Pracrat is, in the Indian mythology, one of the revelations of divinity as the supreme original being, and especially as the cause of all phenomena of change in the visible world. Pracrat is the essence of the three gods Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva; he is three- colored, because he is creative like Brahma (red) ; con- servative like Vishnu (white); and destructive like Siva ( black). Pracrat, in consequence, is also the being which unites and separates these three divinities, as through him there is a perpetual vicissitude of life and death, of birth and annihilation.
Pracriti is the by-name of Parwati, the wife of the Indian god Siva: it means Nature. The Hindus make of her the wife of the destroyer, because, accord- ing to them, all life originates in death, there being no destruction, no annihilation, in the true sense of the word: matter only describes, in the course of its dura- tion, an eternal circle, in which it undergoes a perpetual change of forms, while its substance remains the same.
Practical Religion is that department of practi- cal theology which aims at the promotion of Christian practice, and the writings which are brought out to contribute to such an end are called Practical Works. They are from their very nature of a more temporary character than any other theological productions. Gen- erally speaking, they are, and must be, adapted to the peculiar circumstances of their own age ; they must be specially addressed to correct its prevailing evil tenden- cies; they must pre-eminently promote those parts of the Christian character which are least cultivated. Such as are founded on a deep knowledge of human nature, and animated with genuine piety, must indeed benefit other ages, since human nature remains essentially the same; but their most direct influence belongs to the age in which they are written. Subsequently they may often form individuals : transfused into their minds, they are reproduced in other shapes, but are themselves with- drawn from circulation. Their body perishes ; while the soul which gave it life migrates into another and an- other frame, and thus continues often to diffuse an ex- tensive blessing, when the very name under which they originally appeared is forgotten. See Pusey, Historical Inquiry, p. 11-180. See also Practical Theology; Religion ; Theology. (J. H. W.)
Practical Theology is one of the departments of theology, and aims principally at the treatment of the functions of Church life. For centuries the term was abused and confused, and the sphere of practical theology in the organism of theological science was an ill-understood question until the proper conception of its nature and limits was given by that master-mind of German theology, Schleiermacher; and, thanks to his clear-sightedness, practical theology is no longer to be confounded with a diluted, popularized edition of scien- tific theology "for students incompetent to learn the theoretic science" (Planck), nor is it any longer used as a synonym of Christian ethics or pastoral theology, but
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it has taken its place in the circle of theological sciences as an independent department, co-ordinate with exeget- ical, historical, and systematic theology.
The Christian religion presents itself to the student under four aspects as a dn ine revelation, as a history, as a system of doctrines and duties, and, finally, ;i- a corporate life. As now the department of exegetical theology embraces all those sciences which in any way he Holy Scriptures; that of historical theology, all which in any way treat of sacred or Church histo- ry; that of systematic theology, all which Bel forth the doctrinal and ethical systems of Christianity; bo practi- cal theology comprehends all the practices and hourly needs of the Church, and as Bitch this department em- braces the subordinate sciences of Church government, edification, and worship. Ii includes and covers such Bpecial branches as Pastoral Theology, Homiletics, Cate- chetics, Christian Pedagogics, etc Being the science of the collective functions of the Church regarded in her unity, ii is able to give due attention and prominence in cadi of those functions— the regulative, the educa- tional, and the edifying, a thing impossible, under the old-fashioned arrangement [see Theology], to com- pass within the l'miiis of a Pastoral Theology (q. v.). Says Dinner. ■■ Ii is since the idea of the Church, and ol her essentia] functions and attributes, has been more clearly recognised that practical theology, which was formerly for the most pari an aggregate of rules and regulations without any organic connection between its several precepts, has been reconstructed. Nitzsch's practical theology, in particular, brings forward its con- nection with the other branches of theology. Syste- matic theology, which is based upon exegetic theology and faith, and developed by the history of doctrines. exhibits Christian truth in the abstract, and therefore the ideal of faith and practice. Historical theology, fin- ishing with a delineation of the present state of the Church, sets the empiric reality and its defects over against this ideal. The contrast between the two, the between the ideal and the real, produces the effort i" reconcile this opposition by means of theologi- cal usages, in conformity with the requirements of the age. Thus practical theology, as a science, owe- its or- igin to the ecclesiastical procedure of the times; and, as this is necessarily technical, practical theology is also a technical study."
Schleiermacher called practical theology the crown of a theological coarse of study, and. as we have already said, was the first to bestow upon it a scientific organi- zation. In this labor he was laudably followed by the- ologians of the most diverse schools, as, e, g., Roman Catholic V"ii Drey, Protestant Nitzsch, Hegelian Mar- heineke, compromising Hagenbach, Lutheran Harless, and such other noted men as Khrenfcuchicr. .Moll. Palmer, and Schweizer. .Most arc agreed in describing practical theology as a science for the clergy, and thus not doing full justice to the vocation of the believing laity in Church work. Their rights in this respeel have chiefly been made apparent by the hitherto much I theory of Church government, and by volun- tary associations for domestic missions. < >n the other hand, the just notion that, since the Church's exist- ence and increase are brought about by constant re- production, it i- necessary to start from the origin of the Church in individuals, to proceed to their gathering together, and thence to the church, may be designated as the prevailing tendency in the construction of a practical theology. Hence the theory of missions (called also Halietttics) and catechisation, the aim of which is a preparation for confirmation, form the first or main division. The second embraces the doctrine ot worship, or of the construction of the public services of the Church