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Showing posts from June, 2016

The Church: 18d. Pastoral Care and the Mission of the Triune God (IV)

The Pastoral Care of God the Son [This is the fourth of five posts.] Introduction As we continue to explore a Trinitarian pastoral theology for the pastoral care of sinners, we now turn in this fourth study to how our theology of God the Son can guide us.  With so much of Christian teaching about the person and work of Jesus Christ, this phase of the study could be considerably expanded beyond what will be offered here.  The entire study in these five posts is meant to initiate further such reflections on a Trinitarian pastoral theology.  The occasion for these studies is the Church of England’s present consideration of a ‘pastoral accommodation’ for persons in same-sex relationships.  The concluding, fifth study in our series will focus on this proposal more directly after considering pastoral care with reference to the person and work of God the Holy Spirit.  Our argument is that pastoral care, not accommodation, is what the Church needs to offer sinners.  Indeed, accomm

The Church: 18c. Pastoral Care and the Mission of the Triune God (Part III)

        The Pastoral Care of God the Father [This is the third post in a series of five.] Introduction: The suggestion is being made in this series of five posts that pastoral care can be guided by a pastoral theology based on Trinitarian theology, Biblically explained.  I am here interested in what we might call the pastoral care of God the Father.  The immediate purpose of this abbreviated and only suggestive study is to lay out some Biblically authoritative guidance for pastoral care.  The occasion for doing so is the Church of England’s present interest in a ‘pastoral accommodation’ for homosexuals.  The first post suggested that this suggestion is actually disingenuous, although the need for guidance in pastoral care is important and worth exploring further.  This is nothing new, of course: the Church has been at this throughout its existence for all sorts of conditions of sinful humanity.  These posts are a very modest attempt to offer some thoughts at the prese

The Church: 18b. Pastoral Care and the Mission of the Triune God (Part II)

Toward a Theology of Pastoral Care Based on God’s Mission In light of the Church of England’s present ‘conversations’ about homosexual practice and ‘marriage’ and the interest in focusing on pastoral care, the suggestion is here made that pastoral care can be discussed in relation to the Triune God’s own mission, a mission that is itself pastoral care for sinners.  Pastoral care for sinners can only begin once a sinner acknowledges his or her sin.  In this second of five posts on the subject of pastoral care for persons who have homosexual inclinations, orientations, or are in homosexual relationships, the beginning point for this discussion is to recognize that it has to do with pastoral care of sinners.  The mission of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit involves divine ‘pastoral’ care for a sinful humanity. Pastoral Care for Sinners The beginning of care, as in medicine, is accurate diagnosis. There are other sorts of pastoral care, such as care for pe