PhD Proposal: The Exegetical Foundations for an Evangelical Calvinism[1]
Summary of Topic. Evangelical Calvinism offers an alternative reading to Federal theology from within the Reformed perspective. Myk Habets and I have co-edited two edited multi-author volumes entitled Evangelical Calvinism: Volume 1: Essays Resourcing the Continuing Reformation of the Church (2012) and Evangelical Calvinism: Volume 2: Dogmatics & Devotion (2017) where we identify and develop what we are calling Evangelical Calvinism (per Thomas F. Torranceโs usage) as a mood that has been present in the historical and contemporary development of Reformed theology. As a consequence of this identification we have created fifteen theological theses articulating what we think constitutes the Evangelical Calvinist mood. These theses work constructively from the themes found in the theologies of Athanasius, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Richard Sibbes, Thomas F. Torrance, Karl Barth, and a group of Scottish theologians. As a consequence of our publications we have received critical response from such scholars as Kevin Vanhoozer, Roger Olson, Scott Swain, and Michael Allen. The response has largely revolved around an attempt by these readers to read the Evangelical Calvinist mood through their broadly classical theist, and mostly classical Calvinist lens (Olsonโs reading being an exception as he works from an evangelical Arminian perspective). There are two points that are generated from these disparate approaches: 1) Non-Evangelical Calvinism (i.e. Federal theology) works from a scholastic methodology that begins with the divine decrees in a logico-deductive fashion and then reads texts theologically in that light; 2) Evangelical Calvinism works opposite to that. As a result I want to show the theological starting point for Evangelical Calvinism and then the theological interpretation of scripture commensurate with that and in turn which shows the bases for the theological exegetical foundations for an Evangelical Calvinism.
Proposal. This thesis will attempt to clearly articulate where the differences occur between the exegetical foundations for classical Calvinism and an Evangelical Calvinist approach. I will seek to define what the key theological commitments are that inform the classical Calvinist and Evangelical Calvinist reading and exegesis of Holy Scripture, and attempt to show where their relative points of convergence as well as departure are one from the other. This process will engage in a survey of the history of ecclesial ideas ranging from the patristic, medieval, Reformed, post-Reformed, and contemporary periods of theological interpretive development. The thesisโs primary objective will be to argue that Evangelical Calvinismโs theological exegetical approach has just as much, if not more grounding in the history of the church catholic as does the classical Calvinist reading of Scripture. More than providing an apologetic for Evangelical Calvinismโs reading of Scripture vis-ร -vis classical Calvinismโs, this thesis will offer a positive description of the antecedent theological underpinnings that have given rise to Evangelical Calvinismโs reading of Scripture and the Dogmatic loci produced from that reading. The final objective of this thesis will be to provide a cogent iteration of the specific theological entailments and exegetical principles of Evangelical Calvinismโs theological interpretation of Scripture which clearly highlight the Reformed provenance of anย Evangelical Calvinist method.
[1] H/t: I wanted to thank Myk Habets for offering critical feedback on my first draft of this. He helped provide copy-editing, constructive insights on the material content, and helped with some turn of phrases that were helpful.
Hi Bobby,
It looks like you have made a helpful refinement, taking you away from over dependence on Barth and Torrance and moving you toward the historical continuity and exegetical defense / foundation of your position. This i think is important as it will bypass a lot of accusations or ad hominem criticisms.
When i read your proposal there look to me to be two PhD’s in there !
1. the defence / legitimising of EC in light of its demonstrable historical interpretive foundations and then
2. the application of the approach once defended as historically contiguous to the exegetical / interpretive task.
It seems to me that, there is limited sense in which it does not matter that the approach is unprecedented / contiguous with reformed thinking unless you are more interested in retaining or proving the reformed roots of the position / approach / mood as being the continuation of a reforming tradition itself. It matters more to me however that the approach be defended regardless of its roots. Perhaps you feel you can’t do the second without the first ?
Whatever the case I personally greatly look forward to the work and the exegetical resolutions you aim to provide particularly with the more difficult texts.
Thanks so much for your labour of love brother. I am sure your work is and will be helpful to many, myself included.
Hi Richard,
Yes, I will certainly be involved in doing the work of theology of retrieval in the research and resourcing of foundations that are present in the “pre-critical” history. But I wouldn’t want to think that I am moving away from Barth and Torrance, but maybe reinforcing the insights that they arrived at as a result of their own retrieval and constructive work.
For me it is important to establish the Reformed pedigree of an Evangelical Calvinism. I’m not sure how long you’ve been reading my blog, but identifying an identity for Evangelical Calvinism as continuous with the development of the Reformed faith has always been an important aspect of my research and reading in this area. This all started for me in seminary as I was trained in Historical Theology by professor Ron Frost. He is not a Barth guy or a Torrance guy, he is a Sibbes guy and a Puritan expert in particular. His background is in late medieval and then 16th and 17th century Post Reformed Orthodox and Puritan theological developments. So my own impulses have taken formation from there and only latterly (since seminary) have led me to Barth and Torrance (and the attraction, at first, there was with Barth’s reification of election). What I found in some of Torrance’s critiques of Federal theology overlapped with critiques I had already been exposed to through Frost’s teaching, but the critiques were made via contemporary Reformed thinkers of the Westminster divines. Anywho, for me, and because of this background, it is important to establish the historical theological roots of what we are calling “Evangelical Calvinism,” it is important to identify that there was an alternative mood always present in the development of Reformed theology that is expansive relative to the common narrative we find surrounding the presentation and reception of Reformed theology in the 21st century North American and Western context. Beyond that, identity is part and parcel to establishing Evangelical Calvinist theological interpretive loci just because such loci are present, indeed, in the Reformed history itself (which is why it’s important that I argue for and develop this as a basis for further explication and application of just what exactly those loci are and how they in fact look and get “materialized” when deployed in the interpretive process itself).
But I’m still looking at a way to refine and delimit things. I have a couple of models I’m currently looking at (pertinent published PhDs that fit the types of interests I have).
If my many blog posts were to be broken down over the years what is presented in my proposal is pretty much the themes that emerge as the shape and structure of my blogging in general. So it makes sense to collapse all of that time and research that I have already done in the direction I’m planning on. But again, I’m sharing these “attempted proposals” as ways to get feedback, and to note that I am still thinking about how to refine things a bit more. That said, this proposal is getting close. I doubt that I’ll share the actual proposal (that I end up submitting) here on the blog. That won’t be available until after I have completed and defended the PhD and maybe have it published. We’ll see.