Katherine Sonderegger on the Task of Dogmatic Theology: “The Bible is…”
What is the Bible and what is its place within the task of dogmatic theology, particularly issues of method?
That was the question theologian Katherine Sonderegger engaged at the 2016 Los Angeles Theology Conference, which also forms the backbone of the resulting The Task of Dogmatics, edited by Oliver Crisp and Fred Sanders.
Since 2013, Biola University, Fuller Seminary and Zondervan Academic have brought together a diverse coalition of top scholars from different schools and confessions to foster serious, collegial engagement with Scripture and tradition, retrieving the best of the Christian past in order to forge theology for the future. The 2017 conference examined dogmatic methodology theologically, with these contributors: Kevin Vanhoozer, Scott Swain, Sameer Yadav, Chris Tilling, Henri Blocher, Katherine…
A New Approach to Atonement Theory, Contra Typological or Combinational
A decade ago, two theologians controversially suggested some atonement theories border on “cosmic child abuse.” A few years later, another offered a more congenial, but no less forceful, communal approach to atonement doctrine debates.
Both perspectives represent a new groundswell of attention toward this ancient doctrine, and also something of a sea-change. Because as Oliver Crisp and Fred Sanders point out in their new edited volume, Locating Atonement, rather than producing particular models or accounts, “modern literature has been directed toward denying that there is any single account or model” that completely or adequately explains Christ’s work. (13)
We could categorize this modern Quest for the Historic Atonement as both typological and combinational. Yet Crisp’s and Sanders’s edited work isn’t so much…
[Common Places] The Promise and Prospects of Retrieval: Recent Developments in Analytic Theology
Analytic theology has its roots in the development of the analytic philosophy of religion in the second half of the twentieth century. In the early 1980s, a number of those working in the philosophy of religion began to turn their attention to topics in philosophical theology. If questions in the philosophy of religion are about generic philosophical issues raised by religious belief (e.g. the problem of evil, the justification of religious belief, and so on), philosophical theology concerns concrete matters pertaining to the theology of a particular religious tradition.
Literary Developments
The literature in philosophical theology gradually became more theologically informed, more sophisticated, and diversified to include a range of theological topics including central matters like the Trinity, Incarnation, Atonement, sin, eschatology, the nature of faith, and the like. It developed largely independently of contemporary systematic theology,…
New Releases Today—Advancing Trinitarian Theology & New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology and Exegesis Set
This fall sees the release of several informative, engaging, challenging titles that will enhance and equip your teaching and ministry.
Two of those titles release soon. Here’s a quick overview:
1) New International Dictionary Of New Testament Theology And Exegesis, Revised Edition
A standard and widely-used reference work for nearly 40 years, the New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology and Exegesis has been thoroughly revised and updated, offering a wealth of background and information on the meaning of NT Greek words—as well as related usage in classical Greek sources, the Septuagint, Jewish literature, and more. It is alphabetically arranged according to Greek words instead of previous order according to English topics. NIDNTTE includes nearly 800 entries covering over 3,000 Greek words, an expansion from the previous edition. Discussions have been revised to be in line with modern scholarship and bibliographies…
My Advice to Students — Oliver Crisp Says “Weigh Up Your Choices”
(Can't see the video? Watch it here)
The job market for academia is very difficult, which makes todays advice to students especially important.
Given these difficulties, Oliver Crisp, theology professor and co-editor of Christology, Ancient and Modern, urges students considering a career in the academy to “weigh up your choices.”
“Think carefully about the institution, think carefully about the person you’re going to be studying with, as well as the topic.”
He shares from his own story some clear decisions he made when he was starting out to illustrate why this advice is important.
I know how important this advice was four years ago for a friend of mine working…