CHAPTER 2: A PRACTICAL THEOLOGICAL METHODOLOGY 89 2.5 SYNOPSIS: OBJECTIVES, SCOPE, METHODS The most important contribution of this study to the debate is to disclose and articulate the theology implicitly present in the practice of Taizé and Bose, an effort that finds itself at the crossroads of systematic theology (questions), practical theology (methodology), and the humanities (methods). The concluding chapters initiate the dialogue with other voices by relating the encountered presuppositions and insights to the status quaestionis as discussed in Chapter 1. Several considerations underpin this goal. With regard to the origins of Christian division, Cardinal Walter Kasper states that “Christians did not diverge primarily because of debate and controversy about different doctrines, but through the way they lived,”223 indicating that Christians have long since been alienated from one another in practice before this was inevitably and irresolvably reflected in theological disputes. The question is: if division was caused primarily by diverging practices, what role can converging practices play in restoring unity? And, consequentially, as Ivana Noble suggests: “can the fire of the Eucharist burn away our differences?”224 Likewise, Jeffrey Vanderwilt somewhat provocatively remarks: Cardinal Augustin Bea, one of the leading figures of Vatican II, urged Catholics to trust in the power of the Eucharist. Perhaps in our day, the reluctance to understand the Eucharist as a cause of unity represents a lack of trust in its power for good.225 This study intends to contribute to these questions, acknowledging that a definitive answer cannot be provided after evaluating one or two case studies. In a way, like Theological Action Research, this research overemphasizes the voices of operant and espoused theology – not in order to downplay the significance of formal and normative theology, but for the theological insights gained in practices and the reflection thereof to be emancipated in the theological debate. Such is also the purpose of the current study: to articulate the experiences exchanged and insights acquired through the practice of 223 Kasper, That They May All Be One, 158. 224 Ivana Noble, “Response to René Beaupère: Grace and Challenges of Interconfessional Marriages,” in Ökumene des Lebens als Herausforderung der wissenschaftlichen Theologie: Tagungsbericht Der 14. wissenschaftlichen Konsultation der Societas Oecumenica = Ecumenism of Life as a Challenge for Academic Theology: Proceedings of the 14th Academic Consultation, ed. Bernd Jochen Hilberath et al., Beihefte zur ökumenischen Rundschau (Frankfurt am Main: Verlag Otto Lembeck, 2008), 321. 225 Jeffrey Vanderwilt, “Eucharistic Sharing,” 832.
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