Sunday, December 14, 2008
Conniry #15: The “Pastoral trickle-down effect.”
15. We said that theological reflection throughout the 20th century was carried on primarily among fellow guild members and their students in universities and seminaries. Consequently, these theological works tended to influence the church indirectly, by means of what we might call the “pastoral trickle-down effect.” Be prepared to explain what we meant by that. Be sure to note how this has continued to affect the 21st-century church.
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Theological reflection in the 20th century was done mostly through the development of dogmatics and apologetics, but it was mostly by and for the church itself. There was much theological discussion but very little theological practice, especially in meaningful interaction and conversation with non-Christian culture in the West.
ReplyDeleteI don't have anything specifically on the "Trickle-Down" effect, but I suspect it means that whatever was discussed in theological (specifically academic) circles was mostly theory based and that this impacted the lower echelons of the church as it filtered down or as they tried to follow the seminaries' lead. Any additional input on this would be appreciated, especially if you think I got it wrong.
-CL