Trinitarian Conversations, Volume 2: Interviews With More Theologians

Introduction

The chapters in this book are transcripts of interviews conducted as part of the You’re Included series, sponsored by Grace Communion International and Grace Communion Seminary. We have more than 130 interviews available. You may watch them or download video or audio at https://www.gcs.edu/course/view.php?id=58.

When people speak in a conversation, thoughts are not always put into well-formed sentences, and sometimes thoughts are not completed. In some of the following transcripts, we have removed occasional words that did not seem to contribute any meaning to the sentence. In some cases we could not figure out what word was intended. We apologize for any transcription errors, and if you notice any, we welcome your assistance.

Grace Communion International is in broad agreement with the theology of the people we interview, but GCI does not endorse every detail of every interview. The opinions expressed are those of the interviewees. We thank them for their time and their willingness to participate.

We incur substantial production costs for these interviews and transcripts. Donations in support of this ministry may be made at https://www.gci.org/online-giving/.

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About the Contributors…

Jeremy Begbie, Professor of Theology at Duke Divinity School, received a PhD in 1987 from the University of Aberdeen. His books include:

A Peculiar Orthodoxy: Reflections on Theology and the Arts

Beholding the Glory: Incarnation through the Arts (ed.)

Music in God’s Purposes

Music, Modernity and God: Essays in Listening

Redeeming Transcendence in the Arts: Bearing Witness to the Triune God

Resonant Witness: Conversations between Music and Theology (co-editor)

Resounding Truth: Christian Wisdom in the World of Music

Theology, Music and Time

Voicing Creation’s Praise: Towards a Theology of the Arts

Douglas A. Campbell, Associate Professor of New Testament at Duke Divinity School in Durham, North Carolina, received his PhD in 1989 from the University of Toronto. He is the author of:

Four Views on the Apostle Paul (contributor)

Framing Paul: An Epistolary Biography

Paul: An Apostle's Journey

Pauline Dogmatics: The Triumph of God's Love (2020)

The Call to Serve: Biblical and Theological Perspectives on Ministry in Honour of Bishop Penny Jamieson

The Deliverance of God: An Apocalyptic Rereading of Justification in Paul

The Quest for Paul’s Gospel

The Rhetoric of Righteousness in Romans 3:21-26

Cathy Deddo received a master’s degree from Fuller Theological Seminary and now works with the Trinity Study Center. She is the author of:

The Letter of James: Meeting the Father of Lights in the Midst of Our Darkness

George MacDonald: A Devotional Guide to His Writings (co-author)

God, the Bible, and the Shack (co-author)

Gordon D. Fee is professor emeritus of New Testament at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia. He received his PhD in 1966 from the University of Southern California. He has written numerous books:

1 and 2 Timothy, Titus (Understanding the Bible Commentary)

First Epistle to the Corinthians (New International Commentary)

Galatians: Pentecostal Commentary

God’s Empowering Presence: The Holy Spirit in the Letters of Paul

Gospel and Spirit: Issues in New Testament Hermeneutics

How to Choose a Translation for All Its Worth (with Mark Strauss)

How to Read the Bible Book by Book (with Douglas Stuart)

How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth (with Douglas Stuart)

Jesus the Lord according to Paul the Apostle: A Concise Introduction

Listening to the Spirit in the Text

New Testament Exegesis: A Handbook for Students and Pastors

New Testament Textual Criticism: Its Significance for Exegesis (with Eldon J. Epp)

Paul, the Spirit, and the People of God

Paul’s Letter to the Philippians (New International Commentary)

Pauline Christology: An Exegetical-Theological Study

Philippians (IVP New Testament Commentary)

Revelation (New Covenant Commentary Series)

Studies in the Theory and Method of New Testament Textual Criticism (with Eldon J. Epp)

The Disease of the Health and Wealth Gospels

The Eerdmans Companion to the Bible (edited with Robert Hubbard)

The First and Second Letters to the Thessalonians (New International Commentary on the New Testament)

The Text of the Fourth Gospel in the Writings of Origen (co-authored with Bart Ehrman and Michael Holmes)

To What End Exegesis? Essays Textual, Exegetical, and Theological

David A. S. Fergusson is Professor of Divinity at New College in the University of Edinburgh. He is a minister of the Church of Scotland. Fergusson delivered the Cunningham Lectures in Edinburgh in 1996, the Bampton Lectures in Oxford in 2001, the Gifford Lectures at the University of Glasgow in 2008 and the Warfield Lectures at Princeton Theological Seminary. He is the author of numerous books:

Christ, Church and Society

Church, State, and Civil Society

Community, Liberalism and Christian Ethics

Cosmos and the Creator - An Introduction to the Theology of Creation

Creation

Faith and Its Critics: A Conversation

Future as God’s Gift: Explorations in Christian Eschatology

John and Donald Baillie (co-edited with James Torrance)

John Macmurray: Critical Perspectives

Rudolf Bultmann: Outstanding Christian Thinkers series

Scottish Philosophical Theology

The Blackwell Companion to Nineteenth-Century Theology (editor)

The Cambridge Dictionary of Christian Theology (co-editor)

Jeannine Graham is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at George Fox University in Newburg, OR. She earned her PhD at the University of Aberdeen under the direction of J.B. Torrance. She has written:

Representation and Substitution in the Atonement Theologies of Dorothee Sölle, John Macquarrie and Karl Barth

The ‘One for the Many’ Theme in James Torrance’s Theology in Participatio, the Journal of the Thomas F. Torrance Theological Fellowship, 2014

Myk Habets is head of Carey Graduate School in New Zealand. He received his PhD from the University of Otago in 2006. His books include:

Ecumenical Perspectives on the Filioque for the 21st Century

Evangelical Calvinism: Essays Resourcing the Continuing Reformation of the Church (2 volumes; edited with Bobby Grow)

Gospel, Truth, and Interpretation: Evangelical Identity in Aotearoa New Zealand

Heaven: An Inkling of What’s to Come

Kiwimade Narrative Sermons

Reconsidering Gender: Evangelical Perspectives (with Beulah Wood)

The Anointed Son: A Trinitarian Spirit Christology

The Art of Forgiveness (co-editor)

The Progressive Mystery: Tracing the Elusive Spirit in Scripture and Tradition

The Spirit of Truth: Reading Scripture and Constructing Theology with the Holy Spirit

Theology and the Experience of Disability: Interdisciplinary Perspectives from Voices Down Under (with Andrew Picard)

T&T Clark Handbook of Thomas F. Torrance (co-editor)

Theology in Transposition: A Constructive Appraisal of T. F. Torrance

Theosis in the Theology of Thomas Torrance

Trinitarian Theology after Barth (edited with Philip Tolladay)

Third Article Theology: A Pneumatological Dogmatics

Trevor Hart is Professor of Divinity at the University of St. Andrews in Edinburgh, Scotland. He received his PhD from the University of Aberdeen in 1989. Among his books are:

Art, Imagination and Christian Hope: Patterns of Promise (with Gavin Hopps and Jeremy Begbie)

At the Cross: Meditations on People Who Were There (with Richard Bauckham)

Between the Image and the Word: Theological Engagements With Imagination, Language, and Literature

Christ in Our Place: The Humanity of God in Christ for the Reconciliation of the World: Essays Presented to James B. Torrance (edited with Daniel Thimell)

Faith Thinking: The Dynamics of Christian Theology

Faithful Performances (with Steven Guthrie and Ivan Khovacs)

Hope Against Hope: Christian Eschatology at the Turn of the Millennium (with Richard Bauckham)

In Him Was Life: The Person and Work of Christ

Justice the True and Only Mercy: Essays on the Life and Theology of Peter Taylor Forsyth

Making Good: Creation, Creativity, and Artistry

Regarding Karl Barth: Toward a Reading of His Theology

Theatrical Theology: Explorations in Performing the Faith (with Wesley Vander Lugt)

Tree of Tales: Tolkien, Literature and Theology (with Ivan Khovacs)

The Dictionary of Historical Theology (editor)

The Epistle to the Hebrews and Christian Theology (co-editor)

The Waiting Father: Thomas Erskine of Linlathen

George Hunsinger, professor of systematic theology at Princeton Theological Seminary, received his PhD in 1988 from Yale University. His published works include:

Christology, Ancient and Modern: Explorations in Constructive Dogmatics (co-editor)

Conversational Theology: Essays on Ecumenical, Postliberal, and Political Themes

Disruptive Grace: Studies in the Theology of Karl Barth

Evangelical, Catholic, and Reformed: Essays on Barth and Other Themes

For the Sake of the World: Karl Barth and the Future of Ecclesial Theology

How to Read Karl Barth: The Shape of His Theology

Karl Barth and Radical Politics

Karl Barth, the Jews, and Judaism

Karl Barth: Post-Holocaust Theologian?

Philippians (Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible) (2020)

Reading Barth With Charity: A Hermeneutical Proposal

The Eucharist and Ecumenism: Let Us Keep the Feast

Thy Word Is Truth: Barth on Scripture

Torture Is a Moral Issue: Christians, Jews, Muslims, and People of Conscience Speak Out (editor)

Types of Christian Theology (with Hans Frei and William Placher)

Wiley Blackwell Companion to Karl Barth (Wiley Blackwell Companions to Religion)

Michael Jinkins is president of Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. He received his PhD from the University of Aberdeen in 1990. His publications include:

A Comparative Study in the Theology of Atonement in Jonathan Edwards and John McLeod Campbell: Atonement and the Character of God

Called to Be Human: Letters to My Children on Living a Christian Life

Christianity, Tolerance and Pluralism: A Theological Engagement with Isaiah Berlin's Social Theory

In the House of the Lord: Inhabiting the Psalms of Lament

Invitation to Psalms: Participant Book: A Short-Term Disciple Bible Study

Invitation to Theology: A Guide to Study, Conversation & Practice

John and Donald Baillie (with David Fergusson)

John McLeod Campbell

Letters to New Pastors

Power and Change in Parish Ministry: Reflections on the Cure of Souls

The Character of Leadership: Political Realism and Public Virtue in Nonprofit Organizations (with Deborah Bradshaw Jinkins)

The Church Faces Death: Ecclesiology in a Post-Modern Context

The Church Transforming: What's Next for the Reformed Project? (with Susan Garrett)

Transformational Ministry: Church Leadership and the Way of the Cross

Alister McGrath, Professor of Science and Religion at Oxford University, earned a doctorate in molecular biophysics in 1977, a doctorate in divinity in 2001 and was awarded a third doctorate in 2013. His publications include:

I Believe: Exploring the Apostles' Creed

A Brief History of Heaven

A Fine-Tuned Universe? Anthropic Phenomena and Natural Theology

A Handbook of Anglican Theologians

A Scientific Theology: Volume 1 – Nature, Volume 2 – Reality, Volume 3 – Theory

A Theory of Everything (That Matters): A Brief Guide to Einstein, Relativity, and His Surprising Thoughts on God

Apostles' Creed

Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Modern Christian Thought (editor)

C. S. Lewis - A Life: Eccentric Genius, Reluctant Prophet

Chosen Ones (The Aedyn Chronicles)

Christian Belief (editor)

Christian Belief for Everyone: Faith and Creeds

Christian Belief for Everyone: The Living God

Christian History: An Introduction

Christian Spirituality: An Introduction

Christian Theology: An Introduction

Christianity: An Introduction

Christianity’s Dangerous Idea: The Protestant Revolution from the Sixteenth to the Twenty-First Century

Creation

Darkness Shall Fall (The Aedyn Chronicles)

Darwinism and the Divine: Evolutionary Thought and Natural Theology

Dawkins' God: From The Selfish Gene to The God Delusion

Deep Magic, Dragons and Talking Mice: How Reading C.S. Lewis Can Change Your Life

Emil Brunner: A Reappraisal

Enriching Our Vision of Reality: Theology and the Natural Sciences in Dialogue

Faith and Creeds: A Guide for Study and Devotion

Flight of the Outcasts (The Aedyn Chronicles)

Heresy: A History of Defending the Faith

Historical Theology: An Introduction to the History of Christian Thought

If I Had Lunch with C. S. Lewis: Exploring the Ideas of C. S. Lewis on the Meaning of Life

In the Beginning: The Story of the King James Bible

Incarnation

Iustitia Dei: A History of the Christian Doctrine of Justification

Jesus Christ: A Guide for Study and Devotion

Lord and Saviour: Jesus of Nazareth

Luther's Theology of the Cross: Christ in Luther’s Sermons on John

Luther’s Theology of the Cross: Martin Luther’s Theological Breakthrough

Mere Apologetics: How to Help Seekers and Skeptics Find Faith

Mere Discipleship: Growing in Wisdom and Hope

Mere Theology: Christian Faith and the Discipleship of the Mind

Narrative Apologetics: Sharing the Relevance, Joy, and Wonder of the Christian Faith

Redemption

Reformation Thought: An Introduction

Re-Imagining Nature: The Promise of a Christian Natural Theology

Resurrection

Richard Dawkins, C. S. Lewis and the Meaning of Life

Science and Religion: A New Introduction

Surprised by Meaning: Science, Faith, and How We Make Sense of Things

The Augsburg Handbook of Christian Belief

The Big Question: Why We Can’t Stop Talking About Science, Faith and God

The Blackwell Companion to Protestantism (co-editor)

The Christian Life and Hope: A Guide for Study and Devotion

The Christian Theology Reader

The Christian Vision of God

The Complete Topical Guide to the Bible (co-editor)

The Dawkins Delusion? Atheist Fundamentalism and the Denial of the Divine. (With Joanna Collicutt McGrath)

The Foundations of Dialogue in Science and Religion

The Future of Christianity

The Genesis of Doctrine

The Great Mystery: Science, God and the Human Quest for Meaning

The Intellectual Origins of the European Reformation

The Intellectual World of C. S. Lewis

The Journey

The Landscape of Faith: An Explorer's Guide to the Christian Creeds

The Living God: A Guide for Study and Devotion

The Making of Modern German Christology: From the Enlightenment to Pannenberg

The Open Secret: A New Vision for Natural Theology

The Order of Things: Explorations in Scientific Theology

The Passionate Intellect: Christian Faith and the Discipleship of the Mind

The Renewal of Anglicanism

The Science of God: An Introduction to Scientific Theology

The Spirit of Grace: A Guide for Study and Devotion

The Territories of Human Reason: Science and Theology in an Age of Multiple Rationalities

The Twilight of Atheism: The Rise and Fall of Disbelief in the Modern World

The Unknown God: Searching for Spiritual Fulfilment

Theology: The Basic Readings

Theology: The Basics

Thomas F. Torrance: An Intellectual Biography

What Was God Doing on the Cross?

Why Are We Here?: A Little Book of Guidance

Why God Won’t Go Away: Is the New Atheism Running on Empty?

Steve McVey (D.Min., Luther Rice Seminary), is founder of GraceWalk Ministries and author of numerous popular books:

52 Lies Heard in Church Every Sunday

A Divine Invitation

Anchored: Five Keys to a Secure Faith

Beyond an Angry God

Getting Past the Hurt: When Others Have Wronged Us

Grace Amazing

Grace Land (with Gary Smalley)

Grace Rules

Grace Walk

Helping Others Overcome Addiction (with Mike Quarles)

Journey Into Intimacy

The Divine Reversal: Recovering the Vision of Jesus Christ as the Last Adam

The God That Grace Kills: Exchanging Religion’s God for the Real One

The Godward Gaze

The Grace Walk Devotional

The Grace Walk Experience

The Secret of Grace: Stop Following the Rules and Start Living

Unlock Your Bible: The Key to Understanding and Applying the Scriptures in Your Life

Walking in The Will of God

When Wives Walk in Grace: Resting in Christ While God Works in Your Marriage

Paul Molnar is professor of systematic theology at St. John’s University in New York. He received his PhD from Fordham University in 1980. He is author of:

Divine Freedom and the Doctrine of the Immanent Trinity

Faith, Freedom, and the Spirit: The Economic Trinity in Barth, Torrance, and Contemporary Theology

Incarnation and Resurrection: Toward a Contemporary Understanding

Karl Barth and the Theology of the Lord’s Supper

T&T Clark Handbook of Thomas F. Torrance (co-author)

Thomas F. Torrance: Theologian of the Trinity

Two Views on the Doctrine of the Trinity (contributor)

Thomas A. Noble is Professor of Theology for Nazarene Theological Seminary, Kansas City, MO, and Visiting Lecturer and Ph.D. Research Supervisor at the Nazarene Theological College, Manchester, UK. He studied under T.F. Torrance and earned his PhD in theology at the University of Edinburgh in 1989. He is the author of

Holy Trinity: Holy People: The Theology of Christian Perfecting

The Grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Volume 1 of a three-volume Systematic Theology

Tyndale House and Fellowship: The First Sixty Years

He helped edit

British Evangelical Theologians of the Twentieth Century: An Enduring Legacy

Marriage, Family and Relationships: Biblical, Doctrinal and Contemporary Perspectives

New Dictionary of Theology: Historical and Systematic (2nd edition)

The Holy Trinity Revisited: Essays in Response to Stephen Holmes

Cherith Fee Nordling is Associate Professor of Theology at Northern Baptist Theological Seminary. She earned her PhD in 2003 from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. She is the author of:

Knowing God by Name: A Conversation between Elizabeth A. Johnson and Karl Barth

Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms (with David Guretzki and Stanley Grenz)

Robin A. Parry is an editor for Wipf and Stock Publishers. He received a PhD in 2001 from the Cheltenham and Gloucester College of Higher Education in England. He is the author of:

A Larger Hope?, Volume 2: Universal Salvation from the Reformation to the Nineteenth Century (co-author)

Canon and Biblical Interpretation (contributor)

Deep Church Rising: The Third Schism and the Recovery of Christian Orthodoxy (with Andrew Walker)

Exorcism and Deliverance: Multi-Disciplinary Studies (edited with William Kay)

Four Views on Hell, 3nd ed. (contributor)

Great Is Thy Faithfulness? Reading Lamentations as Sacred Scripture

Lamentations (in the Two Horizons Commentary series)

Old Testament Story and Christian Ethics: The Rape of Dinah as a Case Study

The Bible and Epistemology (with Mary Healy)

The Biblical Cosmos: A Pilgrim’s Guide to the Weird and Wonderful World of the Bible

The Futures of Evangelicalism: Issues and Prospects (contributor)

Universal Salvation? The Current Debate (with Christopher Partridge)

Worshipping Trinity: Coming Back to the Heart of Worship

Andrew Purves, Professor of Reformed Theology at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, received his PhD in 1978 from the University of Edinburgh, in Scotland. He is author of:

A Passion for the Gospel: Confessing Jesus Christ for the 21st Century (with Mark Achtemeier)

Encountering God: Christian Faith in Turbulent Times (with Charles Partee)

Exploring Christology and Atonement: Conversations With John McLeod Campbell, H.R. Macintosh, and T.F. Torrance