Can You Be Trained in Courage - or Taught It? A Rhetorical and Theological Assessment of How to Carry Out Training in Courage as Part of Theological Education
This chapter offers a theoretical assessment of courage as a virtue with the aim of exploring how it may be possible for courage to be taught and made part of training in theological education – to prepare pastors and ministers to respond to the fears and challenges of a complex, glocal crisis. Aristotle believed that courage could be developed by training – by practicing the ability to endure situations that bring about fear. A person who is afraid of speaking in public, should practice public speaking. A person who is afraid of the dark, should walk in the dark. The aim of such an exercise was to develop a balance between fear and confidence. Aristotle therefore argued that developing courage is a rational endeavor on the bandwidth between extreme fear and unrestricted rashness. It is the ability to assess a situation rationally and calibrate one`s response, balancing fear (fobos) and confidence (tharros). Training to become courageous therefore comes down to developing a virtue that has the ability of situational discernment.
Publisert i 2024
Les artikkelen her