LIVING RELIGION AND PRACTICAL THEOLOGY: POSSIBILITIES OF RELATIONSHIP IN THE BRAZILIAN CONTEXT

Abstract

The concept of living religion has risen from the mid-twentieth cen­tury as a result of the so-called empirical uprising in studies of the sociology of religion, as a way of observing and reading the context of life and religion outside the framework of strictly institutional, normative, traditional, and dogmatic setup of the church. On this basis of development the living religion becomes the practical theology, especially in the European context and at the same time, not only a hermeneutical key to the reading of the context, but also a phenomenon of manifestation of the religious and of the religion occur in a broader way. This article intends from a bibliographical review to contribute to the reflection on the hermeneutics and the phenomenon of living religion in its relationship with the practical theology, while considering the Brazilian and the Latin American context where the religion and the religious exist in an effusive way; however it is rarely observed from the concept of a living religion. This article is organized as follows: first, some relevant aspects are discussed with regard to the research on religion and culture as the background for what later has come to be defined as the living religion. Secondly, it deals with conceptualization of living religion in its relation with the practical theology. In the third section of this article, it reflects on the possibilities of a living religion in the context of Brazil and Latin America. Finally, it presents some of the consequences from this study for the practical theology.