The latest offering from retired Duke professor Stanley Hauerwas, The Work of Theology, perhaps unintentionally verifies his conviction that “the work of theology is never done” (p. 265). With his characteristic mélange of Aristotelianism, Wittgensteinianism, and (Alasdair) MacIntyreism, this is an apologia of Hauerwas' life's work, further expounding his thought while also responding to misunderstandings of it. The opening chapter's thesis, paradigmatic for the volume, is that Hauerwas views theological work as an “exercise in practical reason” (p. 4). This is signaled in the “how” fronting each chapter's title, which could otherwise convey that the book is something of a do-it-yourself manual.
