Stanley E. Porter Steven M. Studebaker - Evangelical Theological Method: Five Views

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STANLEY E. PORTER AND
STEVEN M. STUDEBAKER

This volume directly emerges from the kinds of discussions that theologians of all affiliations should be having among themselves and with their students regarding questions of theological method. The editors are thankful to the McMaster Divinity College faculty for providing an atmosphere in which we are able both to be reminded (sometimes gently and sometimes not so gently) of the importance of theological method and to test various methods and witness their vital role in the theological task as we discuss projects together. We also wish to thank our numerous students, who through the years have responded to our constant exhortations regarding method as they prepare their thesis and dissertation proposals and then execute this important work. We firmly believe that having an appropriate theological method is essential to the theological task. In fact, we believe that having a viable method is the first step in helping to ensure that one can determine what counts as evidence and that one has a means of evaluating this evidence to form coherent theological findings. Without a method, it is only an accident if one arrives at important or viable conclusions (and how would you know anyway?). There have been many theological accidents that we hope this book will help to correct.

Besides our colleagues and students at McMaster Divinity College, we wish to thank the contributors to this volume for their willingness to participate. One of the great strengths of a multiple-views book is that it enlists the participation of those who hold to the various positions represented, rather than depending on a single author to put forward a range of differing and even contradictory positions with equal plausibility. Even within the evangelical theological world, there are sufficiently diverse opinions to merit and support a book with a number of strikingly different methodological positions. In such a book, however, there is also heightened risk of something going wrong, as one puts forward ones best ideas with both boldness and temerity in light of the possible responses that it will garner. In fact, in this book each proposal solicits numerous responses. We are thankful that our five different theological methodologists have more than risen to the occasion and produced essays that have well captured each method and have withstood the scrutiny of their peers. Their responses make clear that there is justifiable critical appreciation among the participants. We thank all of them for their efforts toward this project.

We are grateful to InterVarsity Press for recognizing the value of this project and supporting it, and to David McNutt for his editorial work throughout the process.