Philip Arthur Bence PhD Thesis - Research@StAndrews:FullText

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the Church, the primordial sacrament, it betrays its own
nature if it does not effect what is signifies: grace and
love in hope and faith. Even where it works ex opere
operato, it still depends on the 'good will'--that is, the
opus operantis--of minister and recipient." From "Preface,"
in Servants of the Lord. Translated by Richard Strachan.
(London: Burns and Oates, 1968), p 7. (Cf. also, "The
Priestly Office and Personal Holiness," in ibid. p.
102-04.)
1 ° 5•1 current theological move toward 'contextualization'
reflects this thought of bringing truth from God
appropriate for unique settings. Michael Taylor is a
primary British example of this thought. "When I speak or
think of people 'doing theology' or engaging in theological
work . . . I have in mind two closely inter-related tasks.
The first task they are involved in is constructing and
articulating a faith by which they can live. The second
task is learning to live by the faith they construct (build)
and articulate. . . . This work of constructing and
articulating a faith by which to live, and learning to live
by the faith that has been constructed and articulated, is
to be done by the 'people.'" From "People at Work: Some
Consequences of Theology by the People for Institutions," in
Ministerial Formation. 31(September 1985):23.
110 "In God's utterance there comes to be a meeting
and a communion between His nature and man." Barth, 1.1.
p. 149.
1 "Tillich, Systematic Theology. 1:40, 111:133, and
Biblical Reli g ion. p. 3.
11 -1Because of the differences among the academic
settings and individual uniquenesses in lecturers and
students, the exact content and methodologies will,
undoubtedly, vary. The general principles allow a
multiplicity of specific applications.
113This is quite similar to the sentiment expressed
in a document presented by the British delegation to the
First All-European Consultation on Theological Education.
The meeting was organized by the World Council of Churches'
Programme on Theological Education. Within the document,
this sentence appears: "There are three main ingredients in
[ministerial] formation, which we will distinguish as
personal, academic, and pastoral. These three aspects
cannot by divorced from each other or departmentalised, they
are inextricably intertwined. This demands the closest
co-operation between all those whose task it is to oversee
the development of candidates for the ministry.
"Ministerial Formation," in Ministerial Formation, the
journal of the W.C.C.'s Programme on Theological Education.
11(July 1980):14.
11.4 Two more quotations from ibid. echo this thought.
"Ministry is first and foremost not a job to be performed
but a state of being." p. 12. "Ministerial training
involves not merely the acquisition of skills by the
formation of the whole person; it must be person-based." p.
16. Note also the same thought expressed a century ago by
Phillips Brooks, "The preparation for the [preaching]