{"id":1222,"date":"2025-06-23T09:29:38","date_gmt":"2025-06-23T14:29:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/sensingt\/?p=1222"},"modified":"2025-06-23T09:29:38","modified_gmt":"2025-06-23T14:29:38","slug":"practical-theology-as-a-practice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/sensingt\/2025\/06\/practical-theology-as-a-practice\/","title":{"rendered":"Practical Theology as a Practice"},"content":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Is \u201cpractical theology\u201d an oxymoron? The debate often states that theology deals with \u201ctheory\u201d while practice deals with \u201creal\u201d life. Subsequently, practical theology gets a bad rap\u2014sometimes referred to as \u201chints and tricks\u201d of the trade or orthopedic shoes for the minister, merely methods, techniques, and strategies. And many practical theologians carry an inferiority complex whenever they enter academic conversations.<\/div>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 The conviction that theory and practice are divided has some ardent supporters. Sometimes it is all about who you footnote to support a hypothesis. And when you can footnote Aristotle as an advocate, you tread cautiously when you disagree. The theory-practice divide is in our bones. The theory-practice divide is part of our DNA. In many times, in various places, and in multiple ways, the theory-practice divide is assumed. And that which is assumed is taken for granted, unarticulated, and unquestioned. Amnesia leads to silence. That which is assumed is forgotten.<\/div>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 “Practice” is a key term for practical theologians these days, for it expresses a robust understanding of the holistic nature of our task.<\/div>\n
\n
    \n
  • \n
      \n
    • Like a pianist playing the scales, practicing leads to being an artist \u2014 a way of being.<\/li>\n
    • Medicine is a big word \u2014 Doctors have a practice.<\/li>\n
    • Law is a big word \u2014 Lawyers have a practice.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
      \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Dorothy C. Bass defines a Christian practice as a formative activity that \u201cChristian people do together over time in response to and in the light of God\u2019s active presence for the life of the world in Christ Jesus.\u201d In other words, \u201ca way of life\u201d or the patterns of people\u2019s lived experience. Bass lists four key components:<\/div>\n
        \n
      1. \n
          \n
        1. \n
          Practices are meaningful clusters of human activity (including the activity of thinking) that require and engender knowledge on the part of practitioners. Practices resist the separation of thinking from acting, and thus of Christian doctrine from Christian life.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
        2. \n
          Practices are social, belonging to groups of people across generations\u2014a feature that undergirds the communal quality of the Christian life.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
        3. \n
          Practices are rooted in the past but also constantly adapt to changing circumstances, including new cultural settings.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
        4. \n
          Practices articulate wisdom that practitioners keep even though they do not think of themselves as theologians.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
          \n
          \u00a0 \u00a0 There is a robust harmony between theory and practice. Harmonies do not have \u201ceither\/or\u201d polarities but \u201cboth\/and\u201d melodies within congregations. Theology is not merely the pursuit of an intellectual vision but a compelling account of a way of life in God. Beliefs and practices are intertwining functions. Miroslav Volf talks about all this regarding \u201cbelief-shaped practices\u201d and \u201cpractice-shaping beliefs.\u201d To separate the two, if possible at all, is to do a disservice to both. Theology is to be known, lived, and experienced by a particular community.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Is \u201cpractical theology\u201d an oxymoron? The debate often states that theology deals with \u201ctheory\u201d while practice deals with<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3578,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[411,97012],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-definitions","category-practical-theology","comments-off"],"yoast_head":"\nPractical Theology as a Practice - HomileticalSensings<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/sensingt\/2025\/06\/practical-theology-as-a-practice\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Practical Theology as a Practice - HomileticalSensings\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Is \u201cpractical theology\u201d an oxymoron? 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