Revelation and Story: Narrative Theology and the Centrality of Story

by Gerhard Sauter (Editor), John Barton (Editor)

Overview

Revelation and Story explores the relationship between the theology of revelation and the theology of story or narrative theology. Mediating between German systematic theology's concern for revelation and current Anglo-Saxon interest in narrative theology and centrality of 'story', this book illuminates both traditions. Exploring 'revelation' and 'story' from both theological and philosophical perspectives, this book connects these concepts with questions of the authority of religious and literary texts, particularly the Bible. Believing that God's revelation precedes and forestalls all human perception of God, all speech about God, and every attempt to experience anything about God or know Him, leading scholars from both Anglo-Saxon and German traditions are brought together to present a diverse range of conceptions relating to how God's revelation occurs, resulting in a new theory of the relation of revelation and story which transcends the traditional cultural divide. Stanley Hauerwas contributes the Foreword. Revelation and Story offers a valuable new contribution to systematic theology, hermeneutics, and the study of the authority of Scripture, as well as presenting insights into important overlaps between British and German theology. This book will be of particular interest to scholars and students of philosophy and theology, and to students of literature and literary theory with an interest in hermeneutics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781351903400
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	03/02/2017
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	216
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Gerhard Sauter, John Barton

Table of Contents

Contents: Introduction; ’Scriptural faithfulness’ is not a ’Scripture principle’, Gerhard Sauter; Story and possibility: Reflections on the last scenes of the fourth gospel and Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Paul S. Fiddes; Disclosing human possibilities: Revelation and Biblical stories, John Barton; Reading the Bible theologically, Ernstpeter Maurer; Revelation as Gestalt, Rainer Fischer; Allegoria: Reading as a spiritual exercise, Graham Ward; ’Revelation’ and ’Story’ in Jewish and Christian Apocalyptic, Michael Wolter; Does the gospel story demand and discourage talk of revelation?, Robert Morgan; The productive vagueness of an untranslatable relationship, Caroline Schröder; Bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

Revelation, in the sense of hearing the word of God, is the main theme of this group of essays by a joint team of scholars of religion in Germany and England (the book was also published in German). The topics considered include; the proper use of Scripture in hearing the Word of God, with attention to possibility, ethics, and conflict; the proper use of Scripture to make ethical decisions; the conflict which can arise among readers who share a proper grounding of belief and practice in Scripture and the hermeneutics as the place of this conflict; the apprehension of biblical text as a Gestalt for God's revelation; and allegory and analogy in the Bible. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

’These authors have tried to think afresh, and think independently. They grapple with the question of how to take scripture seriously in an age when we cannot take it for granted. They do a good job.’ Timothy Gorringe, Church Times 'Like a metaphor, these essays are surprising, deconstructive, creative, and altogether transformative of the ways the connection between theology and philosophy is conceptualized... it is clear that these essays present a creative theological and philosophical dialogue.' Reviews in Religion and Theology '... this collection of nine papers is a thought provoking discussion of a variety of theological and hermeneutical concerns about revelation.' Themelios '... the collective scholarship (of this volume) is at the forefront of biblical and theological research... an exciting if challenging read... what it has to yield is deep and rich - as with revelation itself, both manifest and hidden... What a delight it all is! This book must be read and reread!' International Journal of Systematic Theology

From the Publisher