Narrative theology
Encyclopedia
Postliberal theology began as a late 20th-century development in Christian Theology
. It proposes that the Church's use of the Bible
should focus on a narrative
presentation of the faith as regulative for the development of a coherent systematic theology
. Founded principally by George Lindbeck
, Hans Wilhelm Frei
and other scholars at Yale Divinity School
it is sometime referred to as "the Yale school" or "narrative theology".
, Thomas Aquinas
and to some extent, the nouvelle théologie
of French Catholics such as Henri de Lubac
. The clear philosophical influence, however, was Ludwig Wittgenstein
's philosophy of language, the moral philosophy of Alasdair MacIntyre
, and the sociological insights of Clifford Geertz
and Peter Berger
on the nature of communities. Scientific philosophers such as Thomas Kuhn
and literary theorists such as Erich Auerbach
also influenced the new approach.
, important postliberal thinkers included George Lindbeck
, Hans Wilhelm Frei
, and Stanley Hauerwas
; theologians in this camp were once concentrated at Yale Divinity School, but are now influential at a number of seminaries and divinity schools, notably Duke Divinity School
(where Hauerwas teaches). This movement has provided much of the foundation for other movements, such as Radical orthodoxy
, Scriptural Reasoning
, paleo-orthodoxy
, the emerging church movement
, and postliberal versions of evangelicalism
and Roman Catholicism. Its ecumenical spirit originates from George Lindbeck's work, which was partly animated by his involvement as a Lutheran observer at the Second Vatican Council
.
In contrast to liberal individualism in theology, postliberal theology roots rationality not in the certainty of the individual thinking subject (cogito ergo sum, "I think, therefore I am") but in the language and culture of a living tradition of communal life. The postliberals argue that the Christian faith be equated with neither the religious feelings of Romanticism
nor the propositions of a Rationalist or fundamentalist approach to religion. Rather, the Christian faith is understood as a culture and a language, in which doctrines are likened to a "depth grammar" for the first-order language and culture (practices, skills, habits) of the church that is historically shaped by the continuous, regulated reading of the scriptural narrative over time. Thus, in addition to a critique of theological liberalism, and an emphasis upon the Bible, there is also a stress upon tradition, and upon the language, culture and intelligibility intrinsic to the Christian community. As a result, postliberal theologies are often oriented around the scriptural narrative as a script to be performed, understand orthodox dogmas (esp. the creeds) as depth-grammars for Christian life, and see such scriptural and traditional grammars as a resource for both Christian self-critique and culture critique.
The early postliberals followed Karl Barth's view that the best apologetics was a good systematics, and as such believed that Christians should "not engage in systematic apologetics. Postliberal theologians will make ad hoc connections with the philosophy or art or miscellaneous experience of the cultures around them, but they do not believe that any non-Christian framework, philosophical or cultural, sets the context in which Christian claims must be defended." However, later postliberals have qualified this aversion, and have seriously tempered its initial concerns over both apologetics and metaphysics (E.g. Paul Griffiths, An Apology for Apologetics, and Stanley Hauerwas, With the Grain of the Universe). In this way, postliberal theologies have largely replicated earlier 20th century debates around the notion of the 'analogy of being' (see Hans Urs von Balthasar, The Theology of Karl Barth). Unlike the liberal trend preceding it, postliberal theology also tends to stress the dissimilarities between religions, and will often strike out against dominant cultural trends.
Scriptural interpretation remains fundamental for postliberal theology. There are at least four key exegetical differences that lie between liberal and postliberal theology. First, liberal interpretation of Scripture is done with a preoccupation with the historical context, whereas postliberal interpretation is "an act of imagination," interpreting the text with the needs of the reading sub-community in the forefront. Liberal theology deals with aiming to understand the text as it would have applied to the past. Using a non-foundationalist approach, postliberal interpretation aims to interpret the text as it should be applied now and in the future. Second, liberal theologians depend on unbiased reason to ensure finding the objective meaning of the text. Postliberal theologians, however, recognize the impossibility of reading without imposing interpretation of the text by the reader, where such a notion of objective reading disintegrates. Third, "we read texts as bodied interpreters fully situated in some body politic." That is, each and every reader and reading is relative to a degree. Finally, because reading is always done with a concern for the sub-community, postliberal interpretation always has a functional pressing element. Liberal interpretation, on the other hand, is after time- and situation-independent truth that do not necessary press the reader to act. More typical of postliberal theologies today, however, is a return to patristic and medieval hermeneutical models for reading scripture theologically, uniting literal-historical and spiritual-figural-allegorical senses into a coherent understanding of scripture. The Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible is one good example of postliberal scriptural interpretation at work.
(both former Anglicans), as well as Bruce Marshall, Michael Root, and Reinhard Huetter (former Lutherans), in a manner similar to the followers of the Tractarian movement within mid-19th century Anglicanism
, which also occurred during global economic change (see Industrial Revolution
). Prominent postliberals becoming Catholic is especially notable because George Lindbeck's ecumenical work at Vatican II and beyond had no interest in individual conversions to the Catholic Church, but did suggest the need for a communal transformation of liberal Protestantism so that Protestant Christianity might begin to be more identifiable as a form of Catholic Christianity. Postliberalism partly arose in response to a decline of the prestige of mainline Protestantism in America, in light of which evangelicalism and Catholicism were seen by some theologians and pastors as the only main sociological and theological alternative.
. Later postliberal theologies have, however, made mediation a central concern [e.g. Milbank 1990], and grassroots groups like the Ekklesia Project
can be seen to cut across the face of such criticisms.
Debates have been centered on issues of incommensurability
, sectarianism
, fideism
, relativism
, truth and ontological
reference. A number of works have sought to resolve these questions to various degrees of satisfaction [e.g. Pecknold 2005, Vanhoozer 2005, De Hart 2006], and the debates continue across the theological disciplines. Furthermore, critics have pointed out that the internal coherence model postliberal theologians assume is difficult to square with developments in science that would seem to challenge assumptions basic to the assumption of orthodox Christianity (e.g. the new physics, or evolution), yet such criticisms neglect the ways in which the postliberal view of doctrines as depth-grammars (largely inscribing the rules of the faith articulated at Nicea and Chalcedon) provide dynamic ways of relating the truths of faith to developments in the truths of scientific reason. Likewise, Bruce Marshall and others have developed postliberal approaches to truth that resemble the "moderate realism" of the medieval correspondence theory of truth (e.g. Thomas Aquinas).
Christian theology
- Divisions of Christian theology :There are many methods of categorizing different approaches to Christian theology. For a historical analysis, see the main article on the History of Christian theology.- Sub-disciplines :...
. It proposes that the Church's use of the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
should focus on a narrative
Narrative
A narrative is a constructive format that describes a sequence of non-fictional or fictional events. The word derives from the Latin verb narrare, "to recount", and is related to the adjective gnarus, "knowing" or "skilled"...
presentation of the faith as regulative for the development of a coherent systematic theology
Systematic theology
In the context of Christianity, systematic theology is a discipline of Christian theology that attempts to formulate an orderly, rational, and coherent account of the Christian faith and beliefs...
. Founded principally by George Lindbeck
George Lindbeck
George Arthur Lindbeck is an American Lutheran theologian. He is best known as an ecumenicist and as one of the fathers of postliberal theology.-Early life and education:...
, Hans Wilhelm Frei
Hans Wilhelm Frei
Hans Wilhelm Frei is best known for work on biblical hermeneutics, especially on the interpretation of narrative...
and other scholars at Yale Divinity School
Yale Divinity School
Yale Divinity School is a professional school at Yale University, in New Haven, Connecticut, U.S. preparing students for ordained or lay ministry, or for the academy...
it is sometime referred to as "the Yale school" or "narrative theology".
History and Origins
Postliberal theology was mostly inspired by people that had either taught or studied at Yale Divinity School, many influenced theologically by Karl BarthKarl Barth
Karl Barth was a Swiss Reformed theologian whom critics hold to be among the most important Christian thinkers of the 20th century; Pope Pius XII described him as the most important theologian since Thomas Aquinas...
, Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas, O.P. , also Thomas of Aquin or Aquino, was an Italian Dominican priest of the Catholic Church, and an immensely influential philosopher and theologian in the tradition of scholasticism, known as Doctor Angelicus, Doctor Communis, or Doctor Universalis...
and to some extent, the nouvelle théologie
Nouvelle Théologie
Nouvelle Théologie is the name commonly used to refer to a school of thought in Catholic theology that arose in the mid-20th century, most notably among certain circles of French and German theologians...
of French Catholics such as Henri de Lubac
Henri de Lubac
Henri-Marie de Lubac, SJ was a French Jesuit priest who became a Cardinal of the Catholic Church, and is considered to be one of the most influential theologians of the 20th century...
. The clear philosophical influence, however, was Ludwig Wittgenstein
Ludwig Wittgenstein
Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein was an Austrian philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language. He was professor in philosophy at the University of Cambridge from 1939 until 1947...
's philosophy of language, the moral philosophy of Alasdair MacIntyre
Alasdair MacIntyre
Alasdair Chalmers MacIntyre is a British philosopher primarily known for his contribution to moral and political philosophy but known also for his work in history of philosophy and theology...
, and the sociological insights of Clifford Geertz
Clifford Geertz
Clifford James Geertz was an American anthropologist who is remembered mostly for his strong support for and influence on the practice of symbolic anthropology, and who was considered "for three decades...the single most influential cultural anthropologist in the United States." He served until...
and Peter Berger
Peter L. Berger
Peter Ludwig Berger is an Austrian-born American sociologist well known for his work, co-authored with Thomas Luckmann, The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge .-Biography:...
on the nature of communities. Scientific philosophers such as Thomas Kuhn
Thomas Kuhn
Thomas Samuel Kuhn was an American historian and philosopher of science whose controversial 1962 book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions was deeply influential in both academic and popular circles, introducing the term "paradigm shift," which has since become an English-language staple.Kuhn...
and literary theorists such as Erich Auerbach
Erich Auerbach
Erich Auerbach was a philologist and comparative scholar and critic of literature. His best-known work is Mimesis: The Representation of Reality in Western Literature, a history of representation in Western literature from ancient to modern times.-Biography:Auerbach, who was Jewish, was born in...
also influenced the new approach.
Theological Platform
Partly a reaction to the modern, individualist, rationalist and romantic trends of theological liberalismLiberal Christianity
Liberal Christianity, sometimes called liberal theology, is an umbrella term covering diverse, philosophically and biblically informed religious movements and ideas within Christianity from the late 18th century and onward...
, important postliberal thinkers included George Lindbeck
George Lindbeck
George Arthur Lindbeck is an American Lutheran theologian. He is best known as an ecumenicist and as one of the fathers of postliberal theology.-Early life and education:...
, Hans Wilhelm Frei
Hans Wilhelm Frei
Hans Wilhelm Frei is best known for work on biblical hermeneutics, especially on the interpretation of narrative...
, and Stanley Hauerwas
Stanley Hauerwas
Stanley Hauerwas is a Christian theologian and ethicist. He has taught at the University of Notre Dame and is currently the Gilbert T...
; theologians in this camp were once concentrated at Yale Divinity School, but are now influential at a number of seminaries and divinity schools, notably Duke Divinity School
Duke Divinity School
The Divinity School at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina is one of thirteen seminaries founded and supported by the United Methodist Church. It has 39 full time and 18 part time faculty and over 500 full time students. The current dean of The Divinity School is Richard B. Hays, who replaced...
(where Hauerwas teaches). This movement has provided much of the foundation for other movements, such as Radical orthodoxy
Radical orthodoxy
Radical Orthodoxy is Christian theological and philosophical school of thought which makes use of postmodern philosophy to reject the paradigm of modernity...
, Scriptural Reasoning
Scriptural reasoning
Scriptural Reasoning is one type of interdisciplinary, interfaith scriptural reading. It is an evolving practice in which Christians, Jews, Muslims, and sometimes members of other Abrahamic faiths, meet to study their sacred scriptures together, and to explore the ways in which such study can help...
, paleo-orthodoxy
Paleo-Orthodoxy
Paleo-orthodoxy is a broad Christian theological movement of the late 20th and early 21st centuries which focuses on the consensual understanding of the faith among the Ecumenical Councils and Church Fathers...
, the emerging church movement
Emerging Church
The emerging church is a Christian movement of the late 20th and early 21st century that crosses a number of theological boundaries: participants can be described as evangelical, Protestant, Catholic, post-evangelical, anabaptist, adventist, liberal, post-liberal, reformed, charismatic,...
, and postliberal versions of evangelicalism
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
and Roman Catholicism. Its ecumenical spirit originates from George Lindbeck's work, which was partly animated by his involvement as a Lutheran observer at the Second Vatican Council
Second Vatican Council
The Second Vatican Council addressed relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the modern world. It was the twenty-first Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church and the second to be held at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. It opened under Pope John XXIII on 11 October 1962 and closed...
.
In contrast to liberal individualism in theology, postliberal theology roots rationality not in the certainty of the individual thinking subject (cogito ergo sum, "I think, therefore I am") but in the language and culture of a living tradition of communal life. The postliberals argue that the Christian faith be equated with neither the religious feelings of Romanticism
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
nor the propositions of a Rationalist or fundamentalist approach to religion. Rather, the Christian faith is understood as a culture and a language, in which doctrines are likened to a "depth grammar" for the first-order language and culture (practices, skills, habits) of the church that is historically shaped by the continuous, regulated reading of the scriptural narrative over time. Thus, in addition to a critique of theological liberalism, and an emphasis upon the Bible, there is also a stress upon tradition, and upon the language, culture and intelligibility intrinsic to the Christian community. As a result, postliberal theologies are often oriented around the scriptural narrative as a script to be performed, understand orthodox dogmas (esp. the creeds) as depth-grammars for Christian life, and see such scriptural and traditional grammars as a resource for both Christian self-critique and culture critique.
The early postliberals followed Karl Barth's view that the best apologetics was a good systematics, and as such believed that Christians should "not engage in systematic apologetics. Postliberal theologians will make ad hoc connections with the philosophy or art or miscellaneous experience of the cultures around them, but they do not believe that any non-Christian framework, philosophical or cultural, sets the context in which Christian claims must be defended." However, later postliberals have qualified this aversion, and have seriously tempered its initial concerns over both apologetics and metaphysics (E.g. Paul Griffiths, An Apology for Apologetics, and Stanley Hauerwas, With the Grain of the Universe). In this way, postliberal theologies have largely replicated earlier 20th century debates around the notion of the 'analogy of being' (see Hans Urs von Balthasar, The Theology of Karl Barth). Unlike the liberal trend preceding it, postliberal theology also tends to stress the dissimilarities between religions, and will often strike out against dominant cultural trends.
Scriptural interpretation remains fundamental for postliberal theology. There are at least four key exegetical differences that lie between liberal and postliberal theology. First, liberal interpretation of Scripture is done with a preoccupation with the historical context, whereas postliberal interpretation is "an act of imagination," interpreting the text with the needs of the reading sub-community in the forefront. Liberal theology deals with aiming to understand the text as it would have applied to the past. Using a non-foundationalist approach, postliberal interpretation aims to interpret the text as it should be applied now and in the future. Second, liberal theologians depend on unbiased reason to ensure finding the objective meaning of the text. Postliberal theologians, however, recognize the impossibility of reading without imposing interpretation of the text by the reader, where such a notion of objective reading disintegrates. Third, "we read texts as bodied interpreters fully situated in some body politic." That is, each and every reader and reading is relative to a degree. Finally, because reading is always done with a concern for the sub-community, postliberal interpretation always has a functional pressing element. Liberal interpretation, on the other hand, is after time- and situation-independent truth that do not necessary press the reader to act. More typical of postliberal theologies today, however, is a return to patristic and medieval hermeneutical models for reading scripture theologically, uniting literal-historical and spiritual-figural-allegorical senses into a coherent understanding of scripture. The Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible is one good example of postliberal scriptural interpretation at work.
Catholicism, Orthodoxy, and Postliberal Conversions
It is also noteworthy that in recent years a great number of prominent postliberal theologians have become Roman Catholics, such as R.R. Reno, and Paul J. GriffithsPaul J. Griffiths
Paul J. Griffiths is the Warren Professor of Catholic Thought at Duke University.Griffiths has previously held appointments at the University of Notre Dame, University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Chicago...
(both former Anglicans), as well as Bruce Marshall, Michael Root, and Reinhard Huetter (former Lutherans), in a manner similar to the followers of the Tractarian movement within mid-19th century Anglicanism
Anglicanism
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
, which also occurred during global economic change (see Industrial Revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
). Prominent postliberals becoming Catholic is especially notable because George Lindbeck's ecumenical work at Vatican II and beyond had no interest in individual conversions to the Catholic Church, but did suggest the need for a communal transformation of liberal Protestantism so that Protestant Christianity might begin to be more identifiable as a form of Catholic Christianity. Postliberalism partly arose in response to a decline of the prestige of mainline Protestantism in America, in light of which evangelicalism and Catholicism were seen by some theologians and pastors as the only main sociological and theological alternative.
Criticisms
Critics of postliberalism often have been concerned with its "post-foundational" aspects. Similar to the criticism of postmodern philosophical systems, critics wonder how one postliberal theology can be measured up against another to determine which is better. Postliberal theology's divorcing itself from historical necessity and objectivism is deemed heretical by some conservative Christians. Additionally, critics wonder what implications such relativistic views, such as the possibility of religious pluralism, might have for Christianity. Though influential on a generation of young pastors, the movement has had a hard time finding grass-roots support within mainline Protestantism, much of which faces vicious liberal-conservative pressures and rifts, something the movement largely dismisses as a sign of cultural accommodation. Some critics have suggested that because the movement has largely rejected a "mediating" theology (and thus making it mostly inaccessible to laypeople), it is very difficult to implement its tenets on the local congregational level, and thus postliberalism remains largely an academic specialty, much like preceding movements such as liberation theology and neo-orthodoxyNeo-orthodoxy
Neo-orthodoxy, in Europe also known as theology of crisis and dialectical theology,is an approach to theology in Protestantism that was developed in the aftermath of the First World War...
. Later postliberal theologies have, however, made mediation a central concern [e.g. Milbank 1990], and grassroots groups like the Ekklesia Project
Ekklesia Project
The Ekklesia Project is an ecumenical Christian group consisting of a network of Christians from across the various denominations to promote a more active and God-centered faith...
can be seen to cut across the face of such criticisms.
Debates have been centered on issues of incommensurability
Commensurability (ethics)
In ethics, two values are incommensurable when they do not share a common standard of measurement.Philosophers argue over the precise nature of value incommensurability, and discussions do not always exhibit a consistent terminology...
, sectarianism
Sectarianism
Sectarianism, according to one definition, is bigotry, discrimination or hatred arising from attaching importance to perceived differences between subdivisions within a group, such as between different denominations of a religion, class, regional or factions of a political movement.The ideological...
, fideism
Fideism
Fideism is an epistemological theory which maintains that faith is independent of reason, or that reason and faith are hostile to each other and faith is superior at arriving at particular truths...
, relativism
Relativism
Relativism is the concept that points of view have no absolute truth or validity, having only relative, subjective value according to differences in perception and consideration....
, truth and ontological
Ontology
Ontology is the philosophical study of the nature of being, existence or reality as such, as well as the basic categories of being and their relations...
reference. A number of works have sought to resolve these questions to various degrees of satisfaction [e.g. Pecknold 2005, Vanhoozer 2005, De Hart 2006], and the debates continue across the theological disciplines. Furthermore, critics have pointed out that the internal coherence model postliberal theologians assume is difficult to square with developments in science that would seem to challenge assumptions basic to the assumption of orthodox Christianity (e.g. the new physics, or evolution), yet such criticisms neglect the ways in which the postliberal view of doctrines as depth-grammars (largely inscribing the rules of the faith articulated at Nicea and Chalcedon) provide dynamic ways of relating the truths of faith to developments in the truths of scientific reason. Likewise, Bruce Marshall and others have developed postliberal approaches to truth that resemble the "moderate realism" of the medieval correspondence theory of truth (e.g. Thomas Aquinas).
Books
- The Art of Biblical Narrative by Robert AlterRobert AlterRobert Bernard Alter is an American professor of Hebrew language and comparative literature at the University of California, Berkeley, where he has taught since 1967.-Biography:...
(1981, ISBN 0-465-00427-X) - The Gospel in Parable: Metaphor, Narrative, and Theology in the Synoptic Gospels by John R. Donahue (1990, ISBN 0-8006-2480-7)
- The Eclipse of Biblical Narrative : A Study in Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Hermeneutics by Hans Frei (1980, ISBN 0-300-02602-1)
- Theology and Narrative: A Critical Introduction by Michael Goldberg (1982, ISBN 1-56338-010-2)
- A Community of Character by Stanley HauerwasStanley HauerwasStanley Hauerwas is a Christian theologian and ethicist. He has taught at the University of Notre Dame and is currently the Gilbert T...
(1981, ISBN 0-268-00735-7) - Paul Among the Postliberals by Douglas Harink (2003, ISBN 1-58743-041-X)
- Narrative Reading, Narrative Preaching edited by Joel Green & Michael Pasquarello (2003, ISBN 0-8010-2721-7)
- Why Narrative? Readings in Narrative Theology, edited by Stanley HauerwasStanley HauerwasStanley Hauerwas is a Christian theologian and ethicist. He has taught at the University of Notre Dame and is currently the Gilbert T...
& L. Gregory Jones (1989, ISBN 1-57910-065-1) - Resident Aliens: Life in the Christian Colony by Stanley HauerwasStanley HauerwasStanley Hauerwas is a Christian theologian and ethicist. He has taught at the University of Notre Dame and is currently the Gilbert T...
& William Willimon (1989, ISBN 0-687-36159-1) - Unleashing the Scripture: Freeing the Bible from Captivity to America by Stanley HauerwasStanley HauerwasStanley Hauerwas is a Christian theologian and ethicist. He has taught at the University of Notre Dame and is currently the Gilbert T...
(1993, ISBN 0-687-31678-2) - Women and the Authority of Scripture: A Narrative Approach by Sarah Heaner Lancaster (2002, ISBN 1-56338-356-X)
- The Nature of Doctrine: Religion and Theology in a Postliberal Age by George Lindbeck (1984, ISBN ISBN 0-664-24618-4)
- The Story of God: Wesleyan Theology and Biblical Narrative by Michael Lodahl (1994, ISBN 0-8341-1479-8)
- The Use and Abuse of the Bible: A Study of the Bible in an Age of Rapid Cultural Change by Dennis NinehamDennis NinehamDennis Eric Nineham is a British theologian and academic, who served as Warden of Keble College, Oxford from 1969 to 1979, as well as holding chairs in theology at the universities of London, Cambridge and Bristol.-Life:...
, (1976, ISBN 0-333-10489-7) - The Promise of Narrative Theology: Recovering the Gospel in the Church by George W. Stroup (1997, ISBN 1-57910-053-8)
- The Politics of Jesus by John Howard YoderJohn Howard YoderJohn Howard Yoder was a Christian theologian, ethicist, and Biblical scholar best known for his radical Christian pacifism, his mentoring of future theologians such as Stanley Hauerwas, his loyalty to his Mennonite faith, and his 1972 magnum opus, The Politics of Jesus.-Life:Yoder earned his...
(1972, ISBN 0-8028-0734-8) - Transforming Postliberal Theology by C.C. Pecknold (2005, ISBN 0-567-03034-2)
- The Drama of Doctrine: A Canonical-Linguistic Approach To Christian Theology by Kevin J. Vanhoozer (2005, ISBN 0-664-22327-3)
- The Trial of Witnesses: The Rise and Decline of Postliberal Theology by Paul DeHart (2006)
- Preaching Jesus: New Directions for Homiletics in Hans Frei's Postliberal Theology by Charles L. Campbell (1997)
- Karl Barth: Theologian of Christian Witness by Joseph Mangina (2004)
- The Priority of Christ: Towards a Postliberal Catholicism by Robert Barron (2007)
- The Nature of Confession: Evangelicals and Postliberals in Conversation (Eds) Denis Okholm and Timothy Philips (1996)