Practical Theology and Qualitative Research

Swinton

• Publisher: SCM Press
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9780334049906
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christianity

Practical Theology and Qualitative Research examines methodologies of the social sciences and questions how they can enable the task of theological reflection. The authors offer the latest thinking on how to use theological learning in practical situations.

Part 1: Theoretical Foundations

1. What is Practical Theology?

The church does not exist fundamentally to meet needs; in its being, the church, like Christ, exists to glorify the Father. (Kunst 1992, p. 163)

As one reviews the various schools and perspectives on Practical Theology it very quickly becomes clear that it is a rich and diverse discipline (Miller-McLemore 2012). Its range of approaches embraces research that is empirical (Cartledge 2015, van der Ven 1993, 1998), political (Pattison 1994; Ali 1999; Chopp and Parker 1990; Couture and Hunter 1995), ethical (Browning 1983; Miles 1999), psychological (van Deusen Hunsinger 2006; Fowler 1981, 1987, 1996; Armistead 1995), sociological (P. Ward 2011; Gill 1975, 1977), pastoral (Swinton 2012; van Deusen Hunsinger, 2006; Patton 1993; Swinton 2000a), gender-oriented (Ackermann and Bons-Storm, 1998; Miller-McLemore and Gill-Austern 1999), focused on disability (Swinton 2016, 2012) and narrative-based (Wimberley 1994). Likewise it spans the theological denominations (Wolfteich 2004). Practical Theology locates itself within the diversity of human spiritual and mundane experience, making its home in the complex web of relationships and experiences that form the fabric of all that we know. The wide range of approaches, methods and methodological positions apparent within the discipline reflect a variety of attempts to capture this diversity and complexity. While it may not be possible to capture all of the complex dynamics of Practical Theology within a single definition, for current purposes it is necessary to tie it in to some kind of conceptual framework which will enable us to understand and work within the discipline. The understanding of Practical Theology developed in this chapter reflects the model that we have found most helpful in our theological work with qualitative research methods.

We would not claim that what we present here is the only way in which Practical Theology can be conceptualized or carried out. Nonetheless, we believe that the model we present carries enough weight and offers enough flexibility for it to be utilized in a variety of different contexts. It is not the only way in which Practical Theology can be done, but it is the model that will guide this book.

Performing the faith

‘By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.’ (John 13.35)

Practical Theology, as it will be defined and explored within this book, is dedicated to enabling the faithful performance of the gospel and to exploring and taking seriously the complex dynamics of the human encounter with God. Stanley Hauerwas describes the idea of ‘faith as performance’ thus:

One of the things that liberal democratic society has encouraged Christians to believe about what they believe is that what it means to be a Christian is primarily belief! … This is a deep misunderstanding about how Christianity works. Of course we believe that God is God and we are not and that God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit … but this is not a set of propositions … rather [it is] embedded in a community of practices that make those beliefs themselves work and give us a community by which we are shaped. Religious belief is not just some kind of primitive metaphysics … in fact it is a performance just like you’d perform Lear. What people think Christianity is, is that it’s like the text of Lear, rather than the actual production of Lear. It has to be performed for you to understand what Lear is – a drama. You can read it, but unfortunately Christians so often want to make Christianity a text rather than a performance. (Homiletics Online 2005; italics added)

Practical Theology takes seriously the idea of performing the faith and seeks to explore the nature and in particular the faithfulness of that performance. The idea of faithful performance is key for the model of Practical Theology that we present in this chapter. Despite the fact that there are many ways in which Lear can be interpreted, there remains a fundamental plot, structure, storyline and outcome without which it would be unrecognizable. Lack of adherence to these key aspects of Lear indicates that the performer has ‘lost the plot’. The performer requires the ‘stage whisperer’ to remind them of the script and the plot and to challenge and encourage them to return to the text as originally given. Of course, performers have scope for improvisation and innovation, and sometimes that improvisation brings out new, hidden and ‘forgotten’ aspects of the original text. Nevertheless, performers always perform within boundaries, scripts and recognizable and accepted narratives which to go beyond, would require the creation of another play.

Practical Theology recognizes and respects the diversity of interpretation within the various expositions of the biblical text and the performed gospel and seeks to ensure and encourage the Christian community to remain faithful to the narrative of the original God-given plot of the gospel and to practise faithfully and well as that narrative unfolds. Practical Theology therefore finds itself located within the uneasy but critical tension between the text and the script of revelation given to us in and through Jesus and formulated historically within scripture, doctrine and tradition, and the continuing innovative performance of the gospel as it is embodied and enacted within the life and practices of the Church as they interact with the life and practices of the world.

It is worth noting that this is exactly the position for qualitative enquiry. The enquiry can only ever be partial but must never just rely on the script. Margaret Mead, the pioneering anthropologist, noted that what people say, what people do and what people say about what they do are entirely different things. If there was any doubt about this it has been demonstrated by survey polls around the 2016 European Referendum voting intentions in the UK. We discuss this aspect of qualitative research later, in Chapter 3.

The significance of experience

Practical Theology takes human experience seriously. One of the things that marks Practical Theology out as distinct from the other theological disciplines is its beginning point within human experience. However, we must be careful what we mean by such a suggestion. Taking human experience seriously does not imply that experience is a source of Divine revelation. We are not arguing for Practical Theology as some kind of natural theology. Experience and human reason cannot lead us, for example, to an understanding of the cross and resurrection of Jesus, nor can it tell us much if anything about the doctrine of the Trinity. Rather, in taking experience seriously, Practical Theology acknowledges and seeks to explore the implications of the proposition that faith is a performative and embodied act; that the gospel is not simply something to be believed, but also something to be lived. Bearing witness to the gospel is an embodied task and not simply a matter of the intellect. Human experience is ‘a place’ where the gospel is grounded, embodied, interpreted and lived out. It is an interpretive context which raises new questions, offers fresh challenges and demands thoughtful answers as it interacts with the ethos and the practices of the gospel. Practical Theology assumes that human experience is an important locus for the work of the Spirit.1 As such, experience holds much relevance for enlightening the continuing spiritual task of interpreting and practising scripture and tradition. By beginning its theological reflection within the human experience of life with God, rather than in abstraction from such experience, Practical Theology takes seriously the actions of God in the present and as such offers a necessary contextual voice to the process of theology and theological development.

A provisional definition

It will be helpful to begin with a provisional definition of Practical Theology which will guide us through this chapter:

Practical Theology is critical, theological reflection on the practices of the Church as they interact with the practices of the world, with a view to ensuring and enabling faithful participation in God’s redemptive practices in, to and for the world.

There are four key points that should be highlighted within this understanding. First, practical-theological enquiry is critical. It assumes that the various practices that are performed by the Christian community are deeply meaningful and require honest critical reflection if they are to be and to remain faithful to the ‘script’ of revelation. In opposition to models that view Practical Theology as applied theology, wherein its task is simply to apply doctrine worked out by the other theological disciplines to practical situations, within this definition Practical Theology is seen to be a critical discipline which is prepared to challenge accepted assumptions and practices. As we have mentioned, this is not to suggest that human experience is a locus for fresh revelation (a new script), that will counter or contradict the script provided by scripture, doctrine and tradition. It is however to recognize that the questions that we ask of scripture and theological traditions always emerge from some context. The questions that emerge in the light of the human experience of God are often different from those that emerge from the solitude of the academic’s office. In asking different questions, the practical theologian begins to understand the script differently and pushes towards modes of theological understanding and practical action that enable faithful living.

Second, Practical Theology is theological reflection. One of the criticisms of Practical Theology is that, at times, it has lost sight of its theological roots. It has been the case that the way in which it has utilized other sources of knowledge, such as the social sciences, has tended to push its primary theological task into the background. We will explore the implications of this more fully in Chapter 3. Here it will be enough to note that theology is (or at least should be) the primary source of knowledge that guides and provides the hermeneutical framework within which Practical Theology carries out its task.

Third, the locus of investigation for Practical Theology is not simply the practices of the Church and the experiences of Christians. The theological reflection that is Practical Theology also embraces the practices of the world. However, the practical theologian explores the interplay between these two sets of practices in a particular way. Alastair Campbell is helpful on this point:

The actions of Christians are celebrations of and attestations to God’s reconciling work in the world which begins and ends in Jesus Christ. The relationship of these actions to non-Christians is one of both similarity and difference. The similarity is that all human actions both participate in and fall short of the purposes of God. The difference is that those who profess belief and adhere to membership of the church have been called to make explicit the celebration of God’s work. (in Forrester 1990, p. 16)

We live in a world created by God within which some notice this fact and others are oblivious to it. Because we live in God’s creation, all human beings, implicitly or explicitly, participate in the unfolding historical narrative of God. The practices of the Church cannot be understood as ontologically separate or different from the practices of the world. Both occur within God’s creation and both are caught up in God’s redemptive movement towards the world. Within a creation that is profoundly fallen and broken, all human beings, including the Church, fall short of the good purposes of God. In that respect all human practices are inadequate, including the practices of the Church. There is therefore significant similarity and continuity between the practices of the Church and the practice of the world.

However, there is also a radical dissimilarity and discontinuity. The Church differs from the world in so far as it notices and seeks to live out the significance of residing in a world which we recognize as creation; it recognizes that we are residents in a place which we do not own, and in recognizing this acknowledges the need for redemption. The difference between the Church and the world lies in the fact that the Church recognizes who Jesus is and seeks to live its life in the light of this revelation, and the world does not. However, the Church’s noticing and acknowledging of creation and redemption has radical implications. The practices of the Church that seek faithfully to embody this mode of noticing and acknowledgement have radically different meanings and a significantly different telos.

So, for example, as one of the authors has written elsewhere, the relationship of friendship is shared both by Church and world (Swinton 2000b). At one level it appears to be nothing but a foundational human relationship. However, when we reflect theologically on this relationship we discover significant differences; differences which emerge because of the Church’s recognition and acknowledgement of Jesus. Within our society we tend to develop friendships on the basis of personal satisfaction. As long as a relationship is fulfilling our needs we will sustain it, but if it falls short we will terminate it and move on to another relationship that we hope will fulfil our needs. Friendships tend to be built on the ‘principle of likeness’, that is, that like-minded people will be attracted to one another. However, when we explore the friendships of Jesus we discover something else going on. He befriended tax-collectors, prostitutes, lepers, those who in many senses were socially ‘not like’ him. Indeed the incarnation indicates God’s willingness to enter into friendships with human beings who are radica...