The story of the postmodernity (a story in Tracy’s academic republic)

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Orientation

Chapter One defines the scope of the study and provides the motivation, background  and the purpose of the study. It also highlights the challenges that the study seeks to understand and indicate the direction of the study that is a narrative theology which seeks to bring people together from the economically divided South African context and unites into the body of Christ, becoming a humble servant within the South African community. This general direction is indicated by certain directives that will guide the study.

Theological Process

Chapter Three introduces the first phase of the theological method proposed in Chapter Two, namely descriptive theology. The first step in the descriptive theological journey is insertion and in this step I will introduce the various stories of the South African postmodern urban global village – stories of the global village, of villagers and marginalised. The study will listen to the stories of need within the global village and seek to illuminate and describe the first level of reality of these stories as understood and interpreted by myself. This section of the study will be made up of interviews, experiences and stories of individuals from the context.

Theological Guidelines

Chapter Seven is the strategic practical theology where I will be reflecting on the theological journey of strategic practical theology within the specific ministry context of the Evangelical Lutheran Church Pretoria, St. Peters. The re-authored story of Chapter Six is then brought into this specific ministry context. It is a story of transformation and a story of hope where a new imagined future is anticipated in a proposed praxis for the church in the postmodern urban South African context within a narrative theological orientation.

The methodology of Chapter Two

Chapter Two will seek to describe postmodernity in all three of Tracy’s republics as well as offer a justification for the use of narrative theology in a postmodern context. I will then propose a fundamentally narrative methodology as the guiding methodology for the study.

Part One: Orientation
Chapter One: The Scope Of The Study
1. Theme
2. Brief description of the study
3. Background and motivations for this study
3.1 Concrete South African reality
3.2 A divided context
3.2.1 The story of the global village
3.2.2 Other stories that challenge the story of the global village
3.3 A global reality 9
3.4 The post-apartheid postmodern South African context
3.5 Personal interests
3.5.1 Philosophy
3.5.2 Economic justice
3.6 Personal Position
3.7 Spiritual and Biblical understanding
3.8 A theology for the postmodern world
4. Formulation of the challenge/problem
4.1 The struggles of the villagers
4.1.1 The story of the village
4.1.2 The reality of the village
4.1.3 The postmodern story of the village
4.2 The struggles of the marginalised
4.2.1 Globalization
4.2.2 The concrete context
4.3 The church’s response to the global village
4.3.1 The church’s response to the villagers
4.3.2 The church’s response to the marginalised
4.4 The theological challenge
4.5 The challenge
5. Direction of Study
5.1 A narrative theological orientation responding to the economically divided community in postmodern urban South Africa and uniting the divided community into a community of the cross as modelled in Pastoral Redemptive Communities
5.2 Narrative theology
6. Directives of study
6.1 Narrative approach
6.2 Narrative theology
6.3 The Biblical Narrative’s call into community
6.4 The collision of the narratives in the Eucharist
6.5 Diaconical Community
7. Delimitation and focus of study
8. Clarification of terms used in the study
9. Study outline
Chapter Two: Towards a narrative theological orientation in a postmodern world: exploring the development of postmodernity and suggesting a theological orientation within this context for doing theology in a postmodern urban South African context
1. Introduction
2. The challenge of postmodernity
2.1 Introduction
2.2 The methodology of Chapter Two
3. An introduction to the postmodern condition
3.1 In search for an adequate understanding of the postmodern condition
3.1.1 The origin of the term ‘postmodern’
3.2 A description of the postmodern condition
3.3 Postmodern summary
4. The story of the postmodernity (a story in Tracy’s academic republic)
4.1 The story of modernity
4.1.1 Great themes of the modern philosophic story
4.1.2 Great themes of the modern social-cultural and economic story
4.1.3 The modern understanding of truth and knowledge
4.2 Modern and the development of the postmodern
4.3 The epistemological story of postmodernity
4.3.1 Wittgenstein, epistemology, language and postmodernity
4.3.2 Karl Popper, subjective truth and postmodernism
4.3.3 Thomas Kuhn, historicity of knowledge and postmodernism
4.3.4 Edmund Husserl, phenomenology, hermeneutics, romanticism and postmodernism
4.3.5 Modernity, the individual self and the return of Gnosticism
5.3.6 Hans-George Gadamer
4.3.7 Paul Ricoeur, texts, structural analysis and postmodernity
4.3.8 The critical theory of Jürgen Habermas
5. The story of Postmodernity (a story in Tracy’s society and church republics)
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Two major historical events
5.2.1 The fall of the Berlin Wall
5.2.2 The release of Nelson Mandela and the New South Africa
5.3 The social-cultural aspect of postmodernity
5.3.1 Universal truths, norms and values as the basis for ethical judgement
5.3.2 Fragmentation of values and beliefs in an age of relativism and pluralism
5.4 The broad context of postmodernity within church and society
5.4.1 Postmodernity and the urban context
6. In summary: postmodernity in perspective
6.1 Postmodern ontology
6.2 Postmodern subjectivity
6.3 Postmodern epistemology
6.4 Postmodern agency
6.5 Postmodern teleology
7. The church and modernity
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Theology’s story in modernity
7.2.1 Theology in close relationship to modernity
7.2.2 Theology in reaction to modernity
8. Narrative as a response to postmodernity
8.1 Introduction
8.2 Narrative and human action
8.2.1 Action in modernity
8.2.2 Narrative intelligibility of human actions
8.3 Narrative understanding of human existence 9
8.3.1 Philosophical debate on personal identity
8.3.2 Narrative understanding of self/personal identity
8.4 Social setting of narrative
8.4.1 Sacred stories
8.4.2 Mundane stories
8.4.3 Different narratives settings
8.5 Narrative and epistemology
8.6 Narrative and truths
8.6.1 The external history (an analytical story)
8.6.2 Internal history (a metaphorical story)
8.7 Summary: narrative response to postmodernity
9. Postmodernity’s challenge to theology
10. Narrative theological response to postmodernity
10.1 Introduction
10.2 Narrative as a dominant genre in the Biblical as well as in confessional Christian witness
10.2.1 Narrative and Torah
10.2.2 Narrative and the New Testament
10.3 Narrative and experience, self and meaning
10.4 Narrative and the identity of community
10.4.1 Congregational narrative setting
10.5 The narrative structure of Christian faith/narrative understanding of soteriology
10.5.1 Revelation
10.5.2 Narrative understanding of revelation
10.5.3 Narrative, revelation and confession
10.6 Narrative roots within Jewish tradition
10.6 .1Jewish understanding of revelation
10.7 Summary: Narrative as an appropriate theological orientation within postmodernity
11. A narrative theological orientation in a postmodern world for “doing theology in the global village”
11.1 Transformative praxis as the focal point of the study’s narrative theological orientation
11.2 The dangers of uncritical construction of narratives
11.2.1 The conflict between experience and the narratives of the community
11.2.2 Phronesis as a critical awareness to ideological distortion
11.2.3 Ideological critique from within the Christian-Jewish narratives
11.3 Summary: Narrative theological orientation for doing theology in the global village
12. Narrative methodology for the study
12.1 Introduction
12.2 Seeking a theological working description for narrative contextual theology
12.2.1 Working description
12.3 The research methodology
12.3.1 Narrative research methodology
12.3.2 Fundamental practical theology
12.3.3 A contextual approach (pastoral hermeneutical circle)
12.4 A combination of a contextual, fundamental practical theology and narrative approach
12.4.1 Insertion/descriptive theology/story of need
12.4.2 Descriptive theology/analysis/retelling the story of the past and the darkened story of the future
12.4.3 Historical theology/theology reflection
12.4.4 Systematic theology/re-authored story of the past
12.4.5 Strategic practical theology/imagined story of the future/models of pastoral action
12.5 The theological story of the study: clarifying my own roots and theological story
12.5.1 The theological roots of the story
Part Two: Theological Journey
Chapter Three: Descriptive theology part one – insertion: describing ‘global village’ by listening to the stories of need told by the villagers as well as marginalised
1. Introduction to descriptive theology
1.1 Practical way forward on how the context of need will be described
2. The primary story of need leading up to the study
2.1 The story of my journey
2.2 The theological story
2.3 The ministry story
2.3.1 Inner city of Pretoria – a ministry to those marginalised from the global village
2.3.2 Inner city of Berlin
2.3.3 Congregations in Port Elizabeth, Pretoria and Johannesburg
2.4 Summary: The primary story of need
3. The Secondary stories of need – global village experiences
3.1 Introduction
3.2 The stories of need from the villagers
3.2.1 The story of unemployment – a villager’s story of need
3.2.2 The story of emigration – a story of the global labour market
3.2.3 The stories of families in the global village
3.2.4 The story of the young person in the global village
3.2.5 The story of flexibility
3.2.6 The story of no hope
3.2.7 The story of the church in the global village
3.2.8 Theological questions that can be raised from the villager’s stories of need within the global village
3.3 The secondary stories of need from those on the margins of the global village
3.3.1 Stories from the homeless community
3.3.2 The story of a shack dweller
3.3.3 The story of a young girl in crisis
3.3.4 The story of the church and those on the margins of the global village
3.4 The primary story of need together with the secondary stories of need
3.4.1 The primary and secondary stories of need within the five dimensions of action or practice
3.5 Tentative theological reflections on my insertion experience, describing
the stories of need of both the villagers and those marginalised from the global village
Chapter Four: Describing and unpacking a story of the past and the clouded story of the future
1. Introduction to the second step of descriptive theology: unpacking the story of
the past and the clouded story of the future
2. Descriptive theology as the hermeneutical link between the narrative theological
approach and the “secular” disciplines of the human sciences
2.1 How is such a critical dialogue/conversation possible?
2.1.1 This critical conversation within the field of psychology
2.1.2 This critical conversation within the field of social sciences
2.1.3 The focus and horizon of social research
2.2 Validity claims in the context of descriptive theology and the common
human experience in the global village
3. Description of the terms: ‘globalization’ and ‘global village’
3.1 Description 2
3.1.1 Broad descriptive characteristics
3.1.2 Daily global village experiences – action in the global village
4. Unpacking the story of the global village – globalization
4.1 Introduction and the problem of unpacking the phenomenon – ‘globalization’
5. Introduction to the first perspective: the story of the development of the global village – globalization
6. Unpacking the story of the development of the global village – the world capitalist order
6.1 The early beginnings of the story
6.1.1 Aristotle and economics
6.2 The early beginnings of the markets up to the middle ages
6.3 The mercantile markets
6.4 The capitalist market
6.4.1 The reality of the market economy
6.4.2 The different elements of capitalism
6.4.3 The development of a global market economy
6.5 The final stage in the development of the world capitalist order – the market of the global village
6.5.1 The beginning of the story of the global market (first phase): the
trans-nationalisation of the markets and the market players
6.5.2 The second phase
6.5.3 The third phase
7. Unpacking the story of the global village – the demise of the nation state 2
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Unpacking the story
7.2.1 Actors and plot
7.3 National political framework for capitalist market economy
7.3.1 Politics over economics – Fordism and Keynesianism
7.3.2 Economics over politics – Neo-liberal finance markets
8. Unpacking the story of the global division of labour
8.1 The story behind the story
9. Unpacking the story of the world military order
9.1 Introduction
9.2 World military order
9.3 Whose power
10. Unpacking the story of the ideological media story of the global village
10.1 Introduction
10.2 Global village – ideological and media and cultural imperialism
10.3 Media in the global village and the failed MacBride recommendations
10.3.1 Communication
10.3.2 Technology
10.3.3 Culture
11. Unpacking the story of the fragmented and marginalised from the global village
11.1 Introduction
11.2 Unpacking the historical setting of the stories of marginalisation and fragmentation in the world capitalist order
11.2.1 Unpacking the story of marginalised from Bretton Woods to the end of the Cold War
11.3 Unpacking the story of fragmentation and marginalisation – the division of labour
11.4 Unpacking the story of fragmentation and marginalisation – the demise of the nation sate
11.4.1 The instability within the nation state
11.5 Unpacking the story of marginalisation – the cultural and media story
12. Introduction to the second perspective: the global village as narrative setting
13. Global village as a narrative setting – a social and cultural phenomenon
13.1 Introduction
13.2 Globalization and experience of self
13.2.1 A few examples of how the individual story is connected to the global story
13.3 Globalization and modernity
13.4 Globalization and postmodernity
14. Global field of experience/global narrative setting
15. Narrative global field of experience
15.1 The disembedded narratives of national societies
15.1.1 Relativisation of societies
15.1.2 Individual-society problematic
15.1.3 Relativisation of citizenship
15.2 The disembedded narratives of the world system of societies
15.3 The disembedded narratives of selves
15.4 The disembedded narratives of humanity
16. Globalization and homelessness (nostalgia)
17. Summary of Chapter Four
18. Conclusion: describing the problem story of the global village
Chapter Five: Concluding remarks on descriptive theology with regards to the postmodern global village
1. Descriptive summary of the postmodern global village
1.1 Capitalism and postmodernity in the global village
1.2 The global village a postmodern village
1.3 The postmodern global village – the realization of the modern dream of heaven on earth
1.4 The individual in the postmodern global village
1.4.1 The fragmented lives of individuals in the postmodern global village
1.4.2 The individual and morality in the postmodern global village
1.4.3 The individual in relation to others in the postmodern global village
1.4.4 The postmodern global village a place of freedom yet conformity
1.5 The triumph of consumerism
1.6 The effects of the postmodern global village
1.6.1 Violence and division
1.7 The concluding descriptive story of the postmodern global village
2. The story of the church in the development of the postmodern global village
2.1 Introduction to the story of the church in the postmodern global village
2.2 The diverse and paradoxical story of the church and the development of the postmodern global village
2.2.1 History of the church as an argument for Christian faith
2.3 The History of the church
2.3.1 Introduction
2.3.2 The church after Constantine
2.4 The church and Enlightenment
2.4.1 The Enlightenment’s claim to universal divinity
2.4.2 The Enlightenment’s redefinition of the secular and the church’s response
2.4.3 Enlightenment’s understanding of the individual and the church’s response
2.4.4 The church’s role in the development of the secular and the universal man
2.4.5 The result of the church’s position toward these developments
2.5 The Church and modernity
2.6 The Church and postmodernity/ the church with the global village
2.6.1 Postmodernity and Christianity
2.6.2 The church in postmodernity compared to the early church
2.6.3 The church and the development of the postmodern
2.6.4 How does the church view itself at the end of Christendom?
2.6.5 The Church in a fragmented postmodern global village
2.7 The concluding story of the church and the development of the postmodern global village
3. Questions from the practice of the church in the global village that will guide the dialogue with the sacred texts and traditions of the Christian faith in historical and systematic theology
3.1 Introduction
3.2 The primary questions that motivated the study
3.3 Secondary questions
3.4 Theory-laden questions
3.4.1 Questions arising from the postmodern context of the global village
3.4.2 The questions from the theory-laden practice of the church within the postmodern global village
3.5 The Core questions which will guide the rest of my theological journey
Chapter Six: Historical and systematic theology: dialogue between the sacred texts and the questions raised in descriptive theology
1. Introduction to historical systematic theology
1.1 The basic outline of this chapter
2. Historical theology in a postmodern global village
2.1 The Gospel as narrative truth
2.1.1 The Biblical understanding of narrative truth
2.2 The Gospel truth known in the story of the revealed Word of God
2.3 The Gospel truth known in the story of the experience of faith – kerygma
2.4 The Gospel truth as relevant
2.5 The Gospel truth as authority
2.6 The Gospel and the Messianic era
2.7 The Gospel creates the church as a messianic fellowship
2.8 Fusion of horizons between narrative orientation in a postmodern world and the theological understanding of truth in the Gospel
3. Introduction to the question
4. The context of the Biblical story of God’s fellowship in history
4.1 The story of God’s fellowship and their adventure
4.2 The summary of the context of the Biblical story of God’s fellowship in history
5. Introduction to the journey of describing the church
6. The dimensions within which the church needs to describe her identity
6.1 The church before God/ the church of Jesus Christ
6.2 The church’s relevance and obligation towards humanity and the world
6.3 The church before God’s future with the world
6.4 Summary of the dimension within which the church needs to describe her identity
7. The relationship which are integral to the church’s identity
7.1 The relationship between the church as a social reality of experience and the church of faith (credo ecclesiam)
7.1.1 Paradoxical identity
7.1.2 The anticipation of hope
7.1.3 Sacramental identification
7.2 The church and her relationship to Christ in the history of the Spirit
7.2.1 The church and the history of Christ
7.2.2 The church exists in the power of the Holy Spirit
7.3 The relationship between the church and the history of the world
7.4 The relationship between the church and the trinitarian history of God
7.5 Summary of the relationships which are integral to the church’s identity
8. The story of Christ as the church’s narrative
8.1 The church’s messianic mission
8.1.1 A messianic mission of proclamation of the Gospel of joy and thus the joy of the truth
8.1.2 A messianic mission with and for the poor
8.1.3 A messianic mission as a call to complete conversion
8.1.4 The proclamation of Jesus and the preaching of Christ through the church
8.1.5 The messianic mission – a world mission
8.2 Representative self-giving: The story of Christ’s passion – a story of a community of and under the cross
8.2.1 Justification of the sinner and liberation from the power of sin
8.2.2 Liberation from the idols of power
8.2.3 Liberation of godforsakenness and the godforsaken
8.3 The liberating Lordship of Jesus and the fellowship of the kingdom
8.3.1 Christ’s resurrection and exaltation and lordship
8.3.2 The story of the kingdom of God as a kingdom of redemption
8.3.3 A total conversion of values
8.3.4 Liberated fellowship is a fellowship of liberation
8.4 Sharing in the glory of Jesus and the ‘feast without end’
8.5 The church of Christ is there where Christ is
8.5.1 Christ is present in the apostolate
8.5.2 Christ is present in the poor
8.5.3 Christ is present in His parousia
8.5.4 In summary
8.6 Summary of the church’s story – the history of Christ
9. The story of the early church’s identity
9.1 Introduction
9.2 The New Testament and early church’s understanding of being church
9.3 The early church as Altera Civitas
9.4 The City whose architect and maker is God
9.5 The early church and her relationship to Israel
9.6 Summary: The historical narrative of the early church
10. Fusion of horizons- the questions from the theory-laden practices and historical theology: – a systematic theological story
10.1 Introduction
10.2 Question one: what kind of church will unite villagers and marginalised into one body?
10.2.1 Temptations
10.2.2 Fusion of horizons – the questions with historical theology
10.2.3 Conclusion
10.3 Question two: what kind of church can guide and lead villagers and marginalised with regard to ethical questions and with regard to a faithful life within a fragmented postmodern global village context?
10.3.1 Temptations
10.3.2 The fusion of horizons – the questions with historical theology
10.4 Question three: what kind of church is necessary where both the stories of the villagers and marginalised can be re-authored by the redemptive story of the triune God, revealed in Christ, into a story of hope?
10.4.1 Fusion of horizons – the questions with historical theology
10.5 Questions four: what kind of church is necessary where this redemptive narratives, as testified to by scripture, is a prophetic alternative to the dominant discourses of the postmodern global village and exposes these dominant discourses?
10.5.1 Fusion of horizons – the question with historical theology
10.6 Question five: what kind of church is necessary where the Gospel can be proclaimed as a redemptive truth for all?
10.6.1 Fusion of horizons – the questions with historical theology
11. Conclusion of the historical and systematic theological story
11.1 Outline of the insights gained from the historical and systematic theological story
11.1.1 A new monastic community as the church in the postmodern global village
11.1.2 Concluding remarks
Part Three: Theological Guidelines/Strategic Practical Theology
Chapter Seven: Strategic practical theology – Pastoral Redemptive Communities as pastoral ecclesiological praxis within a narrative theological orientation within the postmodern global village from an urban South African perspective
1. Introduction
2. Understanding the concrete situation
2.1 We are an inner city congregation
2.2 We are an English speaking Lutheran congregation
2.3 We are a congregation in the capital of South Africa
2.4 We find ourselves in a postmodern global context
3. What would be our praxis in this concrete situation?
3.1 The Gospel as our guiding authority on praxis
4. Scripture re-authors our horizons with regard to praxis – historical theology
4.1 Love for God and love for neighbour – the dimension within which the praxis needs to be understood
4.2 Baptised into the triune story – in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit
4.3 Guided and orientated by the story and teaching of Jesus – teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you
4.4 An eschatological dimension – until the end of the age
4.5 Christ is present – I am with you always
4.6 The power of the kingdom of Christ – all authority is heaven and on earth
4.7 A fusion of horizons – a re-authored story for transformative praxis
4.7.1 Visional level
4.7.2 Obligational level
4.7.3 Tendency-need level
4.7.4 Environmental and social dimension
4.7.5 Rule role dimension
4.7.6 Conclusion
5. Systematic theology – a fusion of horizons, a unique outcome and a critical defence of the norms of our praxis
5.1 A critical defence of our norms of praxis
5.1.1 Visional level
5.1.2 The obligational level
5.1.3 The tendency-need level
5.1.4 The environmental and social level
5.1.5 the rule role level
6. Pastoral Redemptive Communities as a possible strategy in response to the concrete situation?
6.1 Introducing Pastoral Redemptive Communities
6.1.1 Pastoral Redemptive Communities are embedded in the story of Christ crucified
6.1.2 Pastoral Redemptive Communities strive to create alternative realities as a contrast society to the brokenness of the world around
us. Under the grace of God they are kingdom communities
6.1.3 Pastoral Redemptive Communities are places where individuals and families experience healing and reach out to the community
6.1.4 Pastoral Redemptive Communities share and proclaim hope
6.1.5 Pastoral Redemptive Communities function as the body of Christ within the city
6.1.6 Pastoral Redemptive Communities are open communities of hospitality where the lost, hungry, thirsty and needy are invited as Christ
6.2 Pastoral Redemptive Communities in the context of the theory-laden questions
6.2.1 Introduction
6.2.2 What kind of church, which finds itself within the postmodern,urban global South African context and which has the calling to unify all in the body of Christ, could respond to the stories of need of both the villagers and the marginalised, when this ethical and pastoral task is made rather difficult in a postmodern context?
7. Pastoral ecclesiological action in a postmodern global village within a narrative theological orientation as an imagined story of the future
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Pastoral ecclesiological action made up of concrete practices (rules and roles, communication patterns)
7.3 Pastoral ecclesiological action is motivated by needs and tendencies
7.4 Pastoral ecclesiological action is limited and channelled by social systematic and ecological constraints
7.5 Pastoral ecclesiological action is ordered by the principles of obligation
7.6 Pastoral ecclesiological action is given meaning by visions, narratives and metaphors (sacred stories)
7.7 Conclusion
Part Four: Summary
Chapter Eight: critical reflection on the narrative theological orientation in the postmodern global village from a postmodern urban South African perspective
1. Narrative theological orientation: a critical reflection
2. Pastoral Redemptive Communities: a critical reflection
3. Epilogue
Bibliography

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