Our Sacred Stories

The thesis of this paper is: a) narrative creates identity (both individual and communal); b) our society privileges argument over narrative within the public sphere, and; c) therefore, by excluding the voices of others who privilege narrative and silencing our own narratives, we are all diminished in realizing our fullest potential self-hood. In support of this thesis the concepts of Paul Ricoeur’s Narrative Self, Charles Taylor and Jurgen Habermas’ Public Sphere are explored and, in the case of the latter, critiqued. Then, to illuminate this flaw the hermeneutic strategies of Mujerista and Womanist theologians are explored with special emphasis on the Womanist exegesis of the Hagar story as well as historical and fictional slave narratives. Further, to support the plea for narrative with integrity, the framework for this paper is an allegory reflecting the concepts explored within each Chapter.