Faith Speaking Understanding
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.
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Content
PART 1. BEFORE THE CURTAIN RISES: ON THEOLOGY
AND THEATER
1 Doing the Word âEURoeon Earth as It Is in HeavenâEUR¿:
Introducing the Theater of the Gospel
- Faith Speaking Understanding: The Challenge
- The Witness as Doer of the Word: James's Mirror
and Jesus' House - âEURoeTheaterâEUR¿ of the Gospel: Definitions and Distinctions
- Theater as Handmaid to Theology: Metaphor or Model?
2 Audience Participation: Loving God, Doing Truth,
Being Church
- âEURoeBreaking Down the Dividing WallâEUR¿:
Between Actor and Audience - âEURoeWalking in the TruthâEUR¿: Participation in Christ
- âEURoeConfessing the Coming of ChristâEUR¿:
A Self-Involving Demonstration - âEURoeAbiding in DoctrineâEUR¿: 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: âEURoeA Lamp unto My FeetâEUR¿
- Action: The Essence of Dramatic Theater
- Recapitulation: The Canonical Imperative
4 Gospel Theater: The Triune Drama of Redemption
- The Play of the Playwright âEURoefrom AboveâEUR¿: A Drama
of Trinitarian Proportions - The Players: Human and Other Dramatis Personae
- The Play of the Playwright âEURoefrom BelowâEUR¿: A Courtroom
- Drama of Kingdom and Kinship
- Recapitulation: The Orthodox Imperative
5 Learning (and Becoming) the Part: âEURoeLittle ChristsâEUR¿
- Roles: Till We Have Faces
- Costume: Putting on Christ
- Prompts: Word and Spirit as Aide-Mémoire 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 PerformanceâEUR"âEURoeDo ThisâEUR¿
- 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 âEURoein ChristâEUR¿?
- 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: âEURoeSits at the Right Hand of God the Father AlmightyâEUR¿
- 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 - âEURoeThe Play's Not the ThingâEUR¿: Responding
to Contemporary Objections
Selected Bibliography
