Practical Theology Bibliography
Boston University School of Theology construes the discipline of Practical Theology in a way that focuses on the concrete problems and practices of the church in the world as well as their interpretation by whatever disciplines and approaches are suggested by the problems and practices themselves. For that reason, the following bibliography should in no way be construed as “the essence” of practical theology. An inherent difficulty in producing a “core bibliography” for practical theology is that many of the texts with which all students in the field should be familiar tend to be more philosophical, historical, and methodological when, in practice, the discipline itself relies on contextual research and the kind of analysis that employs a varied range of research from the natural and social sciences, as well as the arts and humanities, in order to interpret and reflect theologically on a given problem or practice. The following bibliography, therefore, pertains only to those suggested works that will contribute to a practical theologian’s understanding of the more general features of the discipline.
The Discipline of Practical Theology
Author |
Year |
Citation |
Andrews, Dale | 2002 | Practical Theology for Black Churches: Bridging Black Theology and African American Folk Religion. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press. |
Browning, Don S. | 1991 | A Fundamental Practical Theology: Descriptive and Strategic Proposals. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress. |
Browning, Don S.(Ed.) | 1983 | Practical Theology: The Emerging Field in Theology, Church, and World. San Francisco: Harper & Row. |
Browning, Don S., David Polk, and Ian S. Evison | 1989 | The Education of the Practical Theologian: Responses to Joseph Hough and John Cobb’s Christian Identity and Theological Education, Scholars Press Studies in Theological Education. Atlanta: Scholar’s Press. |
Deck, S.J. Allan Figueroa | 2004 | “A Latino Practical Theology: Mapping the Road Ahead.” In Theological Studies 65: 2 (June), 275-297. |
Doehring, Carrie | 1999 | “A Method of Feminist Pastoral Theology.” In Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore& Brita Gill-Austern, Eds. in Feminist and Womanist Pastoral Theology. Nashville: Abingdon, 95-112. |
Dykstra, Craig | 1999 | Growing in the Life of Faith: Education and Christian Practices. Louisville, Kentucky: Geneva Press. |
Farley, Edward | 1982 | Ecclesial Reflection. Philadelphia: Fortress Press. |
1983 | Theologia: The Fragmentation and Unity of Theological Education. | |
1990 | “Protestant Practical Theology.” In Dictionary of Pastoral Care and Counseling. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 934-936. | |
1996 | Deep Symbols : Their Postmodern Effacement and Reclamation. Valley Forge: Trinity Press. | |
Goizueta, Roberto | 1994 | Foundations of Theology: An Hispanic-American Perspective. Maryknoll: Orbis. |
Graham, Elaine L. | 1996 | Transforming Practice: Pastoral Theology in an Age of Uncertainty. London: Mowbray (Chapters 4, 5, and 6). |
Groome, Thomas | 1980 | Christian Religious Education: Sharing Our Story and Vision. San Francisco: Harper & Row |
1991 | Sharing Faith: A Comprehensive Approach to Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry: The Way of Shared Praxis. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco | |
1998 | Educating for Life : A Spiritual Vision for Every Teacher and Parent. Allen, Texas: Thomas More. | |
Hanson, Bradley C. (Ed.) | 1990 | Modern Christian Spirituality: Methodological and Historical Essays. Atlanta: Scholars Press. [See in particular Part One (chapters 1-4)] |
Heitink, Gerben | 1999 | Practical Theology: history, theory, action domains : manual for practical theology. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans. |
Hough, Joseph C. and Cobb, John B., Jr. | 1985 | Christian Identity and Theological Education. Atlanta: Scholar’s Press. |
International Journal of Practical Theology This journal is present in the STH library and online. Practical Theology students should consult this journal regularly. |
||
Jennings, Theodore W. | 1985 | The Vocation of the Theologian. Philadelphia: Fortress Press. |
Maddox, Randy L. | 1991 | “Practical Theology: A Discipline in Search of a Definition.” Perspectives in Religious Studies 18, 159-169. |
Ogden, Schubert M. | 1986 | “Prolegomena to Practical Theology,” in On Theology. San Francisco: Harper & Row. |
Poling, James N. and Donald Miller | 1985 | Foundations for a Practical Theology of Ministry. Nashville: Abingdon Press, |
Schleiermacher, Friedrich | 1966 | Brief Outline of the Study of Theology. Translated by Terrence N. Tice. Richmond: John Knox Press. |
Segundo, Juan Luis | 1976 | The Liberation of Theology. Maryknoll: Orbis |
Stone, Howard W. and James O. Duke | 1996 | How to Think Theologically. Minneapolis: Fortress. |
Van der Ven, Johannes | 1990 | Practical Theology: An Empirical Approach. Kok Pharos Publishing House |
Viau, Marcel | 1999 | Practical Theology: A New Approach. Leiden: Brill. |
Volf, Miroslav and Dorothy C. Bass, (Eds.) | 2002 | Practicing Theology: Beliefs and Practices in Christian Life. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans |
Wheeler, Barbara and Edward Farley, (Eds.) | 1991 | Shifting Boundaries: Contextual Approaches to the Structure of Theological Education. Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press. |
Wood, Charles Monroe | 1985 | Vision and Discernment: An Orientation in Theological Study. Atlanta: Scholars Press. |
Theological Foundations
Students must demonstrate close reading of classical texts of the Western Christian tradition and must be able to dialogue competently with contemporary theological developments, issues, and trends. Students should be able to locate themselves theologically with regard to major doctrinal questions and should also be deeply conversant with two major theologians, one each from two of the following three periods:
* Classical and Medieval (1st through the 16th Centuries CE)
* Modern (17th through the 19th Centuries CE)
* Contemporary (20th and 21th Centuries CE)
Specifically, students should be prepared to analyze the implications of each theologian’s work for practical theology.
Ecclesiology
Author | Year | Citation |
Augustine | 2000 | De civitate Dei. English. edited and translated by R.W. Dyson. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press. |
Billingsley, Andrew | 1999 | Mighty Like a River: The Black Church and Social Reform. Oxford University Press. |
Boff, Leonardo | 1986a | Church: Charism and Power: Liberation Theology and the Institutional Church. New York: Crossroad. |
1986b | Ecclesiogenesis: The Base Communities Reinvent the Church. Maryknoll: Orbis. | |
Bonhoeffer, Dietrich | 1998 | Sanctorum Communio: A Theological Study of the Sociology of the Church. Volume 1, Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works. Minneapolis: Fortress. |
Cavanaugh, William T. | 1998 | Torture and Eucharist: Theology, Politics, and the Body of Christ. Blackwell. |
Dulles, Avery | 1988 | Models of the Church. Second Edition. Dublin: Gill and MacMillan. |
Flannery, Austin P. (Ed) | 1996 | Vatican II: The Conciliar and Post-Conciliar Documents. Specifically Lumen Gentium, Unitatis Redintegratio, Gaudium et Spes, Ad Gentes. Costello Pub. Co. |
Gill, Robin | 1999 | Churchgoing and Christian Ethics. Cambridge University Press. |
Guder, Darell, (Ed.) | 1998 | The Missional Church: A Vision for the Sending of the Church in North America. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans. |
Hauerwas, Stanley | 1984 | The Peaceable Kingdom: A Primer in Christian Ethics. University of Notre Dame Press. |
1989 | Resident Aliens: Life in the Christian Colony: A Provocative Christian Assessment of Culture and Ministry for People Who Know That Something Is Wrong. Abingdon Press. | |
1995 | In Good Company: The Church as Polis. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press. | |
Johnson, Elizabeth | 1993 | Friends of God and the Prophets: A Feminist Theological Reading of the Communion of Saints. Westminster/John Knox Press. |
Lathrop, Gordon W. | 1999 | Holy People: A Liturgical Ecclesiology. Minneapolis: Fortress. |
Lincoln, C. Eric and Lawrence H. Mamiya | 1990 | The Black Church in the African American Experience. Duke University Press. |
Lohfink, Gerhard | 1999 | Does God Need the Church? Toward a Theology of the People of God. Translated by Linda M. Maloney. Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press. |
Moltmann, Jürgen | 1993 | The Church in the Power of the Spirit: A Contribution to Messianic Ecclesiology. Minneapolis: Fortress. |
Russell, Letty M. | 1993 | Church in the Round: Feminist Interpretation of the Church. Westminster: John Knox Press. |
Schillebeeckx, Edward. | 1993 | Church: The Human Story of God. Crossroad/Herder&Herder. |
Schmemann, Alexander | 1989 | The Eucharist: Sacrament of the Kingdom. St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press. |
1993 | For the Life of the World: Sacraments and Orthodoxy. St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press. | |
Schüssler Fiorenza, Elisabeth | 1993 | Discipleship of Equals: A Critical Feminist Ekklesia-logy of Liberation. New York: Crossroad. |
Song, C.S. | 1996 | Jesus the Crucified People. Minneapolis: Fortress. |
Wesley, John | 1988 | “Of the Church,” The Bicentennial Edition of the Works of John Wesley, Sermon 74, Volume 3. Nashville: Abingdon, 45-57. |
Yoder, John Howard | 1992 | Body Politics : Five Practices of the Christian Community before the Watching World. Nashville, TN: Discipleship Resources Press. |
1994 | The Royal Priesthood: Essays Ecumenical and Ecclesiological. Scottsdale, PA: Herald Press. | |
1997 | For the Nations: Essays Public and Evangelical. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans. | |
Zizoulas, John | 1997 | Being as Communion: Studies in Personhood and the Church. St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press. |
Theological Interface with Philosophy, Ethics, and the Social Sciences
Author | Year | Citation |
Aristotle | 1941 | Nichomachean Ethics. In The Basic Works of Aristotle, edited by Richard McKeon, 332-581. New York: Random House. |
Bernstein, Richard | 1983 | Beyond Objectivism and Relativism: Science, Hermeneutics, and Praxis. University of Pennsylvania Press. |
Boff, Clodovis | 1987 | Theology and Praxis: Epistemological Foundations. Maryknoll: Orbis |
Gadamer, Hans-Georg | 1993 | Truth and Method. Continuum. |
Habermas, Jurgen | 1973 | Theory and Practice. Boston: Beacon. |
Kant, Immanuel | 1993 | Critique of practical reason. edited and translated, with notes and introductions, by Lewis White Beck. New York : Macmillan Pub. |
Marx, Karl | 2000 | Karl Marx: Selected Writings. Oxford University Press. Ed. David McLellan |
MacIntyre, Alasdair | 1984 | After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory. Second Edition. University of Notre Dame Press. |
Milbank, John | 1993 | Theology and Social Theory: Beyond Secular Reason. Blackwell. |
Ricoeur, Paul | 1981 | Hermeneutics and the Human Sciences : Essays on Language, Action, and Interpretation. Ed. and Trans. John B. Thompson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. |
Tracy, David | 1996 | Blessed Rage for Order: The New Pluralism in Theology. University of Chicago Press. |
Theology and Context
The following list is intended to be illustrative rather than exhaustive of contemporary approaches to contextual theology and also includes theological reflection on the relationship between faith and culture. All practical theology majors should read judiciously from the following list in order to gain a solid grasp of the literature.
Author | Year | Citation |
Cannon, Katie Geneva | 1996 | Katie’s Canon. Womanism and the Soul of the Black Community. Continuum. |
Comstock, Gary David | 1993 | Gay Theology without Apology. Pilgrim Press. |
Cone, James | 1887 | Black Theology and Black Power. Revised Edition. Maryknoll: Orbis. |
Deck, Allan Figueroa | 1989 | The Second Wave: Hispanic Ministry and the Evangelization of Cultures. Paulist. |
Goizueta, Roberto | 1992 | We are a People! Initiatives in Hispanic American Theology. Fortress Press. |
Goss, Robert | 1994 | Jesus Acted Up: A Gay and Lesbian Manifesto. HarperCollins. |
Graham, Elaine L. | 1996 | Transforming Practice: Pastoral Theology in an Age of Uncertainty. London: Mowbray (Chapters 4, 5, and 6). |
Gutiérrez, Gustavo | 1971 | A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics, and Salvation (revised edition, 1988). Maryknoll: Orbis. |
Hunsberger, George R., et al, (Eds.) | 1996 | The Church Between Gospel and Culture. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans. |
Isasi-Diaz, Ada Maria | 1988 | Hispanic Women: Prophetic Voice in the Church. New York: Harper & Row. |
1996 | Mujerista Theology: A Theology for the Twenty-First Century. Westminster/John Knox Press. | |
Miller-McLemore, Bonnie J. | 2003 | Let the Children Come: Reimagining Childhood from a Christian Perspective. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. |
Ruether, Rosemary Radford | 1993 | Sexism and God-Talk: Toward a Feminist Theology. Rev. Edition. Beacon Press. |
Schreiter, Robert J. | 1985 | Constructing Local Theologies. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books. |
1997 | The New Catholicity: Theology Between the Global and the Local. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis. | |
Tanner, Kathryn | 1997 | Theories of Culture: A New Agenda for Theology. Minneapolis: Fortress. |
Tillich, Paul | 1959 | Theology of Culture. Oxford University Press. |
Townes, Emilie (Ed.) | 1993 | A Troubling in My Soul: Womanist Perspectives on Evil and Suffering. Maryknoll: Orbis. |
1997 | Embracing the Spirit: Womanist Perspectives on Hope, Salvation, and Transformation. Maryknoll: Orbis. | |
Tutu, Desmond | 2000 | No Future Without Forgiveness. New York: Doubleday. |
Villa-Vicencio, Charles | 1992 | A Theology of Reconstruction: Nation Building and Human Rights. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. |
Wheeler, Barbara and Edward Farley, (Eds) | 1991 | Shifting Boundaries: Contextual Approaches to the Structure of Theological Education. Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press. |
Williams, Delores | 1993 | Sisters in the Wilderness: The Challenge of Womanist God-Talk. Maryknoll: Orbis. |
Works by Practical Theology Faculty at the School of Theology
The following includes a partial list of faculty publications designed to provide doctoral students an introduction to the practical theological thought and method of those with whom they are studying.