The church as a narrative polis Revitalizing church member formation through the virtue ethics frameworks of Hauerwas and MacIntyre in the Indonesian context
Abstract
Christian formation in contemporary Indonesia has experienced a significant shift, becoming primarily focused on cognitive instructional programs, constrained by normative moralism, and lacking substantive character development. This article presents a theological reconstruction of formation through critical engagement with the virtue ethics of Stanley Hauerwas and Alasdair MacIntyre, who conceptualize the Church as a narrative polis, a political community that cultivates moral imagination through participation in practices, tradition, and the narrative unity of life. Utilizing a constructive, practical-theological methodology based on Richard Osmer’s four tasks, this study contends that congregational formation should move beyond an information-transfer paradigm toward initiation into a community of character shaped by the narrative of Christ’s cross and resurrection. The Indonesian context is analyzed through dialogue with local wisdom, understood as a thick tradition in MacIntyrean terms, and is situated in relation to religious pluralism and the challenges posed by digital polarization. The findings indicate that the Hauerwas-MacIntyre framework provides a theological-ethical basis for addressing the formation crisis by restoring the Church's ecclesiological role as a school of virtues, while facilitating critical engagement with Indonesia's pluralistic context without succumbing to sectarianism.
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