Today I enjoyed teaching a class on public theology. We considered, amongst other things, John de Gruchys seven theses on good praxis. 1 good praxis does not seek to privilege Christianity but to witness to values that Christians believe are important for the common good; 2. Good practice requires the development of a language that is accessible to people outside the Christian tradition and is convincing in its own right; it also needs to address the Christian congregation, hence needs to be bilingual, in a way in which public debates are related to the traditions of faith; 3. Good practice requires an informed knowledge of public policy and issues, grasping the implications of what is at stake, and subjecting this to sharp analytical evaluation and theological critique; 4. Good praxis requires doing theology in a way that is interdisciplinary in character and sues a methodology in which content and process are intertwined; 5. Good praxis gives priority to the perspectives of victims and survivors and to the restoration of justice.; it sides with the powerless against the powerful and seeks to speak to power drawing its inspiration from the prophetic trajectory of the Bible; 6. Good praxis requires congregations that are consciously nurtured and informed by biblical and theological reflection and a rich life of worship in relation to context within which they are situated, both locally and more widely. 7. Good praxis requires a spirituality which enables a lived experience of God, with people and with creation, fed by a longing for justice and whole ness and a resistance to all that thwarts well-being.
Posted on: Mon, 10 Mar 2014 05:12:19 +0000