Narrative theology

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Narrative theology began as a late 20th-century development in Christian Theology. It proposes that the Church's use of the Bible should focus on a narrative presentation of the faith as regulative for the development of a systematic theology. Narrative Theologians emphasize the stories of the Bible, both in a micro sense and a macro sense, with particular emphasis on the overall narrative that guides contextual interpretations.[citation needed]

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[edit] History and Origins

Frequently referred to as postliberal theology, narrative theology was inspired by a group of theologians at Yale Divinity School, many influenced theologically by Karl Barth, Thomas Aquinas and to some extent, the nouvelle théologie of French Catholics such as Henri de Lubac. The clear philosophical influence, however, was Ludwig Wittgenstein's philosophy of language, the moral philosophy of Alasdair MacIntyre, and the sociological insights of Clifford Geertz and Peter Berger on the nature of communities.

Partly a reaction to the modern, individualist, rationalist and romantic trends of theological liberalism, important postliberal thinkers included George Lindbeck, Hans Wilhelm Frei, and Stanley Hauerwas; theologians in this camp were once concentrated at Yale Divinity School, but are now influential at a number of seminaries and divinity schools, notably Duke Divinity School (where Hauerwas teaches). This movement has provided much of the foundation for other movements, such as Radical orthodoxy, Scriptural Reasoning, paleo-orthodoxy, the emerging church movement, and postliberal versions of evangelicalism and Roman Catholicism. Its ecumenical spirit originates from George Lindbeck's work, which was partly animated by his involvement as a Lutheran observer at the Second Vatican Council. It is noteworthy that in recent years a number of prominent postliberal theologians became Roman Catholics, such as R.R. Reno and Reinhard Huetter, in a manner similar to the most fervent followers of the Tractarian movement with Anglicanism in the mid-19th century.

In contrast to liberal individualism, postliberalism tends toward more tradition-constituted and communitarian accounts of human rationality and personhood. Theological rationality is not to be rooted in the authority of the individual (cogito ergo sum, "I think, therefore I am") but in the language and culture of a living tradition of communal life. The postliberals argue that the Christian faith be equated with neither the religious feelings of Romanticism nor the propositions of a Rationalist or fundamentalist approach to religion. Rather, the Christian faith is understood as a culture and a language, in which doctrines are likened to a second-order "grammar" upon the first-order language and culture (practices, skills, habits) generated by the scriptural narrative. Thus, in addition to a critique of theological liberalism, and an emphasis upon the narratives of scripture, there is also a stress upon tradition, and upon the language, culture and intelligibility intrinsic to the Christian community. As a result, postliberal theologies are often oriented around the scriptural narrative, liturgical action and descriptions of Christian practice as resources for critical inquiry (e.g. culture critique).

Some more advanced thinkers within the movement have abandoned their attempts to rehabilitate modern theology and have opted to join the paleo-orthodox movement instead. The latter group insists more ardently on the priority of tradition, particularly patristic and/or medieval writings, over the individual conscience. The paleo-orthodox, unlike some postliberals who advocate pacifism and a disengagement of the church from public life, usually espouse strongly conservative political views, favoring much of the agenda of the religious right.

[edit] Criticisms

Critics of Narrative Theology (or postliberalism) often have been concerned with its "post-foundational" aspects; debates have been centered on issues of incommensurability, sectarianism, fideism, relativism, truth and ontological reference. A number of works have sought to resolve these questions to various degrees of satisfaction, and the debates continue across the theological disciplines.

Hauerwas in particular has sought to reconcile narrativism with the older neo-orthodoxy of the likes of Karl Barth and Dietrich Bonhoeffer in some of his writings. Yet his affinity, and that of other postliberals, with Catholic and Anabaptist sensibilities are decidedly in contrast to the Lutheran and Calvinist background of neo-orthodoxy, which stresses divine sovereignty and grace, often to an exclusion of human religious activity as a decisive factor in the Christian faith. Unlike the postliberals, the neo-orthodox do not, as a rule, disdain the individual and his or her testimony to the faith, in favor of privileging tradition or hierarchical authorities.

[edit] Books

[edit] See also

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