STANLEY J. GRENZ’S THEOLOGICAL METHOD: A POSTFOUNDATIONAL EPISTEMOLOGY

Y. Shatalov

Abstract


In the present article, I have examined the communitarian theological method of Stanley J. Grenz. The article was dedicated to outlining Grenz’s overall proposal for reshaping evangelical theology along communitarian lines due to a major cultural shift from modernity to postmodernity. To his mind, evangelical scholars can benefit the most in their theologizing from this communitarian methodological orientation. Drawing on the works of other postfoundational scholars and my personal research in the Eastern European context, I have suggested revising certain aspects of Grenz method (in particular the structure of epistemology, the question of language and truth). Taking my conclusions as a starting point, I tried to put Grenz’s communitarian methodology into practice in order to present the contours of revisited communitarian method. I have demonstrated that contemporary evangelical theology, indeed, requires the notion of community due to biblical, theological, sociological, hermeneutical and apologetic reasons. While Grenz did not dedicate much writing to such questions as relationship between theology and Tradition (an exception is his work on the role of Tradition in postfoundational epistemology, unto which I drew), I have expanded them following his overall emphases. Therefore, I have concluded that Grenz’s communitarian methodology can be applied well to theology if certain aspects could be revised.

Key words: Stanley J. Grenz, theological method, evangelical theology, postfoundational epistemology, concept of community.


Full Text:

PDF

References


Grenz Stanley J. Conversing in Christian Style: Toward a Baptist Theological Method for the Postmodern Context in Baptist History and Heritage 35/1 (Winter 2000): 82-10, available at: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-94160872.html (25 March 2018).

Grenz Stanley J. The Moral Quest: Foundations of Christian Ethics. – Downers Grove, Illinois : InterVarsity Press, 1997.

Grenz Stanley J. Theology for the Community of God. – Carlisle, U.K.: The Paternoster Press, 1994.

Stanley J. Grenz, The Spirit and the Word: The world-creating function of the text in Theology Today 57:3 (October 2000).

Grenz Stanley J. and John R. Franke. Beyond Foundationalism: Shaping Theology in a Postmodern Context. – Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2001.

Grenz Stanley J. and John R. Franke. Theological Heritage as Hermeneutical Trajectory: Toward a Nonfoundationalist Understanding of the Role of Tradition in Theology in Ancient & Postmodern Christianity: Paleo-Orthodoxy in the 21st Century, eds. Kenneth Tanner and Christopher A. Hall. – Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002.

Lindbeck George A. The Nature of Doctrine: Religion and Theology in a Postliberal Age. – Philadelphia, PA: Westminster Press, 1984.

Vanhoozer Kevin J. The Drama of Doctrine: A Canonical-Linguistic Approach to Christian Theology. – Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2005.

Wellum Stephen J. Postconservatism, Biblical Authority, and Recent Proposals for Re-Doing Evangelical Theology: A Critical Analysis in Reclaiming the Center: Confronting Evangelical Accommodation in Postmodern Times, eds. Millard J. Erickson, Paul Kjoss Helseth, and Justin Taylor. – Wheaton, ILL: Crossway Books, 2004.




DOI: https://doi.org/10.26886/2414-634X.4(23)2018.15

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.