Kevin Vanhoozer
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Systematic Theology, Faculty Member
- Kevin J. Vanhoozer (Ph.D., Cambridge University) is currently Research Professor of Systematic Theology at Trinity Ev... moreKevin J. Vanhoozer (Ph.D., Cambridge University) is currently Research Professor of Systematic Theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He has also served as Blanchard Professor of Theology at the Wheaton College Graduate School (2009-2012) and Senior Lecturer in Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland (1990-98).
He is the author of ten books, including Faith Speaking Understanding: Performing the Drama of Doctrine and Biblical Authority after Babel: Retrieving the Solas in the Spirit of Mere Protestant Christianity, both Christianity Today Theology Books of the Year (2015, 2017). He serves on the editorial board of the International Journal of Systematic Theology, Journal for Theological Interpretation, and Pro Ecclesia and was the North American Consultant for the second edition of the New Dictionary of Theology (IVP). He is married and has two daughters (and sixteen doctoral students). He is an amateur classical pianist and serious reader, and finds that music and literature help him integrate academic theology and spiritual formation.edit
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I have gone beyond the historic conditions of the debate. I think it is hard to avoid doing so, and I am encouraged by the example of Dr McGuckin who does it too. At the time it seemed to contemporaries that Cyril had preserved the true... more
I have gone beyond the historic conditions of the debate. I think it is hard to avoid doing so, and I am encouraged by the example of Dr McGuckin who does it too. At the time it seemed to contemporaries that Cyril had preserved the true tradition of the Church: this was the essential kerygma renewed in their days. His presentation of Christ seemed, with good reason, to be more profound and to touch the heart of religion. Cyril won the argument against Nestorius, and won it, so far as I can see, by a free decision of the Church. Not that the 'Antiochene' voice was left unheard: on the contrary, the agreed solution of 433, essentially 'Antiochene' in provenance, was embodied almost verbatim in the formula of Chalcedon and on the authority of Cyril. These other important points are well brought out by Dr McGuckin in a book where there is much to admire: good lines, with nails resoundingly hit upon the head: plenty of useful information, an excellent selection of texts in translation, some not available before; and above all, a warm appreciation of the theme. Not all the details go aright. Some small matters of interpretation will tease the cognoscenti. But where so much is right and so much is fittingly said, only the captious critic will complain.
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... xviii Part one Christian doctrine in the late twentieth century: the historical and intellectual context 1 Historical and systematic theology 3 COLIN GUNTON 2 On doctrine and ethics 21 STANLEY HAUERWAS 3 The basis and authority of... more
... xviii Part one Christian doctrine in the late twentieth century: the historical and intellectual context 1 Historical and systematic theology 3 COLIN GUNTON 2 On doctrine and ethics 21 STANLEY HAUERWAS 3 The basis and authority of doctrine 41 GERARD LOUGHLIN 4 The ...
Research Interests: Philosophy and Doctrine
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Research Interests: Philosophy and Singing
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Research Interests: Philosophy and Theology
One of the traditional perfections of Scripture according to historic Protestant orthodoxy, alongside inspiration, authority, and clarity, is sufficiency. Biblicists have taken this ball and run with it, insisting that everything we need... more
One of the traditional perfections of Scripture according to historic Protestant orthodoxy, alongside inspiration, authority, and clarity, is sufficiency. Biblicists have taken this ball and run with it, insisting that everything we need to know, not only for salvation but for much else, is in the Bible. This essay attempts to clarify the concept of Scripture’s sufficiency by reviewing its history and by specifying how, and for what, it is “enough.” This involves distinguishing between formal and material sufficiency, and drawing distinctions between sources, resources, and norms. The paper argues that the sufficiency of Scripture must be understood alongside the principle of sola scriptura, and that the Bible alone is enough for ruling the church’s social imaginary, especially as this concerns the story of what God is doing in creation and redemption. Scripture is sufficient for understanding extra-biblical knowledge in the framework of biblical narrative and for perceiving reality as sustained and directed by the triune God. The essay concludes by offering recommendations for understanding the sufficiency of Scripture both in its proper domain (saving knowledge) and in areas outside its proper domain, such as the natural and social sciences, including psychology.
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Page 1. OTHING BETTE THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS LOVE OF GOD Page 2. Page 3. NOTHING GREATER, NOTHING BETTER This One D8ZL-H3J-GHZJ Page 4. Papers from the Sixth Edinburgh Dogmatics Conference Page 5. ...
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This chapter discusses the ways in which commentators have interpreted the voice from the cloud heard at Jesus' transfiguration. It explains reasons why the voice from heaven is a particularly apt choice. Some of the elements that... more
This chapter discusses the ways in which commentators have interpreted the voice from the cloud heard at Jesus' transfiguration. It explains reasons why the voice from heaven is a particularly apt choice. Some of the elements that make exegesis "theological" are evident in the work of evangelical biblical scholars in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This chapter strengthens the theological right arm of exegetes, and encourages other evangelical biblical scholars to make sure that their faith conviction in the divine authorship of Scripture does not remain merely notional but becomes fully operative. Evangelical biblical scholars typically dance the historical-theological "two-step": first description, then application. The chapter argues that theological commentary involves reading the biblical text in redemptive-historical context, in relation to God's presence and activity in the world of authors and readers. Finally, it argues that work of biblical scholars and theologians is equally necessary for theological commentary and understanding. Keywords:biblical interpretation; evangelical biblical scholars; Scripture; theological commentary; theological exegesis
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... Clinton McCann Jr. 157 17 Proverbs Raymond C. Van Leeuwen 171 18 Ecclesiastes Craig G. Bartholomew 179 19 Song of Songs Tremper Longman III 186 20 Isaiah Richard L. Schultz 194 5 Page 7. Contents 21 Jeremiah ...
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The rise of modern science and the proclaimed 'death' of God in the nineteenth century led to a radical questioning of divine action and authorship - Bultmann's celebrated 'demythologizing'. Remythologizing Theology... more
The rise of modern science and the proclaimed 'death' of God in the nineteenth century led to a radical questioning of divine action and authorship - Bultmann's celebrated 'demythologizing'. Remythologizing Theology moves in another direction that begins by taking seriously the biblical accounts of God's speaking. It establishes divine communicative action as the formal and material principle of theology, and suggests that interpersonal dialogue, rather than impersonal causality, is the keystone of God's relationship with the world. This original contribution to the theology of divine action and authorship develops a fresh vision of Christian theism. It also revisits several long-standing controversies such as the relations of God's sovereignty to human freedom, time to eternity, and suffering to love. Groundbreaking and thought-provoking, it brings theology into fruitful dialogue with philosophy, literary theory, and biblical studies.
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This article responds to David Moser’s essay commending the Totus Christus to Protestants who wish to be biblical, identify with the catholic tradition, and speak truly about the Church. The article recognizes the Totus Christus as an... more
This article responds to David Moser’s essay commending the Totus Christus to Protestants who wish to be biblical, identify with the catholic tradition, and speak truly about the Church. The article recognizes the Totus Christus as an important case study of the relationship between Christology and ecclesiology. The article evaluates Moser’s case in three movements: first, by examining the way in which biblical language of Christ as the “head” of the Church “body” has been interpreted by Augustine and others; second, by comparing and contrasting the Reformed (soteriological) emphasis on mystical union with the Roman (ecclesiological) emphasis on mystical body; third, by examining the metaphysics of the Totus Christus and, in particular, the conceptual coherence of claiming that the Totus Christus designates a “united person” with “two subjects” that are “distinct in their being.” The article concludes by asking about the practical consequences of accepting the Totus Christus, and by noting that the Totus Christus never did receive the necessary creedal support commensurate with catholic doctrine.
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Research Interests: History and Philosophy
This volume of essays aims to relate N. T. Wright’s prodigious scholarship on the history of Jesus and Paul to the church, asking what difference it makes on the ground level and what that might mean for the future of Christian theology.... more
This volume of essays aims to relate N. T. Wright’s prodigious scholarship on the history of Jesus and Paul to the church, asking what difference it makes on the ground level and what that might mean for the future of Christian theology. Nine leading biblical scholars and theologians (Richard B. Hays, Kevin Vanhoozer, Marianne Meye Thompson, Sylvia Keesmaat, and Brian Walsh among them) critically assess Wright’s work. Wright responds to each assessment and also provides two extensive essays on the state of scholarship regarding the historical Jesus and the apostle Paul in the life of the church.
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... immediate future. Craig Evans made the helpful suggestion that it would be good to have some kind of response to the lectures and took advantage of a visit byStanley Porter to Acadia to get his in-sights on the theme. The ...
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An academic directory and search engine.
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accounts of justice. Thus, it should be required reading for ethicists across the ideological spectrum. In a time of conflict, Porter attractively stresses the contingency of our ability to develop the virtue of justice. Justice emerges... more
accounts of justice. Thus, it should be required reading for ethicists across the ideological spectrum. In a time of conflict, Porter attractively stresses the contingency of our ability to develop the virtue of justice. Justice emerges in agents when they learn (a) stable desires for comprehensive goods greater than the self and (b) stable desires to treat others in accord with the particular norms of respect and equality that are rooted in the types of creatures we are. In recognising the contingency of such formation, she illuminates why it is so challenging to move beyond a ‘morality of obligation’ approaches to justice, whether of the left or right. Such approaches neglect the need to develop a stable desire to follow norms. This insight depends on ‘getting justice right’ as a specific virtue perfecting the will. Porter’s book does not end up resolving all the divisive issues of the demands of justice, but it explains the framework within which fruitful exchange about these dem...
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C. S. Lewis called for spiritual formation long before the term became popular: “Every Christian is to become a little Christ. The whole purpose of becoming a Christian is simply nothing else” (Mere Christianity, 171). Lewis's call to... more
C. S. Lewis called for spiritual formation long before the term became popular: “Every Christian is to become a little Christ. The whole purpose of becoming a Christian is simply nothing else” (Mere Christianity, 171). Lewis's call to become little Christs recalls Paul's exhortation to “put off” the old self and “put on” Christ. This paper explores what this change of costume involves from the perspective of what a “theodramatic” approach to theology that I have developed in The Drama of Doctrine and Faith Speaking Understanding. I there argue that the role of doctrine is to (1) indicate what is in Christ and (2) direct those in Christ to participate in Christ by playing their parts in the drama of redemption. This theatrical model raises an important issue concerning the disciple's self-understanding: Is it healthy for Christians to think in terms of “acting out” what is “in Christ” (their new identities as Christ's disciples) or does this encourage a false sense of...
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TRANSCENDING BOUNDARIES IN PHILOSOPHY AND THEOLOGY Presenting new opportunities in the dialogue between philosophy and theology, this interdisciplinary text addresses the contemporary reshaping of intellectual boundaries. Exploring human... more
TRANSCENDING BOUNDARIES IN PHILOSOPHY AND THEOLOGY Presenting new opportunities in the dialogue between philosophy and theology, this interdisciplinary text addresses the contemporary reshaping of intellectual boundaries. Exploring human experience in a'post-Christian'era, ...