263 - Pastoral Care as Dialogue

Pastoral Care as Dialogue
By Joachim Scharfenberg
Philadelphia, Fortress, 1987. 156 pp. $10.95.

This book is an English translation of a West German work on pastoral care written in the early 1970s. The translation is based on the third edition published in 1980. The author, Joachim Scharfenberg, is professor in the Institute for Practical Theology, Christian-Albrechts University, Kiel, West Germany. Scharfenberg is sharply critical of the "dialogue as proclamation" view of pastoral care which he sees dominating Germany in this century. Drawing on modern linguistic philosophy, theology, and other resources, he sets forth an alternative understanding of pastoral care as dialogue that is freed from required exhortation. In the latter half of the book, Scharfenberg uses depth psychology to explore the psychological aspects of the pastoral care dialogue, including interpersonal dynamics, counseling method, critical counseling points such as anxiety, and, finally, multiple counseling sessions.

The psychological discussion is sound and has practical relevance for pastors, though it does not break new American ground. On the other hand, the central theme of dialogue makes this book potentially a contribution to the contemporary hermeneutical discussion of pastoral care. Finally, this translation makes the possibility of a pastoral care dialogue between the United States and West Germany appear intriguing.

Gene Fowler
Memphis Theological Seminary
Memphis, Tenn.