Theodrama

I recently was given links to a couple blog/forums of some stimulating friends of years gone by, Edmontonians all. Dissatisfaction with the Church has lead them to some significant thinking and rethinking about the future, or lack therof, of the Old Evangelicalism. One of the percieved problems seems to be a Church that glories in itself and its doctrine rather than mucking it up in the dirt of human history.

I believe this discussion may benefit from an explanation of the contrast between what are called "epic" and "dramatic" visions of the Christian life. My vocabulary here builds from the work of the Swiss Catholic theologian Hans urs Von Bathasar. I think much of it will resonate with some of the concerns I've seen expressed here by others. I hope it might supply some categories to articulate the differences between the developing understandings of the nature and mission of the Church, and that of classical Protestant Evangelicalism.

The epic play is one in which the reader knows the story and how it ends. "Epic" approaches to theology, most common in modernity, are essentially spectatorial and depict the Christian life from the outside and with a degree of extraction, like a painting that captures a whole narrative in one frame. A true dramatic play is full of shift, suspense and surprise - throwing the reader into the fray of confusion along with the characters. Thus a theologically "dramatic" approach allows recognition that we are still on the way, that the play is still unfolding, that we are a part of it, and that our understanding, and especially our desire to claim total comprehension (and thus quasi-apocalyptic resolution) of our situation, should be chastened by the recognition that more awaits us in the future.

An epic minded Christian will be interested in a tidy system of belief and practice and will expect that the plot will run along mechanically towards a predictable end; he will want his Church to be a blueprint of completeness, normativity, universal application, and systematic coherence. This leads to an attitude that claims to have all the answers, and nothing more to learn. This is painfully all too familiar.

The dramatic follower of Christ revels only in the boast of the Apostle Paul - in the Cross of Jesus Christ. She will endure struggle, growth, and decline, twisting and turning with the plot, aware that God will have some surprises in store regarding how things turn out in the end. She will have an expectation of learning from unexpected partners in the play - truth from other religions, lessons from the social outcast, etc. This is a breath of the Spirit of renewal.

Evangelicalism struggles to be reborn from the epic to the dramatic. Ecclesia semper
reformanda est.

For your consideration and encouragement, the contemporary Catholic Church, although not without its own issues and remaining epic qualities, has been on the move in the latter direction as well. Stereotypically much more tradition oriented and institutionalized than conventional Evangelicalism (although some Evangelical churches are far more wooden in their views but just don't acknowledge it on paper), there is a deep-rooted Catholic spirituality that embraces the dramatic divine-human interplay and celebrates and encourages a faith that is real, earthy, sincerely communal, and holistically missional. While it is sometimes incorrectly characterized as a massive unchangeable religious monolith, the Catholic Church has, and in fact always is undergoing periods of tremendous shift and development. Perhaps its greatest strength, and the reason it has lasted the test of time, is its ability to understand that God's Revelation is dynamic enough to allow itself to be dramatically translated for new times and places, and that the Church must be embracing of new forms of worship and new doctrinal expressions. Sometimes this seems a slow process, but sometimes things happen fast.

In the new evolution, we will have partners we do not expect.