Faith Speaking Understanding

Name: Faith Speaking Understanding | Performing the Drama of Doctrine
Brand: Westminster/John Knox Press,U.S.
Price: 38.2 EUR
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Performing the Drama of Doctrine

Kevin J. Vanhoozer(Author)

Westminster/John Knox Press,U.S.

Published on 29. September 2014

Book

Paperback/Softback

298 pages

978-0-664-23448-5 (ISBN)

€38.20incl. 7% vat

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Description

In this volume, highly esteemed scholar Kevin Vanhoozer introduces readers to a way of thinking about Christian theology that takes the work he began in the groundbreaking 2005 book, The Drama of Doctrine, to its next level. Vanhoozer argues that theology is not merely a set of cognitive beliefs, but is also something we do that involves speech and action alike. He uses a theatrical model to explain the ways in which doctrine shapes Christian understanding and forms disciples. The church, Vanhoozer posits, is the preeminent theater where the gospel is "performed," with doctrine directing this performance. Doctrines are not simply truths to be stored, shelved, and stacked, but indications and directions to be followed, practiced, and enacted. In "performing" doctrine, Christians are shaped into active disciples of Jesus Christ. He goes on to examine the state of the church in today's world and explores how disciples can do or perform doctrine. Written in an accessible and engaging style, Faith Speaking Understanding sets forth a compelling vision of what the church is and what it should be doing, and demonstrates the importance of Christian doctrine for this mission.

Disciples who want to follow Christ in all situations need doctrinal direction as they walk onto the social stage in the great theater of the world. The Christian faith is about acknowledging, and participating in, the great thing God is doing in our world: making all things new in Christ through the Holy Spirit. Doctrine ministers understanding: of God, of the drama of redemption, of the church as a company of faithful players, and of individual actors, all of whom have important roles to play. In an age where things fall apart and centers fail to hold, doctrine centers us in Jesus Christ, in whom all things hold together.

Reviews / Votes

"Rooted in acute theological intelligence, pervaded by a conviction that faith and the practices of faith are inseparable, and written with verve, Faith Speaking Understanding is a work of alert and engaged Christian reflection which will attract wide consideration." --John Webster, Chair of Divinity, St. Mary's College, University of St Andrews, Scotland "This book is a model of doing theology in the service of the church. Building on his well-known construal of theology as theodrama, Vanhoozer presents the church as the theater of the gospel, a place where observers are participants and where theology and ethics, contemplation and action, surrender and obedience, and James and Paul are no longer enemies but allies. A wonderful theological essay by a brilliant evangelical thinker." -Timothy George, founding Dean, Beeson Divinity School, Samford University "This is vintage Vanhoozer--highly intelligent, wonderfully resonant, almost painfully true to the gospel and to life in the church. Vanhoozer often addresses other theologians: this time he addresses everybody who cares about following Jesus. Faith Speaking Understanding is mighty and prophetic, but, like Jesus, it is full of grace as well as truth. Brilliant work!" --Cornelius Plantinga, Jr., author of Reading for Preaching: The Preacher in Conversation with Storytellers, Biographers, Poets, and Journalists "With his extraordinarily imaginative energy, Kevin Vanhoozer's Faith Speaking Understanding builds on his equally energetic The Drama of Doctrine to help us see how doctrine, like stage direction, helps us live truthfully to the Gospel. Without fail, Vanhoozer vivifies the fundamental convictions of Christians by articulating their dramatic character. I suspect this is a book that will soon be deemed a classic." --Stanley Hauerwas, Gilbert T. Rowe Professor Emeritus of Divinity and Law, Duke Divinity School

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Content

PART 1. BEFORE THE CURTAIN RISES: ON THEOLOGY

AND THEATER

1 Doing the Word aEURoeon Earth as It Is in HeavenaEUR?:

Introducing the Theater of the Gospel

Faith Speaking Understanding: The Challenge

The Witness as Doer of the Word: James's Mirror

and Jesus' House

aEURoeTheateraEUR? of the Gospel: Definitions and Distinctions

Theater as Handmaid to Theology: Metaphor or Model?

2 Audience Participation: Loving God, Doing Truth,

Being Church

aEURoeBreaking Down the Dividing WallaEUR?:

Between Actor and Audience

aEURoeWalking in the TruthaEUR?: Participation in Christ

aEURoeConfessing the Coming of ChristaEUR?:

A Self-Involving Demonstration

aEURoeAbiding in DoctrineaEUR?: The Audience as Staging Area

PART 2. FAITH SHOWING UNDERSTANDING: HOW DOCTRINE

MAKES DISCIPLES AND HOW DISCIPLES DO DOCTRINE

3 The Great Theater of the World: Setting

the Twenty-First-Century Stage

Stage: Church, World, and the Contemporary Crisis

of Authenticity

Lighting: aEURoeA Lamp unto My FeetaEUR?

Action: The Essence of Dramatic Theater

Recapitulation: The Canonical Imperative

4 Gospel Theater: The Triune Drama of Redemption

The Play of the Playwright aEURoefrom AboveaEUR?: A Drama

of Trinitarian Proportions

The Players: Human and Other Dramatis Personae

The Play of the Playwright aEURoefrom BelowaEUR?: A Courtroom

Drama of Kingdom and Kinship

Recapitulation: The Orthodox Imperative

5 Learning (and Becoming) the Part: aEURoeLittle ChristsaEUR?

Roles: Till We Have Faces

Costume: Putting on Christ

Prompts: Word and Spirit as Aide-MA (c)moire and Means of Grace

Recapitulation: The Pauline Imperative

6 Forming the Company, Doing Church: Doctrinal

Directions for Acting Out Life Together in Christ

Communio Sanctorum: Disciples' Gathering as

Command PerformanceaEUR"aEURoeDo ThisaEUR?

Scenes of Congregational Life

Rehearsing Communion: The Supper as Summa of the Gospel

Recapitulation: The Catholic-Evangelical Imperative

7 Staging the Play in Ten Thousand Places: How the

Company of the Gospel Enacts Parables of the Kingdom

Local Church, Local Theater: Where is aEURoein ChristaEUR??

An Interactive Theater of Resident Exiles and Holy Fools

Improvisation: Embodying the Mind of Christ Always,

Everywhere, and to Everyone

Recapitulation: The Sapiential Imperative

8 (Torn) Curtain: On Earth as He Is in Heaven

Climax: aEURoeSits at the Right Hand of God the Father AlmightyaEUR?

Conflict: Postvictory Theater of the Oppressed

Catharsis: Purification of the Heart

Recapitulation: The Doxological Imperative

Conclusion. Tell and Show: Exhibiting the Gospel

in Company with Christ

Exeunt: The Dismissal

Encore: The Gloria

Appendix. What Has Broadway to Do with Jerusalem?

The Antitheatrical Prejudice: Responding

to Historical Objections

aEURoeThe Play's Not the ThingaEUR?: Responding

to Contemporary Objections

Selected Bibliography

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