In order for me to remember the four components we use when doing theological reflection I had to make a word out of it... REST: Reason, Experience, Scripture, Tradition. From my previous seminary experience it was pounded into my head that when we do theological reflection we must be aware of the context we do it from. On page 63 Stone and Duke state:
"Äll theology is context related in the sense that its understanding of faith reflects conditions in the life of the theologian."
In this regards experience seems to be the underlying component when we do theological reflection. It helps to be aware of one's context and the other's context to engage in dialogue. This is important as we will be starting from different starting points. Doing these blogs we get a taste of each others context. For this I am grateful.
I agree Melody. Theses blogs help us hear a side of each other we don't hear in class. Dr. Tom said we are the first bloggers for this class and I am amazed at the variety of experience, reason, tradition ,and scripture (whether biblical or not) that have been exposed on these blogs. And I love your acronymn.
ReplyDeleteMelody you rock. I so appreciate your loving spirit and authentic presence- a rara avis indeed. I agree with you with regard to knowing and embracing our positionality as we look at these things. I am currently loving Ken Wilber's Wilber's AQAL metatheory of integral spirituality which attempts to provide a comprehensive framework of all contexts and perspectives. He looks at all aspects and tries to integrate science, psychology, philosophy, and spiritual ways of moving and being in the world. I whole heartedly agree with you that we must always be aware of our context. A-Men! :)
ReplyDeleteMelody, Thank you for sharing these four components of theological reflection - this will help me greatly as I dip my toes in this process, and with hope, eventually sink my feet in the water in my contemplative theology work. Blessings ~ Ev
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