A History of Christian Theology

The Four Senses of Scripture: Patrick Schreiner on Recovering the Church's Ancient Way of Reading the Bible

For nearly 1,700 years, Christians read the Bible through four interwoven lenses — the literal, the allegorical, the moral, and the eschatological — a framework known as the quadriga. Then modern hermeneutics largely set it aside in favor of the grammatical-historical method alone. In this episode, Chad sits down with Dr. Patrick Schreiner of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary to ask what the church lost in that trade, and whether it can be recovered.

Patrick and Chad work through his new book, The Four Senses of Scripture: Learning from Ancient Ways of Reading the Bible. Schreiner is careful to say the modern method isn't wrong — it's incomplete. They walk through each of the four senses: the literal (grammatical-historical), the allegorical (Christological), the tropological (moral), and the anagogical (eschatological), and discuss how the early church read the Old Testament through Christ, why the fourfold approach preserved the radical unity of Scripture, and how holding the senses in conversation with one another might enrich preaching and Bible reading today. The conversation takes up the standard objections to allegory as well — and how a "medieval mind" can serve modern readers without abandoning the gains of critical scholarship.

Dr. Patrick Schreiner (PhD, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is associate professor of New Testament and biblical theology at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City. He is the author of numerous books, including Matthew, Disciple and Scribe, The Transfiguration of Christ, and The Ascension of Christ. The Four Senses of Scripture (Baker Academic) includes a foreword by Jonathan T. Pennington.

Links:

James Revisited: Brandon Crowe on the Theology of the Letter of James

The letter of James has a reputation problem. Luther famously called it an "epistle of straw," and it's long been treated as the New Testament's odd cousin — a collection of practical maxims light on theology and hard to square with Paul on faith and works. In this episode, Chad sits down with Dr. Brandon Crowe, professor of New Testament at Westminster Theological Seminary, to make the case that this neglect has cost the church one of Scripture's richest theological voices.

Brandon and Chad work through his book James Revisited: Christology and Biblical Theology in the Letter of James, which reads the epistle not as an outlier but as a text deeply woven into the whole canon — one that refracts the Old Testament through the teaching of Jesus to call believers toward maturity. They discuss James's often-overlooked Christology, the perennial question of faith and works and how it relates to Paul, the place of the law for Christians (fulfilled in Christ yet still abiding), the kingdom of God, and the letter's themes of perfection, hypocrisy, and eschatology. Along the way they take up why the General Epistles as a whole tend to get sidelined, and what preachers and readers gain by giving James a fresh and careful hearing.

< cite index="22-1">Rev. Dr. Brandon Crowe (PhD, University of Edinburgh) is professor of New Testament at Westminster Theological Seminary and book review editor for the Westminster Theological Journal. < cite index="22-1">An ordained teaching elder in the Presbyterian Church in America, his research centers on biblical theology, the Gospels, and the General Epistles. He is the author of numerous books, including The Last Adam, The Path of Faith, and Why Did Jesus Live a Perfect Life?

Links:

Southern Shepherds, Savage Wolves: Otis Pickett on Presbyterian Missionaries, Race, and the Antebellum South

Why is Sunday morning still one of the most segregated hours in American life? That question — sparked by a line from Martin Luther King Jr. that Dr. Otis Pickett encountered in seminary — set him on a twenty-year search through the archives. In this episode, Chad sits down with Dr. Otis Westbrook Pickett Sr., University Historian at Clemson University, to discuss his first book, Southern Shepherds, Savage Wolves: Presbyterian Domestic Missionaries and Race in South Carolina, 1802–1874.

Otis and Chad examine the nineteenth-century Presbyterian missionaries — most prominently John Lafayette Girardeau and T. C. Stuart — who worked to bring enslaved and later freed men and women into the life of the church, and who faltered when that calling collided with the racial hierarchy of a slaveholding society. The conversation traces how theology and ecclesiology shaped interracial encounter within the Presbyterian church and in Southern society more broadly, the uneasy coexistence of enslavement and "ecclesiastical rights," and the role religion played in shaping both slavery and Native American removal — along with how these ideas fared through the Civil War and helped lay the groundwork for the segregation that followed.

Dr. Otis Westbrook Pickett Sr. is University Historian and clinical assistant professor in the College of Education at Clemson University. He holds an MA from Covenant Theological Seminary, an MA in history from the College of Charleston, and a PhD in history from the University of Mississippi. He is also co-founder and co-director of the Prison to College Pipeline Program, the first program in Mississippi to offer tuition-free, credit-bearing college courses to incarcerated students. Amazon

Links:

C. S. Lewis and the Bible: Leslie Baynes on Imagination, Interpretation, and Scripture

C. S. Lewis is one of the most beloved Christian writers of the twentieth century — but how did he actually read the Bible? In this episode, Chad sits down with Dr. Leslie Baynes, New Testament scholar at Missouri State University, to discuss her book Between Interpretation and Imagination: C. S. Lewis and the Bible — the first full-length study by a biblical scholar of how Lewis interpreted and used Scripture.

Leslie and Chad explore the never-before-published notes Lewis scribbled in the margins of his own books, the thinkers who shaped his approach to the Bible, and where Lewis read Scripture literally (the resurrection) and where he did not (Jonah). Along the way they talk about Lewis's famous "Liar, Lunatic, Lord" argument, his imaginative theology, and what Leslie discovered during her time as scholar-in-residence at the Kilns, Lewis's home outside Oxford.

Dr. Leslie Baynes (PhD, University of Notre Dame) is Associate Professor of New Testament and Second Temple Judaism at Missouri State University. A scholar of ancient apocalyptic literature — especially 1 Enoch and the Book of Revelation — and of C. S. Lewis, she has served as a translator for the New American Bible Revised Edition and as an Inklings Project Fellow.

Links:

A New Christianity for the New South: Paul Sanchez on William Louis Poteat and Liberal Religion in the Baptist South

Can science and faith coexist? In the early twentieth-century Baptist South, that question was explosive — and few embodied it more than William Louis Poteat. In this episode, Chad sits down with Dr. Paul Sanchez of Oklahoma Baptist University to discuss his new book, A New Christianity for the New South, which examines the life and legacy of Poteat: biologist, devout Baptist, and influential president of Wake Forest College who insisted that modern science and Christian faith need not be enemies.

Paul and Chad trace how Poteat became an unlikely champion of theological liberalism in a region that largely resisted modern intellectual currents — and how debates over evolution, biblical interpretation, education, and social order unsettled both the Baptist Church and Southern society. They explore why the New South's rising professional class praised Poteat for modernizing the region's image, why his critics resented his progressive theology, and what his story reveals about the broader modernization of the American South.

Dr. Paul Anthony Sanchez (PhD, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is the Ruth Dickinson Chair of Religion and Assistant Professor of Religion and History in the Herschel H. Hobbs School of Theology and Ministry at Oklahoma Baptist University. He is also the author of California Dreaming: Evangelical Christianity and American Culture in the Golden State (forthcoming, Eerdmans).

Links:

Theological Education Reimagined: Dennis Greeson and the Alexandrian Institute

What does it look like to recover rigorous, classical theological formation for a global, online age? In this episode, Chad sits down with Dr. Dennis Greeson, Dean of the newly launched Alexandrian Institute, to talk about a distinctive vision for training pastors, scholars, and ministry leaders — one built around deep reading, original research, and one-on-one mentorship rather than the traditional lecture-and-coursework model.

Dennis and Chad discuss the Institute's British-style, fully supervised PhD (offered in partnership with Union Theological College, Belfast), what it means to read Scripture theologically and in conversation with the Great Tradition, and why the recovery of creedal, classical Christianity still matters 1,700 years after Nicaea. Along the way they explore Dennis's own work on the doctrine of creation, culture, and the legacy of Abraham Kuyper, drawn in part from his book The Way of Christ in Culture: A Vision for All of Life (co-authored with Benjamin T. Quinn).

Dr. Dennis Greeson (PhD, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary) is Dean of the Alexandrian Institute and a program coordinator and research associate at Union Theological College, Belfast. He is a fellow in public theology at the Land Center for Cultural Engagement and lives with his wife and three children in Nashville, Tennessee.

Links:

Welcome back to A History of Christian Theology! In this episode, Chad sits down with Dr. Kelly M. Kapic, Professor of Theological Studies at Covenant College, to discuss his award-winning book Christian Life, published by Zondervan Academic as part of the New Studies in Dogmatics series.

What does it actually mean to live as a Christian? Although the phrase "Christian life" is used constantly in churches and classrooms, its theological foundation often goes unexamined. Dr. Kapic argues that the Christian life is, first and foremost, a response to the love of the triune God — flowing from God toward us and drawing us back into communion with him. Central to his account is the incarnate Son, who loved the Father for us, weaving our fragmented prayers and imperfect devotion into his own perfect faithfulness.

Chad and Dr. Kapic explore the theological foundations of Christian living, the role of the church and corporate worship in shaping the believer, and what it means to be united to Christ by the Spirit. It's a rich, accessible conversation at the intersection of systematic theology and everyday faith.

Dr. Kapic holds a PhD in Systematic and Historical Theology from King's College, University of London, and has authored or edited over fifteen books. Christian Life received the 2025 Award of Distinction from The Gospel Coalition and an Honorable Mention from the Southwestern Journal of Theology.

📖 Buy Christian Life: [Zondervan Academic] 📬 Subscribe to our Patreon 🐦 X/Twitter: @theologyxian 📘 Facebook: facebook.com/ahistoryofchristiantheology

On this episode of A History of Christian Theology, Chad sits down with Dr. Stephen Chester to discuss his recently published book, Paul through the Eyes of the Reformers: Living under Grace (Eerdmans). Dr. Chester is the Lord and Lady Coggan Professor of New Testament at Wycliffe College in Toronto and is widely known for his influential work on the interpretation of Scripture—especially regarding Paul and the Reformers.

Chad and Dr. Chester enjoy a thoughtful and engaging conversation about the New Perspective on Paul: what it is, what to make of it, and how we should understand the reformer's view of Paul. Many thanks to Dr. Chester for taking the time to join us. We hope you enjoy!

Buy "Paul through the Eyes of the Reformers Living under Grace"
Subscribe to our Patreon
X: @theologyxian
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ahistoryofchristiantheology

Welcome back to A History of Christian Theology! On this episode, Chad sits down with his friend Jordan Steffaniak to discuss his upcoming book "Classical Theism: A Christian Introduction" with Lexam Academic set to release in February 2026. They discuss the meaning and origins of the phrase "Classical Theism" as well as the intersection between faith and philosophy.

Dr. Steffaniak is the president and host of the London Lyceum podcast and a publisher with Hanover Press. He has numerous publications in several journals.

We're thankful to Lexham for providing a copy of this book and to Jordan for taking the time to chat. We hope you enjoy!

Buy "Classical Theism: A Christian Introduction"
Subscribe to our Patreon
X: @theologyxian
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ahistoryofchristiantheology

In this episode, Charles Kim talks with Nadya Williams about her book Cultural Christians in the Early Church (Zondervan Press).