The idea for this volume originates from the first meeting of the International Society of Empirical Research in Theology (ISERT) in 2002 at the Radboud University Nijmegen. In this volume, researchers and academics from South Africa, Great Britain, Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands debate about the fundamental question of the role of theological normativity in empirical research in theological fields. In fourteen contributions this book would like to illuminate the significance of this central topic for the discipline of practical theology.
The first part of the book provides a...

Stories have always been important in religion, but systematic explorations of the narrative dimensions of religion are more recent and interdisciplinary explorations of narrative approaches in theology and religious studies are scarce. Religious Stories We Live By paves the ground for these much needed interdisciplinary conversations. It first offers philosophical, psychological, and epistemological reflections on the importance of narrative approaches in the study of religion. The subsequent sections contain case studies and disciplinary overviews of narrative perspectives in...