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Pastoral Theology in the Class Paperback – 1 June 2005

by Purves (Author)

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Too often pastoral care is uninformed by historical practice and is overly influenced by psychological theory and practice, according to Andrew Purves. At least one consequence of this is that it is often disaffiliated from the church's theological heritage. Purves examines Christian writers from the past who represent the classical tradition in pastoral theology--classical in the sense that they and their texts have shaped the minds and practices of pastors in enduring ways. He reflects on texts from Gregory Nazianzus, John Chrysostom, Gregory the Great, Martin Bucer, and Richard Baxter. He includes a brief biography of each author, introduces the major themes in the writer's theology, and discusses the issues arising for pastoral work.

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Print length

144 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Westminster John Knox Press
Publication date

1 June 2005
Dimensions

15.24 x 0.91 x 22.86 cm
ISBN-10

0664222412
ISBN-13

978-0664222413
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About the Author

Andrew Purves is Professor of Reformed Theology at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Westminster John Knox Press (1 June 2005)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 144 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0664222412
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0664222413
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 15.24 x 0.91 x 22.86 cm

Best Sellers Rank: 66,077 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 146 in Christian Pastoral Resources
- 1,184 in Christian Theology (Books)
- 54,344 in Textbooks & Study Guides

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Russell Phillips

Practical advice from the great Pastor-Theologians of the past

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 20 April 2009

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Highly recommended. Five key pastoral figures from Church History are reviewed with biographies and major emphases of their pastoral theology. A great combination of theology, history and practical advice from the great pastor-theologians of the past.

One of the author's central contentions is a defence of the 'classical tradition' as opposed to the received wisdom of modern pop-psychology pastoring. He makes a good case, revealing underlying differences of approach, backed up with quotation from the masters of the trade. Nevertheless the focus of the book is positive: offering referenced and well-grounded advice for those engaged in pastoral care today.

2 people found this helpful

Kerry Walters

Clue for Clergy: Read one "old" book for every "new" book

Reviewed in the United States on 26 March 2004

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Andrew Purves has given us a marvelous little book on pastoral theology. His approach is based on three assumptions. The first is that every pastor needs also to be a theologian--that is, needs to be in a reflective and prayerful dialogue with the doctrine that grounds Christian ministry. But pastoral training in recent years--and this is the second assumption--has focused so heavily on psychological theory that traditional theological underpinnings have been underemphasized. (This isn't to say that psychological training isn't good--of course it is!--but merely that the temptation is for it to overshadow anything of theological substance.) Happily, however (here's the third assumption) noncontemporary theological sources have a great deal to teach us about pastoring. Purves follows C.S. Lewis' assumption that books from the past are helpful because they challenge the frameworked assumptions that we just naturally take for granted--hence Lewis' rule-of-thumb that every reading of a new book should be complemented by the reading of an old one.
In keeping with his three assumptions, Purvis seeks to reinvigorate pastoral theology by reexamining the thought of five "traditional" theologians--Gregory Nazianzus, John Chrysostom, Gregory the Great, Martin Bucer, and Richard Baxter--who offer refreshing insights into pastoral roles, responsibilities, and identities. Purves admits that other theologians could've been selected (Luther on religious doubt, for example, or Augustine on marriage), but he thinks the five he focuses on are both representative of the tradition and instructive.
Purves' book is a wonderful combination of theory and application, and it reawakens in the reader (or at least in this reader) an appreciation of just how pertinent ancient, medieval, and early reformation theologians are to the nitty-gritty of daily pastoral care. A valuable resource, and highly recommended for every clergyperson who could use a refresher on what it means to be an ordained servant of God.

30 people found this helpful

Penguin

A sombre read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 14 May 2019

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What is pastoral care? For most part pastoral care that I received was largely what I got from the pulpit in my three decades of church life.

What is pastoral care? I do not think I have been systematically taught about it. Prior this book, pastoral care to me was relationship building, care and teaching a pastor did beyond the pulpit. Pastoral care was the meal rota to families in need. It was an appointment with the pastor when you were in crisis. It was never an ongoing check on normal spiritual growth. My growth was seriously retarded and it went unnoticed. As I went through different seasons of life, I did not feel equipped in making decisions and answering the demands of the particular season. I had no idea of how to do Christian walk in general! It’s no good when you don’t know what you don’t know – this is the ultimate ignorance or blindness. I started to search for answers on my own and for a critical period of my growth I received more pastoral care from pastors who were dead than those whom I met in life! Thanks to Amazon, the legacy of past saints is made so much more accessible and affordable.

What is pastoral care? I dearly wish to know what the Bible says about it. This book is a wonderful beginning of such a quest. I am driven by my personal experience that I wish to find out what should be expected in a church. In particular, I see pastoral care to women at church lacking on the teaching side. When I first looked into the subject, the author’s observation is spot on for me – I am taught more of psychology and psychotherapy techniques. I have the same outcry that Christ is only mentioned in passing and the Holy Spirit has a notional presence in the literature. The goal seems to be personal betterment in practice rather than becoming who we are in Christ. The author is right – pastoral care has lost the soteriological and eschatological goal, although they do use the word sanctification. Having just dipped into the contemporary literature on the subject, I echo with the author that ‘much of what passes as pastoral practice is theologically and practically incoherent.’ To some extent I feel vindicated because I have found those literatures confusing and unsatisfactory, driving me to seek more profound theological grounding for pastoral care.

Does this book fill that niche? I think it is a very good introduction to the subject. The five theologians covered have the core in common albeit with different emphases. They therefore complement one another well as their respective expansions enrich the overall exposition in a coherent way. Perhaps this just manifests the beauty of the Bible – its teaching is coherent and consistent even in the hands of different saints across different epochs as long as they were faithful to Scripture.

It is a loss to the modern church when pastoral theology in the classical tradition is not read and studied, leaving us fumble in the dark and fall victim to the latest fad. We are missing out on the blessing of the church life as Christ has intended for us! One thing that comes out very clear is – who can be our pastors or in terms of women ministry, women workers? Pastoral care is a demanding office, which should humble anyone for personal ambition. The author concludes it well: “Ministry is not “natural” work in the sense that it is within our human compass and possibility. It is in a sense an alien work that demands great transformation by God, for the want of which the work of the pastor cannot succeed.” That rules out the belief that “ordinary people can do extraordinarily things because we all have the Holy Spirit in us” without any other further qualifications, not even that the caregiver should demonstrate at least transformation that Christ has made in his or her life. As the nation may have a crisis in pastors and their training, this is even more so for women workers partly because the majority does not know what they should look like.

The book does come out strongly that pastoral care should be rooted and grounded in a knowledge of Christ through the Scriptures. Pastors have to be theologians first and foremost. Nowadays theology has been painted as cold and impersonal but it has never crossed the theologians’ minds of all ages that theology is not also practical.

Fundamentally we live wrongly if our knowledge of God is wrong. In my first seminar in a biblical counselling course, we were asked what the most important criterion of a biblical counsellor was. It was not his or her knowledge of the Bible but “your own personal walk with Christ”. This just takes it edge off from the hard work that the role may imply. I believe the latter needs further qualification as a qualification of a biblical counsellor. How about this: pastoral work is described as “the art of arts”. “It suggests that pastoral work is an aesthetic discipline, one that requires a certain cast of mind, an intuitive apprehension that is deeply guided by the things of God and an understanding of the nature of people. The discipline is not without skills, of course, but it is more than skills. Pastoral work, we might suggest, is given its shape by a spiritual apperception that is profoundly controlled by a conceptual grasp of Christian doctrine.” Pastoral theology in the classical tradition never portrays theology as cold but acknowledges from the outset the human dimension to the job: “Each of the classical writers dwelt at length on the complexities of pastoral work. Person and circumstance must shape the pastoral response…A pastor must thus develop a discerning wisdom in order to know what remedy to apply in each case. Pastoral work is not formulaic….pastors must ever grow in their knowledge and understanding of people. They must be psychologists in the deepest sense, becoming men and women who understand the souls of their people and who know how to identify and treat soul-sickness.” (p.110-120)

This profile just makes what provided by contemporary literature flimsy in comparison. Here is some more: “The battle is with the hidden heart of humankind and the adversary within… This work demands great skill, since people are so varied, and requires care correspondingly.” (p.29) “The godly pastor is not only a psychologist and a rhetorician, but above all else also must be a theologian….The competent and faithful pastor must know both God and people in such a way that he or she can interpret the significance of the gospel to meet every life situation and every manner of person, all to the glory of God and the eternal salvation of each person…ministry should be entered into by those who recognise the need to commit themselves to the work of theology and who have the skill and sensitivity to understand the nature and needs of persons in such a way that the gospel can be addressed for them in healing and helpful ways.” (p.22-23)

I will make two points of the book: the focus is on developing the theological grounding for the pastor’s office. It does not therefore say directly how women should be pastored on a more personal basis or what a women worker should look like because she is not a pastor of the church. Having said that, women ministry should share the same goal of pastoral care in unison with the vision for the wider church. I believe practical implications for women ministry or a pastoral care system in support of the pastor can be developed from it.

The second point I would like to make is that three theologians were before the Reformation. While the author focuses on telling the theology they had developed, he is sometimes not as clear with the dubious concepts that they had pre-Reformation. I was reading some segments, wondering to what extent I can adopt them.

MarjorieLat

Pastoral Theology in the Classical Tradition

Reviewed in Canada on 30 November 2010

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The introduction focuses on pastoral care which then leads into the chapters of five classic Fathers (classical pastoral writers)- Gregory of Nazianzus, John Chrysostom, Gregory the Great, Martin Bucer, and Richard Baxter. The conclusion discusses pastoral theology in the classic tradition followed by an Epilogue which is an ordination sermon based on 2 Corinthians 11:2-"The Father of the Bride". The book is most interesting and in my opinion would be very beneficial for anyone becoming a Deacon or involved with lay ministry particularly in the capacity of pastoral care. The chapters provide a brief biography of the Fathers, their theology, preaching and teaching with regards to pastoral care. The book provides a definition of pastoral work in the classic setting that connects the Gospel story, the lives and situations of people. Highly recommend this read.

Robert Jackson

Heart-challenging perspectives

Reviewed in the United States on 17 July 2009

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Reading this book definitely reminds me of a saying along the lines of "When you think you're doing well, read some of the Church Fathers. You'll conclude that you're doing nothing." Purves here serves up a juicy and satisfying look at five systematic treatments of pastoral theology from throughout the breadth of Christian history. They are written in four different languages and cover the gamut of church leadership and pastoral responsibility. Much of the advice is incredibly practical: Baxter, for instance, had dinner with every family in his church once a year, and ensured that the conversation turned to the Gospel every time. A lot of the book also looks at heart matters such as what it means to be a shepherd of the flock and a 'physician of the soul.'

Purves keeps bibliographic info on each author to a minimum, and says basically nothing about historical context. This serves his practical purposes well. His summaries are fair, respectful, varied and very lucid. The book is deeply challenging and does not attempt to be a work of systematic theology. The works by Nazanzus and Pope Gregory are readily available on the internet (try Wikimedia), the Baxter work is available (and Baxter was British), but the work by Bucer is highly obscure in English - a fact that Purves discusses (and laments!) in this book.

My only real criticism of the book is that I felt Purves could have used more space giving us more of the voice of the original authors (particularly Bucer who's impossible to find!) I appreciate that the book is very slim and compact in its present form, I just felt that some extra length from the authors themselves would have been well spent. His concluding chapter seeks to highlight the major themes from the book. This would have been an incredible opportunity for Purves to go on and outline points on a road map for how a church can take those themes forward into its own ministry - although doing this is probably beyond the scope that Purves set for himself.

Overall, this lean and punchy book succeeds admirably at what it seeks out to do. The selection of works is top-notch, and the work is completely unencumbered by theological and historical controversies and disagreements. It gives a fascinating and refreshing perspective on pastoral work - one that is so neglected and so different from modern views which focus on a psychologist being the counsellor, rather than the Holy Spirit. This is therefore a brilliant 'second' reading or 'background' reading for pastoral study - but be warned that it will challenge your heart!

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