Journal of European Baptist Studies, Volume 9, Number 2, January 2009

nt for all theological reflection.” In the first pages of his great systematic project, McClendon articulates his ‘baptist vision’. McClendon defines this vision as an ‘hermeneutical principle’, which maintains ‘a shared awareness of the present Christian community as the primitive community and the eschatological 23 Ibid., p. 132. 24 Ibid., p. 133. 23 In, Systematic Theology: Volume 2: Doctrine (Nashville: Abingdon, 1994), pp. 132-133, McClendon alludes to the potential for the Sermon to serve as a corrective force against destructive practices which distort the vision of the kingdom of God. He does not, however, (as he does with the Ten Commandments in Ethics, pp. 182-189) explain how the Sermon could be applied in such a way. J ' J.W. McClendon, Biography as Theology: How Life Stories Can Remake Today’s Theology (Eugene: Wimpf & Stock, 1974), pp. 149, 170. See also, McClendon, Ethics, pp. 23, 34-44; Doctrine, pp. 41-48. 44 Journal of European Baptist Studies 27 community’. It follows that ‘the church now is the primitive church; we 28 are Jesus’ followers; the commands are addressed directly to us\ According to the logic of this vision, the Sermon on the Mount has a living relevance for disciples of Jesus today because the way of life described by Jesus becomes embodied in the life of the church today, according to McClendon, through the practices of the faith community. Thus, ‘the biblical story has present, not merely antiquarian relevance’. 29 The most pertinent application of McClendon’s vision to our examination is to be found in his discussion of ‘powerful practices’. 30 McClendon credits the philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre with the insight that ‘the virtues of the common life depend upon the existence of common human social practices, and these in turn upon a narrative understanding of O 1 life’/ This notion derives from an Aristotelian understanding of the teleological function of practices as disciplines of habit which engender virtue through the cultivation of character. Practices, therefore, have significant relevance for the moral life. According to McClendon, morality is expressed in the form of practices performed by a particular community. The teachings of Jesus, therefore, are realistic because of the potential for character formation within the context of a community which embodies and enacts the vision of the kingdom through such practices. This vision is guided throughout by a narrative account of God’s interaction with human beings, which began with the first man, Adam, and continued to Christ and to the present day and beyond. This ongoing narrative gives coherence to the practices of the faith community because it invites people to participate in the living out of the kingdom vision. However, McClendon criticises the ‘generally optimistic and progressive ring of MacIntyre’s overall account of practices’ 34 and warns of the potential danger, inherent in powerfu