'Ordinary theology' characterizes the reflective God-talk of the great majority of churchgoers, and others who remain largely untouched by the assumptions, concepts and arguments that academic theology takes for granted. Jeff Astley coined the phrase in his innovative study, Ordinary Theology: Looking, Listening and Learning in Theology, arguing that 'speaking statistically ordinary theology is the theology of God's Church'. A number of scholars have responded to this and related conceptualizations, exploring their theological implications. Other researchers have adopted the perspective in examining a range of Church practices and contexts of Christian discipleship, using the tools of empirical study. Ordinary theology research has proved to be key in uncovering people's everyday lay theology or ordinary dogmatics. Exploring Ordinary Theology presents fresh contributions from a wide range of authors, who address the theological, empirical and practical dimensions of this central feature of ordinary Christian existence and the life of the Church.
Chapter 1 The Analysis, Investigation and Application of Ordinary Theology, Jeff Astley; Part I Reflecting on Ordinary Theology: Analytical and Theological Perspectives; Chapter 2 Ordinary Theology, Theological Method and Constructive Ecclesiology, Nicholas M. Healy; Chapter 3 Ordinary Theology as 'Mother Tongue', Anthony Lees-Smith; Chapter 4 Deconversion and Ordinary Theology: A Catholic Study, Tom Beaudoin, J. Patrick HornbeckII; Chapter 5 Ordinary Theology and the Learning Conversation with Academic Theology, Jeff Astley; Chapter 6 Power in the Local Church: Locating the Implicit, Martyn Percy; Chapter 7 Ordinary Theologians as Signal Processors of the Spirit, Michael Armstrong; Part II Researching and Situating Ordinary Theology: Empirical and Contextual Perspectives; Chapter 8 Jesus as Exemplar, Ann Christie; Chapter 9 Ordinary Readers and Reader Perspectives on Sacred Texts: Drawing on Empirical Theology and Jungian Psychology, Leslie J. Francis; Chapter 10 Extraordinary Eschatology: Insights from Ordinary Theologians, Michael Armstrong; Chapter 11 Ordinary Theology and the British Assemblies of God Doctrinal Tradition: A Qualitative Study, Mark J. Cartledge; Chapter 12 Congregational Hermeneutics: Towards Virtuous Apprenticeship, Andrew Rogers; Chapter 13 The Bible and Ordinary Readers, Andrew Village; Chapter 14 How Far is it to Bethlehem? Exploring the Ordinary Theology of Occasional Churchgoers, David Walker; Chapter 15 Ordinary Prayer and the Activity of God: Reading a Cathedral Prayer Board, Tania ap Siôn; Chapter 16 A Tune Beyond Us, Yet Ourselves: Ordinary Worship and Ordinary Theology, Bridget Nichols; Chapter 17 A Study in Ordinary Theological Ethics: Thinking about Eating, Matthew Barton, Rachel Muers; Chapter 18 Ordinary Discipleship, Roger L. Walton; Chapter 19 Sharing Friendship: God's Love in Ordinary Church Life, John B. Thomson; Chapter 20 Ordinary Learning, Helen Savage; Chapter 21 Ordinary Theology as Process: A Phenomenographic Approach, Grant Barclay;
