Gerben Heitink. Practical Theology: History, Theory, Action Domains. Translated by Reinder Bruinsma. Studies in Practical Theology. Grand Rapids:

Abstract

"Heitink, Professor of Practical Theology at the Free University in Amsterdam, has written an excellent book, which is a detailed case for and presentation of practical theology. He has not, however, been well served by his translator. Having done translations myself, I grant the difficulty of finding English equivalents for the nuances, but a translator should be able to render a text readable. I mention this only because the plodding style of the translator made this book difficult for me to read, and it might do the same for others. This would be a shame, for the book is well worth reading. [2] The work comes in three parts, with a clarifying "floor plan" (12), one of many helpful diagrams scattered throughout. Part I deals with the development of practical theology; it is historical and interpretive. Part II, the core section, unfolds the definition of practical theology as a theological theory of action. Part III analyses the three domains in which practical theology acts: humanity, Church, and society. The development is consistent as systematic theory, though sometimes the density of the detail makes the thread difficult to hold. Density, however, is essential to the theory for, to be genuinely practical, practical theology must give a thorough account of all the contexts, individual, ecclesial, and social in which it is done. [3] Practical theology, the currently preferred term for what used to be "pastoral subjects" in the Protestant and "pastoral theology" in the Catholic traditions, is "the empirically oriented theological theory of the mediation of the Christian faith in the praxis of modern society" (6). Praxis is action, and Heitink correctly differentiates two praxes. There is Praxis 1, which is the mediation of the Christian faith, and there is Praxis 2, which is the context in which Praxis 1 is played out, real life, real people in dynamic interaction, real actors responsible for their own lives, the lives of others, and the life of society as a whole. Though the two praxes are differentiated, they are not separable; they are correlated and dialogical. The two demand that practical theology be hermeneutical, empirical, and strategic."(pg 1)