If we write, our best friends might just be those who write against us. Luther and Erasmus, both 
formidable thinkers, derive at least part of their well-earned place in the Church’s memory because of their fierce struggle over the freedom or the bondage of the will. Friedrich Nietzsche, whose reputation in philosophical circles was in no danger, nonetheless gains a different sort of place in the Christian curriculum precisely because Alasdair MacIntyre and John Milbank and David Bentley Hart have dedicated so many words to countering his work. And Stanley Hauerwas, who made his own name offering a strong rhetorical alternative to Protestant liberalism over the years, no doubt will have Dr. Nicholas Healy to thank for his recent book Hauerwas: A (Very) Critical Introduction, a volume that encourages readers to revisit the Duke theologian’s books precisely to evaluate where truth lies and where it might next unfold, if we take what’s best in Hauerwas and seek to do better what his books don’t yet do well. As we begin to talk about just such things, Christian Humanist Profiles welcomes Nicholas Healy to the show.
Christian Humanist Profiles 9: A Very Critical Introduction to Hauerwas with Nicholas Healy
Just finished this interview and wanted to thank you for it. It was a great primer to Hauerwas and much needed by myself, as I have been wondering how to approach his work. I have only read The Peaceable Kingdom thus far and am honestly still digesting it. I think that I will revisit it before attempting to move on to his other books. Unless of course you have a better suggestion. I can’t say enough about the merits of these podcasts. I would love to hear some of your observations and assessments of Hauerwas vis a vis Kenneth Burke and his rhetorical technique. I am attempting Burke’s Grammar of Rhetoric and was again very grateful to see his work addressed by your blogs. Thanks again for a wonderful program.
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Jason Mnrqz Many thanks for listening and for chiming in, Jason! I’ve been reading Hauerwas’s books for almost twenty years (that’s hard to believe), so these last two Profiles interviews have been a good deal of fun for me.
With regards to Burke, I’m actually in the middle of drafting (what will hopefully become) a brief book on rhetoric and teaching aimed specifically at Christian professors, so I’ve been thinking a great deal about his work!