Files
Download Full Text (204 KB)
Summary
“Why am I doing what I am doing the way I am doing it (and not another way)?” In the 12th century, Anselm of Canterbury expressed the desire to deepen his knowledge and therefore also his relationship to God as “faith seeking understanding.” Others have stated it by asking “what would Jesus do?” or, “how can I be faithful in this time and place?” All of these questions have a key common denominator--a conscious effort to understand in order to better our service and our relationship to God, to our communities, to the world. This conscious effort demands that we explore the variety of methods that have often led to very different responses to the same question. These responses, articulated in the corpus of Christian doctrine, reflect the differing theologies that not only vie for our attention but point to the role of reflection, understanding and judgment in the task of theology. In this sense, the title of our course may be somewhat misleading as it suggests that there might be one method or praxis in theology. Our various readings covering a variety of topics and methods in the Christian faith will prove that this is not the case. Though questions may remain the same, our differing contexts and historical situations may call for a reexamination of previous responses and often, a reformulation of the very questions themselves. In short, the task of theology is not a finished process. It is our calling as leaders and ministers to attend to this process with the utmost diligence and prayer. As stated in the catalog, this is an introductory course that will help prepare you for all course offerings in theology.
Publication Date
January 2002
Publisher
Asbury Theological Seminary
Keywords
Praxis, Perez, Method, Florida, ST501, Fall, 2002, Orlando
Language
English