Anabaptist Ways of Knowing

by Shenk, Sara Wenger

• ISBN13: 9781931038164
• ISBN10: 1931038163
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-07-01
• Publisher: Cascadia Pub House

Summary

Here is a resource for any who cares about the recovery of faith-based educational practices that are part of a church-school-family ecology. Sara Wenger Shenk's aim is to present a strong rationale for tradition-based, critical education that incorporates core practices for strengthening faith communities into its theorizing.

Author Biography

Sara Wenger Shenk, Harrisonburg, Virginia, is Associate Dean and Associate Professor of Christian Education, Eastern Mennonite Seminary

Table of Contents

Foreword	11	(2)
Nancey Murphy
Introduction: Remember Who You Are	13	(10)
A Congregational Portrait of Changing Practices	23	(14)
Training in Good Habits
Bodily and Social Memory
Changes in Mennonite Lived Religion: Congregational Portrait
Congregational Profile Summarized
Conclusion
Anabaptist Perspectives on ``Knowing''	37	(23)
Anabaptist Theology
Descriptive Overview of Anabaptists
Anabaptist Distinctives Relevant to Education
Discipleship: Patterning Our Lives on Jesus Christ
Hermeneutical Community: Discerning Truth Communally
Ecclesiology: Tradition for Transformation
Educational Implications
Classical Paideia and Anabaptist Distinctives	60	(18)
Classical Greek Notions of Paideia
Early Christian Notions of Paideia
Paideia and Theological Education
Critical Retrieval of Paideia
An Alternative Paideia
Paideia and the Ideal of the Good
Paideia and Intellectual and Moral Virtues
Paideia and Critical Inquiry
Other Voices: A ``Knowing'' Conversation with the Anabaptists	78	(41)
Overview of Ways of Knowing
Voices Invited to the Table
Introducing Michael Polanyi
Key Polanyi insights relevant to a tradition-based, critical educational theory
Personal knowledge
Bodily roots of tacit knowing
Indwelling
Society of Explorers
Tradition and religion
Concluding thoughts on Polanyi
Introducing Rebecca Chopp
Key Chopp insights relevant to a tradition-based, critical educational theory
Person-centered education
Ekklesia
Practices as sites of learning
Theology as ``saving work''
Concluding thoughts on Chopp
Introducing Nancey Murphy
Key Murphy insights relevant to a tradition-based, critical educational theory
Relationship between science and theology
Role of tradition and formative texts
The priority of the ethical and theological to intellectual life
Practices characteristic of the Radical Reformation heritage
Concluding thoughts on Murphy
An Emerging Consensus About ``Knowing''	119	(14)
Exploring New Paradigms
Knowing and Tradition
Knowing and Ethics
Knowing As Narrative In Action
Knowing and Intuitive Imagination
Communal Knowing As Disciplined Discovery
Weaving a Theory of Education from the Conversational Strands	133	(32)
Constructing a Theoretical Framework
Defining the Purpose
A Formative Paradigm
How Do We Know?---Philosophical Assumptions
The Traditional Roots of Knowledge
The Spiritual Roots of Knowledge
The Communal Roots of Knowledge
The Bodily and Tacit Roots of Knowledge
The Intuitive And Imaginal Roots of Knowledge
The Rational Roots of Knowledge
The Ethical Roots of Knowledge
The Practical Roots of Knowledge
Educational Settings
The Church
The Family
The School
Strategies And Methodologies
Reimaging Communal Ideals
Indwelling Narratives And Practices
Communal Moral Discernment As a ``Society of Explorers''
Revitalizing Core Practices
Reflecting on Practice
Conclusion
Glossary	165	(6)
Notes	171	(26)
Bibliography	197	(4)
Index	201	(10)
The Author	211