Evangelical Theological Method: Five Views (Spectrum Multiview Books)
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Overview
How should one approach the task of theology?
The question of methodology is increasingly one of interest among theologians, who recognize that the very manner in which we approach theology informs both the questions we ask and the conclusions we reach.
This volume in IVP’s Spectrum Multiview series brings together five evangelical theologians with distinctly different approaches to the theological task. After presenting the approaches—which include appeals to Scripture, context, missions, interdisciplinary studies, and dogmatics—each contributor responds to the other views.
Emerging from this theological conversation is an awareness of our methodological commitments and the benefits that each approach can bring to the theological task.
- Addresses common questions about theological methodology
- Focuses on the distinctives and history of evangelical theology
- Analyzes key views, methodologies, and theologians
Part One: Five Views of Evangelical Theological Method
- Codifying God’s Word: Bible Doctrines/Conservative Theology
- Living God’s Love: Missional Theology
- Framers and Painters: Interdisciplinary Theology
- God in Human Context: Reflection on Theology’s Contextuality and Contextual Theology
- Confessing the Faith: A Trinitarian Method in Dogmatic Theology
Part Two: Responses
- Response to Other Contributors—Sung Wook Chung
- Response to Other Contributors—John R. Franke
- Response to Other Contributors—Telford C. Work
- Response to Other Contributors—Victor Ifeanyi Ezigbo
- Response to Other Contributors—Paul Louis Metzger
- What Have We Learned Regarding Theological Method, and Where Do We Go from Here? Tentative Conclusions
Top Highlights
“The concerns confronting the faculty as they reviewed theology proposals came down to three questions. What is the task of theology? Why does one do theology—is theology our attempt to understand God and his revelation, our response to God, or maybe both? How does one do theology? Most proposals in theology focus on the ‘what’ and ‘why’ of theology but give less attention to the ‘how’ of theology. In other words, they often do not address questions of theological method.” (Pages 1–2)
“Both evangelicals and liberals have sought the same results—timeless truths. The difference between them lies in what they have taken as foundational. Evangelicals mine Scripture for timeless doctrines.26 Using the tools of grammar and historical analysis, they endeavor to extract the doctrinal deposit of Scripture.” (Page 12)
“The recurring problem is that proposals on theological method, though strong on defining what theology is and why it is important, are weak on saying how to apply the method.” (Pages 6–7)
“Religion and doctrine, therefore, are not primarily about believing things. They are about life. They show a way to live” (Page 13)
“Postconservatives remain evangelicals but reject the traditional conservative evangelical way of doing theology—i.e., propositional theology. They reject the modernist assumption of objectivity that supports the propositional approach to the Bible—i.e., a field of data waiting for the theologian-scientist to discover and convert to doctrinal and theological truths. Yet they are not radical postmodernists; they do not cast off all restraints and descend into relativism. They remain committed to the authority of Scripture, orthodox doctrine and Christian tradition.” (Page 15)
Evangelical Theological Method: Five Views differs from other comparative views books in that the various views are not necessarily contrary but can be complementary to each other. All five are articulated brilliantly by their authors, and perceptive readers will find much to commend in all of them.
—Roger E. Olson, Foy Valentine Professor of Christian Theology and Ethics, George W. Truett Theological Seminary, Baylor University
I’m a great fan of the comparative views books. This format was pioneered by InterVarsity Press in 1977 with Robert Clouse’s The Meaning of the Millennium, and since then over eighty such volumes have appeared published by InterVarsity Press and others. What makes the format so useful is that a number of authors set out to give their answers to the same questions, which makes comparison easier, and then in turn respond to the answers given by the others. This makes it much simpler to understand where the real differences lie and to work out one’s own position. The current volume is no exception. Five different evangelical authors layout their approach to theological method and then respond to each other. This helps to clarify the extent to which these five different methods are strictly alternatives and the extent to which they can be combined. Anyone wishing to understand evangelical theological method or to work their own method is strongly recommended to read this book.
—Tony Lane, professor of historical theology, London School of Theology
These days we are struggling to even know what evangelical means, especially in North America. So many now—sadly—associate that term with a particular voting block rather than with historic Protestant approaches to theology and life. Thankfully, this volume asks us to think in theological categories again, and it does so in a way that seeks to understand different voices and perspectives. Each approach aims to be faithful to ‘evangelical’ impulses while also trying to avoid what they deem to be potential shortcomings. We should be thankful for this able group of authors and editors who have allowed us to listen in on their meaningful conversation. There is much for all of us to learn here.
—Kelly M. Kapic, professor of theological studies, Covenant College
- Title: Evangelical Theological Method: Five Views
- Authors: Stanley E. Porter, Steven M. Studebaker
- Series: Spectrum Multiview Books
- Publisher: IVP Academic
- Print Publication Date: 2018
- Logos Release Date: 2019
- Pages: 250
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subjects: Theology › Methodology; Evangelicalism
- ISBNs: 9780830886005, 9780830852086, 0830886001, 0830852085
- Resource ID: LLS:VNGLCLTHLGCMTHD
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T03:38:57Z
Stanley E. Porter (PhD, University of Sheffield) is president, dean, professor of New Testament, and Roy A. Hope Chair in Christian Worldview at McMaster Divinity College in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He is the author of twenty-eight books on various topics in New Testament and related subjects, including Hermeneutics: An Introduction to Interpretive Theory (with Jason C. Robinson), and he has edited over eighty volumes, including Biblical Hermeneutics: Five Views (with Beth M. Stovell). Porter has also published over three hundred articles, chapters, and related writings.
Steven M. Studebaker (PhD, Marquette University) is the Howard and Shirley Bentall Chair in Evangelical Thought and associate professor of systematic and historical theology at McMaster Divinity College in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He is the author of A Pentecostal Political Theology for American Renewal: Spirit of the Kingdoms, Citizens of the Cities, and From Pentecost to the Triune God: A Pentecostal Trinitarian Theology, as well as several other books on Jonathan Edwards’s trinitarian theology and Pentecostal theology.
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