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A non-coercive metanarrative - Summary and Review, 11 Mar 2009
Bible and Mission, which was originally a series of lectures in All Nations Christian College (2001), and in Ethiopia (2002), is a hermeneutic of the biblical narrative that shows how the Bible "embodies a kind of movement from the particular to the universal" (11). It is not "an account of what the Bible says about mission or a biblical theology of mission" (11), but a book that seeks to encourage "those who feel a lack of confidence in the whole mission enterprise" (viii). Richard Bauckham argues that the biblical story, which moves from the particular towards the universal, is a metanarrative that could be an alternative to other metanarratives of which postmodern critics are suspicious. In Bauckham's view, the biblical story is a non-coercive truth that accepts diversity and can be shared through non-oppressive witnessing.
Chapter 1 addresses the problem of particular and universal truths in the context of the events of September 11, 2001. Bauckham cites Jonathan Sacks who claims that "9/11" is the result of the clash of two metanarratives, that of Islam and Global Capitalism, because they claim to possess universal truth. Bauckham defines what a metanarrative is and explains that postmodernity rejects all stories that try to universalize others because "they are necessarily authoritarian or oppressive" (6). But, Bauckham asks, "Where does Christianity stand in all this? Where does Christianity stand between the universalist ambitions of McWorld and Jihad?" (8). Unlike Sack who claims that God is universal and religion is particular, therefore religious plurality should be upheld, Bauckham argues that the God of Abraham is both universal and particular, thus universality and particularity are to be kept. He explains that the Bible has a kind of movement from particularity to universality in "all three dimensions of time, space, and human society" (15). Additionally, the New Testament uses hyperbolic language that suggests a movement which gives the idea of an anticipated closure and permanent narrative openness. The universal goal has almost or has already been achieved.
Chapter 2 shows the movement from the particular to the universal using four biblical narrative examples. Bauckham starts with three examples in which God singles out one particular person, one people, and one place in order to bring universal blessing, revelation, and kingdom, respectively. God does not despise the particular but uses it to bring universality. This exemplifies the positive movement of particularity to universality in the biblical story. All of the Old Testament examples are also echoed in the New Testament: Jesus is the individual through whom all are blessed, the revelation of Christ is testified by the apostles sent to the ends of the earth, and Jesus is the new King who exercises God's universal rule. The fourth trajectory is where God singles out the poor. Here Bauckham adds that it is through the poor and the abolition of social status that the universal kingdom comes, having in mind the cross.
In Chapter 3, Bauckham argues that "the idea of representative geography is helpful in enabling us to read the universalism of Old Testament prophecy correctly" (63). He emphasizes how geography in the Bible moves from the particular to the universal. Geographically, the Old Testament pictures Jerusalem as its center with concentric circles going outwards to other nations until the ends of the earth. The New Testament differs slightly from the Old because the movement is both centripetal and centrifugal, towards Jerusalem, and out of Jerusalem; while in the Old the expectation is only centripetal, the nations will worship in Jerusalem. Furthermore, taken symbolically, this geography implies that those movements are not tied up in any one place. God communicates his message from one community to another. This has been the case in the Diaspora of God's people. Bauckham warns the church that "this image will come into its own again as the church in the postmodern west reconceptualizes its missionary relationship to a post-Christian society" (81).
The final chapter shows how Christianity differs from others metanarratives. Bauckham outlines positive characteristics of the biblical story. First, it is a non-modern narrative, not to be mastered by reason; a collection of stories, not a single one, which gives room to plurality. Second, it differs from globalization because it asks what benefits the poor, helps the environment, and enhances traditional values. It can counter "the global dominance of the profit-motive and the culture consumption with a powerful affirmation of universal values" (97). Third, it is non-coercive because it does not impose truth, but witnesses to it. Bauckham says, "Witnesses are not expected, like lawyers, to persuade by rhetorical power of their speeches, but simply to testify to the truth for which they are qualified to give evidence" (99). Fourth, it is can resist global power, because the biblical story itself was shaped against other dominant powers. Fifth, it accepts cultural diversity, unlike "the narrative of economic globalization [that] has been called a cultural tidal wave sweeping away all the wonderful diversity of human culture" (109). Bauckham concludes that the idea of globalization is not foreign to the Bible, but biblically it is a non-coercive movement that accepts diversity, where truth is claimed through witnessing. Therefore, the biblical globalization should be supported instead of other metanarratives that are self-ambitious, exploitative, oppressive, and opposed to God's concern for the poor, creation, and community.
Using the biblical framework of particularity and universality, Bauckham successfully gives room to Christianity in a postmodern context. He answers the question raised in chapter one: "Where does Christianity stand between the universalist ambitions of McWorld and Jihad" (8)? Bauckham clearly responds to postmodern critics who fear metanarratives. His response brings comfort, as it reveals the existence of a metanarrative that does not seek to oppress. Still, critics might challenge Bauckham because he stills holds to universality. He is aware that universality cannot be completely eradicated, and "believe[s] that in the end Christians must simply contest this preference for diversity over truth" (98). Furthermore by showing that Christianity accepts diversity and witnesses to the truth by pointing to Jesus, it differs from an oppressive universal claim that delegitimizes difference, which postmodern critics would fear. Bauckham does give the confidence and reasons to the church to keep witnessing to the truth of the biblical story, because his framework from particularity to universality justifies the role of Christian mission in a postmodern context.
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