Category: natural theology

“The Apostle Philosophizes”: Luther and the Critique of Metaphysics in 1515-1516

by Matthew Gaetano TRF has discussed the Protestant engagement with ancient philosophy and scholasticism quite a number of times (here, here, here, here). But we have not directly discussed Martin Luther’s engagement with the question of philosophy and its study by Christians. Luther’s famous contempt for Aristotle, especially early in his reforming career, is on… Read More “The Apostle Philosophizes”: Luther and the Critique of Metaphysics in 1515-1516

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The Selflessness of Seeing: Adolf Schlatter’s Theological Method

"He who thirsts let him come and drink" John 7:37

by Joshua Shaw In a previous post on Karl Barth’s noble response to the Third Reich, we saw his absolute rejection of the then current Zeitgeist. While great, one seems to hear the echoes of the docetic dualism for which Barth is often (in the circles of his “haters”) infamous. I wrote then (quoting Barth),… Read More The Selflessness of Seeing: Adolf Schlatter’s Theological Method

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Good Dreams and Better Prayers: CS Lewis and BF Westcott on Plato

by Joshua Shaw Matthew Gaetano, in a previous post, has touched on C. S. Lewis’s idea of the “good dreams” of pagans which were fulfilled in the Gospel. This post treats another Cambridge scholar writing and thinking in the same vein as Lewis. Brooke Foss Westcott (1825-1901) was an extraordinary New Testament scholar who brought… Read More Good Dreams and Better Prayers: CS Lewis and BF Westcott on Plato

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“[His] only care was not to please”: Eusebius’s Tribute to Socrates

by Joshua Shaw When we tried in a previous series to take in Eusebius’s apologetic argument against Plato at a glance, we skipped over a few passages in the middle of Book XIII (of the Praeparatio Evangelica). In this book Eusebius is slowly building his case against Plato by thoughtfully curating passages from Socrates’s last… Read More “[His] only care was not to please”: Eusebius’s Tribute to Socrates

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Review of Dan Edelstein’s On the Spirit of Rights (part 2)

by Andrew Kuiper Any genealogy of modernity that fails to explain the development and dominance of political economy risks irrelevance. Economics is one of the master-discourses of our age and evaluating how and why it emerged has always been a site of bitter contestation. The framing of the narrative already includes certain models of human… Read More Review of Dan Edelstein’s On the Spirit of Rights (part 2)

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Evil Nonsense or Nonsensical Evil: Eusebius on Divination (I)

by Joshua Shaw Are oracles just nonsense or are they a real power for evil? Under either view Eusebius of Caesarea is convinced that pagan oracles are to be rejected, but the question is “on what grounds?” At first glance he seems to waver in his judgement; moreover, the prominent role that citations play in… Read More Evil Nonsense or Nonsensical Evil: Eusebius on Divination (I)

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The Pagans and the Atheists in C. S. Lewis and Herman Bavinck

by Matthew Gaetano Joshua Shaw has been presenting Eusebius’s rich and complex polemic against paganism alongside his dialogue with Platonism. He has illuminated the reasons for the contrast between Eusebius’s approach and C. S. Lewis’s way of defending Christianity. Like many defenses of the Christian religion in the Renaissance and beyond (and in Late Antiquity… Read More The Pagans and the Atheists in C. S. Lewis and Herman Bavinck

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