Theological Anthropology and the Great Literary Genres

Understanding the Human Story

By: Michael P. Jensen

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Hardcover | 14 October 2019

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Hardcover
212 Pages

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24.1 x 16.0 x 2.3

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The storytelling impulse lies very deep within human cultures; indeed, it is fundamental to the very concept of human culture itself. What, then, is humankind, according to the great story types of tragedy, epic, and comedy? What do each of these genres say about us, and about what transcends us? Building on a critical discussion of the great genres of the Western literary tradition, Michael P. Jensen argues that each of these contains a "theo-anthropology"-a theological understanding of the human creature. He then shows how questions of identity, purpose, and destiny are addressed within each genre, concluding that human existence is a "storied nature" shaped by the various literary forms that have fostered human cultural imagination. These genres provide crucial keys to vital anthropological and theological questions when put in conversation with Christian theology; as Jensen shows, the Christian story, "the gospel," shares many observations about the human condition with the great genres, but offers a different "sense of ending."

Industry Reviews

Stories belong to various genres, and human identity is story-shaped. Literary theorists and theologians of the late twentieth century got that far. Michael P. Jensen's important book goes further, however, suggesting that literary forms are themselves formative of human being. If genres are sources of the self, it is important to know in what story - and in what kind of story - one is caught up: comedy or tragedy, to name but two. Christian theology maintains that we are caught up in gospel: the story of God's self-communication to a lost world. In a secular age filled with dystopian fiction and drained of transcendent meaning, the Bible tells a story with ontological import that inscribes humanity into the narrative of the divine, namely, the Father's self-giving love poured out in Jesus Christ. Jensen here presents the gospel not only as a great, indeed unique, literary genre but as an existential game-changer for the ages. -- Kevin J. Vanhoozer, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

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