¶ … theological education is, as Trokan suggests, "to promote personal wisdom," then theological reflection is an essential component of that education (144). According to Paver, there are numerous approaches to theological reflection including ministerial, spiritual, wisdom, feminist, enculturation and practical styles (36). Each of these has relevance and can be part of a holistic and comprehensive theological undertaking that has meaning, value, and practical purpose. Of these styles, the spiritual wisdom style of theological reflection is "rooted in the everyday life experiences of believing people," (Kinast 15). Likewise, Bishop King recommends the spiritual wisdom style of insight because "We do not reflect on things within some kind of void but rather we ponder over things in the light of our encounters with real-life situations," (cited in "Theological Reflection" 1). For pastoral counseling to be effective, the pastor must cultivate deep self-reflection in an ongoing and systematic way, applying the tools of spiritual wisdom to the daily work of pastoral practice. One example of the ways I have applied theological reflection in the spiritual wisdom style is through my work through the correctional institute and Department of Justice chaplain program....
For several years, I worked with people who believed themselves to be beyond saving, because others had repeatedly reinforced those negative belief systems. I found myself grappling with core issues related to trust between human beings, as several of the persons in my care continually evaded trust by breaking promises and outright lying. Yet I had at this point cultivated a deep sense of optimism in the human spirit rooted in Biblical wisdom. Ours is a God who "who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth," (1 Timothy 2:4). Ours is also a forgiving God, with an endless capacity for mercy and salvation. We as pastors take it upon ourselves to model our teachings and our methods after Biblical wisdom.
Theological Reflection The church basically has the responsibility in every generation of evaluating the signs of the times and interpreting them based on the gospel. This is crucial in order for the church to present the gospel is a manner that is suitable and relevant to every generation. One of the most important aspects towards ensuring the gospel is presented in a suitable manner is through theology. Theology consists of several
Mind-Based Identity: A Problem Impossible to Ignore One of the most basic questions of human existence is essentially "What am I?" Although humans have known in varying degrees throughout recorded history that they are biological beings, there has always been the question of internal identity. What is it that separates me from my brother? Am I different? Do I exist in any way apart from my body? If so, do I only
Theology Economics Apocalyptic/Theology Experience in Economics One of the first principles of liberty is the ability of the people in a free society to have the ability to have their own enterprise. In many nations the way that the government, which is for the government and not the people, keeps the people from advancing is that they take away their speech, religion and ability to make their own money. Therefore, it is
My issue had been accepting the Old Testament as the true word of God unadulterated by human inaccuracy, political and historical agendas, and the misconstruction of centuries of translation. My concerns on this front were answered by two elements from the readings. First, as I mentioned before, I found the correspondence of the prophecies of Christ in the Old Testament and the fulfillment of those prophecies in the New Testament
Theology: The Baptism Debate Peter's encouragement sermon on the Day of Pentecost -- "repent and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you shall receive the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38) has been the source of raging debate, marred by conflicting views on i) whether Peter was referring to spirit or water baptism; and ii) whether through the phrase 'be
" It caused missionaries to deal with peoples of other cultures and even Christian traditions -- including the Orthodox -- as inferior. God's mission was understood to have depended upon human efforts, and this is why we came to hold unrealistic universalistic assumptions. Christians became so optimistic that they believed to be able to correct all the ills of the world." (Vassiliadis, 2010) Missiology has been undergoing changes in recent years
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now