Introducing Theological Reflection
Introducing Theological Reflection
Theological Reflection is about integration and formation. Integration connects biblical and theological material with contextual and personal experience. Formation describes continued development into the likeness of Christ.
Theological Reflection assumes that theology is not just an academic or a private enterprise. It takes the resources which private and academic study, spiritual reading and so on provide and puts them to the service of deepening discipleship, service and ministerial understanding. It’s about creating a two-way potentially transformative conversation between all these different aspects. Theology sheds light on our practice – and vice versa; experience can inform our theology just as much as the other way around. To put it another way, theological reflection assumes critical reflection, and helps us to become people whose practice is critically and theologically reflective.
It is possible to undertake theological reflection on your own or in a group with others. It is probably preferable to reflect in a group so that you have an external perspective on your thinking. But there are various methods which individuals or groups can employ, and more resources for exploring these are set out at the end of this paper.
As a starting point, consider a pearl. If something enters the protective mantle covering an oyster’s shell, it reacts by producing new shell. So doing, it heals itself – and eventually, it forms a pearl. All kinds of similar ‘seeds’ find their way into ministry: an event or episode which you want to understand more fully, a biblical verse which won’t leave you, an incident in the world around which poses questions about God and the Church. These are the starting points of theological reflection.
Where you go from there is up to you. You’ll probably need something to write with or on, to note down your starting point and to begin to marshal your thoughts. Generally, theological reflection will involve bringing insights from other parts of the Bible, from theology and the Christian tradition, from non-theological sources such as literature or the social sciences, and from other places, to make sense of the ‘seed’. As you can tell, theological reflection isn’t completed in five minutes. The process of making sense changes thought and action, integrating knowledge, theology, experience and the Bible, and moving us deeper into God.
The nature of the ‘seed’ will probably determine the method of theological reflection employed. It is not hard to see how from one very small unexpected particle getting, as it were, under our skin, it is possible to explore a wide range of theological, biblical and ministerial truth. Here are some helpful resources to take you further:
Theological Reflection: Methods(2005) and Theological Reflection: Sources (2008) both by Elaine Graham, Heather Walton and Frances Ward, published by SCM. These are comprehensive introductory volumes and a good place to begin.[1]
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Introducing Theological Reflection
Let’s Do Theology (1989; revised 2009) by Laurie Green is an early classic. Use the 2009 edition.
Theological Reflection and Christian Formation (2005)by Alison Le Cornu, is an academic paper which (p.9f) includes an analysis of four models of theological reflection. It is freely available at:
Theological Reflection(2008) by Judith Thompson, also published by SCM – a great, accessible critical overview of Theological Reflection.
“Some Straw for the Bricks” by Stephen Pattison in the Blackwell Reader in Pastoral and Practical Theology (2000) edited by James Woodward and Stephen Pattison and published by Blackwells
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[1] These authors define theological reflection like this: “Theological reflection is an activity that enables people of faith to give an account of the values and traditions that underpin their choices and convictions and deepens their understanding. Theological reflection enables the connection between human dilemmas and divine horizons to be explored, drawing on a wide range of academic disciplines including social sciences, psychotherapeutic and medical disciplines and the arts” (Graham, Walton and Ward, p3)