Christian Cyclopedia

Theology,* or the doctrine of the knowledge of God and of divine things, applied by a pastor to the spiritual needs of his flock. C. F. W. Walther,* Americanisch-Lutherische Pastoraltheologie, par. 1, defines it as a God-given practical aptitude of the soul, acquired by means of certain aids whereby a pastor is enabled validly and legitimately, for the glory of God and his own and his hearers' salvation, to perform all functions incumbent on him by virtue of his office. It has also been defined as the art of applying the truth.

C. F. W. Walther, Americanisch-Lutherische Pastoraltheologie (St. Louis, 1872) and The Proper Distinction Between Law and Gospel, reproduced from the Ger. ed. of 1897 by W. H. T. Dau (Saint Louis, 1929); J. H. C. Fritz, Pastoral Theology, 2d ed. (St. Louis, 1945); J. Schaller, Pastorale Praxis in der Ev.-Luth. Freikirche Amerikas (Milwaukee, 1913); T. C. Graebner, The Borderland of Right and Wrong, rev. (St. Louis, 1956) and Pastor and People (St. Louis, 1932); The Abiding Word, I–II, ed. T. Laetsch (St. Louis, 1946–47), III (St. Louis, 1960); C. M. Zorn, Questions on Christian Topics, tr. J. A. Rimbach, 3d ed. (Milwaukee, 1931); A. W. Blackwood, Pastoral Work (Philadelphia, 1945); A. Vinet, Pastoral Theology (Edinburgh, 1855); R. F. Weidner, Theological Encyclopaedia and Methodology, 2 vols. (Chicago, 1898–1910); F. Schulze, A Manual of Pastoral Theology, 3d ed. (St. Louis, 1923); J. M. Wilson, Six Lectures on Pastoral Theology (New York, 1903).