Religious Studies Faculty Publications

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2004

Publication Source

Journal of Religious Ethics

Abstract

Hauerwas's refusal to translate the argument displayed in With the Grain of the Universe (his recent Gifford Lectures) into language that "anyone" can understand is itself part of the argument. Consequently, readers will not understand what Hauerwas is up to until they have attained fluency in the peculiar language that has epitomized three decades of Hauerwas's scholarship. Such fluency is not easily gained. Nevertheless, in this review essay, I situate Hauerwas's baffling language against the backdrop of his corpus to show at least this much: With the Grain of the Universe transforms natural theology into "witness." In the end, my essay may demonstrate what many have feared, that Hauerwas is, in fact, a Christian apologist — though of a very ancient sort.

Inclusive pages

197-218

ISBN/ISSN

0384-9694

Document Version

Postprint

Comments

Document available for download from this repository is the author's accepted manuscript, posted in compliance with the publisher's policy on self-archiving. Differences may exist between this version and the published version. Researchers quoting material directly from this article are advised to also view the version of record.

Permission documentation is on file.

Publisher

John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Volume

32

Issue

1

Peer Reviewed

yes

Keywords

Hauerwas, Barth, Yoder, narrative, witness

Link to published version

COinS