Why We Believe in the Classical Method
In the second e
pisode of The Credo Alliance, Credo Fellows Fred Sanders, J.V. Fesko, Scott Swain, and Matthew Barrett discuss the importance of theological method for classical theology. The method of modern theology will only take you so far with its allergy to reason and philosophy, but the classical approach reserves a judicious place for reason, pursuing not merely knowledge but wisdom itself. Sanders, Fesko, Swain, and Barrett pay attention to Truth with a capital “T.” They follow the lead of church fathers like Augustine who appropriated Platonism’s profound idea of transcendent truth but transformed its insight for the sake of classical Christian theology. Metaphysics in theological method is essential both for our interpretation of Scripture and our understanding of God and all things in relation to God. At the end of this episode, the Credo Fellows turn to the Trinity’s inseparable operations as a test case to see what the classical method looks like and why the spirit of classical theology is so unique.
Fred Sanders
Fred Sanders is a systematic theologian who studies and teaches across the entire range of classic Christian doctrine, but with a special focus on the doctrine of the Trinity. He has taught in the Torrey Honors Institute since 1999, and is an amateur historian of Biola’s institutional history. He and his wife Susan live in La Mirada with their two children, Freddy and Phoebe. They are members of Grace Evangelical Free Church.
J. V. Fesko
J. V. Fesko (PhD, University of Aberdeen) serves as professor of systematic and historical theology at RTS Jackson. He has been an ordained minister since 1998 in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church serving as a church planter, pastor, and now teacher. Dr. Fesko has authored or edited more than twenty books including Reforming Apologetics: Retrieving the Classic Reformed Approach to Defending the Faith, The Trinity and the Covenant of Redemption, Death in Adam, Life in Christ: The Doctrine of Imputation, Justification: Understanding the Classic Reformed Doctrine, and The Covenant of Works: The Origins, Development, and Reception of the Doctrine (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020).
Matthew Barrett
Scott R. Swain
Scott R. Swain is President and James Woodrow Hassell Professor of Systematic Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Florida. Dr. Swain has served on the RTS faculty since 2006, having previously taught at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. He serves as co-general editor of two series: Zondervan Academic’s New Studies in Dogmatics and T & T Clark’s International Theological Commentary. Dr. Swain is the author of several books including Retrieving Eternal Generation, Trinity, Revelation, and Reading: A Theological Introduction to the Bible and Its Interpretation, Reformed Catholicity: The Promise of Retrieval for Theology and Biblical Interpretation and The Oxford Handbook of Reformed Theology (forthcoming). He is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church in America. He and his wife, Leigh, have four children. Dr. Swain blogs on a regular basis at Common Places.
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