Theological Reflection Research Articles

Between the Pillory Treatment and Reliable Clarification: On the Role of the Media in Response to the Sexual Abuse Crisis in the Catholic Church in Poland

The author presents the contribution of media in the response to the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church in Poland. Media in Poland plays an important role in the detection of sexual abuse of minors by clergymen. Journalistic publications contributed to recognizing the criminal acts and to a change of strategy in which the protection of children and the prevention of crime, rather than the interests of institutions, are prioritized. However, the manner and frequency of presentation by media in relation to abuse within the Church also reflected what I have referred to as a pilloried treatment. The author presents both kinds of contribution of media in the response to the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church in Poland. The paper reflects on challenges for the theological reflection, especially significance of an effective communication of the Catholic Church in the crisis. Finally, the article speaks about media responsibility in the transmission of news about sexual abuse crisis.

Theological basis of community development: A public inquiry from a practical theological view

Development has become a central topic in theological discussions on a global scale. Poverty and underdevelopment have been the subject of ongoing discussion in theological circles over the role of the churches in addressing these issues. Hence, the controversy regarding theology and progress has emerged. While it has been widely understood in theological discussions that theology must confront public challenges, few works have evaluated the grounds that compel a theological reflection on development. To this purpose, there is a crucial point that must be investigated about theology and development: how substantial are the arguments for the theology and development debate? Furthermore, how are such arguments biblically supported? This essay evaluates the arguments for a theology of development through the lens of public practical theology in order to provide answers to the problems posed above. Through literary analysis, the study proceeds to analyse the basis for theology and development from a biblical perspective, so demonstrating that God’s aim for his creation is development that strikes a balance between economic, environmental, and social elements. This article contributes to the conversation of the necessity of theological reflection on development.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This article contributes to the discussion between theological disciplines and development studies to provide a greater understanding of the significance of this debate to the church’s engagement with public issues such as development. The findings of this study are unquestionably valuable for churches in developing a public practical theology and enriching theological thought and church practice through community development.

Fictional Dialogue with the Dead. A Comparative Analysis and Theological Reflection

Fictional Dialogue with the Dead. A Comparative Analysis and Theological Reflection

A Theological Reflection on Witchcraft from a Ghanaian Christian Perspective

Even though witchcraft may not be scientifically proven, it is a widely believed phenomenon in Ghana and other parts of the world. The issue of witchcraft has attracted scholarly attention because it affects the society in diverse ways. This paper contributes to the discussion by offering a theological reflection on the subject from a Ghanaian Christian perspective. The paper used a mixed research methodology involving an empirical approach and a literature review. Primary data were collected through participant observations and personal interviews involving five people selected from different Christian denominations and different geographical locations in Ghana. The secondary data for the research were gathered from books, articles, dissertations and Bible commentaries. The paper argued for the reality of the existence of the phenomenon of witchcraft and encouraged the Ghanaian church to take the issue seriously in its theological, and pastoral ministry. The church is encouraged to help believers practicalize their authority over witchcraft based on Christ’s victory over Satan and his host. Keywords: Africa, Christianity, Ghana, Witchcraft

And Beauty Will Make You Free: On the Transformative Power of Beauty

In allusion to the famous Johannine dictum, this paper seeks to explore the relationship between beauty and liberation. Liberation is here understood in terms of a movement toward transforming all reality in accordance with the principles of the coming reign of God, ‘so that God may be all in all’ (1 Cor 15:28). Complementarily, beauty is not interpreted merely as a matter of taste and preference but as something that permeates all dimensions of being human. The paper, therefore, argues that beauty not only gives expression to the human yearning for transformation but that both beauty and liberation represent the constitutive elements of Christian praxis. Thus, beauty provides a framework through which the current reality can not only be seen but also discerned, experienced, and performed in a new way, thus effectively opening up possibilities for transformation as God’s project of inaugurating a new heaven and a new earth. Therefore, it will be proposed that beauty represents a key theme for theological reflection (locus theologicus), having aesthetic, ethical, and ontological implications for Christian theology. This point will not only be discussed in conversation with various theological voices but also illustrated through engagement with cinema, namely, Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog.

Fihavanana and Raiamandreny as the basis to construct a hybrid practical theology in the Malagasy context

ABSTRACT This article aims to put into perspective the contours of the Malagasy practical theology through the analysis of conflicts within the hybrid nature of the Church and society. From the application of the bureaucracy through Christianity and colonisation, the hybridity of the Malagasy society revolves around the three aspects of power and authority: political, traditional and ecclesial. The difference that constitutes this hybridity is the source of the current conflict within society. Using conflict theory and hybridity as the theoretical framework, critical correlation as theological reflection, and auto-ethnography as a research method, I will discuss the following hypothesis: apart from being a hermeneutical reflection on the ecclesial praxis, practical theology is a strategy to handle conflicts to maintain the essence of the Church. The Malagasy Church needs to create a hybrid practical theology to transform destructive conflict into the ferment of change.

Practical theology in Arab evangelical perspective: considering a particular practice of theological reflection

ABSTRACT In this article, I describe and analyse the nature of the practice of theological reflection (TR) from a small-scale qualitative case study among Arabic-speaking evangelical theology students from Muslim-majority, Arab socio-religious contexts studying at the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary. As a central meaning-making process for practical theology, practices of TR can offer a window into how cultural orientations and socio-religious values shape practical theology within particular contexts. To broaden our understanding, then, of how people in Majority world contexts construct practical theology requires giving attention to key emphases in particular, local expressions of tying theological thought to practice. Using reflexive thematic analysis on data from semi-structured interviews, I generated the notion of the practice of TR engendering ‘divinely ordered connectivity’. Three additional themes constituted this notion: (1) seeing and doing with God, (2) finding the unity of all things in God, and (3) building respectful community, which together lead to ‘regulating society’ towards a divinely authorised order. The particularities of this Arab evangelical practice of TR contribute to the limited scholarship on the nature of theological discourse among Arab evangelicals’, and to understanding how socio-religious and cultural orientations shape ideas about what practical theology is in the first place.

Steep Path Toward a Synodal Church

Abstract Analyzing a recent case of the church’s involvement in a geothermal project in Wae Sano, Flores, Indonesia, from an ecclesiological point of view, this article aims to demonstrate one formidable obstacle to the realization of the vision of a synodal church. While many theological reflections following Pope Francis’s pronouncement of the notion of ‘an entirely synodal Church’ have led to the conclusion that synodality is the modus vivendi et operandi of the church that best represents the ecclesiological vision of Vatican ii, the practice in the field can show otherwise. In the case under discussion, the failure to practice synodality is caused by the ecclesial hierarchy’s preference to listen more to the civil authority and other involved institutions at the cost of neglecting the voices of the grassroots community. From the perspective of synodality, it is the voices of ordinary people and their actual experiences that should take precedence.

QUANTUM THEOLOGY AND “‘WE’ AND ‘THEY’”

QUANTUM THEOLOGY AND “‘WE’ AND ‘THEY’”

"Solus Christus" from Late Medieval Passion Piety to Reformation Faith

In the Late Middle Ages, an inward piety oriented toward the suffering of Christ, had become a central theme of spiritual and theological reflection. Famously, Johann Staupitz transmitted it to his spiritual advisee Martin Luther. Using the mystical language of bridal encounter, he depicted Christ as an effective example for his disciples. Luther took part in this Christocentric piety and theology, as can already be observed in his early lectures. Framed by the humanist Lefèvre's hermeneutics, the Wittenberg monk claimed, that the entire scripture was to be understood through the perspective of Christ. Already in his interpretation of Romans, Luther began to develop this Christocentrism in contrast to human works. More and more, he spread his ideas through the vernacular, starting with The Seven Penitential Psalms of 1517. A highlight of his passion devotion can be found in his Sermon on the Contemplation of Christ's Holy Passion. While these writings still resonate with medieval spirituality, we can track an increasing juxtaposition of Christ over against work and merit related forms of medieval piety. A famous example for this is the confrontation in the Heidelberg Disputation between the theologus gloriae and the theologus crucis which points directly to the passion-Christology background. This formation of solus Christus as the clarion call for Luther's fight against the medieval church was reached a good year earlier than that of sola scriptura, which only emerged in its full form in the Leipzig Disputation in 1519. Here, hermeneutics, spirituality and ecclesiology merged to a basis for a full-fledged reformational theology, which still shows its roots in the Middle Ages.

Economics of Faith: Reforming Poor Relief in Early Modern Europe by Esther Chung-Kim

<i>Economics of Faith: Reforming Poor Relief in Early Modern Europe</i> by Esther Chung-Kim

Harms, Wrongs, and Medical Moral Injury

In this article I explore the contribution of ethical analysis and theological reflection to understanding and responding to moral injury of healthcare workers in light of the COVID pandemic. I begin by critically appraising the relevance of moral injury for healthcare contexts, and suggest that the term ‘medical moral injury’ should be used to differentiate it from ‘military moral injury’. I briefly relate medical moral injury to other relevant phenomena, such as moral dilemmas, moral distress, and moral residue, arguing that moral injury in healthcare contexts might take chronic as well as acute forms. I suggest that agent regret might play an important role in understanding medical moral injury. The associated distinction between harms and wrongs, and so regret and remorse, help us identify different kinds of moral injury, and the distinct role that apology plays in each instance. Theological reflection on penitence, forgiveness, and lament also contributes to understanding and responding to potentially morally injurious events. I conclude that while psychological intervention plays an important role in medical moral injury, moral and theological perspectives provide both crucial lenses through which to understand these potentially injurious moral landscapes, and resources to assist healthcare workers in navigating them more safely.

Resonance Empowered By Christianity

The purpose of this article is to understand the modern world better and to find what theology can contribute to it. Modernity has brought about many achievements for human beings, but they can be ambivalent in nature, sometimes with pathological consequences. The theory of resonance is an approach by a German sociologist, Hartmut Rosa, and is one of the meaningful responses to the ambivalent situations ofmodernity. It focuses on individuals’ ability to resonate in their life experiences. Its analysis ofthe modern society, which include Asian societies, and its proposals based on that analysis are very convincing, but some critical reflections from theological perspectives can provide a useful complement to the theory. The essay will use approaches from sociology and theology in order to access the resonance theory. The dialogue with theology shows that theology sheds light on the meaning ofpain and suffering in the human realities of evil and death, which the theory seems to neglect. It can bring about solidarity through prayers and offer a suitable pastoral approach. By enabling rethinking about time as a creation of God, theology can drive out fear against the phenomenon of acceleration and can help human beings to live out the present and to meet God in this very moment in life. Moreover, theology adds the dimension oftranscendence to life. On the other hand, Rosa’s concept ofresonance provides an occasion for these theological reflections and helps one to rethink the modern-day pastoral approach for people, believers and non-believers alike. In other words, confronting this theory helps Christianity to be more open to the modern world and to understand it better. It is hoped that the essay will further thedialogue of the theory with theology and the thoughts from other traditions such as in Asia

Foreword

An occupational hazard of so-called academic theologians is that our scholarship will become, indeed, merely “academic.” This very real danger weighs particularly heavy on those of us who claim to be contextual or practical theologians, whose theological reflections claim to be rooted in the praxis of flesh-and-blood communities, especially marginalized communities. (Indeed, the constitutive link between theology and communal praxis is the responsibility of all theology, but that’s a topic already addressed at length in many books and articles elsewhere.) Ultimately, then, our scholarship must answer to el pueblo, to those communities which the Gospel proclaims are the privileged bearers of God’s Word in the world. This responsibility implies that, precisely as Christian scholars, we must accompany those communities in practical, everyday ways. We must also collaborate closely with those grassroots pastoral and community leaders who so often function as a bridge between el pueblo and academic and ecclesiastical institutions. Our first task is to listen: to the poor, to those community leaders immersed in the everyday lives of the poor, and ultimately to the living God revealed in a preferential way among the poor, in the lived faith of the poor. Dr. Paul Farmer’s life and work were the embodiment of this dynamic, this preferential option for the poor. As Jorge José Ferrer argues in his chapter herein, Paul Farmer was the epitome of what Antonio Gramsci called an “organic intellectual.”

Theologians in the Field: “Dices que eres un teólogo, ¿cuál es tu practica?”

The friendship between Paul Farmer and Gustavo Gutiérrez invites reflection on their methodologies and more particularly, on the centrality of fieldwork or “lo pastoral” as the very ground for generating theory and theology that is at the service of a wounded and suffering world. The chapter begins by centering friendship as the heart of the preferential option for the poor that has grounded Farmer’s work. It then analyzes how Farmer’s liberationist-infused anthropological fieldwork is a bridge for theologians who are also turning to fieldwork for theological reflection. Lastly, it points toward Participatory Action Research as a framework that challenges new generations of theologians to work, like Farmer and Gutiérrez, for the healing of humanity. The phrase and question that is the subtitle of this chapter—“you say you are a theologian, what is your practice?”—is one of many sayings that Gutiérrez has used to spark deeper thought about the vocation of the theologian, and the practice(s) out of which theology arises.

A Priestly Perspective on the Representation of History in the Praise of the Ancestors (Sir 44–49)

The article aims to synthetically present the idea of priesthood in the Praise of the Ancestors (Sir 44–49), a text that contains a theological reflection and description of selected characters in the biblical story from the point of view of a sage living at the turn of the 3rd-2nd centuries BC. First, the successive stages of history depicted by Ben Sira and their possible connections to priesthood are outlined. Then, priesthood as viewed by Ben Sira was presented using specific examples of individuals known from the history of biblical Israel (Aaron, Phinehas, David, Samuel, Joshua son of Jehozadak). However, kings from the Davidic dynasty no longer reigned after the Babylonian exile, even though the sage compares the governor Zerubbabel, who came from the House of David, with the high priest Joshua, son of Jehozadak. The sign of the covenant, however, remained the high priest. Anonymous references to women in the Praise of the Ancestors also feature references to the reality of the cult. Closing the Praise of the Ancestors, Adam is a type of priest that foreshadows the story’s culmination in the description of the high priest Simon II (Sir 50:1–21). The priesthood in Ben Sira’s view is the keystone that connects the past to the present.

Walking Indecently with Marcella Althaus-Reid: Doing Dissident and Liberative Theologies from the South

This theological reflection is a motivation to walk in the footsteps of Marcella Althaus-Reid to discover the disruptive principles of Latin American Queer Theology. Between tangos and popular music, libertine evocations and dissident stories, prosthetic considerations, and transit strategies, this indecent text indicates some revitalizing ideas that manifest the need to think and inhabit the Global South in a more queer way. The voice of the South is powerfully theological and potentially revolutionary.

IS THERE A DISTINCTIVE QUANTUM THEOLOGY?

AbstractQuantum mechanics (QM) is a favorite area of physics to feature in “science and religion” discussions. We argue that this is at least partly because the arcane results of QM can be deployed to make big theological claims by the linguistic sleight of hand of “register switching”—sliding imperceptibly from technical into everyday language using the same vocabulary. We clarify the discussion by deploying the formal mapping of QM into classical statistical mechanics (CSM) via the mathematical device of “Wick rotation.” This equivalence between QM and CSM suggests caution in claiming distinctiveness for quantum theologizing. After outlining two areas in which quantum insights nevertheless resonate with longstanding themes in theological reflection (hiddenness and visualizability), we suggest that both QM and CSM point to a theology of science in which scientists participate in the divine gaze on creation as imago Dei.

Toward a grounded theology: reflections on a grounded theory study of faith and athletic coaching

ABSTRACT This research note is a reflection on my recent dissertation study, in which I employed ‘grounded theology’ as a qualitative method that merges grounded theory and theological reflection. The purpose of this method is to produce new insights and frameworks that help us think theologically about a particular social phenomenon or process. Grounded theology has been explored as a possible qualitative research method (Stevens, B. A. 2017. “Grounded Theology? A Call for a Community of Practice.” Practical Theology 10 (2): 201–206; Barnsley, J. 2016. “Grounded Theology: Adopting and Adapting Qualitative Research Methods for Feminist Theological Enquiry.” Feminist Theology 24 (2): 109–124) with calls for future developments that contribute to clearer definitions, distinctive research techniques, and a better understanding of the epistemological assumptions that undergird the research project. After introducing the relationship between qualitative and theological inquiry, I will trace some of the ontological and epistemological questions that must be considered when conducting a grounded theology, followed by some methodological implications by way of examples of my own research techniques. I conclude with some avenues for further developments on grounded theology.

A theology of chaplaincy from below: changing the locus of theological agency

ABSTRACT The article argues that a theology of chaplaincy needs to identify, analyse, and evaluate the theological reflection undertaken by their chaplaincy clients. Chaplains, when questioned about their theological ideas, usually speak briefly about notions such as a ‘ministry of presence’ or ‘incarnational ministry or theology’ to explain and justify their commitment to the welfare and pastoral care of their clients. In our research project, we interviewed chaplaincy clients discussing with them their theological ideas. And what became apparent was that in the seafaring context, it is not only chaplains who are theological agents; theology is also being produced by the seafarers. Previously seafarers have been a neglected presence in any discussion of a theology of chaplaincy, as, in fact, have other clients be they patients in hospitals, prisoners, school pupils, or university students. We identified and vocalised this client theology and in the second half of the article, we explore the implications for a ‘theology of chaplaincy’ of listening to and dialoguing with the theology produced by chaplaincy clients. This includes a discussion of how we conceive of the chaplaincy space and what ethical questions are raised when the clients’ theology is taken seriously.