Narrative theology

Narrative means Using the model of the story as apposed to philosophical, abstract-reason etc. The reason for using the story is because human life is a narrative. Narrative means a succession of events. one event leading to another. which is always contextual. It captures human life in all its limitation, in its critical turning points, and it is concrete. narrative seems to be the closest model to human life's concreteness. Abstract reason tends to be abstract and removed from real experience thus not really getting to the heart of an experience.

Christianity as a whole is constituted through the story of its history more than proposition. Communities of the early church were in themselves narrative in nature, sharing and making the creeds.


Since it is contextual you can only understand things when you are in "the shoes' of the one experiencing . Thus One of the weaknesses of narrative theology is that it can create a collective-subjectivism where no one can critique your experience unless they experienced what you experienced.

however by far (up to this point in my study) this is my favorite mode of theology.

Meeks#2 Narrative hermenutic

Aren't you glad that you get to read all my interesting quotes from the books i read.(written with a mischievous smile) Jesus is the question, really is looking to replace the historical hermeneutic with that of narrative.

Jesus is the Persona he becomes in interaction with others. (58) Jesus identity then becomes an identity of interpretation. We become who we are through the stories others tell of us and we tell of ourselves. (60)

For Meeks, the historical Jesus is the Jesus who "makes history" as he has been understood by his followers over the centuries.

in chapter 4 of his book Meeks looks at Paul's texts and the use of Metaphor. (which i am writing my final on for Christology of Globalization). he argues that Paul is not a systematic theologian and to look at him as one only confuses the reading. Paul uses the Metaphor of the Paschal Mystery to reread all of scripture. Early follower of jesus found in their scriptures images, patterns and stories (narrative) which they could use to make sense of Jesus and their interaction with him. they used Scripture-informed description of Jesus to interpret their own experiences and the reality they encountered.

For Paul the cross and the atonement are used to interpret life and the world. "Paul's most profound bequest to subsequent Christian discourse was his transformation of that reported event into a multipurpose metaphor with vast generative and trans- formative power... As a multifaceted metaphor rich in meaning the cross becomes simultaneously the wellspring of endless new narratives and a safeguard for those narratives. " (99-100)

Meeks #2

We've all seen the bumper sticker and billboards. In some parts of the United States they're inescapable. "Christ[or Jesus] is the answer." I confess that when i see these signs my silent response is something like, "but what is the question?"In fact i have known people who make a game of invention impious questions to which Christ could be the answer. [Such as "whats a six letter word that means 'i just dropped a rock on my foot.')

It is understandable that many non Christians are offended by the slogan; it bespeaks a careless and superficial kind of proselytizing.

The more i study the bible and theology the more "confirmed in my judgment that Jesus Christ is the Question, not the answer." (parenthesis Meeks)

Biblical Authority #2: Wayne A. Meeks response to Mohler.

this week for my Globalization readings i am reading Meeks book Christ is the Question This book is great, short, and easy to read. I highly recommend it. In reading it i heard a couple of responses to Albert Mohlers understanding of biblical authority, and in regards to doubt and the pastorate.

Indeed, many Christians i know who have lived long and deeply in the faith also have more questions than answers and even more surprisingly, believe that questions may be more expressive of their faith and better pointers to the ground of their confidence than "answers." (Wayne Meeks professor of NT at Yale)

Another quote i loved and is also pertanate to last night's post:

when someone says "the bible clearly teaches..." we can usually be sure that an attempt is being made to co-opt the bibles authority in order to foreclose argument on a topic on which good persons, including good Christians, reasonably disagree.

i know that not all baptist hold to the inerrancy and infallibility and in my estimation the 'deification' of the Bible, yet it is the current trend among southern baptists, and is being deeply propagated in Southern Baptist Seminaries