ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with a brief outline of the history of Christian writings about and engagement with silence as a spiritual discipline, focusing on developments in the reclamation of practices of silence and growing interest in this area since the mid-twentieth century. It discusses contemporary theologians’ perspectives on the significance of silence for today’s world and locates the book within the context of practical theology’s wider attention to Christian practices and feminist theology’s discourse concerning the silencing of women and their search for authentic voice. Having identified the primary aims for the research and further questions that emerged during the research process, it offers a rationale for the significance of this inquiry within practical and feminist theologies before concluding the chapter with an outline of the rest of the book.
