Narrative wins (most of the time)
by Christine on June 1, 2007
Most of my friends don’t have a clue what the Emerging/Emergent Church movement is – but they do share some of the same concerns that the Emerging church has with Reformed/Presuppostional Theology. My friends (and I) like narrative. As Paul Helm points out:
What happens is that in this effort to combine a narrative and a logical approach to theology the narrative approach invariably wins out. Stories are so much more fun than logical deductions and discriminations.
Donald Miller, known for his loved or hated “Blue Like Jazz”, and his influence in the Emerging Church movement says in this month’s issue of Christianity Today:
“Truth is rooted in story, not in rational systems. The Christian mission is not well served when we speak in terms of spiritual laws or rational formulas. Propositional truths, when extracted from a narrative context, lack meaning. “The chief role of a Christian,” he says, “is to tell a better story.”
The tension between the two is magnified on both sides – presuppositional apologetics vs. emerging metanarratives. I like Helm’s piece because it highlights the strength of Biblical Theology and Systematic Theology.
Yes, I would agree that great minds like Helm and even Miller (in very different ways) probably can’t hold the tension between the two. Me, I like my Biblical Theology with a strong dose of Systematics thrown in – my small mind has no problem holding the two as compatible.
Related posts:
- Are you Emerging? Take this Test I’ll admit it, I’ve been curious about the Emerging or...
Tagged as:
Bible,
Church