What Is Theological Epistemology? An Introduction
Lecture 1 of my New Course, "Theological Epistemology"
I’m excited to offer my first course under the auspices of The Natural Theologian. The title and topic of the course is “Theological Epistemology,” the question of how Christians know and how God relates to human knowledge.
This course will be behind the paywall. To gain access to it, simply upgrade your subscription to paid. This will give you access to this course, which I anticipate will last for the fall semester. If you choose the yearly plan, you get a discount per month but also gain access to any other offerings over the next twelve months of your membership. We’ll see if a private chat or some live video meetings develop out of this. I’m open to input and looking forward to your feedback!
The question of theological epistemology is at the heart of my writing at The Natural Theologian. It’s shaped my life and academic trajectory, as I transitioned from the study of theology to the study of philosophy. Each of the topics I consider I try to approach with the resources of both revelation and reason. This equips me to stake out orthodoxly Christian perspectives, but also ones that are shaped by philosophical, scientific, and experiential evidence.
With a Masters of Divinity from Westminster Theological Seminary, I bring serious Reformed theological training to the table, from an institution with a strong view on theological epistemology - if one with which I disagree vehemently. With an MA from the University of Chicago, and soon a Ph.D. in philosophy from Saint Louis University, I bring a broad and philosophical perspective to the Christian tradition. What I teach here is the fruit of sharpening myself against the iron of both secular analytic philosophers and Christian dogmaticians.
In seminary, I had courses titled “apologetics” and “prolegomena to theology” and knew of others like “philosophy for theologians.” These courses addressed fundamental questions about knowledge that shaped the rest of the theological curriculum. The topic of “Theological epistemology” is, I think, the through-line between all those courses. To explore what that is, check out the first section of the first lecture below, which I make available for free along with a provisional course syllabus.
Lecture 1: What Is Theological Epistemology?
Contents:
What Is the Question of Theological Epistemology?
Two Poles of Theological Epistemology: Fideist and Rationalist
Even More Poles of Philosophical Epistemology: Empiricist and Rationalist, Etc.
The Contemporary Landscape of Theological Epistemology
1. What Is the Question of Theological Epistemology?
In the first section of the lecture, I introduce the central questions of theological epistemology: How do we know the teachings of Christianity to be true? How is Christian knowledge related to natural, human knowledge? What is the relationship between revelation and reason, Athens and Jerusalem, faith and science, theology and philosophy?
2. Two Poles of Theological Epistemology: Fideist and Rationalist
In the second section of the lecture, I organize views on theological epistemology according to two poles: Fideism and Rationalism. Some views emphasize the distinctiveness of Christian knowing - it’s a leap of faith from a godless scientific or philosophical perspective: Fideism. Other views emphasize the ability of common human reason, science, and philosophy to contribute to our knowledge of divine things: Rationalism.