Institute of Practical Theology

What are the religious questions that people ask today? And what do the answers mean for their personal lives and the way they relate to others? What role does religious collectivization play? And what changes for the interpretation of oneself and the world for both people and for religious institutions, or for organizations like churches, when society and, with it, the public sphere transforms in ways we are experiencing today, such as the digitalization, globalization, and commercialization of social interaction? These and similar questions are asked by modern practical theology. Practical theology is, on the one hand, a theory of religion-related practices. It provides practical-theoretical reflections in which the question of the meaning and conditions of public communication is important with regard to analyses of religious culture and the development of perspectives of reflection in the application (especially as related to the pastor’s profession). On the other hand, as a discipline related to society, practical theology is interested in generating and making available transformative knowledge (Aulenbacher et al.) in a situation of social transformation, which helps to understand and critically comment on the social situation—that is, the context-bound conditions of human life—admittedly with special consideration of ideological questions and formatting that refer to symbols of the Christian tradition.

Prof. Dr. Kristin Merle holds the Professorship for Practical Theology with a Focus on Homiletics and Pastoral Care. The junior professorship is vacant at present. Jan Harten is a research associate in the department.

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