Polity and praxis: A program for American practical theology

Designed as a guide to the construction of models of practical theology, this book breaks ranks with the advocates of orthpraxis and those of academic orthodoxy. It argues that practical theology is a distinct and limited genre of the theological reflection grounded in the dialectic of theory and praxis, and it places practical theology in the arena of public discourse where religious and secular ideologies debate their alternative visions of the future. Rejecting the dominance of Latin American and European models, Polity and Praxis situates practical theology in a vital tradition of North American reflection. That tradition,at its best , is pluralistic, and this book is an invitation to practical theologians to grapple with pluralism as the key to the creation of viable futures for our culture.