STANLEY HAUWERAS THE PEACEABLE KINGDOM

Simbarashe Sigauke

STANLEY HAUWERAS THE PEACEABLE KINGDOM

Virtue is another word for excellence; it does not have to have moral qualities attached to it. Virtue is a term that describes an essential component of an excellent life. There are also cardinal virtues or character, which are temperance, courage, justice and prudence. Virtue can be natural, moral or supernatural. The narrative also falls under virtue ethics. Stanley Hauerwas has long been associated with the Christian narrative. He claims that narrative is the bedrock of Christian’s convictions and that Christian beliefs are inextricably connected to the God of history and to the ongoing story of God’s people as they move through time. Hauweras draws from the work of John Howard Yoder who showed him how to locate God in history and the bible. He exemplifies the integrity stance and believes in the distinction between the church and world. He works within the tradition of virtue ethics. Hauweras is more concerned with highlighting the role of the Church in the world. He locates the individual and is more concerned with what the individual ought to become as a Christian. As a Christian I strongly resonate with the Christian narrative as a way of drawing meaning and ethical behavior. The Christian narrative has very powerful ethical stories that can totally transform communities. It upholds the ethics of justice as well as social justice and peace.

Hauerwas appeals to the Christian narrative. He asserts that, “We know who we are only when we can place our selves – locate our stories – within God’s story.” He wants to tell a story by starting in the middle with the story of Israel then become informative. He locates passive non-violence as the core of the gospel. I believe that I can appeal to the Christian narrative of the story of Jesus to invoke an ethics of peace and social justice. John 1:29 says, “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”Jesus died on the cross to save the lost. The cross is the most significant symbol for freedom. No other symbol incorporates passion, promise and power like the cross. It is a simple symbol, two pieces of wood, one vertical and the other horizontal. But this simple symbol is pregnant with metaphoric meaning and promise. It is prophetic and powerful. The symbols of the donkey or the elephant have never been able to generate or reproduce the same loyalty, commitment and even to a greater degree multigenerational, multicultural, multiracial and multinational allegiance to a message conveyed via a simple conduit of a brand not written on wood but incarnated in the spirit of what it represents. The cross is both vertical and horizontal. Life is both vertical and horizontal. Vertically we stand connected to God, eternal life, the ground of being, spiritual truths and principles of Glory. Horizontally to our left and to our right via the center we exist around it and stay connected to community, relationships and society.