Transforming Fate Into Destiny: The Theological Ethics of Stanley Hauerwas

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 Churchs practice. Yet he goes beyond Hauerwas. He draws attention to the neglect in narrative ethics of the way the Churchs story ends. Wells intends that Christians finally see their lives in the context not of blind fate but of divine destiny.