Biblical and Theological Studies Faculty Works

The Implications of Postmodernism for Theology: On Meta-narratives, Foundationalism, and Realism

Document Type

Article

Abstract

It takes an uncommon measure of courage to argue that an organization to which one belongs must change. Because it is very rare that there is universal agreement on what (and how much) needs to change, even the least conservative members of such organizations are tempted to “shoot the messenger.” Such was the plight of Stanley Grenz. Stan was a self-avowed and unabashed evangelical who tirelessly yet graciously argued that evangelical theology has been held hostage by a debilitating commitment to modernist philosophical assumptions. To the chagrin of many evangelicals (and the delight of some), Stan sought to re-vision evangelical theological method in terms of the ‘chastened rationality’ of postmodernity, the primary characteristics of which are the demise of foundationalist epistemologies and the transition from a realist to a constructionist view of truth and the world.

Department(s)

Biblical and Theological Studies

Publication Title

The Princeton Theological Review

Volume

12

Issue

1

First Page

11

Last Page

16

Publication Date

Spring 2006

Comments

Originally published in “The Implications of Postmodernism for Theology: On Meta-narratives, Foundationalism, and Realism,” The Princeton Theological Review. 12/1. (Spring 2006). 11-16

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