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 the uneasy relationship between the Bible and practical theology.[2] The target membership was particularly those who are teaching or researching at the interface between Bible and practice. The SIG held a first symposium in May 2012, also at Woodbrooke, mapping the ways in which the Bible interacted with practical theology, alongside exploring the causes of such unease. The SIG has met every year since at the BIAPT annual conference, with a view to showcasing ways in which practical theologians are approaching Scripture and debating how it is done.[3]
This second symposium aimed to build on what had gone before. Since 2011, SIG members have frequently identified the opportunity to read and reflect on Scripture together as invaluable. In addition, there has been a burgeoning of reflection and research around approaching the Bible as practical theologians.[4] Combining these developments, the 2022 symposium aimed to explore what it meant to approach the Bible as practical theologians through reading and re-reading three Bible passages together, alongside and from different perspectives. Delegates were invited to reflect explicitly out of their own contexts on the stories of the healing of Naaman; the healing of a Centurion’s servant; and the Syrophoenician / Canaanite woman’s faith.[5] The theme of ‘Authority Recognized and Challenged,’ and so the texts selected, arose from the convenors’ observation that authority consistently emerges as a critical issue for Bible and practice. Over to our delegate reflections.
Account of the Symposium (Helen Rees)
I thoroughly enjoyed attending my first Bible and Practical Theology SIG. The venue was lovely, and the staff were welcoming. Throughout our time together there was a feeling, from Helen Cameron and Andrew Rogers, of lightly structured informality. We began by discussing each of the readings we had been asked to look at in groups. The groups moved between three different tables considering different passages. This enabled us all to not only get to know each other but also to hear different voices and learn about each other’s contexts.
After this, we had a coffee break. This was followed by working with two people who had brought some work they had prepared. One group was concerned with preaching from the Old Testament and the other was applying a New Testament passage to research that had been conducted on belonging within Cornish Methodism.
In the evening we were joined by three speakers who interpreted the texts we had been looking at from their own perspectives. They were: Mark Russ, Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre; Jasmine Devadason, Methodist Learning Network; and Caleb Nyanni, Birmingham Christian College. This was for ninety minutes and the contributions from our guests were wonderful.
From Mark, we learned about a Quaker response to Scripture in Britain which is very different from a response in other countries. He considered what types of views Quakers in Britain would take to the passages, such as who would they see as the most important characters, and he concluded they would focus on the presence or absence of women’s voices in the texts.
Jasmine spoke as a Dalit immigrant, and from her, it was clear that the most important reading would be from the point of view of the lesser characters. She saw this as a natural search for marginalized people. In this, the story of Naaman the leper would be seen from the point of view of his wife’s servant girl.
Caleb interpreted each text considering the view of a first-generation African diaspora Pentecostal compared to those who were second or third-generation. He noticed that for the first generation the most important person in the story of the Centurion’s servant who was healed would be the Centurion. For the second and third generations, the most important character would be the Centurion’s servant. Ultimately, all the generations would recognise the power of God and Jesus in the miraculous.
The following morning involved group work again but this time it was to consider if our interpretations had changed due to what we had heard the previous night. In this conversation, we also considered the authority of the Bible and how we interpreted this in the light of practical theology. It was clear that our interpretations of Scripture were immediately practical as we discussed the application both from within and to our contexts. It was a great symposium, and I am really pleased that I was part of it.
The Value of Other Voices (Abigail Maguire)
Spending time with a variety of delegates at the BIAPT Bible and Practical Theology symposium provided a great opportunity for constructive and reflective conversation. It’s been a long time since I can recall another occasion where such a variety of voices have come together in such a positive, fascinating, and productive way. I left the symposium feeling challenged, more aware of others’ ideas and perspectives, and conscious of the need to navigate great complexity when dealing with the interplay between power, authority, and Biblical narrative. However, more than that, my ongoing reflections have been ones where I have been required to consider afresh my own thoughts, attitudes, presuppositions and practices. As a result of the symposium, it has been impossible to escape the conscious revisiting of my own knowledge and experiences in order to consider the impact of my context upon my reading of the Bible.
One major highlight for me was the opportunity to learn from the three guest readers’ insights on the selected passages. Listening to Quaker, Afro-Western and Dalit perspectives in conversation with each other highlighted the need to pause and ask significant and underlying questions of the passage being studied. Whose story is this? Where is God at work? Which characters, who might have been subject to distortion or marginalisation due to cultural or contextual factors, need recentring? Whose voice is missing? How do issues of power, authority, influence, and jurisdiction affect the meaning of Scripture? What implications for practice does this cause us to consider? I was struck by the humility of delegates’ answers to some of these questions, recognising the (at times) conflicting theological approaches and yet demonstrating a willingness to find richness in diversity alongside a loyalty to seeking truth.
The activities planned throughout the symposium created a space for focussed yet open dialogue. I valued the time to be able to read the passages alongside one another, away from my more usual surroundings of theological education and teaching the Bible to students. The strength of expertise in both experience and scholarship from the domains of practical theology and biblical studies was a powerful reminder of the value of collaboration for mutual learning and encouragement. I also appreciated the informal discussion over coffee and mealtimes to be able to further explore the nuances and complexities of others’ theological contexts and convictions.
Finally, I was particularly impacted by the power of delegates’ commitment to approaching and using the Bible well in practical theology. There was on display at the symposium an intentional and considered movement towards excellence in this arena, and an openness to new ways of thinking, learning and doing. Overall, from having attended the symposium, I find myself better equipped to be more effective at exploring issues of power and authority in both personal and professional contexts.
The impact of the symposium on my practice (Heather J. Major)
Sharing Stories Together and Seeing Through Other Eyes
At the symposium I had the privilege of participating in a time of sharing stories and perspectives. Participants were encouraged to read and reflect on three biblical narratives as practical theologians. Each of us brought our own perspectives and experiences to the table, embracing the opportunity to see things differently and challenge our preconceptions. The symposium provided each participant with rich opportunities for formal and informal fellowship. As we shared meals with each other and listened to presentations and reflections, we were able to connect personal histories and contexts with church traditions and historical interpretations.
I found the experience of sharing together to be both challenging and encouraging. It is easy to become desensitised to the complexity of biblical narratives, particularly when they are familiar stories. Engaging in the exercise of reading and reflecting within a diverse community of theologians and reflective practitioners required all of us to slow down and consider things that were difficult or uncomfortable in each of the stories. As we asked questions about power, authority, marginalisation, subversion of expectations and hermeneutic or interpretive traditions, we were also given opportunities to articulate our discomfort, frustration, concerns or doubts about the passages and their meaning or application.
As each conversation developed, I was struck by the importance of sharing stories within a community in order to see through other eyes. The symposium brought together an ecumenical group of people from diverse backgrounds and life experiences. As a result, we were able to interrogate our presuppositions and engage in a rich conversation of questioning and wrestling with interpretive history, theological traditions and personal experience. Rather than finding ourselves in an echo chamber of common perspectives and interpretations, we were invited to listen and learn from other people, pushing against artificial attempts at resolution or finding a ‘correct’ answer.
As a practical theologian and missiologist who works in ecumenical spaces, I am constantly reminded of the need to listen to multiple voices. As a theological educator, I regularly encourage my students to read widely across a broad range of theological perspectives. This includes reading multiple translations of the Bible and recognising that every translation includes an element of interpretation. Participating in ecumenical dialogue and communal theological reflection on specific texts encourages humility and critical development. It can be uncomfortable to question familiar readings or interpretations of the Bible, but it is essential, particularly when it comes to ecumenical or inter-cultural engagement.
By the end of the symposium, we had all been given the gift of a glimpse into seeing the passages with different eyes. When I re-read the story of the Canaanite woman as part of a Bible study with another group at the end of December, I was reminded of the conversation in Birmingham. I expect I will continue to reflect on the shared perspectives and challenges of our discussions over the coming weeks, months and years.
Final Thoughts
What strikes us as we reflect on these reflections is the importance of a space that allows for the sort of Bible and practice conversations described above. Delegates noted the rarity and distinctive nature of this space, where those who teach or research Bible and practice could read and learn from Scripture together. This space appeared to be valued due to its ‘lightly structured informality’; the blessings of being in 3D; the time given to read the Bible slowly; the focus on both Bible and practice; the encouragement to read from one’s context; the encounter with different voices and contexts and traditions; and the freedom to express discomfort and disagreement.
Looking ahead, the task for the Bible SIG is to continue to offer such spaces for encountering Scripture together. We plan to hold our next symposium in 2025 to coincide with the 500th anniversary of the Tyndale New Testament, and we also meet annually at the BIAPT conference. Do join the conversation either by visiting our BIAPT website or emailing bible[at]biapt.org.
References
[1] Co-convenors since then have been John Moxon and Kevin Ellis. The current convenors are Helen Cameron and Andrew Rogers.
[2] Elaine Graham, Heather Walton, and Frances Ward, Theological Reflection: Methods (London: SCM, 2005), 7. See also: Andrew P. Rogers (2023), ‘”Looking into the Mirror: the Bible, normativity and reflexivity”, Practical Theology, (2023), https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1756073X.2023.2194113
[3] A report on the first symposium and further details of the SIG and its events can be found at: https://www.biapt.org/groups/bible.
[4] See Rogers, ‘Looking’, for an account of this burgeoning.
[5] Respectively 2 Kings 5:1-14; Mt 8:5-13; Lk 7:1-10; Mt 15:21-28; Mk 7:24-30.
© Helen Cameron, Andrew P. Rogers, Abigail Maguire, Heather J. Major and Helen Rees, 2023.
This work is licensed under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).
Cover Image: Provided by the authors.
Helen Cameron is Research Fellow at the Centre for Baptist Studies, Regent’s Park College, Oxford and is co-convenor of the BIAPT Bible and Practical Theology group. She is also a Research Fellow at Wesley House,
Cambridge where she leads a Certificate in Enabling Skills for Ministry and Mission.
Andrew Rogers is Associate Professor of Practical Theology at the University of Roehampton, London, UK, and is co-convenor of the BIAPT Bible and Practical Theology group. He has recently published an essay on using the Bible in practical theology entitled Looking into the Mirror: The Bible, normativity and reflexivity
(2023).
Abigail Maguire is the Head of Undergraduate Studies at Moorlands College, Dorset where she is the programme lead of the BA Applied Theology programmes. She is passionate about the interface of theology and ethics and is currently researching the role of spiritual formation in theological education.
Heather J Major has a PhD in Practical Theology, Rural Church and Mission from the University of Glasgow and teaches Hebrew and Old Testament at Highland Theological College, UHI. She is convenor of the Mission Research Network for Churches Together in England and chair of the International Rural Churches Association. She can be found on Twitter at @HeatherJMajor1.
Helen Rees is tutor in theological education at St Padarn’s. In this role she is part of the Biblical studies group with a special interest in the New Testament. Her research interests also include liturgy and disability
theology.
