Archive for May 2022
Christian Platonism: A History
The latest issue of Credo Magazine focuses on Christian Platonism. The following is one of the issue’s featured interviews with John Peter Kenney, editor of Christian Platonism: A History (CUP, 2021). Anyone wishing to understand the Christian tradition deeply must consider the central, formative role of Platonism. At various times Platonism has constituted an essential philosophical and…
Read MoreAuthor’s Corner
Each week on Credo we welcome you to join us in the Author’s Corner where we will meet a set of authors whose recent books deserve your attention and might even help you grow in your knowledge of theology, history, philosophy, and the scriptures. We hope the Author’s Corner can keep you up-to-date on the…
Read MoreGod’s Knowledge
The Summa Theologiae is one of the most influential works of Christian Theology ever written. Yet many people today are unfamiliar with Thomas Aquinas and his works, while others remain skeptical of his theological and philosophical methods. Nevertheless, contrary to the caricature that has been painted by his detractors, Christians today have much to learn from the…
Read MoreDon’t Listen to Sermons
When students cross the threshold and enter the hallowed halls of seminary, those who enroll in the Master of Divinity program usually have one big goal in mind—they want to be preachers. This is a perfectly natural and understandable goal, one to which all MDiv students should aspire. Seminaries, therefore, invest a good amount of…
Read MoreFurther Up and Further In: Appreciating the Platonic Tradition and the Reformed Conception of Union with Christ
The latest issue of Credo Magazine focuses on Christian Platonism. The following is one of the issue’s featured columns by Samuel G. Parkison. Dr. Parkison is associate professor of theological studies and director of the Abu Dhabi Extension Site at Gulf Theological Seminary in the United Arab Emirates. In one of his lesser known works, The Discarded…
Read MoreNo Plato, No Augustine: The humility to quote their poets and philosophers
The latest issue of Credo Magazine focuses on Christian Platonism. The following is one of the issue’s featured columns by Matthew Barrett, executive editor of Credo Magazine. Evangelical Christians today have a habit of objecting with great vehemence to anything “Greek”—Plato in particular—persuaded Christianity can only be corrupted by close acquaintance. As this common objection rattles…
Read MoreJustification and Edwards: A Postscript
In part one and part two of this series, I evaluated one of the great theological minds of America, Jonathan Edwards, but I argued that he makes some unhelpful deviations from the Reformed tradition’s doctrine of justification by faith alone. Historians and theologians alike have acknowledged for some time other unhelpful aspects of Edwards’s outlook,…
Read MoreWhat is saving faith really? Jonathan Edwards’ departure from Reformed theology, Part 2
Historian of American history, Gary Steward, once again turns – ad fontes – to the writings of Jonathan Edwards in this second article. In Part 1 Steward argued that Edwards broke with the Reformed tradition over sola fide by moving beyond notitia, assensus, and fiducia to inject into justifying faith other virtues like love. In Part 2, Steward now turns to the many…
Read MoreWhat is saving faith really? Jonathan Edwards’ departure from Reformed theology, Part 1
Without a doubt, Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) was one of the most creative and prolific theologians America has ever produced. Interpreters of Edwards have sharply disagreed over how Edwards’s understanding of justification fits within the Reformed tradition. While Edwards generally sought to promote a Reformed understanding of justification, interpreters of Edwards are divided as to how…
Read MoreAuthor’s Corner
Each week on Credo we welcome you to join us in the Author’s Corner where we will meet a set of authors whose recent books deserve your attention and might even help you grow in your knowledge of theology, history, philosophy, and the scriptures. We hope the Author’s Corner can keep you up-to-date on the…
Read MoreNaming God
The Summa Theologiae is one of the most influential works of Christian Theology ever written. Yet many people today are unfamiliar with Thomas Aquinas and his works, while others remain skeptical of his theological and philosophical methods. Nevertheless, contrary to the caricature that has been painted by his detractors, Christians today have much to learn from the…
Read MoreThe Attractive Reductionism of Van Til
You can think of this post as “the brief confession of a former Van Tilian.” I don’t think I’ll ever truly get past my love for Cornelius Van Til. He is often derided as a notoriously confusing writer, but after many years of being immersed in his works, I have found his eccentricities of style…
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