Stanley Hauerwas is a distinctive and controversial theologian. His work demands attention in every debate on theological ethics today. His project is to transform Christian ethics from the fate of the individual in crisis to the destiny of the Church in its faithfulness.

In this critical evaluation of Hauerwas' work, Samuel Wells sets out the drama and debate of Hauerwas' new agenda. He agrees that the Christian story is at the heart of the Church's practice. Yet he goes beyond Hauerwas. He draws attention to the neglect, in narrative ethics, of the way the Church's story ends. Wells intends that Christians finally see their lives in the context, not of blind fate, but of divine destiny.

Author - Samuel Wells
Foreword - Stanley Hauerwas

"More than a lucid critical introduction to the fascinating and perplexing work of Stanley Hauerwas; it is the story of one man's theological pilgrimage and an excellent invitation to join the dance of church theology today. I could not imagine a better or more attractive introduction to narrative theological ethics or to theology in the service of the Church."

Duncan Forrester, Dean of the Faculty of Divinity, Edinburgh University.


"Wells provides a fascinating tour of the conceptual tensions, shifts and motifs of one of the most provocative theological ethicists of the last quarter of the twentieth century. Students of Hauerwas will find this study indispensable."

Michael G. Cartwright, Dean of Ecumenical and Interfaith Programs, University of Indianapolis


"Wells is one of those wonderful readers who understands me better than I understand myself."

Stanley Hauerwas

Prayers Plainly Spoken by Stanley Hauerwas
Selling Out the Church by Philip D. Kenneson, James L. Street
Toward a Theology of Evangelism by Dr. Julian Hartt
Why Narrative?
The Wisdom of the Cross
Disrupting Time by Stanley Hauerwas
Christianity, Democracy, and the Radical Ordinary by Stanley Hauerwas, Romand Coles
Theology and the Church in the University by Dr. Julian Hartt