It’s a joy to make mention of this new festschrift in honor of the well-deserving John Feinberg, whose notable career – with its years of teaching and scores of publications along the way – has been marked by faithful theological scholarship. Gregg Allison and Steve Wellum have brought together an impressive team of contributors to produce sixteen first-class essays on various theological themes in tribute to their former TEDS professor.
Table of Contents
I. Designing the Architecture of Evangelical Theology
1. Improvising Theology according to the Scriptures: An Evangelical Account of the Development of Doctrine
(Kevin J. Vanhoozer)
2. Hermeneutics and Evangelical Theology
(Walter C. Kaiser, Jr.)
3. Does the Apostle Paul Reverse the Prophetic Tradition of the Salvation of Israel and the Nations?
(Robert L. Saucy)
4. Epistemic Eucatastrophe: The Favorable Turn of the Evidence
(Thomas A. Provenzola)
5. Christian Miracle Claims and Supernatural Causation: Representative Cases from the Synoptic Gospels and Contemporary Accounts
(Gary R. Habermas)
II. Setting the Foundations of Evangelical Theology
6. The Glory of God in the Doctrine of God
(Bruce A. Ware)
7. The Doctrine of the Trinity: Consistent and Coherent
(Keith E. Yandell)
8. By What Authority Do We Say These Things? Enlightenment Dualism and the Modern Rejection of Biblical Authority
(John Douglas Morrison)
9. The Many “Yes, buts . . .” of Theodicy: Revisiting John Feinberg’s Account of Moral Evil
(Thomas H. McCall)
10. Evangelical Christology and Kenotic Influences: A “New” and “Better” Way?
(Stephen J. Wellum)
11. Holy God and Holy People: Pneumatology and Ecclesiology in Intersection
(Gregg R. Allison)
12.God’s Faithfulness, Human Suffering, and the Concluding Hallel Psalms (146–150): A Canonical Study
(Willem VanGemeren)
III. Erecting the Superstructure of Evangelical Theology
13. Thinking Theologically in Public about Bioethics: Theological Formulation and Cultural Translation
(John F. Kilner)
14. The Trinity, Imitation, and the Christian Moral Life
(Graham A. Cole)
15. Christian Apologetics in a Globalizing and Religiously Diverse World
(Harold A. Netland)
16. Ethics from the Margins: A Conversation with Womanist Thought
(Bruce L. Fields)
Response by John Feinberg
A Biographical Sketch
(from the editors’ Introduction)
John Samuel Feinberg was born April 2, 1946, in Dallas, Texas, the third child and second son of Charles Lee and Anne Priscilla (Fraiman) Feinberg. When Charles became the founding dean of Talbot Theological Seminary in 1948, the family moved to Los Angeles, California. John did his undergraduate studies at UCLA, graduating in 1968 with a BA in English. In 1969–1970, as an instructor in doctrine at the Los Angeles Bible Training School, he began what would eventually become nearly a half-century teaching career.
John remained in California to pursue the MDiv, graduating from Talbot Theological Seminary in 1971. The following year he completed the ThM in systematic theology from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. On August 19, 1972, John and Patricia Buecher were married. He began his PhD studies in historical theology and philosophy in the School of Religion at the University of Iowa, but his program was interrupted in 1973; subsequently, he concentrated on metaphysics and epistemology for his MA at the University of Chicago in 1974. He stayed there for his final studies in philosophy and his dissertation (Theologies and Evil), earning the PhD from the University of Chicago in 1978. At this time, John and Pat celebrated the birth of their first son, Josiah (1976); two other boys—Jonathan (1979) and Jeremy (1982)—were later added to the Feinberg family.
While pursuing his theological, pastoral, and philosophical training, John was involved in local ministry in a variety of capacities. As a staff member of the American Board of Missions to the Jews, he engaged in mission work in Los Angeles in 1970–1971 and in the U.S. Midwestern region from 1971 to 1974. He was ordained to the ministry in 1971 and served as the pastor of Elmwood Park Bible Church in Illinois from 1974 to 1976.
In God’s providence, however, it was to a teaching career that God graciously called John to use his gifts and abilities to serve the larger evangelical church. John served as assistant professor of systematic theology at Western Conservative Baptist Seminary from 1976 to 1981. He then became professor of systematic theology and philosophy, as well as chairman of the Department of Theological Studies, at Liberty Baptist Seminary and College from 1981 to 1983. John’s alma mater sought him out, so he became, first, associate professor (1983–1990), then professor of biblical and systematic theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, the faculty position that he has held from 1991 to the present. He has twice served as the chairman of the Division of Biblical and Systematic Theology (1985–1992, 1999–2012).
In addition to these institutions, John has taught around the world. He has served as visiting professor or guest lecturer at numerous other venues, including Bethel Theological Seminary (St. Paul, Minnesota), Freie Theologische Akademie (Giessen, West Germany), Tyndale Theological Seminary (Badhoevedorp, Netherlands), Italian Bible Institute (Finocchio, Italy), Seminario Teologico Centro Americano (Guatemala City, Guatemala), Multnomah Biblical Seminary (Portland, Oregon), Emmaus Bible College (Sydney, Australia), Campus Crusade staff training (Split, Croatia), Greek Bible Institute (Pikermi, Greece), Odessa Theological Seminary (Odessa, Ukraine), University of Zimbabwe (Harare, Zimbabwe), Northern Province Bible Institute (Pietersburg, South Africa), Evangelical Reformed Baptist Seminary (Heidelberg, South Africa), Torch Trinity Institute of Lay Education (Norwood, New Jersey), Trinity Bible College and Equipping Center (Kursk, Russia), Talbot School of Theology: Feinberg Center for Messianic Jewish Studies (New York, New York), and The Master’s Seminary (Sun Valley, California).
Contributors
Gregg R. Allison, Professor of Christian Theology, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
Graham A. Cole, Anglican Professor of Divinity, Beeson Divinity School
Bruce L. Fields, Chair of the Biblical and Systematic Theology Department, Associate Professor of Biblical and Systematic Theology, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
Gary R. Habermas, Chair of the Department of Philosophy, Distinguished Research Professor, Liberty University
Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., President Emeritus, Colman M. Mockler Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Old Testament and Old Testament Ethics, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary
John F. Kilner, Director of Bioethics Programs, Franklin and Dorothy Forman Chair of Christian Ethics and Theology, Professor of Bioethics and Contemporary Culture, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
Thomas H. McCall, Associate Professor of Biblical and Systematic Theology, Director, Carl F. H. Henry Center for Theological Understanding, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
John Douglas Morrison, Professor of Philosophy and Theology, Liberty University
Harold A. Netland, Professor of Philosophy of Religion and Intercultural Studies, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
Thomas A. Provenzola, Professor of Philosophy and Theology, Liberty University
Robert L. Saucy (1930–2015), Distinguished Professor of Systematic Theology, Talbot School of Theology
Willem VanGemeren, Professor Emeritus of Old Testament and Semitic Languages, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
Kevin J. Vanhoozer, Research Professor of Systematic Theology, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
Bruce A. Ware, T. Rupert and Lucille Coleman Professor of Christian Theology, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
Stephen J. Wellum, Professor of Christian Theology, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
Keith E. Yandell, Julius R. Weinberg Professor of Philosophy (retired), University of Wisconsin