ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that part of the context of Christian theology is its learning context. Some apologists for practical theology go further, arguing that they can offer a way of understanding all theology, for Christian theology as such 'should be seen as practical through and through and at its very heart'. Secular education has begun to value again the ancient 'apprenticeship' model of learning, which has such an honourable place in the church's traditional understanding of Christian discipleship. Writers on the role of the Bible in religious communication have offered some convincing arguments for the influence of the biblical medium on the message of the Christian gospel. In the religious context, everything from behaviour in the pews prior to a service, through ritual, music and church architecture, to reading church noticeboards and budget decisions may be said to serve as a medium of implicit Christian learning.
