Companion to Practical Theolog - Paperback

by Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore (Editor)

Through a series of essays contributed by leading experts in the field, The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Practical Theology presents an introduction to practical theology as a major area of Christian study and practice, including an overview of its key developments, themes, methods, and future directions.

• The first comprehensive reference work to provide a survey, description and analysis of practical theology as an area of study
• A range of leading scholars in the field provide original contributions on the major areas, issues, and figures in practical theology
• Reviews an extensive range of methods for studying theology in practice, along with sub-disciplines in theological education such as pastoral care and preaching
• Covers developments in the discipline in a range of global contexts and distinct Christian traditions
• Shows how practical theology is relevant to everyday life

Back Jacket

The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Practical Theology offers a comprehensive introduction to practical theology as a major area of Christian study and practice, including an overview of its key developments, themes, methods, and future directions.

There has been a remarkable growth in scholarship surrounding practical theology in recent years. Contributions by distinguished theologians from around the world reflect this growth. Their insightful essays clarify the myriad emerging uses and contributions of practical theology, including an expansion of the analysis of practical knowledge and lived religion in ministerial study, in the study of religion and theology, and in the wider public. In a path-breaking move to clarify a complex term, the volume is organized around four distinct meanings of practical theology: anactivity of believers seeking to sustain a life of reflective faith, a method of understanding theology in practice by religious leaders, a curricular area in theological education, and an academic discipline pursued by scholars.

With its combined organizational clarity and scholarly authorship, The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Practical Theology not only strengthens the discipline of practical theology but gives scholars in other areas and religious leaders in different settings fresh tools to understand the dynamics of theology as a living reality and the knowledge that evolves out of religious practice.

Author Biography

Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore is E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Professor of Pastoral Theology at Vanderbilt University Divinity School and Graduate Department of Religion. Winner of a prestigious Henry Luce III Fellow in Theology award, she is a national and international leader in pastoral and practical theologies and widely recognized for research on families, women, and children. Her publications include Feminist and Womanist Pastoral Theology (1999) and an upcoming collection of essays, Christian Theology in Practice: Discovering a Discipline (2012).