Praktische Theologie, Religionspädagogik und Diskurs

The relationship between Practical Theology and Religious Education is highly dynamic. Several approaches try to analyze this relationship epistemologically. These different approaches have in common that they argue by investigating historical developments. The emergence of Religious Education as an own discipline leads to different suggestions how to define its relationship to Practical Theology. Using Michel Foucault's concept of discourse this article investigates how these epistemological approaches are controlled, selected and redistributed. It is asked which procedures determine the number of different statements (enoncées) regarding the relationship between Practical Theology and Religious Education. Localizing this relationship within the discourse it is argued that both archaeological (i.e. referring to the development of this relationship) and genealogical (i.e. referring to the present situation) approaches are necessary. In a historical, empirical and practical perspective this epistemological approach leads to new research and shows that defining the relationship of the two disciplines by using the concept of discourse is a theological task.