An Alternative Starting Place for an Indigenous Theology

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 a 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 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.Doctor of Theology (ThD