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Graceful Work: Practical Theological Study of Spirituality

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 September 2014

Claire Wolfteich
Claire Wolfteich*
Affiliation:
Boston University
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Abstract

This article calls for closer conversation between two growing academic fields: the scholarly study of spirituality and practical theology. Practical theology investigates the contemporary situation as it relates to questions of faith, ministry, and public religious leadership. Practical theology loses its center when it neglects the critical study of spirituality. Practical theological study of spirituality can help to integrate the three dominant methods in spirituality scholarship: the anthropological, the historical-contextual, and the theological approaches. The integration of these three approaches promotes a mutually critical correlation between the Christian tradition and the contemporary situation. Reflection on the practices of ministry students and teachers further reveals the importance of practical theological study of spirituality, which should inform the practice of teaching, the conception of theological education, and the formation of ministry students.

Type
Articles
Information
Horizons , Volume 27 , Issue 1 , Spring 2000 , pp. 7 - 21
Copyright
Copyright © The College Theology Society 2000

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References

1 See McGinn, Bernard, “The Letter and the Spirit: Spirituality as an Academic Discipline,” Christian Spirituality Bulletin 1/2 (Fall 1993): 3.Google Scholar

2 On the relationship between spiritual direction and pastoral care, see Barry, William and Connolly, William, The Practice of Spiritual Direction (San Francisco: Harper-SanFrancisco, 1986), 11.Google Scholar

3 For an example of practical theological work on the family debate, see Browning, Donet al., From Culture Wars to Common Ground: Religion and the American Family Debate (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 1997).Google Scholar My students at Boston University School of Theology completed practical theological research on the Russian church (Inna Naletova) and the air force chaplaincy (Paul Cannon).

4 Schneiders, Sandra, “A Hermeneutical Approach to the Study of Christian Spirituality,” Christian Spirituality Bulletin 2/1 (Spring 1994) 13Google Scholar

5 See Browning, Don S, A Fundamental Practical Theology (MinneapolisFortress, 1991)Google Scholar

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16 See, e.g., McGinn's, The Foundations of Mysticism: Origins to the Fifth Century (New York: Crossroad, 1991)Google Scholar and The Growth of Mysticism: Gregory the Great through the 12th Century (New York: Crossroad, 1994).Google Scholar

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23 Ibid.

24 See McGinn, Bernard, “The Letter and the Spirit,” 7Google Scholar and Schneiders, , “A Hermeneutical Approach to the Study of Christian Spirituality,” 13.Google Scholar Schneiders regards the practice of spiritual disciplines as an appropriate part of the “formative” study of spirituality, which she restricts to seminary education and practical masters programs.

25 Tracy, , “Traditions of Spiritual Practice and the the Practice of Theology,” 238.Google Scholar See also Groome, Thomas, Educating For Life: A Spiritual Vision for Every Teacher and Parent (Allen, TX: Thomas More Press, 1998).Google Scholar

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27 Miles, Margaret R., Practicing Christianity: Critical Perspectives for an Embodied Spirituality (New York: Crossroad, 1988), 90.Google Scholar For another argument about the importance of understanding the historical and communal roots of practice, see Dykstra.

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29 Weil, Simone in Waiting for God (New York: Harper & Row, 1951), 105.Google Scholar

30 Ibid., 107.

31 Ibid., 112.

32 Ibid., 112-13.