Working with words
Subtitle: on learning to speak Christian
By: Stanley Hauerwas
Publisher: Cascade Books
Published: 2011
Place of publication: Eugene, Or
Language: eng
Number of pages: 322
ISBN-13: 9781608999682
Subjects: Philosophical theology; Doctrinal Theology; Christianity; Essence, genius, nature
Description: The crucial challenge for theology is that when it is read the reader thinks, "This is true."  Recognizing claims that are "true" enables readers to identify an honest expression of life's complexities.  The trick is to show that the theological claims, the words used to speak of God are necessary if the theologian is to speak honestly of the complexities of life.  The worst betrayal of the task of theology comes when the theologian fears that the words he or she must use are not necessary.  This new collection of essays, lectures, and sermons by Stanley Hauerwas is focused on the central challenge, risk, and difficulty of this necessity : working with words about God.  The task of theology is to help us to do things with words.  "God" is not a word peculiar to theology, but if "God" is a word to be properly used by Christians, the word must be disciplined by Christian practice.  It should, therefore, not be surprising that, like any word, we must learn how to say "God."
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 297-307) and index.
Table of contents: title: Learning Christian: to see and to speak. Look at it and live: a sermon; title: Seeing darkness, hearing silence: Augustine's account of evil; title: Disciplined seeing: forms of Christianity and forms of life / with Brian Goldstone; title: God and goodness: a theological exploration; title: Naming God: a sermon; title: Speaking Christian: a commencement address; title: Why "the way words run" matters: reflections on becoming a "major biblical scholar"; title: II. The Language of love: from death to life. Why did Jesus have to die?: an attempt to cross the barrier of age; title: More, or, A taxonomy of greed; title: Love: a sermon; title: Love's work: discerning the body: a sermon; title: Body matters: a sermon; title: Finite care in a world of infinite need: a sermon; title: Sent: the church is mission; title: III. Habits of speech exemplified: some teachers. "Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet": reflections on A secular age / with Romand Coles; title: H. Richard Niebuhr; title: The virtues of  Alistair MacIntyre; title: The virtues of the Summa Theologiae / with Sheryl Overmyer; title: "A recall to Christian life": what is social about the Catholic social teaching / with Jana Bennett; title: Methodist theological ethics / with D. Stephen Long; title: Friendship and freedom: reflections on Bonhoeffer's "The friend"; title: Appendix: Learning to see red wheelbarrows: on vision and relativism.