The theological voice of Stan Grenz also reaches a wide audience.
He is a theologian who writes for scholars, church leaders and lay
people. He is the author or co-author of 22 books and many more
articles. For the last 12 years Grenz taught theology and ethics
at Carey Theological College and Regent College. This year he leaves
Carey/Regent for a new position at Truett Seminary. He told Faith
Today that he will spend the first year commuting between his new
academic home in Waco, Texas and his old home of Vancouver.
Commuting between different worlds is something Grenz does well.
According to David Reed, professor of pastoral theology at Toronto's
Wycliffe College, this is why Grenz is so effective in his writing.
"He engages the pew as well as the academy," says Reed.
"Not a lot of scholars can do that. He is an evangelical who
has the respect of the wider theological world."
Knowledge of the contemporary world peppers his work, with references
to the X-Files and Alanis Morissette. His latest work is
The Social God and the Relational Self: A Trinitarian Theology
of the Imago Dei.
"This book is a highly academic piece that will be read by
scholars, affect how they teach, read by students and affect how
they lead. It will have a trickle down effect," says Grenz.
It is the trickling down of insight that Grenz sees as one of the
primary tasks of a theologian. Pastors use Grenz's work in their
seminary training, and then in turn teach the lay people. "The
real task of a theologian is to be a servant to the people of God
in our mission in the world. My desire is to offer my resources,
to be faithful, not successful."
This may mean playing the trumpet occasionally. Grenz told Paul
Beckingham, a Carey colleague, "When I play my trumpet I'm
ministering outside of my main gift. When I play my trumpet, God
is teaching me lessons of daring and humility" the daring and
humility found in both trumpeter and theologian.
(Reprinted by permission from Faith Today magazine, Nov/Dec
2002. For a no-risk trial subscription, visit www.faithtoday.ca
or phone 905-479-6071 ext. 255.)
|