Narrative theology in my perspective

Our time needs a new approach in theology. And I believe this new approach means a narrative. Without reading any textbooks or utilizing other sources for this writing, I'll make an attempt to capture what narrative theology means to my mind in general. I'm explaining things in simple layman's terms, so don't be alarmed if you're new to the theological field of study: this shouldn't be too hard for you to understand, I promise!

Who doesn't love good, meaningful stories? A book with biblical themes found inside the St. Paulus Catholic Church.

1. What is narrative?

Basically, a narrative means a story. It's a story-based approach in theology; an alternative route to systematic theology. So, instead of debating with philosophical concepts and using rhetorical skills to convince other people of our systematic constructs, we gaze upon the stories of each and every person's life. In this way, it helps to bring a person, an individual into focus and give intrinsic value to this person and his/her life story. Since we are all created as equal, as images of God (imago Dei), the narratives of our lives are all worth the same. They all have the same value and thus, they are all equally worthy of remark.

So where does this all lead us in theological context? How does it change the way we do theology? Well, first of all, we notice that stories have a start, a middle, and an ending. The same obviously applies to our human lives as well: we have a beginning (a birth), a middle (in which there are many turning points, whether they are positive like getting married or negative like losing a loved one), and finally an ending (death). 

But this is not really how we construct our lives narratively from the beginning to an end. We like to start a story with something that's meaningful. Have you ever watched a movie, or a TV show, or read a novel that started all the way from the birth of the main character, continued through his/her life to finally end upon the death of this character? Rarely. It usually begins somewhere in the middle, where the protagonist is already a grown up and for example, has a family, a job or whatever that defines the life of the main character as meaningful. Only the most important parts are told. Sometimes stories do end with the death of the main character, but that's usually a premature demise caused by some tragedy, not a natural passing.

Long story short: what is the point I'm trying to make here? The point is that with narrative approach we can search and find out what is truly meaningful in our human lives. By narrative, we can also construe our human lives towards a larger picture, a meta-narrative. The main point here is to give out meaning. Theology should be focused on finding out the relevant parts of our life and also giving out relevance to those parts of life that yet seem meaningless to us. Hence, I challenge you to think your own life narratively: where do you find meaning? What is the purpose of your story, and where does it lead you in the end?

2. Why is narrative approach useful?

As stated above, stories help us to form our lives in a meaningful shape as a part of this world. In theology this becomes an extremely useful tool, even revolutionary, if adapted correctly. We can stress the importance of narrative theology by examining its relation to systematic or philosophical theology.

First of all, stories raise emotions and feelings unlike the philosophical concepts of systematic theology that only scratch the nerves of our reason. Usually we don't (or cannot!) reason with life, but instead we react to it with different kinds of emotions. So in this way narrative theology becomes closer to feminism, because it emphasizes human feelings and empathy over reason and thought. It's about caring and sharing other people's burdens more than anything else.

Second reason for the pre-eminence of narrative theology is related to the objectivity and subjectivity of things. Systematic theology seeks out to set a framework for the objective truth. For example, an objective claim would be that only faith in Jesus is required for human salvation. This statement declares an objective nature of salvation - that it's only possible through believing in Jesus. On the other hand, someone might counter argue that both faith and works are required for salvation. This then gives a rise to a debate about the objective truth, making it into a logical battle of reason between these two different opinions which can last a millennium (not an exaggeration).

Stories, however, don't argue with each other like systematic constructs of theological thought do. Instead, they work in constant dialogue with each other and operate more dynamically. Stories are meant to be shared, not disputed upon. Also from a narrative point of view, subjectivity and objectivity are more overlapping than opposite concepts. There is subjectivity in objective reality, since every person is limited to their own finite viewpoint. There is no objective standpoint from which the individual could view things outside his/her own subjective world of experience. However, there's also objectivity in subjective reality, because no one can fully have the experience of another person. That's why it's important to notice that your experience of life is totally unique: whatever you do or experience, whatever your life story is about, it's an objective truth about yourself and it's based upon the sole fact that you exist! Thus, objectivity is no longer a rational but an existential concept and there is an irreplaceable value of each and every person's existence.

If that second point just flew right off the top of your head, I'm going to give you a final third reason for the usefulness of narrative approach which is much easier to comprehend. Think about the reason why we tell stories to our kids. It's not just about sending them to sleep right before bedtime. It's also about educating them with the moral of the story and increasing their imagination with the aid of narrative to live a life according to the principles of the story. Through life stories we can understand the world that surround us. For every action there is a reason and for every reason there is a story to be told. Stories truly have the power to touch us and change us. Narrative theology is all about the interaction of these stories or in other words, the interaction of personal human beings in an attempt to understand them, to let them intertwine with each other and shape each other and eventually, to bring us closer to God.

3. The biblical narrative

Oftentimes, when we debate about faith related issues, we tend ask whether a certain point of view is biblical or not. We evaluate arguments based on the Bible and proclaim others as biblical while condemning others as unbiblical. The problem with this approach is quite obvious, however: who is to say in the end what is correct and what is incorrect? Just as we stated above, everyone falls victim to the limit of their own subjectivity. There is no neutral or objective approach towards the Bible and declaring that you're holding the right interpretation is an arrogant belief.

The surprising advantage of narrative theology in this conversation is that we can strongly argue for the case that a narrative approach is in itself already a biblical one. If you read the Bible, you realize that it's full of stories from start to finish, from creation to redemption of Israel, from the gospel to the end of days. Thus, a narrative approach is already found in, authorized by and based upon the Bible. It's a little bit funny even to realize that God Himself seems to approach human life through storytelling. And there's really only one reason that can explain it: God loves stories! And when you think about it, it kind of makes perfect sense: after all, should we expect God to be more interested in the systematic thought structures of our brain or the stories of our human lives? I'll bet my money on the latter choice.

The biblical narrative culminates into the gospel, the story of Jesus of Nazareth, without doubt. Especially in the light of the gospel, we see that the death of a person doesn't mean the death to his story. The epic may still live on for generations after generations and this is exactly what happened with the gospel, the exceptional story of Jesus Christ and his resurrection, which still continues to bewilder and reform people even to this day. The actual fact that the story of Jesus has lasted until this day in such a revolutionary way is a strong proof of it's divine origin.

Ultimately, life seems meaningless in the face of death. All of our memories and achievements get wiped out in the end. However, the story of Jesus' death and resurrection disregards death as the final word in the book of our lives and leaves the question of afterlife open ended. In an essence, every story, every human life, receives its true meaning in relation to Jesus. Theology must regard the story of Jesus as a sort of meta-narrative; a foundation for all other narratives. Without resurrection there is no hope and without hope there can be no meaning in life.

Throwback: My visit at the St. Paulus Croatian Catholic Service on the very first weekend gave me some insights to the modern day Catholicism. It was my first Catholic Mass I had ever participated in and I enjoyed it a lot. Especially, I liked the medieval style church building itself, it's very beautiful outside and inside.

At the beginning of the mass I was a little surprised, because all the people were looking at their left. It turned out that they were following and contemplating upon the salvation story of Jesus on the left wall, by the lead of their pastor.

Contemplating upon the life and sufferings of Jesus Christ is very common practice in Christianity, especially during Easter times, and shows the significance that a story can produce in human minds.

As Christians we should always be able to trust the grace and providence of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as the director of our lives. He owns the best manuscript.

After the formalities, people stayed outside the church to socialize. Of course, I had no time for such.