Abstract
This book is a fascinating example of collaborative thinking and writing, which seeks to explore the kind of knowing that can be described as Christian practical wisdom. As the conclusion states, ‘this kind of knowing is by its very nature difficult to articulate, encourage, and hold up for theological scrutiny’ (p. 325). The authors use a ‘show and tell’ model to help in the articulation, and I think that this works.
The ‘show’ consists of five chapters in which the authors explore concrete examples of Christian practical wisdom. These look at embodied knowing, knowing that arises out of the habits of good Christian practice, knowing that is felt as well as being thought, that arises out of communities of relationship. These very different accounts encourage the reader to reflect on their own experiences of embodied communal knowledge and to think about how that wisdom might be articulated and valued.
Part II, the ‘tell’, allows the authors to reflect on both why such articulation is difficult and why it is so vitally important. Christian Scharen’s chapter explores the philosophical ideas that have led the West to value abstract reason over practical wisdom, particularly the work of Descartes. Her reflections on his correspondence with Elizabeth of Bohemia are extremely interesting, showing the tension between the abstraction of the philosopher and the desire for concrete wisdom from one who held responsibility for the day-to-day lives of other people. Practical wisdom is necessary when we have responsibilities for communities and the Christian calling is always at some level communal.
Bonnie Miller-McLemore presents a very helpful overview of the development of practical theology and its championing of phronesis. While honouring the work of many important scholars in the field and highlighting some less well known, she points out that the very practice of academic theology leads more often to a methodology rather than an articulation of the kind of practical knowledge being advocated. Dorothy Bass provides an insightful chapter on biblical imagination as a way of knowing and inhabiting the Scriptures so that they are lived. I particularly enjoyed her reflections on Zacchaeus, which will find their way into a sermon before too long.
Finally Kathleen Cahalan revisits the writings of early monasticism to explore the disciplined practices that can engender discernment, humility and openness to the known and unknown God. The writers are exploring practical wisdom and they all draw on Aristotelian ideas of phronesis and virtue. Yet, they are all also seeking an understanding of Christian practical wisdom, a wisdom that is shaped by the telos of living in Christ: ‘a way of life with God, in Christ, along a path that leads to God’s new creation and offers foretastes of it along the way’ (p. 235).
Each of these chapters provides plenty of material for further reflection. They combine a scholarly knowledge of the areas discussed with a genuine desire to bring this into conversation with the embodied, lived, practical, everyday experiences of the Christian life. It is a book to read and re-read. It will be a welcome text for those who teach pastoral and practical theology and all those who try to live authentically Christian lives in the modern world. As one of the authors says, ‘in the Christian life, we need exactly this kind of knowing – concrete, as well as universal; timely, as well as timeless’ (p. 174).