Abstract

Stanley Hauerwas, in developing what he calls "an ethics of character," discusses the importance of vision, imagination, and community for the shaping of character by means of "stories." Hauerwas convincingly argues that if persons are to be Christian disciples, they must allow their own way of life to be shaped by the story of Jesus' life. What Hauerwas does not undertake to explain is how the literary impact of stories (where vision, imagination and community become operative) affects the shaping of character. In this essay, I will demonstrate how the literary impact of one type of story, viz., the parable, can affect the shaping of character.