Scripture
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Authority Recognized and Challenged: Approaching the Bible as Practical Theologians
Introduction How might practical theologians engage with the Bible as practical theologians? In December 2022, eighteen of us met together for a symposium at the Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre in Birmingham, England, to delve into this question. This article is a reflection on that symposium by the convenors and three delegates on different aspects of the event. Taking a step back for moment, the symposium was organised by the Bible and Practical Theology special interest group, part of the British and Irish Association for Practical Theology (BIAPT). The special interest group (SIG) was founded in 2011 by Zoë Bennett and Andrew Rogers[1] due to the growing sense of unease about…
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Welcoming the Stranger: Aligning Hospitality, Justice and Charity with Righteousness
This article explores hospitality, the theme of BIAPT’s 2023 annual conference to be held on 11th to 13th July 2023. If you want to explore these sort of themes further, please consider joining us for the conference. For details visit the conference website here. In the Tanakh (the Bible) there are many instances where we are commanded to treat the stranger with charity, justice and righteousness. Why? Perhaps it is based on the idea of reciprocity, a payback for having been guests, presumably quite good guests: “Because you were strangers in a strange land” (Exodus 22:20) This seems reasonable; the good guest becomes, hopefully, the good host. After all, every…
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Wang Yi’s Prophetic Practice
In 2004 a human rights lawyer named Wang Yi made the list of 50 Most Influential Public Intellectuals of China. In 2005 he became a Christian and joined the persecuted church in China as an outspoken advocate not only for human rights, but for the cause of Christ. In 2006 he was invited to Washington D.C. to speak with President George W. Bush about the issue of religious freedom. And in 2008 this young, distinguished, legal scholar resigned his university position to pastor a church in Chengdu, China.[1] As a pastor, Wang Yi drew attention from government officials for allegedly distributing Christian content, leading a school and seminary that were…
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Health Crises, Medicine, and Religion
In 1862, a measles epidemic swept across Japan infecting more than 60% of people with a case fatality rate of almost 20% in some areas.[1] In response, people turned not only to the science of the day, but also to religion in their search for answers and remedies. Prints about measles known as hashika-e offered the general public advice on diet and lifestyle encouraging the afflicted to refrain from sexual intercourse and oily foods, for example. These documents simultaneously depicted deities such as Mugidono Daimyōjin (the god of wheat), whom people would attempt to ‘transfer the disease to…or…invoke…to lessen the severity of a case.’[2] In other words, religion and contemporary…
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The Future of Democracy
In its 2019 annual Audit of Political Engagement, the Hansard Society asked if Britain ‘needs a strong ruler willing to break the rules.’ Whilst 54% of respondents said yes; only 23% said no.[1] Even given the long drawn-out stalemate over Brexit in that year – in which the “will of the people” seemed to be thwarted by parliament itself – this is a disturbing outcome. The nation promptly went ahead and elected a ruler willing to break a number of rules, before and during the pandemic. Democracy is not only under pressure in Britain. In 2020, the Cambridge Centre for the Future of Democracy warned that democracy worldwide is in ‘a…
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Mitzvah – Making the Place More Holy: The Ultimate in Practical Theology
The word “Mitzvah” is probably best known as part of a word that constitutes one of the main Jewish lifecycle events occurring when a child reaches the age of 13, the Bar Mitzvah (son) or Bat Mitzvah (daughter). But what is a mitzvah? Basically, the definitions are: a precept or commandment or a good deed done from religious duty. However in Judaism it is so much more about relationship than command. The beneficiary of the mitzvah is not the person receiving the good deed, but the person doing it. That is because doing mitzvah is to make this place, Earth, more holy, adding sparks to the universe. By following the precepts it is…
