Versions of Ecclesiology

The recent book by Nicholas Healy, Hauerwas. A (very) critical introduction, charges that the centrality given to ecclesiology by Hauerwas unbalances theology in general, especially undermining doctrines of God and salvation, and ends with a Christology based on human experience akin to the thought of Schleiermacher. Healy adds that, ironically, an ethic supposedly characterized by the formation of character through practices does not lead to sufficient attention to the empirical church. The article proceeds to review two recent volumes of essays by Hauerwas, which he intends to be retrospective on his life’s work, and explores the extent to which they might provide a riposte to Healy’s criticisms, focusing especially on the themes of ‘the logic of believing’, story, church as ‘contrast-community’, grace and salvation, and the incompleteness of theology. The article urges that a more trinitarian ecclesiology than either writer offers can preserve the best insights of both, affirming Healy’s recognition of the blurring of boundaries between church and world, and Hauerwas’ stresses on covenantal partnership between God and church and the indispensable identity of the church.