Stripped to its core, PT seeks the faithful practice of the church (Swinton 2011:274 ). PT is “theology in action” as the reflective Christian analyses life against theology, applying biblical insight to bring these into alignment. The practical theologian deep dives into the redemptive intent of Scripture to construct theologies that are faithful to the Bible’s redemptive purpose and to re-construct theologies that have contributed to social deprivation. It calls on theologians to apply a robust hermeneutic to the ancient texts to bring to light a liberation reading of Scripture for a contemporary audience. Scripture informs praxis, so that the ecclesial family (people of God) transform from mirroring worldly ways into mirroring a Christo-praxis – imitating Christ.

A superficial reading of scripture may lead to thin theologies. A responsible theologian studies and applies a robust hermeneutic to construct thick theologies. One such school is the historical-redemptive movement, who looks at the original intent of Scripture (which was written for an ancient audience) and then at the overall intent of Scripture (which is a communication tool to convey God’s redemptive purpose in Christ). Without this additional redemptive lens, the Bible is read as oppressive and discriminating towards woman, children, slaves, the disabled, etc. Thin theologies come into tension with the redemptive nature of God.

Therefore, it is important to realise that the Bible has a historical context, which gave meaning in its time, however, the Bible’s contemporary value lays in its overarching message, which is its redemptive context. A sound hermeneutic takes both of these aspects into consideration when interpreting Scripture for praxis. In this paradigm of interpretation, I find a Christocentric hermeneutic useful.

Peppler (2012:i) describes the Christocentric principle as interpreting Scripture through the revealed person of Christ – His “character, values, principles and priorities” are applied to doctrine. The acuteness of this hermeneutical method of Christ as interpreter, is in its redemptive lens. Meylahn and Seo (2021:3) defines the redemptive-historical view:

• Redemptive history is the process of all historical acts in which God, who is sovereign, progressively and organically performs redemption through Jesus Christ. It is required for preachers to interpret and preach the text from a redemptive-historical approach. This is because God’s redemption is the purpose of the Bible, showing the audience that God is still active in their lives today (Vos 2003:5–6).

A redemptive-historical hermeneutic starts with a grammatical-historical inquiry (to determine the original intent of the text), then moves on to apply the Christocentric principle as the overarching intent – that of the redemptive purpose of God.

Practical Theology is a tool for pastoral leaders, as reflective practitioners; tasked as “trained hermeneutical guides” (Hickman, 2015:313) for their congregations. Hickman (ibid:313) explains pastoral leadership as the lead practitioner of the shared Christian life-act:

• The pastor is responsible for creating a “habitus” of spiritual practice and setting before the congregation the question, “In this cultural landscape, how then shall I live?” …The task of the pastor is to model these acts and create a space within the congregation for their practice. How then shall we live? is a question the pastor as practitioner lives into through practices shared together over time. Pastors may ultimately be exemplars, but that is not expected primarily. Instead, a willingness to be “tangled up with the things God is doing in the world” and to “share in the mysterious dynamic of fall and redemption, sin and grace” is the starting point for Christian practice (quotes from Cahalan 2015: 78).

Hickman (2015:312) explores models of ministry, and the pastor’s vocation in a post post-modern, fragmented landscape. In contemporary times, the pastor wears several hats. This can overwhelm the church and cause a pastor and their congregation to be pulled in contesting directions. Some name this a Saviour complex (Hickman ibid:319). Therefore, the pastor, as “hermeneutical guide” must have a clear theology concerning pastoral leadership and Christ’s purpose for establishing the church. In this fragmented society – defined by Hickman (ibid:313) as a society “undergoing exponential change and the loss of institutional authority” – the pastoral leader benefits from an opportunity to construct contemporary theologies of leadership and an ecclesial praxis to model a cohesive community that is faithful to Christ and His gospel.

Practical Theology (PT) is at core Christo-praxis, as the continuing ministry of Jesus in the world (Dames 2017). Dames (2017:14) positions PT as a hermeneutical science by stating PT as the hermeneutics of lived religion. According to Dames (ibid: 6), the scope of PT includes the role religion plays in public spaces. His premise to this scope of PT is a challenge for churches to get involved in society in practical ways. Here we find the missional praxis of the church expressed in its social justice campaigns and advocacy for those on the peripheral of society. The church becomes a prophetic voice in society, seeking justice as a witness to Christ’s character.

At Cornerstone, our Practical Theology modules give tools to our students to pursue faithful Christo-praxis in ministry vocation, be it in church leadership, faith-based organization settings, pastoral care and counselling or as a Christian in the market place. We explore this in Modules such as Christian Spirituality Formation, Missiology, Leadership and Empowerment, Christian Ministry Fieldwork, Homiletics, Church in the power of the Spirit and Public Theology. Our students join the CI conversation: “Learn to change the world” from a theological platform.