Life is inherently dramatic, and because of this, this essay argues it is through the dramatizing of theology that theology is best equipped to illumine God’s desire for humanity’s participation in His reconciliatory performance in Christ through the Spirit. God does not want to be just “contemplated” and “perceived” by us; as from the beginning, He has provided for a play in which we must all share. The dramatizing of theology is a natural response to God’s Being-in-act. It is the natural movement of theology’s response to God’s action which calls for an active response on our part. As we re-enact the biblical story, we shall realize increasingly that we are participants performing in Christ’s drama of faith and life. The essay reflects on how dramatizing theology offers solutions to the conflicts of life by calling for the theological performance of faith, and attending to its import for theological-cultural engagement in theoretical as well as concrete terms.
The Institute for Cultural Engagement, an official program of Multnomah University and Biblical Seminary