Is there a place/way to combine patristic and pastoral theology?

[Macrina]

I'm interested in Christianity in late antiquity/early medieval, but I see it as a foundation for pastoral theology. I'm currently doing a masters with a concentration in historical theology and considering doctoral applications, but I'm not sure where/how to combine these interests. I know pastoral theology can seem a bit less academic than systematic theology or similar, and I'm wondering if there are places where the pastoral program is more rigorously grounded in history and/or systematics.

Any ideas? Thanks.

[marXian]

If you went the historical theology/patristics route, chances are you wouldn't have much if any opportunity to do work in contemporary/constructive practical/pastoral theology. However, in my experience practical/pastoral theology programs and faculty seem to open to a wide range of creative methods and looking at the patristics as a foundation for practice sounds like something practical programs would be interested in, generally speaking. That said, I don't have a sense for which programs would be best to take a look at--but I know others on here will!

[Lux Lex Pax]

You might be interested in Ellen Charry at Princeton Theological Seminary. She's done a lot of work in Patristics and Medieval theology and wrote a book called "By the Renewing of Your Minds: The Pastoral Function of Christian Doctrine" that might be of interest to you. You should also checkout the Th.D. program at Duke, which seems very much amenable to this kind of work. I'm not that familiar with the Roman Catholic schools, but my impression is that many have strengths in this area; I'm thinking in particular about Notre Dame and Boston College, but I could be wrong.

[Macrina]

Thank you, jdharrison and lux lex pax.

Can you tell me a little bit more about the Duke ThD program? I think I'm looking for a doctoral program that is open to interdisciplinary approaches, wile still providing solid academics.

I guess I would be a better fit for a more practical/pastoral program. Which is kind of a surprise to me given my background in history and theology

And I really enjoyed Ellen Charry's book, but had forgotten she is at PTS.

[Lux Lex Pax]

From what I understand, the Th.D. program at Duke is meant to be a place where students can do semi-traditional academic work that is geared toward the church; I say semi-traditional because of its interdisciplinary nature - interdisciplinary for those working in the theological disciplines, i.e., OT, NT, church history, systematics, pastoral theology, etc. Besides being invested in the flourishing of the contemporary church, Duke also has members who connect their work with the history of Christian thought and with contemporary empirical approaches to the study of the church. For example, they have people like Reinhard Hutter and Paul Griffiths who are deeply learned in Christian theology but also have a strong devotion to the life of the church. Geoffrey Wainwright is also someone who has done work on the history of liturgy and theology, though I believe he's now emeritus. There are also people like Luke Bretherton and Mary McClintock Fulkerson who are at the cutting edge of ecclesiology and ethnography. And these are just the theologians who would be considered constructive dogmatic or moral theologians. Combine them with their more traditional pastoral theologians at Duke, and you'd have lots of people to work with on a topic like patristics and contemporary pastoral theology.

At PTS, I think this proposal could fit in either theology or practical theology, though it'd probably be easier to gain admission into the practical theology program. I believe James Kay and Richard Osmer, along with Ellen Charry, might be good resources to help connect practical theology to the history of Christian theology.

I hope this helps.

[Macrina]

From what I understand, the Th.D. program at Duke is meant to be a place where students can do semi-traditional academic work that is geared toward the church; I say semi-traditional because of its interdisciplinary nature - interdisciplinary for those working in the theological disciplines, i.e., OT, NT, church history, systematics, pastoral theology, etc. Besides being invested in the flourishing of the contemporary church, Duke also has members who connect their work with the history of Christian thought and with contemporary empirical approaches to the study of the church. For example, they have people like Reinhard Hutter and Paul Griffiths who are deeply learned in Christian theology but also have a strong devotion to the life of the church. Geoffrey Wainwright is also someone who has done work on the history of liturgy and theology, though I believe he's now emeritus. There are also people like Luke Bretherton and Mary McClintock Fulkerson who are at the cutting edge of ecclesiology and ethnography. And these are just the theologians who would be considered constructive dogmatic or moral theologians. Combine them with their more traditional pastoral theologians at Duke, and you'd have lots of people to work with on a topic like patristics and contemporary pastoral theology.At PTS, I think this proposal could fit in either theology or practical theology, though it'd probably be easier to gain admission into the practical theology program. I believe James Kay and Richard Osmer, along with Ellen Charry, might be good resources to help connect practical theology to the history of Christian theology.I hope this helps.

Thank you. You've helped tremendously.

I had been looking at Duke, but with more of a focus on the PhD/Religion side of things. As I think about SoPs for PhD apps, it's increasingly clear to me that I need to refine my interests/perspective, but I haven't known how to begin. Your post gives me a way to start looking at this a little differently. Much appreciated.

[Lux Lex Pax]

I should also mention Emory's course of study "Person, Community, and Religious Life." It's their practical theology subfield with a heavy interdisciplinary focus. I had heard a while back that they were restructuring the program, but I haven't heard anything since, and the website indicates that it's still running.

Another thing to keep in mind are job prospects. I don't know what your denominational affiliation is, but the Protestant/Catholic distinction could be very important with your particular emphases. I think Protestant schools are probably better in practical theology than the Catholic schools, and the latter are better in patristics. This would seem to bear itself out in hiring patterns. Anecdotally, it seems that patristics scholars from Catholic schools can get placed in Catholic or Protestant schools but not those who study patristics in Protestant schools. The situation seems to be slightly reversed in practical theology, though Catholics seem to favor Catholics here as well. For what it's worth, patristics seems to have undergone a resurgence in the last couple of years with a number of jobs opening up for scholars in this field.

[cadences]

By the way, if you're looking at Princeton, consider Gordon Mikowski? He's a Christian Education professor in the practical theology department, but part of his research is the intersection of patristic theology, sacraments, and Christian education. I think he might be right up your alley.