Planting Churches among the City's Poor - Volume 1

P ART II: T HEOLOGICAL AND M ISSIOLOGICAL P RINCIPLES AND I NSIGHTS • 153

5. The immediacy of heightened reality

6. The enjoyment of artistic craftsmanship

7. The power of identification and participation

G. Key propositions of story theology

William J. Bausch lists ten propositions related to story theology that help us understand the significance and importance of the study of stories in the understanding of Bible and theology (William J. Bausch, Storytelling and Faith . Mystic, Connecticut: Twenty-Third Publications, 1984.)

1. Stories introduce us to sacramental presences .

2. Stories are always more important than facts .

3. Stories forever remain normative ( authoritative ) for the Christian community of faith.

4. Christian traditions evolve and define themselves through and around stories.

5. The stories of God precede, produce, and empower the community of God’s people.

6. Community story implies censure, rebuke, and accountability.

7. Stories produce theology .

8. Stories produce many theologies .

9. Stories produce ritual and sacrament .

10. The stories in the canonical Scriptures are neither fiction nor invented; rather, these stories are history .

H. The importance of the biblical framework of the Kingdom

1. The canonical Scriptures are the ultimate point of reference for truth , and find their foci on God’s revelation of himself in Jesus Christ.