PART II Introduction

Alasdair MacIntyre, in his historically attuned study of moral theory,After Virtue(University of Notre Dame Press, 1981), emphasized that “every action is the bearer and expression of more or less theory-laden beliefs and concepts; every piece of theorizing and every expression of belief is a political and moral action.” Taking its lead from MacIntyre, Part II ofAmerican Christianitiesexamines Christian theology and Christian practice as interdependent and interpenetrating. “Theory-laden” rituals, such as baptism, the images of gravestones or religious statuary, and the potent narratives of the Bible, convey, at least implicitly, Christian ideas about the factors that enhanc