It combines our approach toward helping people at times of deepest need with the central doctrine of the church, the significance of Jesus Christ. It is also a valuable book because it has much to say about preaching.
All of this makes this book important, but it is not what makes it distinctive. What separates this book from others is that it includes a frank critique of the theological underpinnings of the pastoral care movement, as we know it.
Drawing from the research behind his earlier book, Pastoral Theology in the Classical Tradition, Purves says that until recently the church had drawn from its major doctrinal convictions to guide its pastoral work.
Over the past several decades, however, pastoral theology has turned in a different direction. It began to rely upon psychological techniques. While psychological insight can be helpful, its use in pastoral care went overboard to the point that it became almost a branch of psychology in itself. Matters such as “wholeness,” “fulfillment,” and “personal development” began to replace the older theological traditions. While the change was not all bad, something important had been lost.
Like orphans separated from their birth families, many of us have left large parts of our theological heritage behind us. We believe that it has historical significance, but we do not see it as a source of power. We are interested in practical things. Long lost to our understanding is the historical evidence that Christian doctrine has a substantial influence upon individual character and conviction.
In his position as Hugh Thomson Kerr Professor of Practical Theology at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, Purves helps us to recover our basic theological heritage as pastors. And with his substantive, albeit premium grade, vocabulary, Purves leads us pointedly to the importance of Jesus Christ for pastoral care. It makes a genuine difference, Purves points out, that Christ has come to carry out God’s own mission and that he has risen to unite us with himself in praise to the Father. The great mystery in this is that we can learn to live henceforth in the most intimate and profound union with Christ.
This book contributes to us in several ways. First, it renews our sense of the vitality and power of Christian doctrine in general. Second, it specifically directs us to the doctrine of the Trinity and the significance of Christology for the help that we need in becoming good pastors. Third, although Purves never says this explicitly, his book implies a great deal about prayer. Fourth, it points us toward a related issue lying outside its purview. It reminds us that the history of Christianity tells us more about human nature than we realize.
Complimenting its discussion of the nature of Jesus Christ, the church has devoted much attention to the question of human existence. From the early church’s exploration of Trinitarian categories for understanding the self to the medieval arguments about the soul, the ability of the will, and the location of the image of God within us, Christian theologians have repeatedly held that human nature can never be fully understood apart from God. It is not merely an empirical matter. The underlying message is that we must go to the spiritual core.
So when a weary soul comes to the pastor for help it could be very important that this pastor has learned more about God’s ways with us from the central theological witnesses. Do we yet know all that we should about psychology? Probably not. But as pastors it is even more important that we know what Christ’s continuing ministry at the right hand of God does for us.
What is so striking about Purves’ perspective is his confessional realism. It re-anchors us in the earliest years of the church’s thought and brings those metaphysical assumptions to life again. Purves recognizes that our Christian doctrine points toward transcendent realities and processes and that these dimensions of life have more to say to us than those that we can readily observe. He thus calls us to return to that which can be known by faith.
There are two ways Purves could go forward to build on this substantial contribution.
First, he could expand his range of images for the saving work of Christ. He could turn to those he finds less appetizing and look behind their original circumstances for more meaning. While his recovery of the imagery of Christ’s priestly work is remarkable, his ability to work through such imagery could bear fruit in other areas. There is a sense in which the church’s witness about Christ, its expressions for the atonement, can be trusted to hold underlying meaning of great worth even when they seem to be pointless to us.
Second, he could explore further the effect that modern critical study has had on our understanding of the church’s confessions. In this book he primarily deals with the dogmatic content of each confession in its own right. As he moves further toward the problems raised by historical criticism, he may in fact find even greater foundational value in our use of doctrine.
Purves’ contribution is a unique one. He has delivered a very creative challenge to our common ways of understanding pastoral care and he has called us to return to the gold standard of church doctrines. It is not a simple book but it is one that could save the vocations of many practicing pastors who often sense that they have lost their distinctive calling.
RICHARD A. RAY currently resides in North Carolina, and is general editor of the Kerygma Bible Studies. He serves as president of the Board of Directors, The Presbyterian Outlook Foundation.
