Between A Rock And A Hard Place – Elaine Graham

It reflects an Aristotelian formulation of moral reasoning as that which issues in the life well lived. Hence the emphasis on ecclesiology, and the priority of ecclesial practice and virtue for post-liberal theologians. For example, Stanley Hauerwas’s approach to Christian ethics departs from what he terms ‘quandary ethics’, or an episodic consideration of moral dilemmas, in favour of a discipline that cultivates an ethic of character, circumscribed by the definitive narrative of Scripture. This is embodied and nurtured in the Church, which is ‘God’s New Language’ (Hauerwas 1987), a living manifestation of the peaceable Kingdom, and it is called to be a beacon of hope in contrast to the secular world of violence and competition.

It exemplifies ‘Christian theology as a form of ecclesial service’ (Kamitsuka 1999, p. 174) and embodies the ethics of Jesus, as revealed in the Scriptures. Herein lie the marks of its faithfulness to God. This is not, however, to obviate a vision of theology’s end as informing its service to the world, simply that Hauerwas argues that the Church serves the world best not by offering a theological gloss to secular affairs, but by living up to its own calling: The church .

. . must act as a paradigmatic community in the hope of providing some indication of what the world can be but is not . . . The church does not have, but rather is a social ethic. That is, she is a social ethic inasmuch as she functions as a criteriological institution – that is, an institution that has learned to embody the form of truth that is charity as revealed in the person and work of Christ.

(1977, p. 143) The Church’s public face, and the public nature of its theology, must rest first and foremost in its fidelity to its own revealed tradition. As Lindbeck has remarked, ‘Only when the songs of Zion are sung for their own sake will they be sung well enough to gain currency in society at large’ (1989, p. 54). Controversially, of course, this can be heard as an arrogant statement about the superiority of Christian practice.

It is certainly intended to be radically non-conformist, especially in the writings of those such as John Howard Yoder, William Cavanaugh and Stanley Hauerwas, in which the Church models itself on the sacrificial and iconoclastic ministry of Jesus. The outworking of a radical Christocentric rule of life is the principal calling of a ‘public’ Church, as well as its chief witness.

Sustained by its definitive narratives in Scripture and its exemplary practices in its sacramental worship, the Church puts into practice its vision of a restored human community in the transforming death and resurrection of Jesus.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, SCM Press. The Author has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the Author of this Work Index created by Meg Davies British Library Cataloguing in Publication data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library 978-0-334-04598-4 Typeset by Manila Typesetting Company Printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon 1kitap1.com/en Contents Acknowledgements Introduction: A Rock and a Hard Place Part 1 Post-Secular Society 1 The Turning of the Tide: How Religion ‘Went Public’ 2 The Unquiet Frontier: Mapping the Post-Secular Part 2 Post-Secular Public Theology 3 Lost in Translation?

The Dilemmas of Public Theology 4 Public Speaking: Secular Reason and the Voice of the Church 5 Crusades and Culture Wars: The Perils of Evangelical Identity Politics Part 3 Public Theology as Christian Apologetics 6 Jews, Pagans, Sceptics and Emperors: Public Theology as Christian Apologetics 7 An Apologetics of Presence: Public Theology after Christendom and Secularism Bibliography Index 1kitap1.com/en Acknowledgements I am grateful for the support I have received from a number of quarters during the preparation of this book.

I would like to acknowledge the encouragement and collegiality of all my colleagues in Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Chester, which has been a fine place to work over the past three years. I have also benefited from opportunities to present work in progress at the University of Bamberg, Germany; the School of Theology, University of Auckland, Aotearoa-New Zealand; the Faith and Globalization seminar, University of Durham; The Ebor Lectures, York St John University and York Minster; the School of Religions, Theology and Ecumenics, Trinity College, Dublin; the British Sociological Association Sociology of Religion Study Group conference, Chester; the King’s and Westminster Abbey Faith and Public Policy Forum, London; the Institute for Theology, Imagination and the Arts, University of St Andrews and various Program Units of the American Academy of Religion.

My thanks also go to Natalie Watson at SCM Press for her support, and to Bishop Stephen Lowe, who took time out from his busy media schedule to read an early draft of this book, and whose friendship over the years has been very precious.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

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