Article Title, Author, and Abstract for Theology Today October 2009 (66.3)
Thematic Issue: Religious Practices
Exploring the Text/Practice Interface: Acquiring the Virtue of Hermeneutical Modesty
Sally A. BrownAbstract: The theological conversation about Christian practices emerged amid the convergence of two streams of theory—the social practices theory of Alasdair MacIntyre and narrative approaches to biblical hermeneutics. This essay argues that, as a result, something of a narrativist consensus, more tacit than explicit, about the hermeneutical relationship between a community’s reading of the Bible and the assessment of its practices tended to be assumed under the surface of scholarship on Christian practices. Today, however, as we attend increasingly to the lived practices of particular Christian communities, we are discovering that lingering narrativist hermeneutical assumptions can mask the real complexity of the Scripture-practice interface.
Interreligious Literacy and Hermeneutical Responsibility: Can There Be a Theological Learning From Other Religions or Only a Phenomenological/Historical Learning About Them?
Richard Fox YoungAbstract: Getting seminarians up to speed on interreligious literacy is not a luxury but a necessity. Still, how much knowledge, or what kind, does one need in order to learn from another religion theologically? What might a serious attempt at interreligious understanding actually look like? Learning from the religions theologically will not look the same as it does when we learn about them phenomenologically and historically. While acts of interreligious reparticularization are a hermeneutical privilege, theologians must acknowledge their accountability; after all, the believer traduced could be the neighbor next door.
Educating for Wisdom: Theological Studies as a Spiritual Exercise
Ellen T. CharryAbstract: Augustine set the goal of human life as knowing, loving, and enjoying God forever. He also set the practical task of theology as knowledge of God seeking the wisdom of God. Theology is to enable wisdom. The fourfold curriculum now focuses primarily on mastering information and technical ministerial skills. If Augustine is correct, however, the various theological subdisciplines, now generally divided into guilds, share a sacred calling that transcends their various subject matters and methods. If teaching, scholarship, and learning aim at wisdom, then teachers, scholars, and students pursue a common goal. Theological students want to become wise in God, and their teachers are there to help them. Informing students about history, literary tropes, various construals of doctrines, and the skills of preaching and counseling is a necessary but preliminary step in helping students grow spiritually.
Presbyterians and Practice: Reflections on Denominational History in a New Key
James H. MoorheadAbstract: If denominational histories were recast as accounts of practice and behavior, there would still be a place for the traditional emphasis upon theological debates, but these would be examined with greater attention to their impact on religion as actually lived. Forms of worship, church architecture, the weekly offering envelopes, church potlucks, and ice cream socials would also become important topics. Denominational history written in this key is not likely to yield a single story but rather many stories.
Practicing “Koininia”
Deborah van Deusen HunsingerAbstract: Koinōnia is both the origin and telos of the church’s existence. It is the goal of all Christian practices, and at the same time it is something to be practiced. Nonviolent communication (made up of the interplay of observation, feeling, need, and request) provides heightened awareness of the centrality of koinōnia as well as skill in working toward it. It is especially helpful in situations when the peace and unity of fellowship breaks down. It can also serve as a means of spiritual growth.