Philosophy for Theologians

James Baird speaks with Cory Brock and Nathaniel Gray Sutanto about Friedrich Schleiermacher’s philosophical influences and their effect upon his theology. Brock and Sutanto are both PhD candidates at the University of Edinburgh, studying the theology of Herman Bavinck under Dr. James Eglinton. Cory Brock is writing a thesis on Bavinck’s appropriation of Schleiermacher. Gray Sutanto is writing on Bavinck’s theological epistemology. Together, they have co-authored an article titled, “Herman Bavinck’s Reformed Eclecticism: On Catholicity, Consciousness, and Theological Epistemology” forthcoming in The Scottish Journal of Theology.

Participants: Cory Brock, James Baird, Nathaniel Gray Sutanto

French intellectual Jacques Derrida (1930–2004) was one of the most important contributors to the post-modern philosophical movement. He was also one of the most notoriously difficult philosophers to understand. In this third episode of a three-part series, Dr. Christopher Watkin helps us understand Derrida’s theology. Dr. Watkin is senior lecturer in French Studies at Monash University, Australia. Dr. Watkin received his MPhil and PhD from Cambridge. He has written multiple books on philosophy, including the Derrida installment of the Great Thinkers series, forthcoming with P&R Publishing.

Participants: Christopher Watkin, James Baird, Jonathan Brack

French intellectual Jacques Derrida (1930–2004) was one of the most important contributors to the post-modern philosophical movement. He was also one of the most notoriously difficult philosophers to understand. In this second episode of a three-part series, Dr. Christopher Watkin helps us understand Derrida’s moral philosophy. Dr. Watkin is senior lecturer in French Studies at Monash University, Australia. Dr. Watkin received his MPhil and PhD from Cambridge. He has written multiple books on philosophy, including the Derrida installment of the Great Thinkers series, forthcoming with P&R Publishing.

Participants: Christopher Watkin, James Baird, Jonathan Brack

French intellectual Jacques Derrida (1930–2004) was one of the most important contributors to the post-modern philosophical movement. He was also one of the most notoriously difficult philosophers to understand. In this first episode of a three-part series, Dr. Christopher Watkin helps us understand Derrida’s metaphysic (theory of reality). Dr. Watkin is senior lecturer in French Studies at Monash University, Australia. Dr. Watkin received his MPhil and PhD from Cambridge. He has written multiple books on philosophy, including the Derrida installment of the Great Thinkers series, forthcoming with P&R Publishing.

Participants: Christopher Watkin, James Baird, Jonathan Brack

Dr. Nathan Shannon, Assistant Professor of Systematic Theology at Torch Trinity Graduate University in Seoul, Korea, talks with us about his new book, Shalom and the Ethics of Belief: Nicholas Wolterstorff’s Theory of Situated Rationality. Dr. Shannon is joined by Nathan Sasser, PhD student in philosophy at the University of South Carolina.

Participants: Jared Oliphint, Nate Shannon, Nathan Sasser

Dr. Vern Poythress speaks about his new book, Logic: A God-Centered Approach to the Foundation of Western Thought. Discussion centers around the relationship between God and logic, the relationship between logical form and its content, and a Christian approach to modal concepts like possibility and necessity. Dr. Poythress is Professor of New Testament Interpretation at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, PA.

You can find a free sample from his book, Logic, here. Other eBooks by Dr. Poythress are available at frame-poythress.org.

Participants: Jared Oliphint, Nathan Sasser, Vern Poythress

Nathan Sasser, Assistant Director of Academic Affairs at the Pastors College for Sovereign Grace Ministries and PhD student at the University of South Carolina, comes on the program to talk about worldview, epistemology, culture, politics, eschatology, and the upcoming Clash conference.

Participants: Jared Oliphint, Nathan Sasser

Dr. Lane G. Tipton, Professor of Biblical and Systematic Theology at Westminster Theological Seminary, describes logical positivism, a type of analytic philosophy incorporating mathematical and logico-linguistic constructs and deductions of epistemology.

Participants: Lane G. Tipton

Jared Oliphint sits down with Dr. K. Scott Oliphint to speak about how Christians should approach the subject of philosophy. They speak about the necessity of the Christian position, the questions asked and answers offered by secular philosophers, and the worldviews communicated in popular culture.

Participants: Jared Oliphint, K. Scott Oliphint

We speak with Nathan Sasser, Assistant Director of Academic Affairs at the Pastors College for Sovereign Grace Ministries and PhD student in philosophy at the University of South Carolina. Nathan describes the format and goals of the Pastors College, as well as the subject of his doctoral work, the philosophy of David Hume.

Participants: Jared Oliphint, Jonathan Brack, Nathan Sasser, Paul Maxwell