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An Alternative Starting Place for an Indigenous Theology

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An Alternative Starting Place for an Indigenous Theology An Alternative Starting Place for an Indigenous Theology by Raymond Clifford Aldred A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Wycliffe College and the Graduate Centre for Theological Studies of the Toronto School of Theology. In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Theology awarded by Wycliffe College and the University of Toronto. © Copyright by Raymond Clifford Aldred 2020 An Alternative Starting Place for an Indigenous Theology Raymond Clifford Aldred Doctor of Theology Wycliffe College and the University of Toronto 2020 ABSTRACT This thesis is an exploration of the intersection between an Indigenous narrative communal identity and Christian theology. It demonstrates that Indigenous communal identity is grounded in narrative, and that includes a strong sense of solidarity with the land. Furthermore, it demonstrates that Indigenous identity is not just based upon narrative but is also shaped by a shared story, one that brings the changing context of Indigenous existence in Canada together with the goal of maintaining harmony in the land. This work has profound implications for how Indigenous people theologize. Since Indigenous communal identity elevates the role of narrative and land, a narrative approach to scripture will be more prominent than approaches taken by the first evangelical theologies introduced among Indigenous people in Canada, the more common of which have tended to commodify land and essentialize story. What is more, through its dialogue with Ricoeur and Pannenberg, the approach taken here extends scholarship on the concept of embodied existence. Carl Henry, particularly his propositional approach, which was adopted by the majority of evangelical Christian missions in Canada, will serve as an historical Canadian dialogue partner. Conservative evangelicals like Carl Henry and his theological heirs concerned themselves with finding a starting-place of doctrinal purity through the articulation and defence of eternal truths in the form of propositional statements—an approach that concludes by replacing the gospel story with statements of truth. As a consequence, Indigenous people have ii been required to make their way through the necessary truth statements, in order to access the gospel story. The consequence of the reign of this theological model was that attempts at cultivating a communal Indigenous Christian theology were hindered or discounted. This thesis proposes an alternative starting-place for an Indigenous theology, one that involves embracing Indigenous communal identity, together with its language and understanding of story. iii Table of Contents ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................... ii TABLE OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................. viii A Short Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 1 The Structure of the Thesis ......................................................................................................... 2 CHAPTER 1 ................................................................................................................................... 7 The Issue of Indigenous Identity and Theology ............................................................................. 7 Indigenous Christian Identity: The Context .............................................................................. 10 Indigenous Christian Identity: The Thesis ................................................................................ 16 Delineating the Boundaries and Terms ..................................................................................... 20 The “Gospel Story” ............................................................................................................... 21 A Particular Approach to and Understanding of the Role of Story ...................................... 22 A Specific Sense of Identity ................................................................................................. 27 The Implications of Identity for Theology ............................................................................... 31 The Scope and Shape of Evangelicalism .................................................................................. 36 Contemporary Evangelicalism .............................................................................................. 37 “Kinds” of Evangelical ......................................................................................................... 40 Evangelicals and Orthodoxy ..................................................................................................... 42 CHAPTER 2 ................................................................................................................................. 48 Identity Development: A Communal Frame ............................................................................ 48 iv Indigenous Identity ............................................................................................................... 48 Western Identity .................................................................................................................... 48 Identities in Conversation ..................................................................................................... 48 Western Theological Shifts in Understanding Identity ............................................................. 52 Conceptions of Identity ......................................................................................................... 53 Identity and Land in the West ............................................................................................... 55 Toward Communal Understandings ......................................................................................... 59 Indigeneity and Communally Focused Identity ........................................................................ 75 Ways of Examining Community and Identity ...................................................................... 77 The Language ‘Game’ of the Cree ....................................................................................... 79 Name that Cree ..................................................................................................................... 88 Summary ................................................................................................................................. 102 CHAPTER 3 ............................................................................................................................... 107 Indigenous Identity: A Narrated Community ............................................................................. 107 Indigenous Narrative Identity ................................................................................................. 111 Shame-Based Versus Guilt-Based .......................................................................................... 114 Locative Versus Temporal ...................................................................................................... 116 Sacred Stories ......................................................................................................................... 120 The Performative Nature of Story .......................................................................................... 123 Who is Telling the Story? ....................................................................................................... 127 The Storyteller and the Story .................................................................................................. 130 v The Role of the Community ............................................................................................... 138 The Purpose of Story: The Maintenance of Relationships ......................................................... 148 Relationship to Land ............................................................................................................... 152 Relationships Between Individual and Group and Between Groups ...................................... 160 Relationship to the Spiritual and Spiritual Beings .................................................................. 165 Relationship to Self ................................................................................................................. 170 CHAPTER 4 ............................................................................................................................... 180 An Indigenous Conversation with Ricoeur ................................................................................. 180 Ricoeur on Identity, Metaphor, and Mimesis ............................................................................. 185 Ricoeur on Identity ................................................................................................................. 188 Ricoeur on Metaphor .............................................................................................................. 199 Ricoeur on Mimesis ................................................................................................................ 207 Summary ................................................................................................................................. 214 CHAPTER 5 ..............................................................................................................................
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