In Good Company: The Church as Polis

by Stanley Hauerwas

By exposing a different account of politics―the church as polis and "counterstory" to the world's politics―Stanley Hauerwas helps Christians to recognize the unifying beliefs and practices that make them a political entity apart from the rest of the world.

Genres: Theology, Politics

284 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Stanley Hauerwas (PhD, Yale University) is the Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. He is the author of numerous books, including Cross-Shattered Christ, A Cross-Shattered Church, War and the American Difference, and Matthew in the Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible.

America's Best Theologian according to Time Magazine (2001), though he rejected the title saying, "Best is not a theological category."

Reviews

[Alex Strohschein · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun book, the best Stanley Hauerwas I read. I don't agree with Hauerwas on everything (I'd also remark that I am not fluent enough in his thought to have a fulsome understanding of his theology) but this collection of essays offered many stimulating insights into the catholic Church's being and practice in modern America. Some of the pervading themes included Hauerwas' prioritizing of practice over belief, vocation and work, and his critique of human rights (I wonder here if Hauerwas has affinities for Nigel Biggar's recent work which chides the West's "rights fundamentalism"). Like Jason Byassee, I appreciate how Hauerwas cheerfully complements various Christian denominations such as Roman Catholicism and the Mennonite tradition even while acknowledging he is an outsider looking in (though I was quite shocked that he blatantly admits to taking the Eucharist at a university-wide Mass held at Notre Dame which seems like bad table manners from an eminent, ecumenical theologian - even if I would myself say it is always Our Lord's Table over any one denomination, p. 85).

[Christopher Good · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seven out of ten.

I read this collection of essays hot on the heels of Alasdair MacIntyre’s Whose Justice? Which Rationality?, and I appreciated Hauerwas's application of some of the principles for which MacIntyre argues.

Hauerwas (like me) is a defender of the rootedness of the Christian faith. He pushes back against the individualism and universalism of much Christian thought both "liberal" and "conservative".

I most enjoyed the first four essays (the section entitled "In Protestant Company") as they, especially "Whither the Anabaptist Vision", were the ones I felt personally connected to. I also enjoyed the ideas of chapters 10 (Christian ethics as worship) and 13 (the kingship of Christ). Hauerwas is an engaging writer, perhaps thinner on logos than some (at least in this particular collection) but with plenty of ethos and pathos.

I recommend this to any thoughtful Christian, especially those concerned or confused about the place of Christian tradition in relation to faith itself or to the watching world.

[Joe Arrendale · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a rollercoaster