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This is a beautiful book and nothing less than a theological anthropology: the formation of a Christian soul. It is honest, perceptive, cutting through cant, witty and intelligent all the characteristics we have come to expect of Stanley Hauerwas as a public intellectual. But the best that can be said of it is that even if Stanley Hauerwas was not Stanley Hauerwas, this book would be a theological gift. I put aside the novel I was reading to finish it, immersed in a lifetime of Christian experience distilled into wisdom, and moved by the sheer humanity of it all. --Graham Ward, University of Manchester
In this entrancing memoir, Stanley Hauerwas reflects on what he sees as the successes and failures of his life as one of the most celebrated theological ethicists of his time. It is, of course, the accounts of his perceived personal failures that are the most testing and moving: what breaks and stops even his own best motivations and intentions are the stuff of profound Christian reflection. This little autobiography follows triumphantly in the Augustinian tradition of Confessions . --Sarah Coakley, University of Cambridge
From Texan bricklayer to Duke University Professor to internationally renowned Christian Ethicist, Stanley Hauerwas remains a force of nature and grace in the theological world. This memoir, faithful as ever to his roots in title and content, provides personally moving and intellectually exciting insights into Stanley and his work for (critical?) admirers. It should also help his severer critics to understand better and appreciate more this complex and gifted man. --Enda Mc Donagh, Maynooth
In this entrancing memoir, Stanley Hauerwas reflects on what he sees as the successes and failures of his life as one of the most celebrated theological ethicists of his time. It is, of course, the accounts of his perceived personal failures that are the most testing and moving: what breaks and stops even his own best motivations and intentions are the stuff of profound Christian reflection. This little autobiography follows triumphantly in the Augustinian tradition of Confessions . --Sarah Coakley, University of Cambridge
From Texan bricklayer to Duke University Professor to internationally renowned Christian Ethicist, Stanley Hauerwas remains a force of nature and grace in the theological world. This memoir, faithful as ever to his roots in title and content, provides personally moving and intellectually exciting insights into Stanley and his work for (critical?) admirers. It should also help his severer critics to understand better and appreciate more this complex and gifted man. --Enda Mc Donagh, Maynooth
Product Description
In 2001 Stanley Hauerwas was voted America s best theologian by Time Magazine. Here are Hauerwas long-awaited memoirs.A loving, hard-working, godly couple has long been denied a family of their own. Finally, the wife makes a deal with God: if he blesses her with a child, she will dedicate that child to God s service. The result of that prayer was the birth of an influential some say prophetic voice. Surprisingly, this is not the biblical story of Samuel but the account of Stanley Hauerwas, one of today s leading theologians in the church and the academy.The story of Hauerwas s journey into Christian discipleship is captivating and inspiring. With genuine humility, he describes his intellectual struggles with faith, how he has dealt with the reality of marriage to a mentally ill partner, and the gift of friendships that have influenced his character. Throughout the narrative shines Hauerwas s conviction that the tale of his life is worth telling only because of the greater Christian story providing foundation and direction for his own.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
For those into theology, especially ethics, this is a first-rate read. Hauerwas tells his life story, painting a picture of himself (and of others) warts and all. Refreshed by his honesty, I enjoyed every page of it and wish I had come across him sooner.
2 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I heard Stanley Hauerwas on radio 4 recently in debate. He was so interesting I decided I wanted to learn more about him, so I bought Hannah's Child.
His strugle with religion was not as complex as I thought it might be and the book focused a great deal on his sick wife and his son.It also became very focused on him
I looked at several of his other books that were more theologicaly based but they were too expensive
His strugle with religion was not as complex as I thought it might be and the book focused a great deal on his sick wife and his son.It also became very focused on him
I looked at several of his other books that were more theologicaly based but they were too expensive
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
16 reviews
34 of 36 people found the following review helpful
Five stars for truth-telling that gives perspective.
17 May 2010
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I became aware of Hauerwas through a professional colleague in the late 90's. While my area of expertise is in Bible more precisely, I have not had direct reason to read all that Hauerwas has written. Like many others, though, I've heard Hauerwas present papers at professional meetings or other events and knew him to be quite a "character" and I wanted to "hear" his story - especially since he connected it to such a great story from Hebrew Scripture with reference to Hannah and Samuel.
What a delight to read this text. It is precisely what it claims to be - a memoir. What most resonated with me as an individual reader is the fact of Hauerwas's honest portrait of his life's story - particularly the intersections of his work as a student, as a colleague figuring out how to navigate professional/academic guilds, and his life with Anne and Adam, his first and their child. As a student, he was just moving forward and searching - but not out to prove anything, it seems. As an academic, in his own story, he notes how green and crass he was, turning people off and not pleasing all but being honest. In particular, I valued how his life as an academic took place in conversations with so many other academics - the persons with whom he worked that shaped how he thought and what he read and how he come to converse and lecture on various topics. In his life with his wife, he notes the difficulty, pain and ambiguity that came with being married to someone who would later have psychotic breaks that he and Adam tried to manage and live with and through. And, of course, how being the son of a bricklayer and, by his own testimony, a bricklayer himself wove itself through his life's story.
I found the memoir to be hopeful for for those who might be in academia or theological colleges/seminaries - those younger or older in complex marriages - those new to academia or young in it. Hauerwas's story testifies to the reality that a person can't manage or create a perfect life to become a "Stanley Hauerwas" - each person must simply live life with integrity. Mature and grow with your own life's story.
Hauerwas's story is personal and memorable.
The book is not a must read for many people - but for those in theological/philosophical work within "the academy" - this memoir offers much personal and anecdotal wisdom for thinking about one's own life and profession.
What a delight to read this text. It is precisely what it claims to be - a memoir. What most resonated with me as an individual reader is the fact of Hauerwas's honest portrait of his life's story - particularly the intersections of his work as a student, as a colleague figuring out how to navigate professional/academic guilds, and his life with Anne and Adam, his first and their child. As a student, he was just moving forward and searching - but not out to prove anything, it seems. As an academic, in his own story, he notes how green and crass he was, turning people off and not pleasing all but being honest. In particular, I valued how his life as an academic took place in conversations with so many other academics - the persons with whom he worked that shaped how he thought and what he read and how he come to converse and lecture on various topics. In his life with his wife, he notes the difficulty, pain and ambiguity that came with being married to someone who would later have psychotic breaks that he and Adam tried to manage and live with and through. And, of course, how being the son of a bricklayer and, by his own testimony, a bricklayer himself wove itself through his life's story.
I found the memoir to be hopeful for for those who might be in academia or theological colleges/seminaries - those younger or older in complex marriages - those new to academia or young in it. Hauerwas's story testifies to the reality that a person can't manage or create a perfect life to become a "Stanley Hauerwas" - each person must simply live life with integrity. Mature and grow with your own life's story.
Hauerwas's story is personal and memorable.
The book is not a must read for many people - but for those in theological/philosophical work within "the academy" - this memoir offers much personal and anecdotal wisdom for thinking about one's own life and profession.
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Stanley Hauerwas on Hannah's Child
7 May 2010
Format:Hardcover
In this video, Wunderkammer Magazine sits down with Stanley Hauerwas and asks him to describe his memoir.
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
A Great Starting Point to Explore America's "Best Theologian"
10 Jun 2010
Format:Hardcover
At the dawn of this new millennium, Time magazine declared Stanley Hauerwas America's "Best Theologian," a label that the tough-talking Texan routinely uses to poke fun at himself. How can anyone rank theologians--like handicapping golfers or giving stars to restaurants! Nevertheless, Time magazine took this task seriously, publishing a profile that described how the "rough speech and pointed views" of this brick-layer's son sometimes are "scandalous" among academics and religious leaders.
First of all, I can assure you that the Time declaration hasn't gone to Hauerwas' head. In his new memoir, he writes: "If theologians become famous in times like ours, surely they must have betrayed their calling. After all, theology is a discipline whose subject should always put in doubt the very idea that those who practice it know what they are doing."
I do agree that Stanley Hauerwas has a powerful prophetic voice. He is solidly American, solidly Christian and solidly accomplished as one of our greatest scholars--yet he uses that firm foundation to address the world like a latter-day Isaiah, Jeremiah or Micah, crying out for justice and a complete rethinking of our global priorities. To use "Hauerwasian" terms, he's often telling us to get up off our rear ends, scrape away the accumulated gunk of convenient, self-centered spirituality--and get our hands dirty in engaging with the real needs of the world.
That's why reading his memoir is such a pleasure. We spend time with Hauerwas exploring his experiences growing up as a bricklayer's son. His lifelong respect for hardworking men and women is a major reason that he preaches so regularly about the dangers of social divides. In this book, that preaching connects directly with his own youth, his own family: "I have spent my life in buildings built by people like my father, buildings in which the builders have felt they do not belong," he writes. The irony, he adds, is this: "My father was a better bricklayer than I am a theologian."
If you're reading this review, you're already drawn to Hauerwas' prophetic voice for some reason. But, until now, you may not have found a good starting place to read his books and discuss them with friends. As a long-time discussion leader myself, I can see "Hannah's Child" as that ideal starting point for a lot of readers who'll come to appreciate our "Best Theologian" through connecting with his life story.
First of all, I can assure you that the Time declaration hasn't gone to Hauerwas' head. In his new memoir, he writes: "If theologians become famous in times like ours, surely they must have betrayed their calling. After all, theology is a discipline whose subject should always put in doubt the very idea that those who practice it know what they are doing."
I do agree that Stanley Hauerwas has a powerful prophetic voice. He is solidly American, solidly Christian and solidly accomplished as one of our greatest scholars--yet he uses that firm foundation to address the world like a latter-day Isaiah, Jeremiah or Micah, crying out for justice and a complete rethinking of our global priorities. To use "Hauerwasian" terms, he's often telling us to get up off our rear ends, scrape away the accumulated gunk of convenient, self-centered spirituality--and get our hands dirty in engaging with the real needs of the world.
That's why reading his memoir is such a pleasure. We spend time with Hauerwas exploring his experiences growing up as a bricklayer's son. His lifelong respect for hardworking men and women is a major reason that he preaches so regularly about the dangers of social divides. In this book, that preaching connects directly with his own youth, his own family: "I have spent my life in buildings built by people like my father, buildings in which the builders have felt they do not belong," he writes. The irony, he adds, is this: "My father was a better bricklayer than I am a theologian."
If you're reading this review, you're already drawn to Hauerwas' prophetic voice for some reason. But, until now, you may not have found a good starting place to read his books and discuss them with friends. As a long-time discussion leader myself, I can see "Hannah's Child" as that ideal starting point for a lot of readers who'll come to appreciate our "Best Theologian" through connecting with his life story.
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