A Forum for Scholarship and Discussion
Posted in Historical Theology, Reformation Theology, Theology on Oct 19th, 2012
Ok, ok, I admit it–I love the Puritans. Love the Puritans. Whenever I read them, I feel at home. Like I have come to a safe place wherein I know that I will always hear the gospel, receive moral instruction, spiritual edification, and discover anew the glory and majesty of God. Stale, legalistic, boring are [...]
Posted in Historical Theology, Theology on Apr 5th, 2012
Who wasn’t intimidated the first time they cracked Calvin’s Institutes, Schleiermacher’s Christian Faith, or Barth’s Dogmatics? Unlike Biblical Studies or History, Theology often does not have specific material reference points around which its ideas converge. But it does have conceptual reference points. Mapping Modern Theology, just issued by Baker Academic, takes advantage of those key reference points in order [...]
Posted in Historical Theology, Reformation Theology, Systematic Theology on May 13th, 2011
Reformed scholasticism is for most people a largely unknown era in theology. Reformed Christians tend to skip right over it much like American Christians skip from Augustine to Calvin, Calvin to Edwards, and Edwards to Graham. But if the Reformed tradition is to be understood, the scholastic period must be well vetted, its development documented, [...]
Posted in Historical Theology on Apr 21st, 2011
We’re all familiar with the saying, ‘those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it’. Christianity from its earliest days has been more divided than unified. This remains equally true today. Though an illegitimate claim, theology and theologians often receive much of the blame for these divisions as though theology were something [...]
Posted in Ethics, Historical Theology, History, Politics/Political Theory, Theology on Nov 8th, 2010
n a certain sense we might say that the amount of courage Peter Leithart demonstrated in writing a book defending the Roman emperor Constantine, is equal to the amount of courage required of Constantine to declare himself a Christian, for whatever reason he may have done it. We might also suggest that to write a [...]
Posted in Evangelicalism, Historical Theology, History, Systematic Theology, Theology on Nov 5th, 2010
Before I jump into today’s blog post, I want to take time to commend IVP Academic for their exemplary work in Church History in recent months. They have produced several important books that provide orientation to many areas of significance in church history that have heretofore been inaccessible to many interested readers. Their most recent [...]
Posted in Historical Theology, Philosophy, Systematic Theology, Theology on Sep 8th, 2010
James F. Sennett and Douglas Groothuis. In Defense of Natural Theology: A Post-Humean Assessment (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2005). Reviewed by: Sarah Schoonmaker, M.Div. Current MA philosophy student at California State University—Long Beach. In Defense of Natural Theology: A Post-Humean Assessment, edited by James F. Sennett and Douglas Groothuis offers a collection of arguments [...]
Posted in Biblical Studies, Historical Theology, Theology on Jul 19th, 2010
Three great new books from IVP, Crossway, and Baker… 1. A necessary corrective to the ways in which the Reformation is exaggerated and often mis-understood. _______________________________________________________________ 2. A great book that will bring you up-to-date on the controversies concerning Early Christianity, the origins of Christian doctrine, Canon formation, and the scholarship of Bart Ehrman. _______________________________________________________________ [...]
Posted in Historical Theology, Theology on Jul 6th, 2010
Since posting my recommended track for reading Bonhoeffer, I have received several inquiries, and come across several comments on Facebook wondering why Bonhoeffer’s Letters and Papers from Prison (LP) is not included in the list. Below are my reasons why. It is important to keep in mind that the list seeks to prepare readers to [...]
Posted in Historical Theology, Theology on Jun 30th, 2010
I began reading Dietrich Bonhoeffer as a college Freshman at Northwest University. My reading of Bonhoeffer has continued in sporadic fashion over the last ten years, and I have completed every major theological work the great German theologian composed. I began with Ethics and understood almost nothing, especially what was most essential. But what I [...]