From the keyboard of theologian, Carl E. Braaten:

The history of theology is like a bucket brigade; each generation passes on a bucket of theology received from the previous one, advancing, modifying, or even rejecting what they learned from their teachers. ... The unavoidable question is: what is the current generation of Lutheran theologians doing to pass on what they have received? What will they find worth retaining and promoting? Or, will they start all over again, as it were from scratch, leaving the massive theological legacy of their predecessors to remain dormant or dead? What is the future of Lutheran theology in America?