In 'What Is Reality?', from the Questions in Christian Philosophy volume, philosopher
@Rossinman
offers an introduction to metaphysics.
With this academic but accessible primer, readers will be introduced to the key topics explored in contemporary metaphysics. Available now!
I'm very excited to see my book Christian Philosophy as a Way of Life: An Invitation to Wonder (
@BakerAcademic
) up on Amazon for pre-order.
It's a primer on how to live philosophically as a Christian.
Coming this October.
I’m very glad to say that I just sent off a complete draft of The Wonder of it All: Christian Philosophy as a Way of Life to
@BakerAcademic
I’m praying it is constructive and clarifying for Christians coming to philosophy for the first time, whether college or seminary.
I'm happy to finally share a project that I'm editing with Bloomsbury Academic titled "Contemplating Divine Simplicity: Five Views."
Anselmian: Katherin Rogers
Thomistic: W. Matthews Grant
Scotist: Joshua Blander
Parsimonious: Oliver Crisp
Contra Simplicity:
@theRTMullins
I am delighted to finally announce that I'll be joining the family at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (Wake Forest, NC) as Associate Professor of Philosophy. Suzanne and I are grateful for the opportunity to minister alongside our new community of students and faculty.
Very glad to report that these arrived today ahead of schedule and preorders should be shipping out soon.
It’s a beautifully designed little book. Thank you,
@BakerAcademic
!
I’m really excited to at last turn to a new book project with
@BakerAcademic
called The Wonder of it All: Christian Philosophy as a Way of Life.
The Christian philosophical life is, at bottom, a way of being in the world, one permeated with wonder from beginning to end.
If you’re a
@SEBTS
student and have ever wanted to do a guided deep dive into Anselm’s thought, here’s your chance. I’ll be teaching this MA level course this Fall. 1/2
This Doctrine of the Christian Life seminar that I’m co-teaching in January
@SEBTS
will be so rich and rewarding for teacher and student alike.
Here are the books for discussion. As for academic articles…
Congratulations to this guy!! Chris (
@thechrisdlee
) is a PhD student in philosophy
@SEBTS
, a dear friend, and my research assistant. Here he is with his first academic publication in print. It’s in Philosophia Christi, the journal of the Evangelical Philosophical Society
Very glad to receive my author copies of What is Reality? An Introduction to Metaphysics with
@ivpacademic
It aims to introduce the study of metaphysics from a distinctively Christian perspective.
Pre-orders should be arriving soon.
I’m about halfway through this beast (I know, I should be grading!) and my heart has been strangely warmed by the seamless blend of exegesis, dogmatic theology, and serious metaphysics, all for the sake of contemplating our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.
I’m often overwhelmed by the dizzying array of books published or soon to be published.
But I’m eager to share this little book with
@BakerAcademic
with you this October. My humble prayer is that it will help you in your pilgrimage on the Way.
Finalizing the indexes today!
Research, NC style.
(For the final chapter of The Wonder of it All: Christian Philosophy as a Way of Life on the role of philosophical contemplation in the Christian life as pilgrimage to beatitude.)
I'm excited that this project with
@ivpacademic
is finally seeing the light of day. It's a near 300 page introduction to contemporary metaphysics informed by (and with explicit application to) classical Christian theology/ethics.
Coming this October.
Whew! I'm happy to be putting the final touches on the page proofs for my introduction to metaphysics textbook with
@ivpacademic
out in October.
Preorder and endorsements:
For all interested in divine simplicity, I've been long at work on a debate volume with
@BloomsburyAcad
. Five top-notch scholars around the table to discuss which version of simplicity is best and how/whether it can deal with the best objections. I hope it advances the convo👇
If you’re a SEBTS grad student and you’d like to be more sure-footed in philosophical-theological anthropology, come along to my Spring philosophy of mind PhD seminar. Here are most of the texts we’ll be discussing together.
@SEBTS
I’ve been incredibly blessed by my grad Philosophical Theology class
@sebts
so far this semester. The philosophy and theology students here are just wonderful; intellectually tenacious yet humbly receptive.
It was a wonderful start to our
@SEBTS
philosophy PhD seminar in metaphysics. What an action packed first day on the nature and methods of metaphysics, Hume and Kant on the a priori, Aquinas and EJ Lowe on Aristotle’s categories.
A hearty congrats to Chris Lee (
@thechrisdlee
) for passing his
@SEBTS
philosophy comprehensive written/oral exam this afternoon. We’ll done, my friend!
My newest book What is Reality? An Introduction to Metaphysics
@ivpacademic
releases in 2 months to the day.
Endorsements, TOC, all of chapter 1, and a link to preorder are live, if interested.
I’m looking forward to teaching a Cultural Apologetics seminar for our Faith and Culture track in our
@SEBTS
Doctor of Ministry program. Join with me in praying that our time together this week would be rich and would yield fruit for the kingdom for years to come.
We had the treat to dialogue with
@jpmoreland
today in my
@SEBTS
philosophy of mind seminar about his ontology of the human person. What a gift JP is to the church as a follower of the Way and as a Christian philosopher.
This is your quarterly reminder that ontology kinda matters for a biblically and creedally normed, systematic theology.
Oh, btw, there are actually evangelicals among you that think, teach, and write about ontology as part of their kingdom calling. They’re called philosophers.
I broke the piggy bank for this one. ICYDK, this is the third installment of Cross’ multi-volume history of the metaphysics of Christology. And there’s several more to come.
I want to brag on my outstanding doctoral students in my recent PhD seminar in Philosophical Theology
@SEBTS
. We had a great mix of syst. theology and philosophy of religion students that made for a rich and rewarding seminar. Action shots courtesy of
@jallen
We are so grateful for this new season! We’ve been here but a day and we’ve already been inundated by the hospitality of the
@SEBTS
community. This community radiates the reality of the gospel. Onward!
#iamgoing
PhD seminar in metaphysics
@sebts
coming to a theater near you in Spring 2021. Each topic will include contemporary+medieval +application to theological metaphysics (aseity, simplicity, Trinity, original sin). Seminal articles as well.
Gonna be a rollicking good time ya’ll!
I’m grateful to have an essay, “Grounding and Participation in God,” in this new volume with
@routledgebooks
alongside some friends and stellar philosophers and theologians. The book aims to articulate an Aristotelian phil/theo of nature in light of contemporary science.
Look for this book next year with
@ivpacademic
. It’s a Christian invitation to contemporary metaphysics as the exploration of the contour and foundation of creaturely being.
Freshly contracted for
@ivpacademic
: another in our series Questions in Christian Philosophy, by
@Rossinman
on metaphysics with the working title 'What Is Real?'
I really enjoyed teaching through a draft of my introduction to metaphysics textbook this semester in my Masters level metaphysics class
@SEBTS
. I received some helpful feedback from our MA philosophy students, which is always a humbling and rewarding experience.
Congratulations to the newly minted Dr. Tom Duttweiler (
@tdphilphd
) on passing his philosophy of religion dissertation defense with distinction! Tom wrote on the intersection of religious experience, phenomenal conservatism, and virtue epistemology.
Very well done, Tom!
I guess one perk of being home-bound most days is that I can start settling in to the new study. As you can tell, the built-ins and the right wall still need painting. It also still needs doors (essential for a house full of loud little people!).
For all fellow evangelical theologians and philosophers going to ETS/EPS in Denver, please remember that this is not Twitter and that “the other” has a real, human face (a la Levinas). Disagree sharply, but remember that the “one-another” texts still (especially) apply.
I'm gearing up for my PhD seminar in philosophy of mind
@SEBTS
next week and thinking about whether Aquinas would agree, in whole or in part, with this hilarious song "Your Body is You" by the 21st Century Monads (a band of well-known philosophers):
A hearty congratulations to my dear friends Brandon Rickabaugh and JP Moreland on the release of their new book on substance dualism! I can’t wait to assign it in my philosophy of mind classes (paperback too!).
I’m very glad to see this book finally out in paperback! It is an essential resource for anyone interested in the philosophy and theology of human persons.
I have a chapter in it arguing against material constitution views of the human person.
Imagine a world where St. Augustine was never exposed to the study of philosophy.
Augustine, after reading Cicero's exhortation to philosophy in Hortensius, says: "In fact, that book changed my mental attitude, and changed the character of my prayers to Thyself, O Lord...
"Those who use the works of the philosophers in holy teaching, by bringing them into the service of faith, do not mix water with wine, but rather change water into wine." Aquinas' Commentary on Boethius' On the Trinity q. 2, a. 3, ad. 5
Farewell von Harnack!
I'm looking forward to being at
@DallasSeminary
on 4/10-4/11 to give a public lecture titled "The God Who is Near: Retrieving Divine Omnipresence and Immensity." There will also be an event on my new book Christian Philosophy as a Way of Life. Join Us!
I had several students and friends graduate today from
@SEBTS
with their MA in Philosophy of Religion, ThM in Philosophy, or their DMin in Faith and Culture. A full heart! Oh how the Lord would continue to use them to deepen and enrich our flattened world with the gospel.
One of the many joys of teaching
@SEBTS
is getting the chance to read and re-read some of the “big texts” of the traditions of the church (a la John Webster) alongside my students. Some readings (selections) from my current ThM philosophical theology reading seminar.
My recent contribution to the forthcoming book Neo-Aristotelian Metaphysics and the Theology of Nature with Routledge.
I explore how a neo-Aristotelian view of metaphysical grounding can help fill out a robust notion of creaturely participation in God.
It’s day 3 of our PhD seminar in metaphysics at
@SEBTS
. So far we’ve explored metaphysical method, ontological categories, sameness/identity, and essentialism. Today we’re on to arguments for/against properties/universals and the relevance of Christian theism to the debate.
I’m excited to have Tom McCall on campus at Southeastern for a series of lectures. We are currently having a faculty colloquium to discus his paper “The Identity of the Son and the Freedom of God: Analytic Christology and Theological Interpretation”.
I take my philosophy PhD students, many of whom are already serving in full time ministry in the SBC, through this outstanding book.
It casts a vision of the nature and telos of education that is desperately needed right now in the SBC and higher ed more broadly.
A full day of emails, meetings, baseball, and meandering through the narrow but light-filled halls of the great cathedral that is medieval Christology.
“Those who use the works of the philosophers in holy teaching, by bringing them into the service of faith, do not mix water with wine, but rather change water into wine.”
Thomas Aquinas, Super Boethium De Trinitate, q.2,a.3,ad.5.
Join us at
@DallasSeminary
today and tomorrow if you are in the DFW area. There will be an event this evening on Christian Philosophy as a Way of Life (
@BakerAcademic
) and a public lecture on God's omnipresence tomorrow.
Today marks 10 years since I completed my PhD in philosophy at Trinity College, Dublin (
@tcddublin
) under Peter Simons.
I'll never forget the day of my viva. In true form, E.J. Lowe graciously grilled me for 2+hrs. That same day that Dallas Willard passed on to the next life.
What a moving tribute to philosopher Lynne Rudder Baker from theologian Katherine Sonderegger.
May your and my theological-philosophical convos be “a school of mind and soul and open a door into the luminous realm where the intellect enacts what it was created to be.”
I'm currently reviewing the final page proofs for the twentieth anniversary edition of Philosophia Christi. Here's a teaser from a reflection piece by JP Moreland. I'm really excited to see it hit the press with a new cover, font, and layout!
Has anyone pointed out the striking fact that 2/6 SBC seminary presidents are academically trained philosophers? Dew (NOBTS) and Groza (Gateway) are both philosophy profs with philosophy PhD's.
Yet many still struggle to see how philosophy is valuable for equipping SBC leaders.
Gateway is moving into a future which will far surpass anything done to date. May God make it so as, by His grace, my friend and colleague becomes President Adam Groza.
1/3 I'm taking my
@SEBTS
students through Anselm's On the Incarnation of the Word today in our Anselm seminar. The work is just dripping with insight and wisdom about theological habitus and the importance of moral formation in the theological and philosophical task.
Eleonore Stump will be giving a series of lectures this Spring on Dante’s Inferno at Duke. It’s an incredible opportunity that’s not to be missed. Who’s with me?
I'm delighted to see my book, Substance and the Fundamentality of the Familiar, release in a more affordable paperback edition. And at 20% off (use code FLR40)!!
This is such an excellent introduction to logic/critical thinking in the Way of Jesus! I love how
@TravDickinson
frames the idea of a well-ordered mind as a matter of discipleship and mission. Highly recommended for an intro to logic course at a Christian college/sem.
I'm happy to usher this chapter off of my desk and into the editor's hands today. It was a lot of fun to write, but what a beast! I outline/defend an occupation account of divine omnipresence against its contemporary critics.
Forthcoming in the Oxford Handbook of Omnipresence.
A great start to the Exploring Personhood conference
@SEBTS
. First, Christian Miller (
@CharacterGap
) on “Empirical Evidence for Spiritual Formation” and now Jennifer Herdt on “In the Furnace of Charity: Formed for Love”
A far too long thread on opening up lines of communication between evangelical Christian philosophers and evangelical theologians...
Bottom line: “A theologian can miss metaphysics and logic no less than a carpenter a hammer and a soldier weapons.” –Gisbertus Voetius
I just re-read John Webster's little essay "Communion with Christ: Mortification and Vivification" for a Winter term Doctrine of the Christian Life seminar that I'm co-teaching
@SEBTS
.
What an insightful corrective to how many tend to think about cultivating a life with Christ!
The design of Hans Boersma’s new book Pierced by Love is stunningly beautiful. The red lettering throughout, colored iconography; just wow. Thank you
@LexhamPress
for your clear commitment to beauty!
Greek philosophy is to theology as math is to physics. It allows us to state revealed truth with precision.
Just because you find math hard, scientists are not going to do physics without it. And just because you find philosophy hard, we are not going to do theology without it.
It was great to see Tom awarded the best grad student prize this year for EPS (and, no, I was not a judge)! These are some great students who are even greater humans. I’m blessed to be working with them.
Coronado cafe vibe, amazing weather, good coffee, and a new book from
@Bay_Books
for my current book project The Wonder of it All. I’m soaking up these last few days with family in San Diego.
What a joy to celebrate with graduating students and their friends and families today
@SEBTS
graduation. It’s such a privilege to get to play a small part in the cultivation of the students that walk this campus.
I’ll say it again but the
@LondonLyceum
, hosted by two
@sebts
philosophy alumni, is hosting some seriously top-notch philosophers and theologians. Richard Cross is likely the world’s leading theologian specializing in the medieval period. Well done guys! Cross is a boss!
🚨GIVEAWAY🚨
Thanks to our friends at
@OUPReligion
we are giving away a copy of Richard's new 🔥 book on the Communicatio Idiomatum.
RT and FOLLOW for a chance to win.
Winner announced Monday Jan 18th.
🎧 to the episode here:
Today’s
@SEBTS
PhD seminar in metaphysics took a delightful detour into the ontology of marriage. What a joy to be able to think about such weighty matters with outstanding students and friends.
Please don’t miss the exemplary work and theological posture modeled by The Center for Baptist Renewal (
@BaptistRenewal
). Such a vitally important and timely vision for us Baptists. May their tribe increase!
I'm more convinced than ever that one of the most pressing needs today is for Christ-followers to lean into their humanity all that this entails. When nearly every aspect of life is increasingly de-humanized, the task of re-humanizing the world offers a powerful counter-witness.
This is my favorite podcast interview on Christian Philosophy as a Way of Life to date.
I appreciate and value the constructive work that Jordan and Brandon and others are doing at LL. It was a pleasure to talk with them. Please support LL if you can.
I’m excited to say that the newest issue of Philosophia Christi has just hit the press and should be in the hands of subscribers any day now.
@epsociety
The kids are in bed, the fire is crackling, tea in hand, a new stack of books for browsing, and the last episode of the new season of Jack Ryan is in the queue to watch with Suzanne...now that’s a Saturday night people!
It’s always exciting to see another issue of Philosophia Christi drop! This issue has a moving In Memoriam of Ben Arbour, a beloved member of the Christian philosophical community.
It’s such a blessing to serve and to be a part of
@epsociety
.
Not the best description of philosophy, but absolutely hilarious nonetheless. Douglas Hedley, the interviewee, is completely on point.
Am I right,
@theRTMullins
?
I always love that time of the year when
@SEBTS
honors the accomplishments of College and seminary students and their families. Congrats to all those who commenced today!