Mother Claire's Sermons

In theology, as in all academic disciplines, there are ways in which a person can “specialize”. One can be a biblical theologian, a systematic theologian, a historical theologian, or a practical theologian - and within each of these types of theology, the theologian further specializes. For example, no one claims to be a historical theologian of all of history. The theologian chooses a manageable subset and lives in that world in the same way as a  lawyer practices a particular area of law or a musician focuses on their specific instrument. The wider categories make it easier for us to communicate with one another without having to go too far into the weeds and the specialties help us to focus on the parts of the whole.  What we see in our reading from Acts today is a great example of the specialty of practical theology. Practical theology, broadly defined, examines and reflects on religious practices in order to understand the theology underneath that which was enacted through those p