Care of Souls in the Classic Tradition

In Care of Souls in the Classic Tradition, Tom Oden continues an argument for which he has become widely known. For some years he has maintained that modern pastoral care should once again ground itself in the beliefs, moral assumptions, and practical sensibilities of the great ecumenical councils and major church fathers which he believes make up the consensus of the classical tradition. Oden is telling us that we should let the tradition—its central witness on a wide variety of issues—work for us. If we do this, our theological and moral worlds will be more settled, and we also will discover a rich treasure of concrete pastoral practices which we have all but ignored in the modern period.