German “Kirchentheorie”: Theory of Church between doctrinal Ecclesiology and Social Sciences

Abstract In the German landscape of Protestant Practical Theology, a new subdiscipline has emerged which is called church theory (Kirchentheorie). It is characterised by analysing the church in general – moving towards the task of systematic theology–-yet including methods and theories from the social sciences. How does the combination of theoretical and empirical approaches actually work here? How do the scholars balance and combine descriptive and normative aspects? The article analyses three leading monographs in German church theory, written by Jan Hermelink, Eberhard Hauschildt and Uta Pohl-Patalong, and Christian Grethlein. This will not only give an insight into the specific Protestant German research landscape, but also contribute to methodological reflections in practical theology.