Theology in Many Voices presents an understanding of theology as a practice of the church, one that both makes space for lived community experience in theological content and also provides the means necessary for encountering, engaging, and incorporating the theological insights of the global and historic church into Western theological discourse. Amy L. Chilton engages the contemporary use of Alistair MacIntyre's concept of practice in theological method, particularly through the writings of James Wm. McClendon, Jr., to show how it can be used as a means of moving beyond the Scripture vs. experience divide while still retaining the norming role of Scripture and the essential nature of God's revelation in context.
Two other figures illuminate Chilton's vision of experience-oriented theology, giving fuller voice to the church's witness of faith and practice: the Roman Catholic Jon Sobrino, whose work with the Salvadoran poor influenced his christology through his Christo-praxic method, and Muriel Lester, whose communal living practices influenced her theology of peace and ability to move across religious boundaries and shows how to do theology as practice intercontextually. Finally, whereas the methodological use of practice has found little in-roads to Christian doctrine, Chilton explores the doctrines of the Trinity and theological anthropology in light of the practiced contributions of the church global, especially women and the marginalized.
