Defining the Concept of Practical Theology Based on Tabatabaei's Metaphysics of Action

The concept of practical theology depends on our idea about action and its relation to theology. The metaphysics of action is a study of the ontological role of action, its position among other things, and its relation to other objects. We can deduce a metaphysics of action from a systematic consideration of the works of Allamah Tabatabaei. According to Tabatabaei, action is a kind of movement, a movement that has its origins in the soul. A free agent acts through the mediation of constructed thoughts (conventional objects). Agent's movement does not add anything to the external world, but merely changes the way in which a human being relates to the outside. Every change in the world leads to other changes and consequently to a change in the state of affairs. So, the agent changes the world through constructed thoughts. Any thought that enters the realm of human action, must pass through the filter of conventional objects. It is clear that theology is primarily a theoretical field related to the realm of beliefs. The question is how theology enters this filter and how it becomes the basis and source of action, and in other words how it becomes the source of world change, and what is the advantage of theology over other theoretical principles for action? According to Tabatabaei, religion reminds man of the preferences associated with being and creation. On this basis, the notion of practical theology can be defined as the knowledge of explaining and justifying how the theological origin of action is preferred in the formation of individual and social actions of man.