Narrative Theology and Preaching: Wobbly Willimons All?
***Several years ago William Willimon spoke in chapel here at Midwestern Seminary. Willimon was then Dean of the Chapel at Duke University and was already the most brilliant popularizer of Narrative Preaching. I find Willimon’s preaching style and particular brand of sarcasm-laced humor seducing, probably because it seems to derive organically from the Piedmont of the Carolinas from which we both hail. Willimon’s preaching disarms me. Stories abound, the humor simultaneously shocks and illuminates. Tears and laughter alternate and mingle among the listeners. But Willimon said something to this effect; “I do not know if the resurrection was a historical event. I do not know if it was a physical occurrence. And I cannot know. I may never know. It really does not matter though, because we have the story itself and its power to heal and create community, transform lives and inspire faith does not depend upon the historicity of the resurrection.”
After Willimon finished and sat down, the president of the seminary addressed the assembly and made if clear that we could not follow Willimon on this matter; “we, he said, agree with the apostle Paul:
“Now if Christ raised from the dead is what has been preached, how can some of you be saying that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is not resurrection of the dead, Christ Himself cannot have been raised, and if Christ has not been raised then our preaching is useless and your believing it is useless; indeed, we are shown up as witnesses who have committed perjury before God, because we swore in evidence before God that he had raised Christ to life. For if the dead are not raised, Christ has not been raised, and if Christ has not been raised, you are still in your sins. And what is more serious, all who have died in Christ have perished. If our hope in Christ is for this life only, we are the most unfortunate people” (1 Corinthians 15:12-19).
So is this the fruit of Narrative Theology? To snatch the resurrection from us and try to make us like it? Do all narrative thinkers and preachers go so wobbly on matters as essential as the resurrection of Jesus?
After Willimon finished and sat down, the president of the seminary addressed the assembly and made if clear that we could not follow Willimon on this matter; “we, he said, agree with the apostle Paul:
“Now if Christ raised from the dead is what has been preached, how can some of you be saying that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is not resurrection of the dead, Christ Himself cannot have been raised, and if Christ has not been raised then our preaching is useless and your believing it is useless; indeed, we are shown up as witnesses who have committed perjury before God, because we swore in evidence before God that he had raised Christ to life. For if the dead are not raised, Christ has not been raised, and if Christ has not been raised, you are still in your sins. And what is more serious, all who have died in Christ have perished. If our hope in Christ is for this life only, we are the most unfortunate people” (1 Corinthians 15:12-19).
So is this the fruit of Narrative Theology? To snatch the resurrection from us and try to make us like it? Do all narrative thinkers and preachers go so wobbly on matters as essential as the resurrection of Jesus?
posted by Mark DeVine at 11:25 AM
4 Comments:
So is this the fruit of Narrative Theology?
I would say it is just one of many fruits of Narrative Theology. Especially if you believe that Narrative Theology produced the Emerging Church. There seems to be a tendency to believe that the words of God have power only in a figurative sense, that culture changes Scripture and not the other way around. But then again, I've been told that I'm fairly biased.... ;)
I sure hope not. I've grown to appreciate a narrative reading of the text of scripture and I find no reason to jettison historic essentials of the faith. It wouldn't seem there is anything that would necessitate rejecting the physical, bodily resurrection.
Not only that but NT Wright, who is surely someone that is pointing to a narrative reading of the text, defends the physical, bodily resurrection, or am I wrong?
On a related note, I'm looking forward to your breakout session this weekend at the collegiate conference. We're going to be there for the conference.
Voddie Baucham nailed this topic on the head at last years Collegiate Conference. I don't know if I've seen a more passionate defense of the ressurection. Maybe the message is available at www.mbts.edu.
"Narrative Theology produced the Emerging Church" What?
Post a Comment
<< Home