Theological Epistemology

Abstract:

How do we know things theologically? How does the nature of who God is structure the nature and possibility of knowing Him and knowing in general, in particular that God is triune and holy? How can the Trinity be genuinely present in the Old Testament but not fully revealed until the coming of Christ and the Holy Spirit? What is the relationship between knowledge and action, between truth and holiness? In what ways do we know God, do we know about Him or do we know Him personally? How does who God is shape our theological methodology, not just in terms of the process we use to ask and answer theological questions, but also what counts as an answer? All these questions and more are at the heart of theological epistemology. In this course, we will explore these questions, and find relation and transformation core to how we answer them.

Bio:

Dr. R. Anthony Buck is a missionary theologian with Mesa Global, who is dedicated to serving the Lord through research and teaching. He received his DPhil in Theology from the University of Oxford for his interdisciplinary thesis which offered a Bourdesian sociological critique of the academy while also offering a better way of doing theology in light cognitive science and narrative theology. Before Oxford, Dr Buck served on staff in Korean immigrant churches in Chicago for 9 years. His current work focuses on AI as well as the nature of salvation and predestination from the perspective of participation, narrative, and agency.