Preface -- c.xi
Introduction. “In Accordance with the Scriptures”: Local Church as “Living Bible” -- c.1
Playbill: Local Church Makes “Living Bible” -- c.1
Program Notes: What This book Is About -- c.4
Plot: A Brief Synopsis -- c.9
PART 1. BEFORE THE CURTAIN RISES: ON THEOLOGY AND THEATER
1 Doing the Word “on Earth as It Is in Heaven”:
Introducing the Theater of the Gospel -- c.15
Faith Speaking Understanding: The Challenge -- c.15
The Witness as Doer of the Word: James’s Mirror
and Jesus’ House -- c.18
“Theater” of the Gospel: Definitions and Distinctions -- c.20
Theater as Handmaid to Theology: Metaphor or Model? -- c.25
2 Audience Participation: Loving God, Doing Truth,
Being Church -- c.33
“Breaking Down the Dividing Wall”: Between Actor and Audience, Pastor and Congregation,
Church and World -- c.34
“Walking in the Truth”: Participation in Christ -- c.37
“Confessing the Coming of Christ”:
A Self-Involving Demonstration -- c.41
“Abiding in Doctrine”: The Audience as Staging Area -- c.44
PART 2. FAITH SHOWING UNDERSTANDING: HOW DOCTRINE MAKES DISCIPLES AND HOW DISCIPLES DO DOCTRINE
3 The Great Theater of the World: Setting
the Twenty-First-Century Stage -- c.51
Stage: Church, World, and the Contemporary Crisis
of Authenticity -- c.53
Lighting: “A Lamp unto My Feet” -- c.63
Action: The Essence of Theater -- c.65
Recapitulation: The Canonical Imperative -- c.71
4 Gospel Theater: The Triune Drama of Redemption -- c.73
The Play of the Playwright “from Above”: A Drama
of Trinitarian Proportions -- c.75
The Players: Human and Other Dramatis Personae -- c.82
The Play of the Playwright “from Below”: A Courtroom
Drama of Kingdom and Kinship -- c.89
Recapitulation: The Orthodox Imperative -- c.110
5 Learning (and Becoming) the Part: “Little Christs” -- c.113
Roles: Till We Have Faces -- c.114
Costume: Putting on Christ -- c.120
Prompts: Word and Spirit as Aide-Memoire and Means of Grace -- c.129
Recapitulation: The Pauline Imperative -- c.136
6 Forming the Company, Doing Church: Doctrinal
Directions for Acting Out Life Together in Christ -- c.139
Communio Sanctorum-. Disciples’ Gathering as
Command Performance—“Do This” -- c.141
Scenes of Congregational Life -- c.152
Rehearsing Communion: The Supper as Summa of the Gospel -- c.160
Recapitulation: The Catholic-Evangelical Imperative -- c.166
7 Staging the Play in Ten Thousand Places: How the
Company of the Gospel Enacts Parables of the Kingdom -- c.169
Local Church, Local Theater: Where is “in Christ”? -- c.171
An Interactive Theater of Resident Exiles and Holy Fools -- c.179
Improvisation: Embodying the Mind of Christ Always,
Everywhere, and to Everyone -- c.188
Recapitulation: The Sapiential Imperative -- c.204
8 (Torn) Curtain: On Earth as He Is in Heaven -- c.207
Climax: “Sits at the Right Hand of God the Father Almighty” -- c.209
Conflict: Postvictory Theater of the Oppressed -- c.214
Catharsis: Purification of the Heart -- c.220
Recapitulation: The Doxological Imperative -- c.225
Conclusion. Tell and Show: Exhibiting the Gospel
in Company with Christ -- c.229
Exeunt: The Dismissal -- c.232
Encore: The Gloria -- c.234
Appendix. What Has Broadway to Do with Jerusalem? -- c.239
The Antitheatrical Prejudice: Responding
to Historical Objections -- c.239
“The Play’s Not the Thing”: Responding
to Contemporary Objections -- c.243
Selected Bibliography -- c.253
Index of Scripture References -- c.261
Index of Subjects -- c.269