LIVED THEOLOGY

by Marsh, Peter Slade (Editor), Sarah Azaransky (Editor)

Lived Theology contains the work of an emerging generation of theologians and scholars who pursue research, teaching, and writing as a form of public responsibility motivated by the conviction that theological ideas aspire in their inner logic toward social expression. Written as a two-year collaboration of the Project on Lived Theology at the University of Virginia, this volume offers a series of illustrations and styles that distinguish Lived Theology in the broader conversation with other major approaches to the religious interpretation of embodied life. The book begins with a modest How might theological writing, research, and teaching be expanded to engage lived experience with the same care and precision given by scholars to books and articles? Behind this question lies the claim that theological engagements and interpretations of lived experience offer rich and often surprising insights into God's presence and activity in the world. Answers to, and explorations of,
this question form the narrative framework of this groundbreaking volume. Lived theology is shown to be an exceedingly curious enterprise, transgressing disciplinary boundaries as a matter of course, examining circumstance, context, and motivation, and marshalling every available resource for the sake of discerning the theological shape of enacted and embodied faith. Understanding the social consequences of theological ideas is a task with wide ranging significance, inside the academy and in the broader forums of civic discussion.

Contributors consider Lived Theology from a diverse array of experiences and locations, including towns in Mississippi struggling with histories of racist violence and murder; a homeless shelter in Atlanta; churches in the Democratic Republic of Congo; faith based volunteer organizations in Columbus, Ohio; and a college classroom in the Midwest.

This innovative work offers a fresh and exciting model for scholars, teachers, practitioners, and students seeking to reconnect the lived experience of faith communities with academic study and reflection.

Genres: Theology

288 pages, Hardcover

Published November 1, 2016

Reviews

[Zachariah Nicholovos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent collection of articles.

[Fr. River · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book Review of Lived Theology: New Perspectives on Method, Style, and Pedaogy

Edited By

Charles Marsh

Peter Slade

Sarah Azaransky

Living theology springs from the lived experiences of people with God. The Bible springs from the lived experiences of the Jewish people.

Orthodox theology seeks to shape and codify those lived experiences. Frankly the truth is that few pay much attention to the theology of professionals. For example The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe comes from the vision of our Lady, which transcended the orthodox approach of the day. We call these experiences "folk experiences," but it is these "folk" or practical experiences of people that shape theology, not solely the words of the academics. The heart of the Gospel is found in our earliest creed from I Corinthians 15: "Now I would remind you brothers and sisters of the good news that I proclaimed to you, in which also you stand, through which you are also being saved. .that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures; that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.." Orthodox theology simply places boundaries on the myth of the various experiences.

In the book Living Theology we see the continued shaping of theology through the experience of the authors.

The best lived theology is the co- mingling of academia and the practical living of theology such as Dorothy Day did through her writing. Theology comes a live as it is practiced.

These authors share their practice, and this book is worth while to read. And I invite you to practice living theology this

Friday, February 17, 2017 when we gather at noon (12:00 p.m.) in front of the Earl Warren Supreme Court Building at Noon at 350 McAllister Street in San Francisco to:

Franciscans Against the Death Penalty

P.O. Box 642656

San Francisco, CA 94164

415-710-8709

franciscansagainstdeathpenalty@gmail.com

Fr. River Damien Sims