Pastor John Wright

« Questioning God or God Questioning? | Main | More Reflections Hauerwas as a Catholic Theologian: Community and Congregation »

March 9, 2007

Stanley Hauerwas as a Catholic Theologian

I have spent some time this week reading Samuel Well's book, Transforming Fate into Destiny: The Theological Ethics of Stanley Hauerwas. I never formally studied under Stanley, but I met him during my first semester at Notre Dame in 1983 and have read him ever sense. In many ways Professor Hauerwas has been the single most theological influence on my life and thought. That probably is no secret for those who know me.

As I have reflected, however, it seems to me that I have read Prof. Hauerwas different from others -- and this difference has come to provide tensions within the congregation at Mid-City over times. I often have not recognized these differences because of the subtlety of the differences. Yet these subtle differences make significant practical differences as they have gotten run through Southern Californian culture. Samuel Wells has helped me see shifts in the Hauerwas text over time.

Professor Hauerwas called himself a "Catholic Mennonite" in the 80's; in other words, a Methodist. Stanley has never convinced me of this. I've always read Professor Hauerwas as a catholic; in other words, a Methodist. Not denying the influence of John Howard Yoder on Hauerwas or myself, nor the Christological, pacificist, non-Constantinian lessons that Stanley learned from the "radical reformation" tradition, I have always read Stanley more in terms of Aquinas, particularly through Alasdair MacIntyre, and Barth. Often, however, those who have read Hauerwas around me have read him through contemporary "Mennonite" experiences, particularly their concern with "social justice" and "community". Ironically, the non-Constantinian resources of Hauerwas' thought become undercut. Hauerwas becomes read as a "radical Protestant" speaking against "the powers" in order that the church might challenge the "powers" with more just social structures through exercising political influence by affiliation with other like-minded social movements. Within this reading (not without some support in his corpus, especially when read through Yoder), Hauerwas becomes a "communitarian" in which congregations live as a democratic community of discernment through a type of shared authority to empower persons to engage personally a counter-cultural life against the global capitalist-militarist culture in which we live.

It seems to me that Hauerwas, as a Methodist, uses Yoder to return to the high scholastic preservation of the pre-Constantinian Catholic tradition, the Christological center of which he also found in Barth. If this is so, Hauerwas' commitment to a Ressourcement of pre-Constantinian Christianity ironically become undercut through Hauerwas read through contemporary radical reformation ecclesial existence.

This is where Wells's reading of Hauerwas is helpful -- he reads through the polemic that characterizes the Hauerwas text to get to the positive agenda for congregations that is really Hauerwas' concern. Whereas the radical reformation readings of Hauerwas focus on the polemic (something that I can do as well given the depth of sin and pain that the world provides especially those who are poor or recent immigrants to the US or who live in places who have suffered from the colonialism of the Western liberal-democratic nation-state or the socialist nation-state controlled society), what Hauerwas is against, a Catholic reading emphasizes the positive side of Hauerwas' return to the sources within an evangelical, catholic, and orthodox Christianity. Wells gives a "summary of Hauerwas' constructive proposals" (pp. 126-30):

"(1) Stanley Hauerwas believes in a holy God who has revealed himself through the patriarchs, through Moses and Exodus, through the joys and struggles of Israel, through Jesus and the coming of the Spirit, and through the Church. He believes in the sovereignty of this God, in the way God rules through creation, providence and coming eschaton, in the definitive way God shows the character of his kingdom in the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Hauerwas also recognizes that the creation is not all that it was intended to be, that sin has infected the world to such a degree that, even after the coming of the Son of God, human projects are invariably subject to pride, jealousy and fear.

2. Hauerwas maintains that the holy character of the God of Jews and Christians is not self-evident from the workings of nature or the moral law in the human heart or the collective yearnings of humankind. Instead, it is revealed in a holy story, the story of Israel, Jesus and the Church, begun in the Scriptures and developed through the history of the Church. From this story Christians learn that God is revealed through human contingency. This means that human contingency is the location for understanding both the character of God and the nature of human response. The way of Jesus went to the cross, despite the pressing demands that the world be saved some other way, is the definitive part of the holy story.

3. . . . . Though these two convictions underlie his constructive position, Hauerwas . . . . concentrates on the human response to revelation. Christians are called to be a holy people, the communion of saints, imitating the character of the one, sovereign, holy God. Like Israel and Jesus before them, the Church's vocation is to imitate God -- to be perfect even as the heavenly Father is perfect. Christian ethics is about forming the human response to God's revelation. And the human response is the Church -- a holy people, a historical community.
. . . Actions are good if they lead to the formation of good people; good people are those who imitate the reconciling, serving character of God; to sustain such people, and to teach them the holy story that reveals God's character, requires a community; and that community must begin by being nonviolent, because Christ was, and because refusing to use force demonstrates faith that God, rather than the means of force, is sovereign.
. . . The uniqueness of Jesus lies fundamentally in his acceptance of the cross as the way of disarming the powers that oppress us, and in the vindication of his nonviolent witness in the resurrection. Christ is at the center of Hauerwas' theology, in so far as Christ inaugurates and makes possible the peaceable kingdom -- the nonviolent witness of the Christian community. . .
The Church is called to be holy in the way that Jesus is holy: it should be wary of the temptation to control the wider society, since this invariably results in setting up some norm other than Jesus as the path for al to follow. The resort to violence indicates a lack of trust in God, a lack of faith in his definitive revelation in Jesus. In order to avoid resorting to violence, the Church must set up a form of politics which creates the right kind of conflict -- thus showing the rest of creation that politics is not simply a cover for violence. The politics of the Church is based on the practices of forgiveness. . . . .
4. The question of ethics should focus on what kind of person one wants (or is called) to be. One will want to develop practices that help to make on such a person, and learn to see the world as such a person would. This process is the formation of Christian character. . . . Character is most fully displayed in the way a person or a community responds to adversity. . . . In the face of the stranger -- the undesired pregnancy, the retarded baby -- the community of character recognizes the contingency and fit of all forms of life and affirms that the Church is a form of community prior to the family. Self-deception is a lurking trap, and only the truthful story of God can enable Christians to be truthful about their stories. . . . .
5. The Church seeks to reflect the character of the God revealed in the Christian story. In order to do so, it develops particular habits and practices modelled on its understanding of virtue. Just as one needs to study and train if one is to be a medical doctor, or to do an apprenticeship if one is to be a good bricklayer, or to learn skills of community-forming if one is to be a scholar in a healthy university, so one needs to practice with experts if one is to become a Christian disciple. . . . Cautious about the way love can become an abstraction, and starting from a position of faith, Hauerwas concentrates on hope. The key hopeful virtue is that of patience. . . . one can learn the time-consuming nature of that which is done well: thus worship and having children, two-time consuming activities, gain great significance in a patient community. Every society will gain from having communities that honour honour: the Church helps wider society not by leaving the practice of virtue in order to enter the world of hasty achievement, but by improving its own practice of virtue."

To end with patience as a virtue that enables faith, hope, and love, is interesting -- and very counter-intuitive. Yet it seems to me that this is right on. Patience drains the drama that we tend to spin in our individual and institutional lives and allows us to respond to situations in light of what God has done and will do -- and therefore is doing -- in and through Jesus Christ by the power of the Spirit. It reminds us that the church -- specific congregations -- is charged to produce, not influence, not impact, not numbers, not dollars, but saints -- holy persons. It is that which underlies our Eucharistic prayer to unity, constancy, and peace.

Two brief recent experiences that highlight this. Yesterday I took Pastor Deron and Sukuma to the Brazilian barbecue for lunch. Sukuma told me that we first met in the fall of 1997 -- nearly 10 years; we met downtown at the Bread of Life through the witness of Charisma Agony Barrett. Sukuma has been quietly patient with us -- he recently turned 34. During these ten years Sukuma probably has participated in more worship at Mid-City than anyone else, even me. He has held the same job with the County Parks and Recreation for 14 years -- working to care for a Rec Center in Barrio Logan with great expertise, willingness, and care. Sukuma represents the patient life, quietly going his way, thankfully accepting life as it comes, visiting his mother, letting God enfold his life within our congregation time after time. God has taught me much through the witness of Sukuma. He is the "least of these" to whom belongs the kingdom of God. It was a profound honor to share a special "feast" with him and Deron.

Second, since I did not have classes this morning, I was able to participate in the "holy waste of time" of our Lenten "liturgy of the hours." Praying the psalms, gathering in the sanctuary, listening to Scriptures, it reframed my whole day. I learned the patience that comes out of gathering together that opens one to the Spirit's bringing forth faith, hope, and love.

Sukuma and the liturgy of the hours this morning help me to make Professor Hauerwas' work intelligible to me in its truthfulness. "Radical Protestant's" tend to not learn the patience necessary to receive God's kingdom, but work to bring the kingdom to pass by their works. Patience requires catholicity, a confidence that God who began a good work in you (pl), will see it to completion on the day of the coming of Jesus Christ.

Posted by johnwright at March 9, 2007 12:36 PM

Comments

John,

Really good post, thank you. I have some questions that needs prefacing.

In your recent bible study called 'Congregation not community', you said:

We've rightfully rejected the gross individualism of much of our evangelical background. Yet, possibly, it seems to me, we've only gone part of the way to the Scriptural language and narrative in substituting a "community" over a "congregation that lives by faith in God's promise in Christ". Perhaps by so doing, we miss the "narrow door" in our attempts to live in the kingdom. I struggle with so-called â€œrelational theologiesâ€ at many, many levels, not lease practically on how it shifts language of the biblical language â€œchurchâ€ and â€œcongregationâ€ or â€œIsrael, heirs of the promise to Abrahamâ€ to the more culturally appropriate, more abstract, therapeutic non-biblical language of â€œcommunityâ€. Maybe it might be interesting to talk about how these passages call forth the life of â€œIsraelâ€ or â€œthe churchâ€ or â€œa congregationâ€ and how this might be different from connotations of â€œcommunityâ€ in the society in which we live. This might be difficult work, but very important to find ourselves within the biblical text as persons who embrace the cross, rather than live as enemies of it.

Yet, above in Wells' text, he uses this word 'community' 9 times, and I would imagine many more, considered you are quoting just snippets. Now, if this word 'community' is through-and-through deemed bad as an "abstract, therapeutic non-biblical language," would you fault Wells (and by implication, your mentor Hauerwas) in using this word 'community' so often? Would you chide Hauerwas for not titling his book 'A Congregation of Character', instead?

For Hauerwas, all 'ethics' demands this question: whose ethics? which ethics? Therefore, it must bear the qualifier, for Hauerwas, as distinctly Christian Ethics. I agree.

And, as Wells is careful to do above, following Hauerwas, he speaks of a 'historical community', 'the nonviolent witness of the Christian community', 'the Church is a form of community prior to the family', and as such, a 'patient community' -- all of these bear a qualifier, and where it is left out, it leads to one or is verily implied.

Are Wells and Hauerwas deluded and co-opted by all that is 'morally therapeutic'? Or, perhaps, are they trying to make community something that is Christian? Is theology as much about playing games of 'Taboo(tm)' with language as it is about rightly ordering and orienting our language?

In Henri de Lubac's charitable treatment of Kierkegaard in Drama of Atheist Humanism, aside from Kieregaard sounding a bit too "Lutheran" for de Lubac's taste, really, the only other critique that he has was that for all of Kierkegaard's harsh critique of Hegel (with which de Lubac presumably agrees), he chides Kierkegaard a bit for not offering or even considering what a resurrected/transformed/transfigured (a.k.a. Christianized) Hegelianism would look like. Such a chiding makes a ton of sense considering the grammar of "supernaturalizing the natural" which runs implicitly, if not often explicitly through much of de Lubac's work. I must wonder: is that not what Hauerwas and Wells are doing as well with this word?

So, therefore, I must ask: what is a transformed use of the word 'community'? Is it possible that when you hear the word community within our congregation that we mean it exactly as Hauerwas and Wells mean it when they use it? Must we ditch words altogether, or should instead we live and talk in such a way that they might say, "hey, what they mean by community is not what we --the world-- mean" ...? And my prayer is that they ask us.

Peace,

Eric

Posted by: Eric Lee at March 12, 2007 1:07 PM

Pastor John,

I appreciate this post very much, but it seems to me that your contrasting catholicism with Mennonitism (a la Yoder) is a bit of a red herring. As we've learned from Nation, catholicity is one of the distinctive marks of Yoder's theology. I'm not sure that you think this way, but the way you write it, it sounds like you're pitting catholicity against radical reformation, which both Yoder and Hauerwas would argue is a big mistake (e.g., Yoder's dissertation on the dialogues between the anabaptists and the Zwinglians).

Granted, nonconstantinianism, nonviolence, and christology are the dominant themes in Hauerwas's perpetual renarration of Yoder, but reading Hauerwas through Yoder (isn't that backwards anyway?) does not logically lead to a works-oriented "militant" pursuit of social justice in the liberation theology sense of the term. Certainly Hauerwas' debt to Aquinas for his account of the virtues is no small matter, but patience was not a virtue for Aquinas, certainly not in any Hauerwasian sense (and neither was a believing community the context for Aquinas' virtues). So where did Hauerwas come up with that? From MacIntyre Hauerwas may have learned that to challenge the normativity of the received virtues is possible, but Hauerwas didn't learn patience from MacIntyre either. I've spent a great deal of time trying to read Hauerwas through Wittgenstein (again, backwards), which is much like reading him through Aquinas, and I know he didn't learn patience there (well, not "political" patience at any rate).

In fact, my experience has been quite the opposite of what you're describing. I started with Hauerwas, from whom I initially learned nonviolence and sectarianism (not in the pejorative sense). Hauerwas led me to Yoder (which as you know Hauerwas would say is the proper direction of things) and it was Yoder that taught me both patience and politically relevant sectarianism. Only after Yoder was I able to see those two integral concepts in Hauerwas clearly. Indeed, patience was displayed much more consistently in Yoder's approach than in Hauerwas's (to Hauerwas's frequent admission).

Perhaps the tension you've been experiencing is not the result of some people's reading Hauerwas through the wrong lens (i.e. Yoder versus or without Aquinas) but is rather the result of their reading Yoder in service of their prior agendas rather than reading Yoder as the master who taught a Texan as violent as Hauerwas how to be patient, albeit imperfectly.

Yoder may not have preferred the language of virtue over the language of discipleship, and Hauerwas may have spent more ink fleshing out the nooks and crannies of patience than did Yoder, but Hauerwas's emphasis on patience and the other virtues is the lovechild of the church-world dualism with which he eloped from under the noses of the anabaptists (I say "eloped" because as you know Yoder was not eager to accept responsibility for Hauerwas's conversion).

The point is, I think Yoder did more than any other to transform Hauerwas' reading of Aquinas, because, unlike Aquinas, Hauerwas situates the virtues within the life of a community that exists at once in resistance to and as a witness to the johannine world. Hauerwas's appropriation of the virtues can be seen, in light of Eric's remarks above, as the "spiritualization" of ordinary practices as an extension and in the tradition of Yoder's Body Politics. Yoder's five practices, to be sure, are distinctive marks of the church, but that doesn't stop Hauerwas from claiming something as universal as marriage and having children as an eschatological sign of the lordship of Christ.

Put differently, patience for Hauerwas is an entirely nonconstantinian concept. Patience permeates The Politics of Jesus, and Hauerwas learned how to have children and talk about marriage in large part by learning from Yoder how to be subordinate to the powers that be. Patience is an eschatological virtue brought into focus for Hauerwas by Yoder's radical reformation retrieval of the catholicity of a particular community's witness to the lordship of the Crucified Christ.

Put differently again, and finally, the biggest difference between Hauerwas and MacIntyre is not the place they want to give to philosophy and theology in hierarchal order, but Yoder.

Posted by: Thom Stark at March 13, 2007 9:04 PM

Pastor Wright,

great post. I look forward to your responses to the other questions. I sent you an e-mail about that RR Reno book, but am not sure I had the right e-mail adress. Did you get it?

Grace and Peace~Thomas Bridges

Posted by: Thomas Bridges at March 13, 2007 10:16 PM

John,
I think this helps unpack some of our conversation over Christmas break, thanks for posting.

Posted by: Charlie Pardue at April 9, 2007 10:49 AM

pastor i have been hering about u and what God has been using u to do over there i will eb great to know u more thanks am mrs willimas from benin republic africa.

thangks and God bless u.
waitint soon to here from u.
u can write to me at. willimas_pool@yahoo.com

Posted by: MRS WILLIMAS at June 14, 2007 12:18 PM

Seems that you are completely right!!11 I will quote this in my private forum to argue with people...

Posted by: Rolph Harry at March 19, 2010 5:12 AM

I've been looking around www.pastorjohnwright.org and really am impressed by the awesome content material here. I work the nightshift at my job and it is so boring. I've been coming here for the past couple nights and reading. I simply needed to let you know that I've been enjoying what I've seen and I look ahead to reading more.

Posted by: Purse Parties at April 6, 2010 1:47 AM

I really enjoyed reading about Pastor John Wright and thought it was well worth the read. The only other site I found on Google wasnt as good as this one, thanks.

Posted by: kreg r3 pocket hole jig at May 3, 2010 2:41 AM

Your website is very the most interesting. I liked your website a lot. Thank you.

Posted by: faxless payday loans at July 2, 2010 12:18 AM

Wonderful to read!

Posted by: payday debt consolidation at July 7, 2010 3:23 AM

HPsiix

Posted by: glrGSh at July 24, 2010 1:05 PM

I'm in the very first trimester of my pregnancy and am loving it! Being pregnant is a remarkable experience. There is gonna be nothing at all more precious in this world than holding my new born baby in my arms for the 1st time. I cannot wait to meet her! My dreams of being a parent is at last coming true.

Posted by: Tuyet Backbone at August 11, 2010 5:51 PM

Hi, I applaud your blog for informing people, very interesting article, keep up it coming

Posted by: Silver Bars at August 15, 2010 6:26 AM

The content on this submit is really a single of the very best material that I've ever arrive across. I love your submit, I'll arrive back to verify for new posts.

Posted by: never fail list building system at August 21, 2010 1:45 PM

the content material on this submit is really one particular of the most beneficial substance that I've at any time occur throughout. I adore your submit, I will arrive again to examine for new posts.

Posted by: never fail list building review at August 21, 2010 1:58 PM

Maintain up the excellent work mate. This weblog article shows how well you recognize and know this subject.

Posted by: never fail list building system bonus at August 21, 2010 1:59 PM

This is my first time I have visited this site. I found a lot of interesting information in your blog. From the tons of comments on your posts, I guess I am not the only one! keep up the great work.

Posted by: Download Music at August 22, 2010 9:04 AM

Sensational! This specific is all I can point out just for a page like this unique. This amazing is literally a incredibly interesting blog post. You really should know a lot about this amazing

Posted by: never fail list building system bonus at August 22, 2010 3:31 PM

Wow! That is a single of the most effective blogs I've ever arrive across on this subject. Basically Amazing

Posted by: never fail list building system at August 23, 2010 3:01 AM

I am grateful to you for this fantastic content. You actually did make my day :

Posted by: never fail list building review at August 23, 2010 2:58 PM

I was wondering if you ever considered changing the layout of your blog? Its very well written; I love what youve got to say. But maybe you could a little more in the way of content so people could connect with it better. Youve got an awful lot of text for only having one or two images. Maybe you could space it out better?

Posted by: greenville workers comp attorney at August 23, 2010 7:39 PM

Your weblog is great. Give thanks to you greatly for giving such an abundance of priceless material. I am going to bookmark your weblogblog site and will be undoubtedly returning. All over again, I respect your work along with sharing a whole lot unbiased info to the many people.

Posted by: payday loans at August 24, 2010 7:18 PM

Wonderful piece of data that you've received on this weblog submit. Hope I could possibly get some far more of the stuff in your website. I will are available back again.

Posted by: zero cost commission at August 26, 2010 2:12 PM

Wow!, this was a top quality post. In theory I'd like to write like this too - taking time and real effort to make a good article... but what can I say... I procrastinate a lot and never seem to achieve anything

Posted by: Download Music at August 29, 2010 1:31 AM

Amazing story, saved the website for interest to read more!

Posted by: vince delmonte at August 30, 2010 5:18 PM

Excellent story, saved your site with hopes to read more information!

Posted by: craig ballantyne at August 31, 2010 3:10 PM

Informative post, saved the website in hopes to see more!

Posted by: jeff cavaliere at August 31, 2010 6:39 PM

Contrary to what others are saying I think your weblog could really use some work. I can't even work out how you can subscribe to your RSS.

Posted by: online reputation management at August 31, 2010 7:04 PM

Just good post. I just came trough your site and just want to say that I was really enjoyed reading your blog posts. Any way I'll be subscribing to your feed and I know you post again realy soon.

Posted by: Massaging Cushion at September 1, 2010 10:13 AM

xaaaaaxnrkrirkbdwhwgilpmltnmvcjcxhl

Posted by: loans british columbia at September 1, 2010 6:56 PM

Great stuff from you. Ive read your stuff before and youre just too awesome. I love what youve got here, love what youre saying and the way you say it. You make it entertaining and you still manage to keep it smart. I cant wait to read more from you. This is really a great blog.

Posted by: Used Stationary Bikes at September 3, 2010 4:09 PM

Helpful summary, bookmarked the site for hopes to read more!

Posted by: vince delmonte at September 4, 2010 3:22 PM

I find it difficult to subscribe RSS feeds, bookmark this site anyway I have is a very useful and complete information.

Posted by: Silverfish Bug at September 5, 2010 7:34 PM

A thoughtful insight and ideas I will use on my blog. You've obviously spent a lot of time on this. Congratulations!

Posted by: The Truth About Abs at September 5, 2010 7:44 PM

Hi, good day. Wonderful post. You have gained a new subscriber. Pleasee continue this great work and I look forward to more of your great blog posts.

Posted by: Wedding Slideshows at September 6, 2010 2:34 PM

Your server keeps crashing. I've been to this blog 3 periods today and typically times the page doesn't load. What webhosting organization do you use ?

Posted by: therapist Fontana at September 6, 2010 11:54 PM

Of course, what a great site and informative posts, I will add backlink - bookmark this site? Regards, Reader.

Posted by: no credit check payday loans at September 7, 2010 7:57 AM

Interesting article. Were did you got all the information from...

Posted by: no credit check payday loans at September 7, 2010 11:48 AM

I was wondering what is up with that weird gravatar??? I know 5am is early and also I'm not looking my most useful at that hour, but I hope I don't look like this! I may possibly however make that face if I'm asked to do 100 pushups. lol

Posted by: bosch built in dishwasher at September 9, 2010 6:04 PM