Eerdmans have made the introduction to Hannah's Child, Stanley Hauerwas' forthcoming memoir, available to download as a .pdf. Here's a little snippet.
It may be that I am not that interested in “belief” because God is just not “there” for me. God is “there” for some. God is there for Paula, my wife; for Timothy Kimbrough, the rector of Holy Family Episcopal Church; for Sam Wells, my friend. But God is not there for me in the same way. Prayer never comes easy for me. I am not complaining. I assume this to be God’s gift to help me think hard about what it means to worship God in a world where God is no longer simply “there.”
Charles Taylor has characterized “our age” as one of “exclusive humanism.” God is a “hypothesis” most people no longer need — and “most people” includes those who say they believe in God. Indeed, when most people think it “important” that they believe in God, you have an indication that the God they believe in cannot be the God who raised Jesus from the dead or Israel from Egypt.
Thanks for the link, Andy. I especially like the bit just before what you've quoted here:
'“Belief” implies propositions about which you get to make up your mind before you know the work they are meant to do. Does that mean I do not believe in God? Of course not, but I am far more interested in what a declaration of belief entails for how I live my life.'
That resonates with me a lot. In the past couple of days, a number of people have asked me whether I believe in God. My answer is yes, but it's not a question I ever really think about. The questions I think about are how should I live? These lead me toward God, mostly.
Posted by: ash | February 02, 2010 at 01:19 AM