Practical Theology in a Pentecostal Key

This article proposes that the empirical perspective in the discipline of practical theology, as championed by Mark J. Cartledge, offers dialogical potential between localized pentecostal praxis and academically situated theology. This essay first situates Cartledge’s scholarship in the broader field of practical theology, with attention given to the contributions of the empirical perspective. It then turns to Cartledge’s scholarship proper, charting the development of his methodological proposals via insights across three phases of his work. The first phase is distinguished by Cartledge’s methodological framing, with the author borrowing the empirical approach of Johannes van der Ven in studies on charismatic phenomena. In the second phrase of his research, methodological insights are further enhanced by a turn towards the dialogical potential of experience—referred to as contextual theology. While the contextual phase of Cartledge’s research sought to generate revised ecclesial praxis, the third phase of his research witnesses a turn toward public theology.