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Wie sind Beten und christliches Handeln, Gebetstheologie und Ethik aufeinander bezogen? Die These dieses Buches lautet: Christliche Gemeindepraxis ist die Praxis, die durch den Habitus des Gebets der Glaubenden geformt wird. Dabei ist das Verhältnis von Beten und Handeln ein wechselseitiges. Die These wird durch Pierre Bourdieus Habitus-Konzept verdeutlicht.
In einem lebenslangen Formierungsprozess wird der Habitus durch das Beten geformt und formt seinerseits alles Handeln der Betenden. Beten wird als christliche Praktik verstanden, in der Gott sich den Betenden zur Erfahrung bringt, sie transformiert und ermächtigt, seine Partner bei der Neuschöpfung des Kosmos zu sein. Die gebetstheologischen Überlegungen weiterführend werden die vier Kriterien Selbstzwecklichkeit, Transformativität, Koinonizität und Kooperativität als Maßstab für die Ausrichtung der Gemeindepraxis vorgeschlagen. Schließlich wird in dieser Arbeit systematisch und umfassend Wesleys Gebetsverständnis untersucht.
[The Formational Dimension of Prayer. Principles for a Pastoral Theology of Congregational Praxis from a Methodist/Wesleyan Perspective]
How do prayer and Christian action relate to each other. How does a theology of prayer relate to each other? The key argument of this book is: Christian congregational praxis is a praxis that is shaped by the habitus of individual of believers. There is a mutual relationship between prayer and action. Pierre Bourdieu´s concept of the habitus reinforces this argument.
The habitus is shaped in a lifelong process of formation through prayer; the habitus in turn shapes the action of the praying believers. Praying is understood as Christian practice in which God lets Godself be experienced by the praying believers, transforms them and empowers them to be partners in the new creation of the cosmos. The reflections on a theology of prayer are taken further by formulating four criteria for the leadership in congregational praxis: being a goal in and of itself, transformation, koinonia, cooperation. The dissertation is a comprehensive and systematic treatment of John Wesley´s understanding of prayer.

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[The Formational Dimension of Prayer. Principles for a Pastoral Theology of Congregational Praxis from a Methodist/Wesleyan Perspective]
How do prayer and Christian action relate to each other. How does a theology of prayer relate to each other? The key argument of this book is: Christian congregational praxis is a praxis that is shaped by the habitus of individual of believers. There is a mutual relationship between prayer and action. Pierre Bourdieu´s concept of the habitus reinforces this argument.
The habitus is shaped in a lifelong process of formation through prayer; the habitus in turn shapes the action of the praying believers. Praying is understood as Christian practice in which God lets Godself be experienced by the praying believers, transforms them and empowers them to be partners in the new creation of the cosmos. The reflections on a theology of prayer are taken further by formulating four criteria for the leadership in congregational praxis: being a goal in and of itself, transformation, koinonia, cooperation. The dissertation is a comprehensive and systematic treatment of John Wesley´s understanding of prayer.

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