Why Narrative? Readings in Narrative Theology
Overview
Narrative theology is still with us, to the delight of some and to the chagrin of others. This diverse collection of essays on narrative theology has has been used as an introductory resource in university and seminary theology classes, but it’s also an ideal primer for the educated layperson or church study group. Gregory L. Jones and Stanley Hauerwas present representative essays emphasizing the place of narrative in areas such as personal identity and human action, biblical hermeneutics, epistemology, and theological and ethical method.
Get this title for the best price as part of the Select Works of Stanley Hauerwas (6 vols.).
Key Features
- Includes essays on narrative theology from a number of eminent theologians and philosphers—including Stanley Hauerwas and Alasdair MacIntyre
- Provides a solid introduction to narrative theology for students and the educated layperson
- Examines how narrative theology touches on a variety of areas—such as biblical hermeneutics, ethics, and more
Contents
- The Story of Our Life, by H. Richard Niebuhr
- Apologetics, Criticism, and the Loss of Narrative Interpretation, by Hans Frei
- The Narrative Quality of Experience, by Stephen Crites
- The Virtues, the Unity of a Human Life, and the Concept of a Tradition, by Alasdair MacIntyre
- Ideology, Metaphor, and Analogy, by Nicholas Lash
- Epistemological Crises, Dramatic Narrative, and the Philosophy of Science, by Alasdair MacIntyre
- From System to Story: An Alternative Pattern for Rationality in Ethics, by Stanley Hauerwas and David Burrell
- System, Story, Performance: A Proposal about the Role of Narrative in Christian Systematic Theology, by David F. Ford
- Narrative Emotions: Beckett’s Genealogy of Love, by Martha Nussbaum
- A Short Apology of Narrative, by Johann Baptist Metz
- The Narrative Structure of Soteriology, by Michael Root
- Theological Investments in Story: Some Comments on Recent Developments and Some Proposals, by Julian Hartt
- A Respectful Reply to the Assertorical Theologian, by Stephen Crites
- Why the Truth Demands Truthfulness: An Imperious Engagement with Hartt, by Stanley Hauerwas
- Reply to Crites and Hauerwas, by Julian Hartt
- The Promising God: The Gospel as Narrated Promise, by Ronald Thiemann
- God, Action, and Narrative: Which Narrative? Which Action? Which God?, by Michael Goldberg
Top Highlights
“In particular, they argue that the intentional nature of human action evokes a narrative account, that a narrative account is concerned with how those intentional actions are woven into the depiction of personal identity and character, and that because the language and moral notions people use to describe their character and their behavior are tied to the narratives of particular traditions, the notion of rationality itself is narrative-dependent.” (Page 12)
“For narrative requires an evaluative framework in which good or bad character helps to produce unfortunate or happy outcomes.” (Page 141)
“man is in his actions and practice, as well as in his fictions, essentially a story-telling animal” (Page 101)
“moral character than by his historical relations, as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” (Page 23)
Contributors
- David Burrell
- Stephen Crites
- David F. Ford
- Hans Frei
- Michael Goldberg
- Julian Hartt
- Stanley Hauerwas
- Nicholas Lash
- Alasdair MacIntyre
- Johann Baptist Metz
- H. Richard Niebuhr
- Martha Nussbaum
- Michael Root
- Ronald Thiemann
Praise for the Print Edition
I anticipate that the book will become both a primary tool for much teaching and a crucial point of reference for further work.
—Walter Brueggemann, professor emeritus of Old Testament, Columbia Theological Seminary
- Title: Why Narrative? Readings in Narrative Theology
- Authors: Stanley Hauerwas, L. Gregory Jones
- Publisher: Wipf and Stock
- Print Publication Date: 1997
- Logos Release Date: 2016
- Pages: 376
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subject: Narrative theology
- ISBNs: 9781579100650, 1579100651
- Resource ID: LLS:WHYNARRATIVE
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T03:49:51Z
About the Editors
Stanley Hauerwas is the Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics at Duke University. Prior to that, he was a professor at the University of Notre Dame. In 2001, he was named “America’s Best Theologian” by TIME Magazine. Hauerwas is the author of numerous books, including A Better Hope: Resources for a Church Confronting Capitalism, Democracy, and Postmodernity, With the Grain of the Universe: The Church’s Witness and Natural Theology, and A Cross-Shattered Church: Reclaiming the Theological Heart of Preaching.
L. Gregory Jones is dean of the Divinity School and professor of theology at Duke University. Jones is the author of several books and over 80 articles. He is the coeditor, with Stanley Hauerwas, of Why Narrative? Readings in Narrative Theology.