The Bible
The Bible Is a big story containing many smaller stories. Often we touch on smaller stories, and miss the bigger story which reflects God’s plan for humankind. Narrative (story telling) theology highlights how our story connects with the story of God. Story telling is an integral part of humanity, binding together communities and forming the bases of our identity, time and culture.
Consider how popular TV soaps, tabloids, movies and books are. Through stories we as Christians can engage with the world today.
Narrative theology accepts biblical content is not simply black or white “falling from heaven” as instant truth, rather it was written from within the context of each writer’s life and their understanding of God. It is easy to find extracts taken out of context to support completely different versions of “truth”. Many South Africans for example, quoted scripture to support apartheid. The bible remains foundational, and searching for the “big story” is the better way.
Narrative theologians have divided the bible into 7 Acts, to aid understanding. The first 6 acts help us to perceive our own place in the plan, but the Drama of our life with God has not ended. The final Act 7 is the continuation, when we play our part in the ongoing Drama.
The Bible in 7 Acts – the story in which we find ourselves!”
