Theology in Story Form: Exploring Themes of the Gospel Through Stories

Abstract

Who we are and the world we live in is only discernable through the stories that shape our lives. Meaning, personality, and identity are each received via story. If one were to attempt to define oneself, such a person could only do so by using a story. One cannot understand personhood or action in the world without the narrative—it is uninterpretable without the story. Anything that we do has a story with it. Anything that we want to do will have a story with it—and when we in pastoral leadership help our people know, see, love, and understand the world and God, we will be telling them a story. In helping people understand their story in light of a larger story—they find the unity of their lives within the structure of the larger story—the story of God.The approach of this thesis has much to do with its storytelling nature. The goal is to use storytelling to communicate theological truth. Formatting the thesis in an imaginative short-story fashion to provide a robust and layered theological framework will lend to exploration that seeks to locate contemporary persons in the story of Scripture. The thesis takes ten central themes or subplots of the Gospel and portrays each in its own short story interwoven into an overarching story. Each section of the thesis focuses on a thematic expression of the Good News in a short-story method. Theological research and analysis for each follows in a 3-4-page essay in which I carefully analyze each story for the ways in which it expresses the theological concept in question. This provides a theological/literary interpretation of the story itself. Along with the 3–4-page essay, I provide a bibliography specific to the literary and theological concept of each chapter. In creating this collection, I hope to provide a unique resource for theological reflection that will be helpful for preachers, congregations, and anyone who’s willing to step into a story.