ABSTRACT
As a systematic theologian, I am sometimes achingly aware of the gulf that can separate the work of theology from the lived reality of Christian faith. Not that systematic theology as such warrants this charge, but the perception that it does is not uncommon, and there are more than a few examples that lend support to that perception. Often enough, this (real or perceived) gulf is characterized by the disconnect between doctrinal reflection and lived experience – or just as likely, by the disjunction between conceptually driven ‘theology’ and affectively embodied ‘spirituality’.
