Theology Without Walls: An Assessment and Critique
In 1982 Robert Neville wrote, “The encounter of Christianity with the world’s other religions has shaken Christian theology to its foundations.” One recent response to this trauma is the so-called “theology without walls” movement, in which Neville has been an active participant. Unlike another response, namely comparative theology (which remains “confessional” or married to the truth of one’s starting or “home” religion), theology without walls is willing and eager to explore other religions—even non-religious sources—in what Jerry Martin calls “an effort to understand ultimate reality as fully as possible.”