Systematic theology – Thinking Thought Out

A sketch of Reformed-Thomist doctrines of grace

May 20, 2025

Christian Theology, Systematic theology

My suggestion in this post has been that the “five points of Calvinism” are an imperfect realization of the Reformed convictions about predestination. The desires for a high view of divine sovereignty and agency and the recognition of the inevitability and depth of human sin are both well-placed, but we need to analyze them within… →
Series of talks on the Trinity

February 24, 2025

Biblical themes, Christian Theology, Systematic theology

A few weeks ago, I finished giving a series of talks on the Trinity. I have now uploaded the talks here, so that anyone who is interested can access them. There are four talks in total. In the first two I discuss how the New Testament describes Jesus as divine, working within the theological context →
God causes evil actions without causing the evil in actions

December 8, 2021

Natural Theology, Systematic theology

On a recent episode of Unbelievable?, William Lane Craig and James White discussed whether Molinism or Calvinism provide the better approach to God’s providence in light of the reality of evil. Craig is a proponent of Molinism, which seeks to reconcile libertarian freedom with divine providence by positing a special kind of knowledge in God called middle knowledge. White, →
Judgement according to works in Romans 2

August 24, 2021

Christian Theology, Exegetics, Systematic theology

In Romans 2, Paul says the following: [God] will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath →
God’s act of choosing

July 21, 2021

Metaphysics, Natural Theology, Philosophy, Systematic theology

Classical theism holds that God is absolutely simple, which is to say that there is no absolute distinction within him, sometimes summarized by the phrase “all that is in God just is God.” For Thomists, this entails that God must be purely actual, which is to say that there is no mixture of potentiality and →
Divine simplicity and freedom

August 17, 2019

Metaphysics, Natural Theology, Systematic theology

In the conversation on divine simplicity over at the Theopolis Institute, Mullins’ most recent response draws attention to the three premises that are “only affirmed by proponents of divine simplicity”: All of God’s actions are identical to each other such that there is only one divine act. God’s act to give grace is identical to God’s one →
The role of works in salvation

August 31, 2018

Exegetics, Systematic theology

An important piece of Protestant theology is the doctrine of justification by faith alone. In my experience, this doctrine is often taken to imply that works play no role in salvation, which is not what scripture actually teaches. Part of the problem is that we blur the lines between justification and salvation, to the point →
Middle knowledge or Molinism?

January 6, 2014

Metaphysics, Systematic theology

[UPDATE: I’ve actually modified the related post since I wrote this one. I’m leaving this post here, though, because I still think it’s got an interesting thought in it] In my recent post on God’s providence I discussed a view which I called “middle knowledge”. To some this might have been confusing, for this position is →
God’s control and our free will

December 27, 2013

Metaphysics, Systematic theology

This is the second post in a series of posts on God’s providence. Last time we looked at a bunch of passages from Scripture which weigh in on the question. This time, as the title suggests, we’re going to talk about the relationship between God’s control and our free will. In our first post, we →
World-types have explanations but not grounds?

August 16, 2013

Metaphysics, Systematic theology

On the one hand I personally like the idea of middle-knowledge for understanding the relationship between God’s providence and our libertarian-free choices[1]. On the other hand, I’m what William Lane Craig once called[2] a latter-day Leibnizian, who wants “everything to be brought into submission to the Principle of Sufficient Reason, including facts concerning human free →

Category: Systematic theology