So what is the relationship between studying the Bible, Systematic Theology, and Narrative Theology?
Gabler suggested that the job of biblical studies was to distill the truths from the Bible, to be handed over to the systematicians for proper and logical ordering. Such a vision holds onto what Narrative Theology will always deem a mistake: thinking that “systematic theology” is the real thing, whereas biblical theology is a road on the way to [the real thing].
via What is Narrative Theology? Pt. 1: Narrative Theology and Biblical Theology | Storied Theology.
Earlier in the same article, Kirk gives this description of Narrative Theology:
Learning the story of God as a story, articulating the various aspects as parts of a dynamic movement that not only passes through time but genuinely develops and changes as it does so, narrative theology never seeks to leave the story behind to get on to the real business of theology or ethics. The church’s theology is the narrative, and its ethics is the telling of that story in the words and deeds of Christian communities.
I like it. It allows for the development of ideas over time, and even the development of what makes for a proper understanding of God over the millenia.