In the second episode 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 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.