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Practical theology

Practical theology is an academic discipline that examines and reflects on religious practices in order to understand the theology enacted in those practices and in order to consider how theological theory and theological practices can be more fully aligned, changed, or improved. Practical theology has often sought to address a perceived disconnection between dogmatics or theology as an academic discipline on the one hand, and the life and practice of the church on the other.[1]

As articulated by Richard Osmer, the four key tasks or questions to be asked by practical theology are:

  1. What is going on? (the descriptive-empirical task)
  2. Why is this going on? (the interpretative task)
  3. What ought to be going on? (the normative task)
  4. How might we respond? (the pragmatic task)[2]
  1. ^ Theresa F. Latini, The Church and the Crisis of Community: A Practical Theology of Small-Group Ministry (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2011)
  2. ^ Osmer, Richard Robert (2008). Practical Theology: An Introduction. William B Eerdmans. p. 4. ISBN 9780802817655. The Core Tasks of Practical Theological Interpretation

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