Abstract:
The article argues that an argumentative
discourse should be complemented by a narrative discursive mode to express the connectedness
between experience and the social context in which people’s life history is embedded. The
article’s point of departure is Jean-Baptisté Metz’s notion of the ‘practical, liberating character
of narrative’. An example of such a narrative systematic discourse is the approach of Michael
Weinrich in which he replaces logos (ratio) with mythosis. The latter includes narratio, whilst
logos does not. The life history of Jürgen Moltmann as contextual theologian serves as case
study to demonstrate the heuristic potential of narrativity for contextual systematic theology.
Moltmann’s autobiography The Broad Place functions as the frame of reference for such a
narrative approach to systematic theology.
