Current Theme | August 2024
Beware of Greeks Bearing Gifts: Plundering Plato without Becoming a Platonist
In the legendary Battle of Troy, the Greeks retreated from their siege of the city and left a large wooden horse where they had been. The Trojans wheeled the massive horse into the city as a trophy—only to wake up that night to the sound of Greeks pouring out of the horse, opening the city’s gates, and slaying the inhabitants. Today, the resurgence of the philosopher Plato and his forms of thought offer a gift to the church by way of categories and concepts to better understand the world. But what kind of gifts are these? Will they help Christians walk faithfully and think Christianly? Or will they mislead us and make war against the biblical gospel? Join Christ Over All this month, as we explore how to engage the Platonic Tradition and various forms of Christian Platonism, which are today being revived in evangelical seminaries and other Christian publications.
Longform
What is Christian Platonism? (Part 1): An Introduction in Three Steps
By Robert Lyon • Longform Essay • August 5
Reading Time: 17 minutes
What is Christian Platonism and where did it come from? Answers to these questions and more lie ahead.
Podcast
3.37 Robert Lyon • Reading • “What is Christian Platonism? (Part 1): An Introduction in Three Steps”
By Robert Lyon • Podcast Reading • August 5
Reading Time: < 1 minute
What is Christian Platonism and where did it come from? Answers to these questions and more lie ahead.
Longform
What is Christian Platonism? (Part 2): A Preliminary Critique
By Robert Lyon • Longform Essay • August 5
Reading Time: 16 minutes
Having examined what Christian Platonism is in Part One, we turn now to an assessment of this system.
Concise
The Wild Wild West, The Sirens of Rome, and the Hermeneutics of Christian Platonism
By Knox Brown • Concise Article • August 7
Reading Time: 11 minutes
If we read the Bible as Christian Platonists, we're bound to end up in one of two places: the Wild West or allured by Rome's siren song. Let's not go there.
Podcast
3.38 Robert Lyon • Reading • “What is Christian Platonism? (Part 2): A Preliminary Critique”
By Robert Lyon • Podcast Reading • August 7
Reading Time: < 1 minute
Having examined what Christian Platonism is in Part One, we turn now to an assessment of this system.
Concise
Plato in the Cave of Hell: The Inability of Human Reason to Save
By Ryan Currie • Concise Article • August 9
Reading Time: 6 minutes
Sin-sick minds cannot think their way to salvation. If we are to escape the darkness, we must be rescued by a savior outside of ourselves.
Concise
The Thorny Relationship of Theology and Philosophy: Or, Heidegger and a Christian Walk into a Coffee Shop
By Brad Green • Concise Article • August 12
Reading Time: 5 minutes
A Christian and an atheist philosopher walk into a coffee shop. What happens next?
Podcast
3.39 Robert Lyon, David Schrock, Stephen Wellum • Interview • “What is Christian Platonism?”
By Robert Lyon, David Schrock, Stephen Wellum • Podcast Interview • August 12
Reading Time: < 1 minute
Listen as Robert Lyon joins David Schrock and Stephen Wellum to discuss his two-part longform essay "What is Christian Platonism?"
Concise
Taking Every Thought Captive to Christ (Colossians 2:6–10)
By Stephen Wellum • Concise Article • August 14
Reading Time: 10 minutes
If Christ is truly over all, then he is also over human wisdom and philosophy. May we who have been graciously granted the mind of Christ subject all our thoughts to him.
Concise
Excerpt from Leonardo De Chirico’s Engaging with Thomas Aquinas: How Ought Evangelicals to Engage with Him?
By Leonardo De Chirico • Concise Article • August 16
Reading Time: 9 minutes
How should protestant Evangelicals think about the retrieval of Thomas Aquinas? Here are five principles for evaluating.
Longform
Can You Understand a Kangaroo Without a Bible? Why I Hold a Revelational Epistemology
By Pierce Taylor Hibbs • Longform Essay • August 19
Reading Time: 22 minutes
Nothing exists outside of the lordship of Jesus Christ, and this includes even our own knowledge of the world.
Podcast
3.40 Pierce Taylor Hibbs • Reading • “Can You Understand a Kangaroo Without a Bible? Why I Hold a Revelational Epistemology”
By Pierce Taylor Hibbs • Podcast Reading • August 19
Reading Time: < 1 minute
Nothing exists outside of the lordship of Jesus Christ, and this includes even our own knowledge of the world.
Concise
Alternative Philosophical Views of Reality
By Vern Poythress • Concise Article • August 21
Reading Time: 12 minutes
In this excerpt, Dr. Vern Poythress gives a crash course in various philosophical views.
Concise
Book Review of Interpreting Scripture with the Great Tradition: Recovering the Genius of Premodern Exegesis, by Craig A. Carter
By Ryan M. McGraw • Concise Article • August 22
Reading Time: 9 minutes
In the arena of biblical interpretation, Carter has thrown down the gauntlet and opened up Pandora's box. But is Christian Platonism the way forward?
Concise
Plato: Friend, Enemy, or Frenemy of the Gospel?
By David Talcott • Concise Article • August 23
Reading Time: 8 minutes
Plato's philosophy is much closer to a biblical worldview than many other schools of thought. In the end, however, it still falls short of the true gospel message.
Concise
Know Scripture, No Need for Platonism: Revelational Epistemology Has Priority Over Remnantal Sophistry
By Michael Carlino • Concise Article • August 26
Reading Time: 21 minutes
Is Christian Platonism a necessary lens for rightly interpreting the Bible? Absolutely not! Scripture provides its own worldview and does not depend upon any worldly philosophy.
Podcast
3.42 Pierce Taylor Hibbs, David Schrock, Stephen Wellum • Interview • “Can You Understand a Kangaroo Without a Bible? Why I Hold a Revelational Epistemology”
By Pierce Taylor Hibbs, David Schrock, Stephen Wellum • Podcast Interview • August 26
Reading Time: < 1 minute
Listen in as Pierce Taylor Hibbs joins David Schrock and Stephen Wellum to discuss his longform essay "Can You Understand a Kangaroo Without a Bible? Why I Hold a Revelational Epistemology."
Concise
Is Platonic Language a Capitulation?
By Randall K. Johnson • Concise Article • August 27
Reading Time: 10 minutes
If we use Platonic language in Christian theology, we must always remember that God exists outside of and apart from his creation. If we fail to do that, we have fundamentally misunderstood who God is as revealed in Scripture.
Podcast
3.43 Louis Markos, David Schrock, Brad Green • Interview • “A Discussion on Plato”
By Louis Markos, David Schrock, Brad Green • Podcast Interview • August 28
Reading Time: < 1 minute
Listen in as Louis Markos joins David Schrock and Brad Green to discuss Plato and what we can learn from this ancient philosopher.
Concise
No Plato, Yes Scripture: Why We Don’t Need Plato to Tell Us How to Understand Our Bibles
By Chris Bolt • Concise Article • August 29
Reading Time: 7 minutes
The ingredients for sound Christian doctrine may occasionally be found in Plato, but they are always found in Scripture. So let's do theology from Scripture and not any other philosophy.
Concise
The Neo-Calvinist Dutchman and the Angelic Doctor at The Olympic Shooting Range: Bavinck and Aquinas on the Knowledge of God
By Robert Lyon • Concise Article • August 30
Reading Time: 12 minutes
Thomas Aquinas and Herman Bavinck face off in a match of theological marksmanship. Who will get the gold?
Podcast
3.44 Leonardo De Chirico, David Schrock, Brad Green • Interview • “A Discussion on Aquinas”
By Leonardo De Chirico, David Schrock, Brad Green • Podcast Interview • September 2
Reading Time: < 1 minute
Listen in as Leonardo De Chirico joins David Schrock and Brad Green to discuss his appraisal of Thomas Aquinas.
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