Telling God's Story Bible, Church and Narrative Theology [Paperback]

Introduces narrative theology, and demonstrates how this theology is both orthodox and radical.This book presents narrative theology as radically orthodox. It is orthodox because in the tradition of all those who maintain the priority of the story of Jesus, as it is sacramentally performed in the Church, and radical because it eschews all modern attempts to found Christian faith on some other story, such as that of reason, critical history or human consciousness. Acknowledging the indeterminacy of and textuality of human existance, Telling God's Story presents the Christian life as as a truly postmodern venture: the groundless enactment of God's future now.This book presents narrative theology as radically orthodox. It is orthodox because in the tradition of all those who maintain the priority of the story of Jesus, as it is sacramentally performed in the Church, and radical because it eschews all modern attempts to found Christian faith on some other story, such as that of reason, critical history or human consciousness. Acknowledging the indeterminacy of and textuality of human existance, Telling God's Story presents the Christian life as as a truly postmodern venture: the groundless enactment of God's future now.Narrative theology emphasizes the priority of the story of Jesus Christ because the story precedes categorizing or conceptualizing. An exercise in postmodern narrative theology, this book shows how the distinction between narrative and story enables one to read the Bible as a single story that finds its focus in Christ. Loughlin sees the Church as the telling and continuation of Christ's story, with the Bible and the community as the context in which Christ makes himself known and available for faith.Preface; Preface to the paperback edition; Prologue: at the end of the book: 1. Future now; Part I. Consuming Text: 2. Around Christ; 3. Character/circumstance/community; Part II. Reading and Writing: 4. Making it plain; 5. True stories; Part III. Linkages: 6lcª