ABSTRACT
In the previous chapter it became clear that it is necessary to have some grounds for a critique of current culture and practice in order to suggest alternatives to the more questionable consequences of globalization. Pastoral care presupposes an understanding of what it is to be human and the specific suggestion was presented that a version of Derrida’s notion of hospitality might form the basis of this. This however is only the beginning of a more detailed and complex discussion to which this chapter is a further contribution. It was argued that various reductionist views of human nature, for instance, the self as consumer or commodity, need to be challenged from within the Christian tradition as they fail to do justice to a complete picture of what humans are destined to be or to become according to the understanding of this tradition. Yet it is likely that exactly such views are encountered amongst those who have become willing subjects of global processes. The logical extension of this problem is an examination of what is happening within the areas of worship and spirituality, themselves closely connected to the study of pastoral care and a central concern for practical theology.
