ABSTRACT
It is not that the church's theological absolutes are no longer trusted, but that the old modes in which those absolutes have been articulated are increasingly suspect and dysfunctional. Texts are open to many meanings, more than one of which may be legitimate and faithful at the same time. The alternative voiced in textual preaching intends to show that this scripting of reality is in deep conflict with the dominant description of reality, so that the scripts are shown to be in deep tension with each other, if not in contradiction. The folk in the Bible are shown to be those who have often settled into a narrative that is deathly and destructive. Thus, the early Hebrews settled for a slave narrative as their proper self-presentation. Nobody can switch worlds unless an alternative world is made richly available with great artistry, care, and boldness.
