The Art of Theological Reflection

One of the pastor's crucial roles as spiritual guide to the congregation is to help people make sense of their lives. But how often have pastors been frustrated by the inability of good Christian people to meaningfully connect legitimate biblical insight to the experience of this process! Doctrine is often learned as information and not in the light of answers to universal human questions. Theological reflection can help to reclaim the realities of Scripture and place them in dialogue with daily experience. And if experience can be a valued starting point for reflection, and if it can be brought creatively into play with Christian heritage, an openness to the Holy Spirit, and in a genuine community of faith, mere church membership might break out into genuine Christian discipleship! As the authors describe in their introduction, this book "helps us access the Christian tradition as a reliable source of guidance as we search to discover the meaning of what God is doing now in our individual and corporate lives" (p. viii). This volume carefully lays out the process for theological reflection, with examples of how it works, both for individual and group process.This slim volume will help pastors, educators, and other Christian leaders who are serious about the implications of their faith for daily living.