{"id":6437,"date":"2010-06-26T13:45:07","date_gmt":"2010-06-26T13:45:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/jesuscreed\/2010\/06\/saturday-afternoon-book-review-19.html"},"modified":"2010-06-26T13:45:07","modified_gmt":"2010-06-26T13:45:07","slug":"saturday-afternoon-book-review-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2010\/06\/saturday-afternoon-book-review-19.html","title":{"rendered":"Saturday Afternoon Book Review: Wesley Vander Lugt"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Library.jpg\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Stanley Hauerwas, Hannah’s Child: A Theologian’s Memoir<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n


<\/span><\/p>\n

Reviewed
\nby Wesley Vander Lugt<\/a><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

wsvanderlugt.wordpress.com<\/span><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

It was hard to know what to expect from Stanley Hauerwas’s memoir, but I think I received more than I expected. If you are expecting Hauerwas’s own take on his work, you will not be disappointed. He identifies Naming the Silences as his best work (114), The Peaceable Kingdom as his core work (136), and Christian Existence Today as the book he wonders why more people don’t read. In weaving together his own personal journey with the influence of friends and circumstances, Hauerwas helps us understood why he wrote what he did and how it fits into his own journey of becoming a Christian and beginning to understand what that means.<\/div>\n


\n<\/p>\n

If you
\nare expecting a full does of Hauerwas’s forthrightness and honesty, you will
\nnot be disappointed. Hauerwas tells his story frankly and in a straightforward
\nmanner, explaining how he often does not live like a Christian, how becoming a
\nChristian at Notre Dame was slow and agonizing, how he coped (or failed to
\ncope) with his wife’s ongoing mental illness, and how he often does not know
\nwhat he believes until he forces himself to say it. Hauerwas does not sugar
\ncoat his relationships with fellow faculty members, his struggle with academia,
\nor his struggle with sanctification. Even the very prose with which Hauerwas
\nwrites exudes honesty and the “no bullshit” approach he so admired about Barth
\n(59).<\/span><\/p>\n

If you
\nare expecting a full gamut of ‘Hauerwasisms’ and various nuggets of theological
\ngold, you will not be disappointed. Situated within the context of his memoir,
\nit makes more sense why Hauerwas believes that theology should never be
\nseparated from ethics (115), that realism shuts off the imagination (137), that
\nmetaphysics is not an end in itself (157), that people and friendships make all
\nthe difference for what we know (196), and that the church that claims an
\n“answer” to suffering is an accommodated church (207). His conclusion that
\ntheologians need to come to terms with their material like a bricklayer (37)
\nmakes more sense in light of the fact that Hauerwas considers himself “a
\nworking class kid in the world of the university” (136). But all of this work
\nhas spiritual significance, because the work of theology is the work of prayer.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you
\nare expecting to learn that the life of a famous theologian is glamorous and
\nglorious, you will<\/i> be disappointed.
\nHauerwas makes us realize that despite being named “the best theologian in
\nAmerica” by Time Magazine in 2001, this has not meant smooth sailing, whether
\npersonally or academically. Most of all, we learn that no matter how many books
\nwe write, conference papers we deliver, or sabbaticals we secure, what matters
\nmost is being in good company. Hauerwas reiterates again and again that it is
\npeople that make us who we are; friends make our journey of life bearable or
\nunbearable. For the aspiring and aging academic alike, the most relevant advice
\nwe can glean from Hauerwas’s memoir is to make and keep good friends, because
\nthese friends will still be with us whether our books go out of print or we
\nnever get a book in print.<\/span><\/p>\n

We
\nneed more memoirs like Hauerwas’s to realize how theology and the work of
\ntheologians are always situated in particular times and places. Hauerwas would
\nnot be who he is if it were not for bricks, baseball, and everyday battles.
\nMemoirs like these help us reflect on what has shaped us and how we want to be
\nshaped in the future. We need more memoirs like Hauerwas’s to help us realize
\nthat theology is not just an academic discipline; it is a way of life. It was
\nsobering to read this memoir, because we should have no illusion that being a
\nChristian or a theologian is easy. But it was also encouraging to read this
\nmemoir, because–and I think Hauerwas would agree with this statement–if Stanley
\nHauerwas can be a theologian, anyone can be a theologian. This task is possible
\nbecause God is all about giving gifts, leaving Hauerwas to conclude: “…the work
\nI have been given is pure gift. That it is so means that I must take all the
\nmore care to live up to the vocation of teaching “the truth that is in Jesus
\nChrist” (283). Let that be a challenge to us all.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stanley Hauerwas, Hannah’s Child: A Theologian’s Memoir Reviewed by Wesley Vander Lugt wsvanderlugt.wordpress.com It was hard to know what to expect from Stanley Hauerwas’s memoir, but I think I received more than I expected. If you are expecting Hauerwas’s own take on his work, you will not be disappointed. 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