Theological Reflections At The Boundaries

The interdependence of boundary questions and the experience of cognitive dissonance reveal that knowledge in all fields of inquiry is always incomplete and tentative. The issues are particularly acute for Christian theological reflection. Ingram illustrates the importance of boundary questions and cognitive dissonance as a means of creatively transforming contemporary Christian theological reflection through dialogue with the natural sciences and the world's religions, particularly Buddhism, filtered through the lenses of Whiteheadian process philosophy.

The interdependence of boundary questions and the experience of cognitive dissonance reveal that knowledge in all fields of inquiry is always incomplete and tentative. The issues are particularly acute for Christian theological reflection. Ingram illustrates the importance of boundary questions and cognitive dissonance as a means of creatively transforming contemporary Christian theological reflection through dialogue with the natural sciences and the world's religions, particularly Buddhism, filtered through the lenses of Whiteheadian process philosophy.

Religion takes different shapes in late-modern society. Pastoral care, church and religion are also in transition. Practical theology explores these new challenges. This book introduces the readers to the field of this discipline in dialogue with the metaphor of 'boundaries'. Theoretical insights in practical theology and its methodology are combined with discussions about specific topics and case studies from the field of pastoral and spiritual care, with special attention for Catholic contexts. Practical theologians are presented as cross-border workers, whose work is to reflect on ambiguous places and borderlands 'in between' positions, disciplines, and fixed identities. Specific attention goes to questions on hope and power in relation to pastoral care, on chaplaincy in prisons and hospitals, on children and theology. This book functions also as an introduction in empirical methodologies and hermeneutical theological reflections.

The book is divided in two parts. In the first, the author tells the story of his struggle to determine his home culture. He was born in Mexico on the south side of the Rio Grande but was raised by parents from the north side of the river, the United States. For a time, he felt at home in Mexico, on the south side, then tried to straddle the two cultures, and finally came to the conclusion that his home culture was on the north side, in the United States. The second part of the book tells the story of his spiritual pilgrimage, his call to the Protestant ministry, his struggle to determine the will of God, his place in life, and the specific nature of his ministry.

Practical theology and theological reflection are growing areas of theological studies. This book aims to create a bridge between pastoral practice and public theology.

Nicola Hoggard Creegan and Christine D. Pohl tell their own stories and draw from the experiences of ninety other women scholars to helpfully and hopefully address the boundary between the evangelical world and the concerns of feminism found in the academy.

Presenting new opportunities in the dialogue between philosophy and theology, this interdisciplinary text addresses the contemporary reshaping of intellectual boundaries. Exploring human experience in a ‘post-Christian’ era, the distinguished contributors bring to bear what have been traditionally seen as theological resources while drawing on contemporary developments in philosophy, both ‘continental’ and ‘analytic’. Set in the context of two complementary narratives – one philosophical concerning secularity, the other theological about the question of God – the authors point to ways of reconfiguring both traditional reason / faith oppositions and those between interpretation / text and language / experience. Contributors: David Brown, Philip Clayton, Chris Firestone, Grace Jantzen, Nicholas Lash, George Pattison, Dan Stiver, Charles Taylor, Kevin Vanhoozer, Graham Ward, Martin Warner.

John D. Koch, Jr. provides an argument for the significance of the distinction between law and gospel to theological reflection as a whole, a description of the centrality of the docitrine of justification by faith to current ecumenical dialogue, and an examination of the relationship between creation and ethics.

Practical theology and theological reflection are growing areas of theological studies. This book aims to create a bridge between pastoral practice and public theology.