Stanley Hauerwas and William H. Willimon, Resident Aliens: A Provocative Christian Assessment of Culture and Ministry for People Who Know that Something is Wrong. Abingdon, 1989.
Referenced in: Theology of Mission, Proposals and Formulations – Missio Dei
LifeandLeadership.com Summary
While this is not one of the more recent missional theologies, it was one of the first books to note that the church is marginalized, and is thus “Life in the Christian Colony.” It is widely quoted by missional authors.
The book begins with a look at the changing relationship of church and culture. The authors herald the end of Constantianism, which began with the Edict of Milan in 313 a.d., and ended in symbolic act similar to that in 1963 when the Fox Theatre in Greeneville, South Carolina defied the blue laws and opened its doors on Sunday. The increasing marginalization of the churched marked by that act gave the church “an opportunity to discover what has and always is the case – that the church, as those called out by God, embodies a social alternative that the world cannot on its own terms know.”(18) They elaborate:
“The demise of the Constantinian world view, the gradual decline of the notion that the church needs some sort of surrounding ‘Christian’ culture to prop it up and mold its young, is not a death to lament. It is an opportunity to celebrate. The decline of the old, Constantinian synthesis between the church and the world means that we American Christians are at last free to be faithful to a way that makes being a Christian today an exciting adventure.” (18)
From there, they discuss the realities of the post-Enlightenment world, and the implications this has for the “Christian colony” in their interaction with politics, community, ethics, and ministry. There is a great deal of emphasis on the Sermon on the Mount.
The book is not as coherent as some would like, and is heavily influenced by the Anabaptist, separatist, and strongly pacifistic teachings of Hauerwas’ mentor, John Howard Yoder. This does not discredit the book by any means, just reveals its orientation.
This is one of the most widely read books on the mission of the church in the new era. The web is replete with reviews and summaries, with twenty-five appearing on Amazon alone. A good perusal of these commentaries will help readers assess the value of Resident Aliens for their own understanding.
From the Publisher
In this bold and visionary book, two leading Christian thinkers explore the “alien” status of Christians in today’s world and offer a compelling new vision of how the Christian church can regain its vitality, battle its malaise, reclaim its capacity to nourish souls, and stand firmly against the illusions, pretensions, and eroding values of today’s world. Hauerwas and Willimon call for a radical new understanding of the church. By renouncing the emphasis on personal psychological categories, they offer a vision of the church as a colony, a holy nation, a people, a family standing for sharply focused values in a devalued world.
About the Authors
Stanley Hauerwas is the Gilbert Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics in the Divinity School at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina.
William H. Willimon is Presiding Bishop of the North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church, Birmingham, AL area, and Visiting Research Professor, Duke Divinity School, Durham, NC.
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