Towards Friendship-Shaped Communities: A Practical Theology of Friendship. Anne-Marie Ellithorpe

See Don S. Browning, “Toward a Fundamental and Strategic Practical Theology,” in Equality and the Family: A Fundamental, Practical Theology of Children, Mothers, and Fathers in Modern Societies (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2007), 13. Also Don S. Browning, “The Relation of Practical Theology to Theological Ethics,” in Equality and the Family: A Fundamental, Practical Theology of Children, Mothers, and Fathers in Modern Societies (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2007), 396.

      75 75 Browning, A Fundamental Practical Theology, 49.

      76 76 Browning, “Toward,” 41.

      77 77 Tara K. Soughers, “Friendship with the Saints: A Practical Theological Reading of Teresa of Avila as a Spiritual Companion” (PhD diss., Boston University School of Theology, 2013), 34. See Browning, A Fundamental Practical Theology, 230–231.

      78 78 Browning, A Fundamental Practical Theology, 139.

      79 79 I have chosen to use the labels of First and Second Testament in my discussion of the Scriptures. The terminology of First Testament is inclusive of the Hebrew biblical texts, along with the Septuagint. The terminology of Second Testament seeks to avoid implications of in-group presuppositions or replacement theology. Yet I still make some use of the more common labels, particularly when using abbreviations.

      80 80 Browning, “Theological Ethics,” 396.

      81 81 Browning, “Toward,” 14. Browning draws on Gadamer’s approach to hermeneutics.

      82 82 See Charles Ringma, Gadamer’s Dialogical Hermeneutic: The Hermeneutics of Bultmann, of the New Testament Sociologists and of the Social Theologians in Dialogue with Gadamer’s Hermeneutic (Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag C. Winter, 1999), 23.

      83 83 Ringma, Gadamer’s Dialogical Hermeneutic, 49.

      84 84 Gadamer, Truth and Method, 305.

      85 85 Gadamer, Truth and Method, 305.

      86 86 Gadamer, Truth and Method, 361.

      87 87 Miller-McLemore, Christian Theology in Practice, 199.

      88 88 Browning, “Theological Ethics,” 396.

      89 89 In articulating ideal praxis, strategic practical theology “builds on the accomplishments of the first three movements of fundamental practical theology.” Browning, A Fundamental Practical Theology, 55–56, 69.

      90 90 A critical correlational practical theology “must support its implicit validity claims if it takes part in the discourse of a free society aimed at shaping the common good.” Browning, A Fundamental Practical Theology, 71.

      91 91 Browning, A Fundamental Practical Theology, 8.

      References

      1 Adams, Glenn, and Victoria C. Plaut. “The Cultural Grounding of Personal Relationship: Friendship in North American and West African Worlds.” Personal Relationships 10, no. 3 (2003): 333–347.

      2 Aristotle. The Complete Works of Aristotle: The Revised Oxford Translation. One-Volume Digital ed. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2014.

      3 Besner, Linda. “Friendship Is Magic. But Is It Legally Protected? In the Postpandemic World, We Need a Clearer Answer.” Globe and Mail, 2021.

      4 Bourdieu, Pierre. Outline of a Theory of Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977.

      5 Browning, Don S.A Fundamental Practical Theology. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1996.

      6 Browning, Don S. Equality and the Family: A Fundamental, Practical Theology of Children, Mothers, and Fathers in Modern Societies. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2007.

      7 Browning, Don S. “The Relation of Practical Theology to Theological Ethics.” In Equality and the Family: A Fundamental, Practical Theology of Children, Mothers, and Fathers in Modern Societies, 391–408. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2007.

      8 Browning, Don S. “Toward a Fundamental and Strategic Practical Theology.” In Equality and the Family: A Fundamental, Practical Theology of Children, Mothers, and Fathers in Modern Societies, 3–30. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2007.

      9 CDC. “Health Equity Considerations and Racial and Ethnic Minority Groups.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020.

      10 Darragh, Neil. At Home in the Earth: Seeking an Earth-Centred Spirituality. Auckland: Accent, 2000.

      11 de Graaff, Guido. Politics in Friendship: A Theological Account. London: T&T Clark, 2014.

      12 Department of Health and Human Services. “Updated Restrictions – 11.59pm Wednesday 22 July 2020.” Victoria State Government, 2020.

      13 Deutsch, Eliot. “On Creative Friendship.” In The Changing Face of Friendship, edited by Leroy S. Rouner, 15–28. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1994.

      14 Dykstra, Craig, and Dorothy C. Bass. “A Theological Understanding of Christian Practices.” In Practicing Theology: Beliefs and Practices in Christian Life, edited by Miroslav Volf and Dorothy C. Bass, 13–32. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002.

      15 Eilers, Kent. “New Monastic Social Imagination: Theological Retrieval for Ecclesial Renewal.” American Theological Inquiry: A Biannual Journal of Theology, Culture & History 6, no. 2 (2013): 45–58.

      16 Gadamer, Hans-Georg. Truth and Method. Translated by Joel Weinsheimer and Donald Marshall. 2nd rev. ed. New York: Continuum, 2004.

      17 Graham, Elaine, Heather Walton, and Frances Ward. Theological Reflection: Methods. London: SCM, 2005.

      18 Heitink, Gerben. Practical Theology: History, Theory, Action Domains. Translated by Reinder Bruinsma. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999.

      19 Ihimaera, Witi. The Whale Rider. Auckland: Mandarin, 1992.

      20 Ihimaera, Witi. The Parihaka Woman. Auckland: Random House, 2011.

      21 Jennings, Willie James. The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2010.

      22 Kaa, Hirini. “He Ngākau Hou: Te Hāhi Mihinare and the Renegotiation of Mātauranga, c.1800–1992.” PhD thesis, University of Auckland, 2014.

      23 MacIntyre, Alasdair. After Virtue. 3rd ed. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 2007.

      24 Miller-McLemore, Bonnie J.Christian Theology in Practice: Discovering a Discipline. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2012.

      25 Miller-McLemore, Bonnie J. “Introduction: The Contributions of Practical Theology.” In The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Practical Theology, edited by Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore, 1–20. Malden: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012.

      26 Moltmann-Wendel, Elisabeth. Rediscovering Friendship: Awakening to the Power and Promise of Women’s Friendships. Translated by John Bowden. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2001.

      27 Nees,