Credo

When Jesus washes his disciples' feet he is not just giving them a picture of the type of salvation he has come to accomplish, but he is showing them the means by which he will accomplish that salvation as well. Moreover, Jesus commands his disciples to follow his example and sacrificially serve one another in humility. Paul also makes much of the humility of Christ when he instructs the Philippians what life in the covenant community is supposed to look like. If theology is "faith seeking understanding," how does humility connect to theology? Many great minds of the Christian faith have thought long and hard about what it means to be human and what it means to be humble because they thought that humility was absolutely essential, both to being human, and to understand what it means to be a Christian. 

In this episode, Kelly Kapic joins Matthew Barrett to help us think through the beautiful limits to God's design, explaining how humility frames who we are and how we are meant to relate to God, and to one another.

Is philosophy in conflict with Christianity? At its heart, philosophy is a love for wisdom that uses the mind with its reason as well as the heart to understand big ideas of reality. Who is God, who am I, and what is this world? These are questions that, universally, humans have asked from the very beginning. The Bible is asking and answering the same questions. Therefore, philosophy is not to be separated from the study of theology since the sacred scripture itself is a work of ancient philosophy. The New Testament is implanted within the culture of Greek ideas and both Jesus and his apostles engage with these ideas to present a coherent picture of both the Creator and his world. We must dismiss that modern, artificial tension between philosophy and Christianity if we are to reclaim the vision of the good, the true, and the beautiful presented to us by Jesus himself, the greatest of philosophers.

In this episode, Jonathan Pennington joins Matthew Barrett to discuss what wisdom, philosophy, and human flourishing have to do with the Christian life. In doing so, they make a compelling case for why we should consider Jesus the greatest philosopher of all time.

What should we think of Plato? Do his ideas have any profit for Christianity? Can the Platonic philosophical heritage serve Christianity as a handmaiden to biblical interpretation and theological construction? These questions concerning the relationship between philosophy and theology have been discussed and debated by Christians from the very beginning.

At the heart of the matter is metaphysics. Everyone uses metaphysics, the only question is whether we acknowledge the metaphysic that we use or not. Too often, Christians today unwittingly read the Bible through a modern metaphysic of which they are not even aware. Unfortunately, this metaphysic is indebted to modern presuppositions and is rather alien to the one presupposed all over the scriptures.

To help us consider the cyclical nature of scripture and metaphysics, Hans Boersma joins Matthew Barrett on the Credo Podcast to talk about Christian Platonism and the relationship between metaphysics and biblical interpretation. Hans defines five points of Christian Platonism and explains why these five points serve to clarify and even protect Christianity from paganism.

We often approach the Scriptures as if we must keep all that theology out. We might even read the Old Testament as if we should not look ahead to the New Testament, lest we introduce theological doctrines which prejudice our exegesis. But could this approach rob us of those many riches that the history of interpretation has to offer?

Creeds are tools that help us interpret the text and see things that we may miss on our own. For example, Christians in the church today can open the scriptures and the Creeds side by side to gain a better understanding of Christ's divinity and humanity. The Chalcedon definition, for example, serves as a handrail for reading scripture Christologically and keeps us from heresies that could derail biblical Christology itself.

To help us consider how theology should inform biblical exegesis, Bobby Jamieson joins Matthew Barrett on the Credo Podcast to talk about hermeneutics, theological interpretation, Christology in Hebrews, and the relationship between creeds and exegesis.

Many view evangelicalism only in the political sense of the term, which may overlook and even diminish the rich theological tradition that is evangelical theology. Whether you joyfully consider yourself an evangelical or prefer to ditch the term altogether, evangelicals continue to work together with a steadfast commitment to primary doctrines of the faith despite secondary differences. To reflect on the state of evangelical theology, Daniel Treier of Wheaton College joins Matthew Barrett on the Credo podcast to discuss those evangelical theologians who have influenced his own trajectory. Treier also explains why he has devoted himself to the wisdom of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, evangelical ethics and its Thomistic roots, and the hermeneutics of theological interpretation of Scripture both of the past, present, and future. By engaging the many contours of evangelical theology, Treier evaluates their ongoing relevance for evangelicalism, however controversial its future may be.

The external works of the Trinity are undivided.

Until recently, this statement was an uncontroversial affirmation of the doctrine of inseparable operations. In fact, for nearly two millennia, inseparable operations were simply assumed to be an integral premise of the Christian faith. Yet modern treatments of the Trinity have left the essential unity of the Trinity in need of recovery.

Credo fellow, Adonis Vidu, explains why God is one, indivisible essence and thus has one will, power, intellect, and operation in the world. We do not have a team of three gods who each perform their own actions, but one God who acts indivisibly. There is no cooperation or division of labor within the divine essence. Even speaking of divine roles can lead to unorthodox assumptions about the Trinity. Rather, whenever scripture says any person of the Trinity is at work, the other two persons are also equally involved in that operation.

In this podcast, Matthew Barrett and Adonis Vidu not only discuss the inseparable operations of the Trinity, but the Creator/creature distinction, the differences between divine appropriations and missions, and the beauty of divine transcendence, all while bringing out the gospel implications of this important doctrine.

John Calvin was one of the most influential figures of the Reformation. But have you ever thought about Calvin's life? What were some of the events, enemies, friendships, relationships, and influences that shaped such monumental works as his Institutes and biblical commentaries? What inspired Calvin to write these works and what was the context in which they came to life?

These historical questions are important for today because it is crucial to remember that Calvin was never a singular figure, towering above everybody else. All his life, he was dependent on a circle of other people. Bucer was a spiritual father who made Calvin a pastor and a Reformer. Erasmus inspired him to argue that the wisdom of antiquity finds its fulfillment in Christianity, and Zwingli, the artistic creator of the Reformed faith, created the liturgy of the Reformation that would shape Calvin's Geneva. Calvin, like us all, was standing on the shoulders of giants.

In this podcast, Matthew Barrett and Bruce Gordon discuss the life and theological development of John Calvin, noting the influences of Bucer, Erasmus, Cicero, and Zwingli on his life and thought. In doing so, they show why history is so pivotal to the ongoing implications of the Christian faith for today.

It's all in Plato, all in Plato: Bless me, what do they teach them at these schools?

― C. S. Lewis, The Last Battle

If you are doing theology, you are seeking an understanding of the truth. In the ancient world, few claimed the title of truth-seeker more wholeheartedly than Plato. Though he lived before Christ and was left without the benefit of the fullness of special revelation, Plato sought wisdom where it could be found in God's book of nature and his realist philosophy became the default worldview of the Christian world. Liberalism has objected claiming Christianity was corrupted by Hellenization, thanks to the church fathers. But that objection is shallow. The greatest minds of the Christian faith understood the genius of our fathers; they knew how to Christianize Hellenism. In fact, a quick glance at the New Testament, most notably John's gospel, Hebrews, and Paul's writings, reveal that the biblical authors themselves utilized Greek concepts to convey and defend Christian truths. Christians must reckon with the fact that God chose to incarnate himself into a Greco-Roman culture. Could it be that God used this pre-Christian, ancient writer to help prepare the pagan Greco-Roman world for the coming of Christ? Since the apostolic period, Christan Platonism has flourished in the theology of the church fathers and subsequently provided the metaphysical foundations of the Reformation, and has been celebrated by brilliant minds since, such J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis.

In this podcast, Matthew Barrett and Louis Markos discuss the philosophy of Plato and the fulfillment of his philosophy in the Incarnation. In doing so, they explore the relationship between philosophy and theology as they seek to show that Christian Platonism is not a relic of a bygone ancient world, but rather it remains an indispensable metaphysic for understanding Christian theology.

“I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel...”

― Mary Shelley, Frankenstein

Can regular encounters with the Great Books shape us in ways that mere information intake cannot? Matthew Barrett and Karen Swallow Prior believe classical literature possesses a special magic that can help us develop Christian virtues, such as courage (Huckleberry Finn), justice (A Tale of Two Cities), love (The Death of Ivan Illych), and so many more. The great works of literature do not simply tell readers what to think but teach readers how to think. Classical literature is a window into God's world of truth, goodness, and beauty.

For example, consider Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, which gives us a glimpse into the intricate inner workings of humanity, asking questions concerning good and evil while exploring the theological notions of sin and depravity. Beneath the movie caricatures that portray the monster as a figure of horror, lies a story about our origins and what can go terribly wrong when power is missed. It is for this reason that Christians should drink deeply from the well of wisdom that great books offer.

The tyranny of the present is a cruel evil. For many, the routine to-do's and the barrage of breaking news renders us numb to anything outside our immediate field of vision. While the present moment is indeed important, we must remember that it is still merely a moment. As moments come and go, the future becomes the present and the present becomes the past. The neverending tide of time keeps moving along and if we aren't aware, we will be taken along for a ride on its shifting waves.

So how can we remain grounded in the present amid the turbulence of our time? In his recent book, Breaking Bread with the Dead (Penguin, 2020) Alan Jacobs argues that present stability is achieved by becoming conversant with the past.

In this podcast, Matthew Barrett and Alan Jacobs discuss the necessity of history for the Christian faith. They show why regular encounters with the past help us think not only about the present but about the future, as well. In doing so, they offer several key insights related to the practice of studying the wisdom of ages past, teaching us how to learn and appreciate goodness, beauty, and truth, wherever it may be found.