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A Practical Solution for Practical Theology

 

L. M. Heyns and H. J. C. Pieterse divide the development of Practical Theology from the mid-20th century onwards into four approaches.[1]  A pragmatic approach ignores theory and simply addresses practice--how to practice ministry well.  A pastoral theological approach trains pastors for Christian ministry.  It is ecclesiastical, training ministers for church ministry.  The former approach focusses on practice, while this approach first defines what the church is and what this church in this tradition is.  A hermeneutical theological approach is normative and bases practice on biblical hermeneutics and historical criticism.  Unlike the former approach, it questions ecclesiastical traditions and asks after first principles.  The fourth approach rejects this: an empirical or operational, scientific approach rejects any normative, deductive approach to practical theology.  Rather, practice addresses real life situations and should contribute (backwards) to theory.  Therefore, practical theology is claimed to be empirical study.

One can easily see that the pragmatic and empirical/operational approaches to practical theology largely oppose theology.  On these views, one simply cannot find a perspective in Scripture where theology fundamentally determines practice.  Theology is set apart from practice or, at best, practice is related to theology backwards, flowing from practice to 'theory' (theology).

The pastoral theological and hermeneutical theological approaches are, as the names suggest, theological.  The former emphasises practice and, I would clarify, is related to good practice within a particular tradition and context.  The latter’s concern for Biblical interpretation means it is concerned to discover authoritative norms from Scripture.  Where a pastoral theological approach is ecclesial, a hermeneutical theological approach is Biblical.

Evangelicals may appreciate the concerns of the pastoral theological and the hermeneutical theological approaches to practical theology.  However, I would suggest that these approaches ought to raise questions for us about the integrity of practical theology as an independent discipline.  Why not reincorporate the concerns and practices of practical theology back into more foundational theology—Biblical, historical, dogmatic, moral theology?  Separating ‘practical’ from theological is unhelpful for both the pragmatic and the classical approaches to education, but—as the so-called hermeneutical theological approach insists—practical theology without strong foundations turns into sociological studies.  This is precisely how practical theology has developed in the universities, as a social science.  

'Leadership' is a good example, deriving its tenets initially and primarily from business studies and then decorating itself with some theological or Biblical prooftexts as one does a Christmas tree with ornaments.  Practical theological theses often centre around some survey that records the opinions of contemporary and contextual responders.  Such a study, as we learn from the empirical/operational approach to pragmatic theology, is intentionally devoid of ‘theory’—theology, Church history, Biblical studies, ethics.  One wonders when the word ‘theology’ will be dropped from ‘practical theology’ in the hands of these advocates.  (Heyns and Pieterse point out that, while this approach is international, many pioneers were associated with the University of South Africa.)

My point is not that practical questions should be eliminated in theology but that they should be elevated.  Such an elevation, however, should be done by returning them to their rightful place in classical theology.  Nobody should be granted a degree in practical theology any more than one should be granted a degree in a particular area of study in practical theology, like leadership studies.  

The New Testament authors themselves demonstrate a proper grounding of practical issues in both Biblical interpretation (the Old Testament) and Christian theology (particularly the Gospel of Jesus Christ).  Much the same could be said for the Church Fathers, whose knowledge of the Scriptures was often profound.  What particularly concerns me is theological education in Africa so focussed on the context or on the practice that ministers are not equipped adequately to grapple with practical matters from orthodox theology, Church history, or Biblical interpretation at all.  

The same problem arises when the African context becomes a revered authority or honoured elder to the point that the connection to orthodoxy, Church history, and Scripture is undermined.  African theology is enamored with its own African context while rightly challenging Western theology for its attachment to its context.  One cannot have it both ways, and the solution is to rise above context--not by ignoring it but subjecting it to scrutiny through Christian lenses.

On the other side of academia, handing out doctoral degrees for practical theology when the continent needs Biblical scholars, theologians, Church historians, and ethicists is not going to keep the Church on a firm foundation of Scripture and orthodoxy.  People interested in Practical Theology in Africa tend, in the first place, to be enamored more by ‘African realities’—and therefore develop ‘Public Theology’ to address these—than Biblical truth or Ecclesiastical realities in their theological pursuits.  In the second place, they tend to elevate 'African realities' or the presenting issues of Africa (poverty, war, politics, etc.) requiring immediate attention such that theology and Biblical study are regarded as luxuries to be enjoyed in ivory towers.  If such approaches are allowed, they will be disastrous for the Church in Africa.  The simple and necessary solution is to get rid of Practical Theology as an independent field of theological studies.

 

[1] L. M. Heyns and H. J. C. Pieterse, A Primer in Practical Theology (Pretoria, SA: Gnosis Books & Pub., 1990), p. 91.

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