Christian education and Christian formation (participation in Christian practice) are two approaches to faith nurture that have been embraced by the church. Each approach has a body of literature that describes and examines its respective approach. While both approaches are good and appropriate for use in the discipleship and nurture of adolescents, neither approach fully accounts for what occurs during faith formation. Hans-Georg Gadamer speaks about the fusion of horizons as a hermeneutic event. The horizon of Christian education and the horizon of Christian formation can be brought into dialogue, toward the creation of new understanding.
Moving both horizons into dialogue will serve to elevate the significance of vision metaphors in faith formation. The perception of theological beauty plays a significant role in faith formation, unattended to by either contributing horizon's discourse. Theological beauty is represented to adolescents through the content of Christian teaching. The theological beauty is encountered by adolescents through formative practices of the church. In both cases the experience of beauty trains the attention and imagination on God. The theological beauty encountered in both avenues of nurture is the beauty of God’s own being.
Theological beauty is perceived in part through language and discourse. Language is interpretive and disclosive. Careful descriptive discourse provides theological perception that is necessary for the Christian life. Language calls attention to theological beauty and theological beauty sustains this attention. At a life stage where abstract thought is beginning to develop, adolescents are beginning to be able to appreciate symbolic beauty. It is at this developmental stage that a sense of theological beauty and wonder can begin to be cultivated.
Accompanying the discussion about the place of descriptive discourse is the guiding metaphor of the curator. The curatorial image represents ministry practice that carves out space for the encounter and appreciation of theological beauty. The “theological curator” draws young people’s attentions to the beauty of God's character, and the beauty of God’s personal call to them. The act of curation is also to make space for wonder as adolescents encounter God’s character and God’s call. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:mcmaster.ca/oai:macsphere.mcmaster.ca:11375/28673 |
| Date | January 2020 |
| Creators | Clements, Chris D. |
| Contributors | Zylla, Phil C, Beach, Lee, Christian Theology |
| Source Sets | McMaster University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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