In today's world the challenge of care is how to respond to people's emotional as well as their economic circumstances. How can we be respectful of the individual and the community in ways that affirm both? How are we to live respectfully with difference and ambiguity? Where shall we find our models of life and care from--the dominant Western or else some kind of global perspective that includes indigenous knowledge? In our theologies do we continue to privilege the study of abstract, conceptual theory or do we give place to pragmatic, aesthetic, and nonverbal forms? In the face of increasing extremism, terrorism, and violence, is it possible to make a sensible choice between radical relativism and absolute essentialism? Are we to be drawn towards the various expressions of religion or to the opportunities and ambiguities of spirituality as it is called upon in many societies today? With the scarce resources available or allocated to health care in many national budgets across the world, shall we give greater attention to the eradication of disease through increasingly advanced technologies and therapeutic strategies or to the promotion of health through primary health care and public health education? Pastoral Theology in an Intercultural World presents practical theological resources for the broad vision, deep passion, and thoughtful action needed for pastoral care in the twenty-first century.
