The Prophets and Pastoral Care

Abstract

This article examines intersections between pastoral care and the prophets, and how each shapes personal and communal well-being. Traditionally, pastoral care has been understood as a field concerned with individual healing, while the prophets have been identified with social transformation. This bifurcated view is challenged and reframed in light of textual analysis and contemporary theory. The complex connections and disconnections raised by the mutual engagement of texts and pastoral care issues and dilemmas illustrate rich possibilities for pastoral theorists and biblical interpreters. Analysis in this chapter exposes potentially harmful care practices as well as beneficial care practices for individuals and communities in need of healing or recovery from trauma.