| Renewing the Center
"Renewing the Center" was a book written by the late Stanley Grenz. Grenz was a critiquer of a number of aspects of evangelical theology. He was a theologian of the Arminian-Baptist-postconservative/post-foundational/postliberal stripe. This is a volume that many emergents read beause it essentially endorses a number of their positions. McLaren, Packer (he endorses everything these days), and Franke are among the endorsers. A response to Grenz's book was was called "Reclaiming the Center" (ed. by Justin Taylor) and was published a few years back. I just wanted to get your opinions on one chapter from Grenz's book, "Evangelical Theology and the Religions."
"Evangelicals often conclude that Christianity is the only legitimate expression of special revelation, thereby denying any positive significance for all other religions (i.e. David F. Wells in "God the Evangelist"). The survey of Biblical material, however, indicates that the Bible allows no such unequivocal rejection of the possibility of either faith or true worship beyond the central salvation-historical trajectory of Israel and the church. This, in turn, leads to the suggestion that human that human religious traditions may indeed participate in some meaningful manner in the divine program for creation, even if only in the present penultimate age. [he explores what their providential role might be]...The biblical visionaries anticipate the establishment of the eternal community of a reconciled humankind dwelling within the renewed creation and enjoying the presence of the redeeming God...Building on the work of these pioneers of contemporary thinkers assert that a sense of personal identity develops through the telling of a personal narrative which is always embedded in the narrative of the communities in which the person participates. The transcending story that gives meaning to a personal narrative is mediated to the individual by the community, which transmits traditions of virtue, common good, and ultimate meaning. The community is likewise important to the sustaining of character, virtue, and values. And it provides the necessary foundation for involvement in public discourse about matters of worldview. Consequently, community is also crucial to the well-being of the broader society.[He notes on how religion readily becomes an expression of human fallenness]...Why privilege the Christian vision? [Is is that we are to] assert that the theological vision is in fact true? But on what basis can we make this claim? Must we now finally appeal to some court beyond the Christian faith itself, some rational "first principle" that supposedly carries universality? In the end, must we inevitably retreat to a foundationalist epistemology? Which religious vision carries with itself the foundation for the community-building role of a transcendent religious vision? Which vision provides the basis for community in the truest sense? Like other community-based visions, a central goal of the Christian message of salvation is the advancement of social cohesion, which it terms "community" or "fellowship." At the heart of the Christian message is the declaration that the goal of life is community...But the Christian message does not stop here. Evangelicals firmly believe that the Christian vision sets forth more completely the nature of community that all human religious traditions seek to foster. Christians humbly conclude that no other religious vision encapsulates the final purpose of God as they have come to understand it. "
So Grenz's first principle is the principle of community. This is his "foundation" Is this the Bible's foundation or first principle?
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Jeremy Ellis
Member of the Village Church of Bartlett
Bartlett, IL
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