Reviews for Telling God's Story: Bible, Church and Narrative Theology

The average rating for Telling God's Story: Bible, Church and Narrative Theology based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2018-03-11 00:00:00 David Hartley A very readable book by a British theologian and author on narrative or postliberal theology. Clearly written so the reader only need be interested but not necessarily well-versed in either philosophy or theology in order to understand the argument being made.

Review # 2 was written on 2012-02-13 00:00:00 Ebgenii Cylimob I personally loved the ideas Loughlin presented of narrative theology, but that could have easily been anticipated. I'm a well-storied person: my childhood friends are on my bookshelf, I hold two degrees in literature. Story is the clearest way for me to understand others, the world, and myself. I think Loughlin presents a theology that speaks to the complexity of the human experience and of the resurrection event. In allowing the scriptures the grace to be both a recognition of the past and a bow to the possibilities that only fiction can allow, narrative theology names my struggle: the resurrection cannot be explained, only described. The mystery cannot be stated. Although the work was criticized for relying on other sources (Frei and Derrida are two major ones), I found that to be a helpful engagement and a resource for other authors to look towards. (the paragraphs below are copied from the last pages of my book review for class) Loughlin's work is a thorough explanation of the principles of narrative theology. He uses an understanding of story's function in real life to balance a multitude of problems in approaching scripture literally while defending, as Chapin writes, "the inspiration, historicity, and truth of the biblical story." 34 The final chapter's application of such principles to the practice of Eucharist shows what a satisfying truth can be reached through embodying the story while balancing history and fiction. Narrativism is an important addition to hermeneutics because it enables readers to approach Scripture with a natural storied lens in a new way, one that Cavanaugh notes to be an "alternative to liberal and deconstructionist or textualist theologies." 35 The critiques that arise in reviews of Telling God's Story are primarily questions of the principality of story. Cavanaugh notes that in Loughlin's "zeal to emphasize the embodiment of the story of God in the church, the church's story becomes the originary tale." 36 The story of the Church becomes primary, overshadowing creation. Also questioning what importance the world plays in narrative theology, Shakespeare notes that if we are to accept narrative theology as our primary lens, the world ceases to be anything beyond "a blank screen on which to project one's theological preconceptions." 37 Certainly, there must be some worth in creation itself that helps to shape our stories, something outside of text and narrative that is worth considering as part of reality. Cavanaugh continues to note that the embodiment of the story "reads the Gospels not as the story of Jesus, but as the story of the church." 38 This is a similar concern to the one mentioned above: is the embodiment of God's story above even Jesus? My suspicion is that Jesus would concede that it is. In such a Christ-centered Church, we forget that Jesus that came as a sign to point the way to the Kingdom. In a common saying, we must look beyond the finger to see that it points at the moon. Cavanaugh states that putting primacy on embodiment above Jesus "leads back to Cupitt's cave, where God is nothing other than the stories we tell." 39 He is correct only if we move backwards. The road could easily move away from the cave and beyond Christ-centered practices and more towards God and Spirit, to a place we approach Her full Trinity in relationship, rather than stopping when we get as far as the Son.