Practicing Theology: Beliefs and Practices in Christian Life - Book Review

Practicing Theology: Beliefs and Practices in Christian Life. Edited by Miroslav Volf and Dorothy C. Bass. Grand Rapids, MI: Win. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2002. vi and 265 pages. Paper. $18.00.

"But what does that have to do with real life?" "That," in the prior question, is Christian theology, and "real life" is the messy, mundane, and everyday places and spaces where people live and Christian life and ministry happen. This question, posed by Miroslav Volf at the beginning of the last chapter and referenced by Dorothy Bass at the beginning of the first, is an appropriate frame for the twelve essays in Practicing Theology. Perhaps even more so, it is a question close to the bone for those who are called to proclaim the good news of God in Jesus Christ in the messy, mundane, and everyday places and spaces where people live and Christian life and ministry happen.

In response to the perceived disconnect between academic theology and so-called "real life," a diverse group of thirteen theologians, representing a variety of cultures and Christian perspectives, probe the relationship between Christian theology and practice in the daily lives of believers as well as the life and ministry of Christian communities. The essays examine issues such as hospitality, healing, and discernment. They reflect on how beliefs and practices intersect and influence one another, pointing to a dynamic connection between the task of Christian theology and the practices of the Christian life. The authors resist any bifurcation of beliefs and practices that leads to a dominance of one over the other, neither subordinating beliefs to practices "to the point of completely functionalizing beliefs (p. 258) nor suggesting that finally practices are the mere enactments of beliefs. Rather, they stake out a more complex response. "At stake in this complexity is the vitality of a living tradition capabl e of being fully engaged with history and culture without becoming their captive" (p. 4).

Two of the contributors to this volume, Craig Dykstra and Dorothy Bass, have been at the forefront of thinking about the role of Christian practices. An earlier collection of essays entitled Practicing Our Faith (Jossey-Bass, 1997), edited by Bass and to which Dykstra contributed, has proven to be a fruitful resource for exploring particular practices of the Christian faith. Both of these volumes undertake a highly collaborative approach to the theological enterprise. All of the authors attend closely to the Christian life as lived and demonstrate that theology is, in fact, a communal enterprise. Further evidence of this is how the authors employ a narrative approach to reflecting on practices in their own communities of faith. Of particular import in this regard is the cluster of essays entitled "Practicing Theology, Engaging in Ministry," which comprises the second section of the book.

A second cluster of essays (section 3), "Practicing Theology, Becoming Theologians," offers more programmatic proposals for the discipline of theology and the education of theologians. The first and last sections of the book, "Practicing Theology, Embracing a Way of Life" and "Practicing Theology, Serving a Way of Life" respectively, set forth the overarching themes that are pursued throughout all of the essays.

This is an important book for all who wonder: Does theology really matter? Practicing Theology invites the reader to recognize the theological quality of everyday practices as well as the practical importance of theology and belief for Christian living. "To reflect theologically on practices is a demanding intellectual agenda, but it will not leave anyone asking, "What does this have to do with real life?" (p.7)

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