Requisite Danger

As I read Stanley Grenz and John Franke’s book (Beyond Foundationalism), two things struck me. The first being the understanding that postmodernism is not simply a philosophy that can be put on and off at will. Instead it is a culture and mindset that radically changes everything, from the questions asked to the way one sees truth and life. The second thing that struck me was the realization that, without knowing it, I had already traveled pretty far down the path outlined by the authors. This book helped placed my journey within the context of those around me.

A quick look at the one of the three main sources of theology, scripture, serves as an example of this understanding. Contrary to the way I was raised and the view of the majority of believers around me, I have come to the understanding that while the Bible is true, it does not contain all truth – but instead points towards the Truth (i.e. Jesus). In John 16:13, Jesus tells us that he would send the Holy Spirit to guide us “into all truth.” He did not say that he would leave a book!

The most challenging section of the book was the third part in which Grenz and Franke’s propose three focal motifs of theology. For the last seven months, I have been praying through a Celtic prayer book. One of things I have noticed about the prayers is their focus on the Trinity. At first this was very odd as I tended to think about the Trinity in a very linear way, separating each Member into different roles and functions. However, after reading Grenz and Franke’s book, I’ve come to the realization that the church at large needs to rethink its view of the Trinity. I’m not sure where this will lead, but I think it is worth pursuing. Continue reading Theology in a Postmodern Culture (Part 2 of 2)

There has been a ton of negativity about the up-and-coming Postmodern culture and worldview from Christian circles (especially within the Evangelical world). As such, it was with great interest that I started an Emerging Church and Postmodern class at Fuller Theological Seminary.

The first book they had us read was Stanley Grenz and John Franke book “Beyond Foundationalism: Shaping Theology in a Postmodern Context.” This book was amazing! For the first time, I fully understood what Postmodernism was about and how it was changing the face of Christianity.

Because of the importance of these issues, I am going to post a very detailed book view outlining Grenz and Franke’s book. This will be done in two separate posts – the first dealing with the book itself while the second post will talk about my personal reaction to the book. I hope you will enjoy the journey. 
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The catalyst for this book was John Franke, a postmodern and postconservative theologian, who was the Assistant Professor of Historical and Systematic Theology at Biblical Theological Seminary in Hatfield, Pennsylvania at the time of writing. Since the time of the book, Franke has changed positions within the seminary to become the Professor of Missional Theology. In addition to teaching, he has joined the Coordinating Group of Emergent Village and serves as the co-chair of the Evangelical Theology Group of the American Academy of Religion.

John Franke’s co-author is Stanley Grenz, a former Baptist pastor and noted theologian, who was the Professor of Theology and Ethics at Carey/Regent College in Vancouver, Canada, at the time. It was Grenz’s book Revisioning Evangelical Theology that provided the framework for the current book, Beyond Foundationalism (x). Continue reading Theology in a Postmodern Culture (Part 1 of 2)

Dear Brian,

I recently read you newest book “A New Kind of Christianity” and found it very interesting. The questions you asked are ones that need to be asked in this changing culture and times.

Specifically, I really liked your focus on challenging the Gnostic thought patterns within modern Christianity. It is sad to think that Christians have become trapped by this heresy, claiming that the ‘material world’ is bad and the ‘spiritual/immaterial world’ is good. Unfortunately, this mindset has caused many believers to consider environmentalism as ungodly. By the grace of God, I have had the blessings to be a part of a movement of Christians that seek to be good stewards of the environment – both for the glory of God and to help our fellow humans.

I also enjoyed reading your response to the question “How Should the Bible Be Understood.” This is a hugely personal issue for me as I face criticism about how we are to read the Bible on a weekly basis. Every time I try to explain the cultural and historical background of a Bible passage, the men in my Bible study shoot me down. To them, each word in the Bible was written in such a way that they should mean the same thing forever – forgetting that the Bible is a collection of letters written to different people at different times among different cultures using multiple genres. Hopefully, the Lord will show them one day that the Bible is not a database of statements to be grabbed and shoved together in order to ‘prove’ whatever action/thought/idea/doctrine they want. Continue reading An Open Letter To Brian McLaren