In this classroom text, John Franke builds on his previous work with Stanley Grenz and argues that the time has come to question whether metanarrative should guide theological reflection. Franke believes theologians should opt for a more modest approach, one that starts with the Spirit-led understanding of Scripture, is filtered through church tradition, and is ultimately applied and validated in differing cultural contexts.

John R. Franke (D.Phil., Oxford University) is associate professor of theology and chair of the faculty at Biblical Theological Seminary. He is the coauthor of Beyond Foundationalism: Shaping Theology in a Postmodern Context and editor of Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1-2 Samuel in the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture series.