Beyond Literal Idolatry

Expectations and Hope in the Field of Narrative Theology

Bibliographic Data

ID3435506
AuthorsDaniel Boscaljon (0000-0002-1297-3040, Independent Researcher, Cheyenne, WY 82001, USA, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume13
Issue5
Pages430
Publication date2022-05-11
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueReligions (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444
PublisherMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/rel13050430
OpenAlexW4280552417
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited6

This article examines the role of hope relative to the unexplored potential of narrative theology as a particular mode of thinking. The first section provides a brief introduction. The second section begins by discussing the world of experience as postulated by Alfred North Whitehead: I argue that literal idolatry forms as a specific technology based around the use of symbols. The third section explores the resources of narrative as a centrifugal model of metaphor that serves as a robust alternative literal idolatry: I argue that narratives develop the intellect through pattern recognition and the imagination through empathetic recognition, and then describe how narrative theory's emphasis on focalized perspectives opens hopeful expectations of the future. The fourth section explores Ricoeur's work in narrative theology, defining it as a "field" whose dynamic emphasis on tension provides an alternative to the static, "closed circuit" of religious symbols. The final section looks at Colson Whitehead's The Intuitionist as a contemporary novel that seems to fit with Ricoeur's stipulations for what generates a field of narrative theology

Art · Epistemology · Idolatry · Intellect · Linguistics · Literature · Metaphor · Narrative · Omniscience · Theology · Biblical Studies and Interpretation · Computer Science · Hermeneutics and Narrative Identity · Narrative Theory and Analysis · Philosophy

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