Is "Narrative" Really a Panacea? The Use of "Narrative" in the Work of Metz and Hauerwas

Abstract

The category of narrative or story has received much attention in recent discussions of Christian theology and ethics. Indeed, the theme of narrative is so popular today that a virtual cottage industry of academic scholarship has grown up around the discussion of this theme.' This essay adds to the growing literature on the topic of narrative, but my intention is not to contribute to the substantive debate on this topic. Rather, this paper raises a more preliminary question: why has the notion of narrative suddenly become so much discussed as a category of theological and ethical reflection? The answer, I suggest, is that the category of narrative appears to be almost a panacea for the ills afflicting contemporary theology and ethics. In particular, the category of narrative appears to address problems arising from the tenuous cognitive status of Christianity in the modern world. One of the major objectives of this paper, then, will be to see how, and to what specific ills, narrative is a putative remedy. To accomplish this objective, I will rehearse one account of the problems besetting contemporary Christian thought, that set out by Jeffrey Stout in his book, Flightfrom Authority.2 Stout's presentation of the contemporary problematic is very helpful in explaining the predilection for narrative in current discussions. Briefly summarized, what Stout argues is that, as a result of the breakdown of the traditional category of