at the African context, the notion of the African Anthropocene is put forward in the second section. Considering the African Anthropocene and subsequent biodiversity challenges, an eco-practical theology and eco-pastoral care are imagined in the third and fourth sections. Ecological preaching, liturgy, and youth work are discussed as avenues for eco-pastoral care contributing to the multidisciplinary biodiversity conservation discourse and its vision of a sustainable globe.

Eilidh Galbraith

ABSTRACT Questions of suffering provoke deep challenges to our theological thinking. Despite being an intrinsic part of the human condition, suffering has occupied a problematic space in our theological history. Whilst traditional theologies have leaned on theodicy to account for the presence of suffering, these tend to concentrate the focus on the why of suffering, rather than the who, and the how. Yet questions of suffering are inextricable from the lived experience of suffering bodies. Theologies which neglect the suffering body, I propose, leave it silenced. This article looks to explore how trauma theologies might inform a practical theological response to suffering which takes the suffering body seriously; a response which is necessarily embodied, witnessed, and disruptive.

A. Chu

ABSTRACT Hong Kong Christian communities often draw upon theological resources from the West. But can Western theological sources be meaningfully applied to Hong Kong? Western theological sources stem from Western epistemologies, which may not necessarily resonate with the values or cultural assumptions of Hong Kong Christians. The lived experiences of ‘Chan Tai-man,’ a placeholder name for average Hong Kong Christians, can be a source for exploring Hong Kong Christian epistemologies. ‘Chan's’ lived theology has significance for the field of practical theology in considering how majority world epistemologies can impact the Western world, especially regarding Christianity in individualistic societies. This paper analyses Hong Kong theologians’ engagement with Stanley Hauerwas's theological convictions and makes a critical comparison to ‘Chan's’ lived theology. First, the article will address (1) why Hauerwasian theology resonates with Hong Kong theologians and (2) why Hong Kong Hauerwasians think Hauerwas's ideas would be useful in the Hong Kong context. Second, after explaining the author's ethnographic research methods, the article will illustrate ‘Chan's’ lived theology, followed by a comparison between the two approaches. In conclusion, while Hong Kong theologians’ engagement with Hauerwas makes an adequate start, Hong Kong Christian communities’ understanding of political theology will eventually have to be broadened through a critical self-reflection of Hong Kong lived theology.

Saiyyidah Zaidi

ABSTRACT In her article ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ (2017) respected American Practical Theologian Bonnie Miller-McLemore describes the ‘two cities’ as: (1) intellectual advancement and stature; and (2) diversity, inclusivity, and representation (2-9). A situation where ‘the conflicts are real; they revolve around power, knowledge, and the forging of a legacy; and there have been casualties’ (2) is portrayed. The articulation of the challenge for the International Association of Practical Theology (IAPT) to be inclusive and international is like that of the British and Irish Association for Practical Theology (BIAPT). Across both sides of the Atlantic, the intention to be fully representative of the context exists; however, the reality for scholars in the margins is that neither goal has been adequately addressed. This paper is a personal reflection on ten years in British Practical Theology. The aim is to consider the future of practical theology beyond inclusion and internationalisation. First, I will discuss the impact of etymology. Second, I present British Muslim Studies as an example of Practical Theology outside the field. Third, the impact of the virtual space in relation to expanding the field is considered. This article makes a call for increased conversation, compassion, and collaboration locally and globally.

Dustin D. Benac

ABSTRACT Practical theology has historically identified the problems that confront individuals and communities as a principal site for theological reflection and research. While such attention to the contextual concerns that confront communities of faith has (re)centred the field, reducing practical theology to reflection on problems underestimates the complexity of the crisis/es individuals and communities face. Secondarily, a limited focus on problems understates the field’s interpretive consequence by reducing practical theology to pragmatic reflection on the social realities that surround faith. In contrast to existing focus on problems, ‘crisis’ provides a category that permits social description and theological reflection about the interplay between divine and human activity in the ordering of a common life. Representing an experience of being brought up short, crisis requires new interpretive horizons and invites individuals and communities to cultivate the practice of giving an account. First, I introduce the crisis in the field as the reduction of theological reflection to problems alone. Second, I defined ‘crisis’, noting how crisis differs from trauma, tragedy, and characteristic damage. Third, and finally, I draw upon Luke-Acts to illustrate how this reframing of practical theology around crisis requires the practice of giving an account of divine and human encounter.

Joseph Muyangata, Sibiziwe Shumba

The COVID-19 pandemic which started in China in 2019, was originally described as a public health emergency of intercontinental concern by the World Health Organization (WHO) in January 2020. Due to its speedy rate of spread, the WHO then declared it a pandemic after 6 weeks. The global spread of COVID-19 has been attributed to the high mobility between and within countries. Having noted the wide spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, almost every country affected, developed strict and restrictive public health measures to control the spread of the virus. Such measures included restrictions on country borders and social gatherings. Hence, the main purpose of the paper was to explore the impact of the COVID-19 crisis in relation to religion, health and poverty in Harare urban communities as well as determining solutions to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on those sectors. The research methodology was qualitative in nature. Primary data were collected through in-depth telephone interviews and online open-ended questionnaires. Purposive sampling was used to select the study participants. The findings showed that the COVID-19 pandemic triggered and exposed the inequalities in health. The pandemic also had a strong impact on religious activities and it exacerbated poverty levels as well. Those who had all the access to medication, food and vaccinations during the height of COVID-19 may not fully appreciate the impact that poverty coupled with pandemics left on their communities both religiously and socially. Malnutrition, hunger and sickness were the order of the day among the poor. Contribution: The conclusion was that COVID-19 negatively impacted on the health, religious and social sectors. Therefore, it is critical to maintain preventive and curative services, especially for the most vulnerable populations such as children, older persons, and people with disabilities.

Nicholas P.L. Allen, Pierre J. Jordaan

Given the strong mimetic and dramatic qualities found in Judith the authors make the suggestion that perhaps, before LXX Judith became a fixed, written text, the basic fabula might well have been part of an oral tradition. The authors accept that an appropriately written dramatic work, whether transmitted through reading or an oral presentation, by means of its performative qualities, has the potential to achieve immediacy. Here, the audience may become captivated with its own familiarity and memory of popular, communally shared narratives. Accordingly, this article attempts to find evidence in the Greek text of LXX Judith for a possible oral precursor. In this context, corroboration is sought for the employment of verbal aspect and mood of the Greek language as well as instances of drama, theatrics, bodily gestures, mnemonic devices or special emphasis on the employment of the senses such as sight, taste and smell. The authors suggest that based on an analysis of the text of Chapter 13, there is much circumstantial evidence for the Judith fabula once being an oral narrative – one that embodies the dramatic and even encourages audience participation. This characteristic strongly suggests the removal of the fourth wall – the notion of an imaginary boundary between any fictional work and its audience. Contribution: This article shows that Judith 13 is indeed the climax of the narrative. However, it goes further. It is a vivid scene with various performative aspects. There are props, dialogue and audience participation. This research is cutting-edge and paves the way for new explorations.

P. McCarroll

Since 2009, the amount of literature focused on the psychological and social dimensions of the climate crisis has increased exponentially. This growing interest in the topic is signaled especially in the American Psychological Association (APA)’s multiple reports on the mental health impacts of climate change. More recently, across different disciplines, links have also been made between trauma theory and the climate crisis. These rich discussions include overlapping concerns, areas of potential fruitfulness and theological implications for all the practical theological disciplines, especially for pastoral theology and practices of care. Given the implicitly existential, theological and spiritual dimensions embedded in the realities of both trauma and the climate crisis, there is an important opportunity for pastoral theology in particular, and practical theology more generally, to engage, learn from and contribute to the interdisciplinary conversation. In this paper, I first offer a brief overview of the literature in pastoral theology related to the climate crisis. Second, I present literature specifically on trauma theory and the climate crisis, outlining several of the key themes emerging across the interdisciplinary discussion. Third, I reflect theologically on the presented content, discussing and drawing forward areas of theological, epistemological and practical fruitfulness for practical and pastoral theology.

B. Miller-McLemore

Abstract Several scholars in practical theology have lamented inattention in the field to environmental crises, raising the question: what is the state of research on climate? This report analyzes the scholarship with the hope of raising consciousness about contributions and sparking greater political and moral engagement. Contrary to initial impression, the review concludes that practical theologians have written more than people realize, offering up-close analysis of human proclivities toward climate violence and religious practices of earth justice. If anything, practical theologians need to do a better job drawing on past research in the field and honing what we have to offer.