Foundations in practical theology: A critical appraisal of contemporary contributions

Practical theology is an emerging discipline with divergent understandings of what practical theology is and a plethora of theological methods on offer. Indicative of the nascent state of the discipline is the lack of an agreed-upon name. At times the prefixes “pastoral” and “practical” are used interchangeably; at other times the prefixes are sharply differentiated. Underpinning the current thesis is the belief that for practical theology to be taken seriously it needs to have a clear definition, and to know the manner whereby it relates to other theological disciplines and to the human sciences...