Welcome to the Conversation
Several years ago I read Stan Grenz' book, Beyond Foundationalism. After reading it, I had the pleasure getting to know Professor Grenz. We first met at a Friends pastors gathering. With his baptist persuasion and my Anabaptist persuasion, we enjoyed bearing the anomalies of ritual among our friendly non-ritualistic Friends.
In the months after that weekend retreat, I began to look forward to the bridges that might be built between divergent streams of Christianity through the work of Grenz and Franke . Though not lined out in Beyond Foundationalism, there seemed to be realizations, or awarenesses that could heal many of the rifts that exist between traditionalists and progressives, between liberals and conservatives, between fundamentalists of various stripes. What was lacking were the practices to put those convictions into action.
Alas, Stanley Grenz left this world before this important missiological and ecclesiological work could be completed. It is my hope that we might look more deeply at the ideas laid out in Beyond Foundationalism and begin to generate in this generation of Christian leaders, practices which reach beyond the comfortable and careless labels of "liberal" and "conservative." Instead, may we begin to live into the reality of actually being one in Christ.
In the months after that weekend retreat, I began to look forward to the bridges that might be built between divergent streams of Christianity through the work of Grenz and Franke . Though not lined out in Beyond Foundationalism, there seemed to be realizations, or awarenesses that could heal many of the rifts that exist between traditionalists and progressives, between liberals and conservatives, between fundamentalists of various stripes. What was lacking were the practices to put those convictions into action.
Alas, Stanley Grenz left this world before this important missiological and ecclesiological work could be completed. It is my hope that we might look more deeply at the ideas laid out in Beyond Foundationalism and begin to generate in this generation of Christian leaders, practices which reach beyond the comfortable and careless labels of "liberal" and "conservative." Instead, may we begin to live into the reality of actually being one in Christ.
