This work challenges the classification of pastoral care as "applied theology" which suggests that there is a separate, "pure" theology from which pastoral care springs. Rather, the author argues that pastoral need, concern and action are, and always have been, the catalysts which prompt theology and make it necessary. This detailed critical analysis of the relationship between theology and pastoral care considers: the difference that other faith traditions make to the understanding of the pastoral; the biblical tradition - how changing historical circumstances and perceptions of pastoral need brought about these traditions to be "in conversation" with contemporary culture; the social as well as the individual dimensions of human welfare and the interaction between the two; and morality as an inextricable aspect of pastoral care and looks at contemporary issues which can cause profound theological problems.