Analytic Theology as Contextual Theology

This essay argues that what some scholars describe as analytic theology can serve a vital practical role in pastoral settings. In the course of developing this point, it examines what if anything renders analytic theology a unique discipline, and whether it carries any of the benefits or baggage of its precursor in analytic philosophy. While it may seem counterintuitive that a field inheriting a legacy of thought seemingly cut off from history and culture could penetrate the nuances of different faith contexts, the argument here suggests an appropriately modest aim: analytic theology, understood generally as the progeny of analytic philosophy by virtue of a more or less common commitment to evidentialism, can be a particularly useful approach in those cultures indebted to Enlightenment rationality.