Volu m e II - Purdue University Calumet

Christian and I’m trying to articulate a Christian worldview doesn’t mean I’ve got it
nailed. I’m contributing to the discussion. God has spoken, and the rest is commentary,
right?
This is where Bell becomes the “poster pastor” for the modernism/postmodernism dialogue. In the true
spirit of inquisition and a consideration for opposing worldviews, Bell asks the reader not to “take his word
for it.” For some, a Christian leader admitting that his interpretation of scripture may be wrong is
revolutionary, especially in a world where biblical literalists claim to “only preach the Bible.” He calls for
people to think critically about scripture interpretation, and he asks his readers to do the same of his work.
Emerging Story: Donald Miller’s Use of Scripture in Narrative Authorship
Another proponent of the Christian use of narrative is author Donald Miller, yet an additional voice
that falls under the Emergent blanket of endorsement. Miller has published several books including (but
not limited to) Blue Like Jazz, Searching for God Knows what, Through Painted Deserts and most recently A
Thousand Miles in a Million Years. In each of these books, readers will not find theological assessment of
scriptures nor would the bulk of what Miller writes stereotypically fall into the “Christian inspiration”
category that one finds at a bookstore. Rather, Miller uses the story of his own life and the lives of others
to make spiritually relevant points, artfully tying points of scripture into the context of the story. Like
Bell, a lot of what Miller has to say is not necessarily saying anything new about scripture, but rather
reframing it in the context of the “Christian narrative.”
On top of being a best-selling Christian author, Donald Miller is also popular on the public
speaking circuit. Patton Dodd, in his Christianity Today article “A Better Story Teller,” says of one of
Donald Miller’s speaking engagements that the “ascending” Christianity of today is not rooted in rational
systems, but in story (Patton 1). Indeed, Miller will rarely take on the “truths” of the Bible in his writing.
Rather, he incorporates his knowledge of the Bible in a recognizable way for his Christian readers, and at
the same time in an approachable way for those unfamiliar with Christianity. Because of this kind of writing
132