Samuel Wells 
Transforming Fate into Destiny [PDF ebook] 
The Theological Ethics of Stanley Hauerwas

Stanley Hauerwas is a distinctive and controversial theologian. His work demands attention in every debate on theological ethics today. His project is to transform Christian ethics from the fate of the individual in crisis to the destiny of the Church in its faithfulness.

In this critical evaluation of Hauerwas’ work, Samuel Wells sets out the drama and debate of Hauerwas’ new agenda. He agrees that the Christian story is at the heart of the Church’s practice. Yet he goes beyond Hauerwas. He draws attention to the neglect, in narrative ethics, of the way the Church’s story ends. Wells intends that Christians finally see their lives in the context, not of blind fate, but of divine destiny.

About the author

Stanley Hauerwas is professor emeritus of ethics at Duke University where he held the Gilbert T. Rowe chair for more than twenty years. Among his numerous publications are Sanctify Them in the Truth: Holiness Exemplified (1998) and Living Gently in a Violent World, with Jean Vanier (2008). His latest publication is Fully Alive: The Apocalyptic Humanism of Karl Barth (University of Virginia Press, 2023).