Narrative, Context, and Conversion: An Application of Paul Ricoeur\u27s Theory of Narrative to the New Catholic Evangelization in the Postconciliar United States
The New Evangelism, a term popularized by Paul VI and a primary concern of John Paul II, articulates the Catholic Church\u27s reply to the appeal of the Council Fathers for renewed gospel proclamation in the modern age. Theology observes copious permutations of the New Evangelism, and these competing narratives cover a variety of perspectives. My project explores the question of the New Evangelism\u27s meaning within United States Catholicism amidst its various interpretations by applying Paul Ricoeur\u27s theory of narrative to this multiplicity of configurations. Ricoeur\u27s theory actually anticipated the contemporary situation: as new interpretations challenged sedimentation, multiple reconfigurations of the Church\u27s call to proclaim were the inevitable result, in light of story\u27s power upon human imagination. In the reciprocal dialectic between historical consciousness and personal identity, story informs each and is informed by each--an epistemological circle which allows for multiple reconfigurations when narratives engage imagination. My application of Ricoeur\u27s theory will indicate that theology is not about the New Evangelism so much as it is about New Evangelisms, and that the Church may embrace a breathing room for multiple voices without losing herself to the vacuum of relativism nor to the suffocation of autocracy
