Journal: Southeastern Theological Review
Volume: STR 15:1 (Spring 2024)
Article: Sufficiently Sapiential Soul-Care: A Working Paper In Therapeutic Theology
Author: Alex R. Wendel

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Sufficiently Sapiential Soul-Care: A Working Paper In Therapeutic Theology

Alex R. Wendel

New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary

Abstract: This article examines what is required for the work of soul-care to be sufficiently sapiential. Sapiential knowledge is understood as the practical wisdom that comes from God’s self-knowledge that he reveals in and through creation to his creatures: namely, human beings. I propose that in order for soul care to take place in a sufficiently wise manner, there are several subjects that need to be considered, properly ordered, and appropriately applied. First, it is incumbent upon the sufficiently sapiential soul care provider to understand the socio-epistemic contexts in which they work and in which the people they work with exist. Accordingly, this essay discusses what it means to live, move, and have our being in a secular age. Second, sufficiently sapiential soul care involves understanding humanity holistically. In order to be sufficiently sapiential, then, soul care providers take into consideration all relevant facets of human functioning and flourishing when attempting to make sense of what people in their care need from them, from others, and from God. Finally, a proposal is made for what a sufficiently sapiential case conceptualization entails for someone who has endured complex traumatic experiences that have impacted their life in various ways. The essay concludes with an invitation for collaborative work with Christians across the spectrum of counseling and soul care in order to see more people within and outside of the Church not just function but perhaps also flourish.

Key Words: counseling, practical wisdom, soul care, theology, therapy

My initial argument is a simple one: the object of theology is God and the aim of theology is to understand all things in relation to God. This lays the groundwork for showing that Christians can make the knowledge of God and his relationship to all things understandable, articulable, and even therapeutic without bending the nature and task of theology so far that it becomes anthropology or sociology masquerading as proper theology. To narrow the focus a little further, I will discuss three major topics: (1) the subjective elements of divine revelation, (2) the inherent systematicity of theology by virtue of its object, and (3) how both of these together can lay a foundation for approaching psychology and therapy from

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a theological perspective because of theology’s inherently systematic register when done with God as its object of study. The article progresses into a practical discussion of how we can make theological sense of trauma in a therapeutic way and ...