By: Stefania Tarasut on October 11, 2013
My favorite line in Who Needs Theology? comes almost at the end of the book and it sums up my feelings in four simple words… “Theology is not easy.” (P138) This book reminded me that no matter where you find yourself on the theology scale, theology is difficult because it requires you to deal not…
By: Miriam Mendez on October 11, 2013
I was spiritually nurtured in a church where the word “theology” was not part of our vocabulary. In fact, for many, the word “theology” was a scary word. It was a word associated with institutions, intellectuals and long and dry debates, which the people believed, only led to arguments and disagreements. In their book, Who…
By: Sam Stephens on October 11, 2013
While it is true that Pentecostalism is growing, it is doubtful whether their social engagement is increasing in proportion as claimed by Miller and Yamamori in their book Global Pentecostalism: The New Face Of Christian Social Engagement. I found myself floundering a bit in my attempt to identify the central thesis that Miller and Yamamori…
By: Carol McLaughlin on October 11, 2013
As with many invitations that come in the mail, Who Needs Theology is inviting us to open and read through its pages. More than just read through the pages, the authors, Roger E. Olson and Stanley J. Grenz provide a comprehensive introduction focusing on what theology is and what theology does. Theology is not a…
By: Julie Dodge on October 11, 2013
I hadn’t really thought much about this identity. I think of myself as a follower of Christ, a social worker, a leader, a teacher, a woman… but a theologian? Like many, I had the understanding that a theologian was a professional academic. Grenz and Olson[i] argue that in our hearts, each of us is a…
By: Michael Badriaki on October 11, 2013
The idea that everyone is a theologian in his or her own right makes sense to me since I was raised in an environment where people worshiped, learned, taught and acknowledged a god or gods and spirits. My community was spiritually engaged with the other worldly at various intellectual, liturgical, mystical and superstitious ways. Indeed…
By: Mitch Arbelaez on October 11, 2013
In one of my favorite books The Knowledge of the Holy, A.W. Tozer states:”The most important thought that a man will have is his thought of God.”[1] He also goes on to say, “The highest form of idolatry is thinking wrong thoughts about God.”[2] I have come to believe these two statements to be true. …
By: Richard Rhoads on October 11, 2013
I was 21 years old, wet behind the ears and had no idea what I was doing in ministry. Just three weeks before I was pursuing a job in healthcare, now through a crazy turn in events I found myself serving as a summer missionary for a local inner city Youth For Christ. The Executive…
By: Raphael Samuel on October 11, 2013
Comments on who Needs Theology By: Stanley J. Grenz & Roger E. Olson. Theology has always been an integral part of the Church, from its inception to its development throughout the past 2000 years. Today theological perspectives have become a pre-occupation in the minds of many contemporary christians, as current cultural trends continue to challenge…
By: gfesadmin on October 11, 2013
#dminlgp: Thirty Years Later: Who Needs Theology? dminlgp: In my twenties, theology was the primary focus of my life. In my fifties it is still a focus in my life, but it is no longer primary – or is it? In Who Needs Theology: An Invitation to the Study of God by Stanley J. Grenz…
By: gfesadmin on October 11, 2013
#dminlgp: Theology 101 dminlgp: After reading and reflection of this week’s book by Roger Olson and Stanley Grenz, Who needs theology? I was impressed by their definition of theology and their outline of the different levels of theology that a person can have. The author’s definition of theology, “seeking to understand… Love your thoughts and…
By: Richard Volzke on October 11, 2013
After reading and reflection of this week’s book by Roger Olson and Stanley Grenz, Who needs theology? I was impressed by their definition of theology and their outline of the different levels of theology that a person can have. The author’s definition of theology, “seeking to understand with intellect what the heart-a person central core…
By: Bill Dobrenen on October 11, 2013
In my twenties, theology was the primary focus of my life. In my fifties it is still a focus in my life, but it is no longer primary – or is it? In Who Needs Theology: An Invitation to the Study of God by Stanley J. Grenz and Roger E. Olson (1996), the field of…
By: Phil Smart on October 10, 2013
It’s a cult, it’s a cult! These were the words that described the Communidade da Graca in Brazil that Miller and Yamamori write of in Global Pentecostalism: The New Face of Christian Social Engagement. For years, since the church’s founding, an expressed message of health and wealth had been its constant. Along with this theology…
By: Garrick Roegner on October 10, 2013
A Personal Journey I grew up in Bible and Baptist churches, so I never knew a Pentecostal growing up. They were strange people who did strange things, and we knew to avoid them. My senior year of college (where I had been involved in Cru) Chi Alpha (the campus ministry of the Assemblies of God)…
By: John Woodward on October 10, 2013
Several years ago I attended a theology conference at Wheaton College. I remember vividly one speaker who gave a presentation during which I understood nothing. His vocabulary could have been a foreign language for all the sense it made to me. I remember feeling especially stupid and wonder about the value of my thirty years…
By: Liz Linssen on October 10, 2013
In their book, Who Needs Theology? Grenz and Olsen attempt to romance us back into the love and attraction of Christian theology. They seek to heal the wounds that theology seems to be carrying around today, and remove the blemishes from this field of study. They know that the beauty of theology, much like marriage…
By: David Toth on October 10, 2013
Miller and Yamamori’s book, “Global Pentecostalism: The New Face of Christian Social Engagement, is an encouraging read in the sense that it serves as a literary ‘news cast’ of sorts, giving the reader a multitude of updates on the many and various ways Pentecostals are engaging social ministries around the globe. The authors, on three…
By: Deve Persad on October 10, 2013
“Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on the bedrock.” Matthew 7:24-25 NLT Jesus’ conclusion to the…
By: Chris Ellis on October 10, 2013
I thoroughly enjoyed reading Donald Miller’s Global Pentecostalism: The New Face of Christian Social Engagement. To be perfectly honest, my understanding of Pentecostalism is informed by experiences from my childhood that are, shall we say, less then ideal. When I was a senior in high school, I went on a mission trip to Ghana with…
