Stanley Hauerwas

Abstract Stanley Hauerwas (b. 1940) is currently among the most prolific and significant theological ethicists. His work has exercised a tremendous influence in theological ethics from the 1970s through the 1990s, and one imagines well beyond. A significant feature of Hauerwas’ writing has been his self-conscious concern with Scripture as a touchstone for reflecting on theological ethics. For example, he introduces his book A Community of Character (1981) with the following statement: “My wish is that this book might help Christians rediscover that their most important social task is nothing less than to be a community capable of hearing the story of God we find in the scripture and living in a manner that is faithful to that story.” For Hauerwas, all theological reflection necessarily entails hearing the stories of Scripture and performing these stories. At the same time, Scripture is a function and derivative of Christian community, which means that the story of God related in Scripture can only be truly heard and enacted in the broader context of such community. Hauerwas’s approach to the Bible, then, reflects an appreciation for how the Christian community inter-prets Scripture and how, in tum, Scripture interprets the Christian community. This dynamic conversation between Scripture and community lies at the heart of Hauerwas’s approach to the Bible.