Evangelical Theology Terms Assertion Grenz Olson. Your

¶ … evangelical theology terms assertion Grenz Olson. Your essay explore God's transcendence immanence relation evangelical theology.

The Bible presents God as both transcendent and immanent. Let us take a look at what both of these concepts incorporate. In a symbolic Biblical sense, the name Yahveh expresses the transcendent nature of God while Immanuel refers to God's immanence. Yahveh was considered by the Jewish people so holy a name, that they would even avoid pronouncing it. They sought to protect God's name from what they feared would become an irreverent familiarity and so the name was reduced to the four consonants YHVH. Literally, the word is translated as "the one who will be." The interpretation given to God's transcendence is that God is unlike his creation, that he stands above and beyond everything as the only one who is truly transcendent, thus holly.

Immanuel or "God is with us" is used in the Bible to advocate for the divine nature of Jesus as the embodiment of supreme immanence. Thus immanence is understood as God's presence within His creation. These two twin truths have received much attention throughout the ages. Although the topic is definitely not new to the public, it has however been given different interpretations, thus what has happened is that the interprets have made it actual again and again by shaping its form. Stanley Grenz and Roger Olson have thoroughly explored divine transcendence and divine immanence in an attempt to address theology in a "transitional age." They mostly incorporated the concept of balance between transcendence and immanence that would serve theology's purpose to address old issues in new environments. In the following, we will take a look on what the two understood of theology and at the issues they explored to support their arguments. We will offer a background on some of the relative aspects within Grenz and Olson life so that we may proper relate these to their work as advocates for how theology is to be understood and appreciated within the changes of an era.

Stanley Grenz remained in the history as an Evangelical Baptist theologian and ethicist, but what is probably most relevant is his initiative to propose a postmodern evangelical theology. We will not present any details in regards to his academic career that does speak for itself but rather, since we are more concerned with his views on theology, we would like to present some general facts in regards to the latter. A supporter and a real expert for that matter of Pannenberg's theology, Grenz also spoke fervently about the emerging church, a rather "experimental" initiative of the late twentieth century to resurge and challenge many of the traditional Christian beliefs and practices. Because of his interest in postmodernism and his openness to discuss such strict "evangelical truths," Grentz has often been criticized on the nature of his theology.

Roger Olson continues to adopt a "post-evangelical" position while teaching theology at Baylor University at the present moment. He thrives on discouraging any misconceptions related to evangelical theology while only "exploring" himself with what they really are. This being said, one of the most fabulous ideas incorporated by the "beyond evangelical" movement is that no absolute truth really exists. This is relevant both in Grenz's case as well as in Olson's since they both represent religious movements that hold the Bible, subsequently, God, as the ultimate truth.

Olson stated in an interview that he thought the main three obstacles evangelicalism faces today are as follows: that certain evangelicals who get up to speak for general masses are regarded as a source of definite credibility and, as such, their dismissal of progressive ideas is embraced by the masses who consequently adopt similar attitudes; that general belief proclaims that "evangelicalism" is limited by certain boundaries such as "inerrancy" and third, "perceived dominance of Reformed theology as normative for evangelical faith." (Olson, 2012) All of the points Olson refers to are clear evidence that his embrace of evangelical theology is only viable insofar that it does not limit itself to ancient beliefs, what's more, ancient interpretations. That is to say, progressiveness of evangelicalism is to be regarded not as a definite separation from tradition, but rather as a new approach to understand religious concepts. And one of these concepts Olson and Grenz have theorized on abundantly.

The authors believe that both transcendence and immanence are nonetheless expressions of how God relates to His creation. In their opinion, "Christian theology has always sought a balance between the twin biblical truths of the divine transcendence and the divine immanence." (Grenz and Olson, 1992, p. 11) This can only be understandable since the two appear to exclude each other. While transcendence claims that God is above this world and beyond it, immanence inaugurates the idea that He is nevertheless present within the physical world and "involved with the processes of the world and of human history." (Grenz and Olson, 1992, p. 11) What we must understand is that however contradictious transcendence and immanence may appear at times, the two indeed are to refer to God's relationship with man outside of this world and within it. That is to say, as the creator, God has the ability to distance himself from the world while also enforcing his power so that he is not dependent of it as human beings are.

What Grenz and Olson have attempted is to reduce theology to these two basic Christian truths of transcendence and immanence. The concern in regards to the two topics was whether or not interpretations can respond accurate enough as to not favour one concept over the other which, ultimately, would have served the purposes of one given culture in another's detriment. In this respect, Grenz specifically stated that God is not to be identified with this world, although he is a part of it. He saw God as the "reality who is present and active within the world process. Yet he is not simply to be equated with it, for he is at the same time self-sufficient and "beyond" the universe." (Grenz, 1994, p. 81) By this, we understand that human beings, by nature, have a finite knowledge and this knowledge is most often acquired through senses, rarely does revelational insight pose any influence. God, however, is of infinite character and is not subject of any space-time concepts. What is more, God is unique through his transcendence and, in this respect, he is also holy because he is unlike everything else, there is nothing to compare him with.

Grenz and Olson, like many of their contemporaries, reflect on transcendence and immanence as the imperious aspects that theology needs to address because these are the two issues that relate everything in the creation to God. The same, religious truths can be observed differently by approaching them within the concepts of transcendence and immanence. If God has created the world according to a plan, then he is to observe all the events within his creation and, as such, he leaves on to man the mission to help in the materialization of the plan. Thus, a mutual relationship of cooperation exists, it is only up to human beings to act according to the divine plan, in Grenz's understanding. And, by bringing the focus of how transcendence and immanence relate to one another at the present moment, the author seeks to explain that God is within each man's understanding so long as he acknowledges God's presence.