Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - Part 1. The Responsibilities and Limitations of the Task - 1. Principles and Methods - The Present Time
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
PASTORAL PSYCHOLOGY
failed to meet the moral dilemmas or resolve the problems that
mankind has had to face in the period of unprecendented social
upheaval and spiritual reorientation resulting from the swift
material progress which science has made possible.
To the extent that the care of souls remains a religious
responsibility today there is, as I have suggested, considerable
diversity of opinion about what its purpose is and about the
methods that should be employed to fulfil it. Nevertheless, it is
possible, I think, to distinguish four main conceptions of the
task, each associated with specific methods of approach to it.
These I would define as the Hierarchical, the Congregational,
the Ecclesiastical and the Methodistical type.
In the Hierarchical Type the Church is regarded as the essential
means of salvation and the priest as the ordained dispenser of it.
He is, in a sense, the appointed mediator between God and
Man. Thus the care of souls is handed over to the leader of
souls, and his motive for the task may be his sense of the power
and importance of the Church. This type of soul-care finds its
most rigid and complete expression in the Roman Catholic
Church. A modified form is found in the Anglican and Lutheran
Churches.
This conception of the care of souls has made an important
contribution to the development of Christian thought and
action. We cannot afford to forget that the Church is the
redeemed society which has nurtured many saints and maintained
the vitality of Christian truth from generation to generation.
The Congregational Type is influenced by the Calvinistic ideal.
Here the centre of emphasis is the visible Church—the local
religious community, which, as a community, has a care for the
souls of all its members, each of whom has a responsibility for
the others. All for each and each for all is the ideal implicit in
its attitude. Here, as in the Catholic Church, the tendency is
to identify health of soul with loyalty to the Church and its
discipline. This point of view has, as we have seen, much in
common with the early Christian ideal, and it has undoubtedly
much of value to give to Christian thought today. It is to be
found in many of the dissenting denominations, especially those
which maintain that the local congregation should be a
selfgoverning unit, independent of all superior authority.
The Ecclesiastical Type is institutional. Its essential character-
24
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
