Book Symposia

Engaging theologically significant books in a dialogical and constructive way through a multi-post series which summarizes the featured book, offers a few critical reflections, and gives the author of the book a chance to respond.

Augustine on the Will
December 14, 2022
Read More
Defending Shame
December 6, 2022
Read More
Fallenness and Flourishing
September 27, 2022
Read More
Ars Vitae
March 10, 2022
Read More
You Are Not Your Own
January 24, 2022
Read More
In Quest of the Historical Adam
January 6, 2022
Read More
Divine Variations
August 20, 2021
Read More
Animal Suffering and the Darwinian Problem of Evil
April 30, 2021
Read More
The Righteous Mind
April 22, 2021
Read More
Plundering Eden
March 26, 2021
Read More
The Doctrine of the Holy Trinity (Vol II)
January 22, 2021
Read More
Remembering the Rural Church
November 30, 2020
Read More
Reformed Theology and Evolutionary Science
October 20, 2020
Read More
The Genealogical Adam and Eve
August 17, 2020
Read More
Divine Action and the Human Mind
June 29, 2020
Read More
Divine Agency and Divine Action, vol. III
May 26, 2020
Read More
Genes, Determinism, and God
May 4, 2020
Read More
Miracles
January 22, 2020
Read More
Unlocking Divine Action
January 9, 2020
Read More
Disability, Providence, and Ethics
December 2, 2019
Read More
The Providence of God
October 28, 2019
Read More
The Sermon on the Mount and Human Flourishing
August 15, 2018
Read More
Undeniable
January 29, 2018
Read More
Controversy of the Ages
November 30, 2017
Read More
Adam and the Genome
June 5, 2017
Read More
Augustine on the Will
December, 2022

This book provides a framework for Augustine's understanding of will, an aspect of his thought that has proven to be both essential and inscrutable. Han-luen Kantzer Komline demonstrates that Augustine's view is "theologically differentiated," comprising four distinct types of human will, which correspond to four different theological scenarios. This account of the Augustinian will gives a comprehensive picture of the development and mature shape of Augustine's thinking on this vital yet perennially puzzling topic.

Augustine on the Will
Kevin J. Vanhoozer
Read More
Will and Grace in Augustinian Inwardness
Phillip Cary
Read More
Desire and Delight in Augustine’s Notion of the Will
Sarah Stewart-Kroeker
Read More
Questions of Economy, Ecclesiology, and Eschatology
Alexander H. Pierce
Read More
Will and Willing
Ian Clausen
Read More
Augustine on the Will: A Rejoinder
Han-luen Kantzer Komline
Read More
Defending Shame
December, 2022

Our culture often views shame in a negative light. However, Paul's use of shame, when properly understood and applied, has much to teach the contemporary church. Te-Li Lau examines Paul's use of shame for moral formation within his Jewish and Greco-Roman context, compares and contrasts Paul's use of shame with other cultural voices, and offers a corrective understanding for today's church.

Defending Shame
C. John Collins
Read More
Shame and the People of God
Andrew King
Read More
A Missiological and Japanese Engagement with Defending Shame
J. Nelson Jennings
Read More
Defending Shame from Individualism
Jackson Wu
Read More
Shame, the Apostle Paul, and Psychotherapy
Richard Winter
Read More
Defending Shame: A Rejoinder
Te-Li Lau
Read More
Fallenness and Flourishing
September, 2022

The failures that come as a result of sin are expressed in widespread unhappiness and in that most misunderstood of the seven deadly sins, sloth. Hud Hudson provides a constructive proposal for responding to this predicament featuring the virtue of obedience.

Fallenness and Flourishing: Introducing the Symposium
James Arcadi
Read More
The Seductions of Pessimism
Kent Dunnington
Read More
It's Cold in Hell
Olli-Pekka Vainio
Read More
Failing to Flourish
Charity Anderson
Read More
Hope and Obedience
Michael W. Austin
Read More
It May Well Be Hope
Hud Hudson
Read More
Ars Vitae
March, 2022

This series looks at ancient philosophy's questions about the good life and what those answers might mean for contemporary culture.

The Art of Living
Joshua Jipp
Read More
Coping Strategies and the Consolation of God
Philip Woodward
Read More
Of Spiritual Journeys and Autobiographies
Louis Markos
Read More
The Art of Ars Vitae
Christina Bieber Lake
Read More
The Recovery of Creatureliness
Julien C. H. Smith
Read More
Ars Vitae: A Response to the Symposium
Elisabeth Lasch-Quinn
Read More
You Are Not Your Own
January, 2022

This series based on Alan Noble's You Are Not Your Own explores our modern world built around the self. This world as we've shaped it is not a conducive environment for our flourishing--but freedom is found in belonging to God.

You Are Not Your Own
Joey Sherrard
Read More
Not Despising the Day of Small Things
Daniel J. Brendsel
Read More
Children Who Belong
Hannah Anderson
Read More
Disenculturation and Spiritual Formation
John Starke
Read More
The Language of Identity
Rachel Gilson
Read More
Prodigal Hospitality
Russ Whitfield
Read More
Something Like a Christian Humanism
Alan Noble
Read More
In Quest of the Historical Adam
January, 2022

In this work, William Lane Craig parses through the biblical and scientific evidence on the historicity of Adam and Eve. He examines what it might mean for Genesis 1-11 to be "mytho-history."

In Quest of the Historical Adam
Ken Keathley
Read More
Literality, Incredulity, and Hermeneutical Schizophrenia
Hans Madueme
Read More
Exegetical Response: A Cost-Benefit Evaluation
C. John Collins
Read More
Humans, Homo sapiens, and the Image of God
Michael J. Murray
Read More
Human Genomics and Divine Intervention
Leslea J. Hlusko
Read More
Restating the Benefit of My Proposal: A Rejoinder
William Lane Craig
Read More
Divine Variations
August, 2021

Terrence Keel uncovers the way Christian thought became racial science. This symposium looks at the important questions this book raises about anthropology, creation, divine agency, medical practice, scientific racism, reception history, and white supremacy.

Introducing Divine Variations: How Christian Thought Became Racial Science
Nathan Luis Cartagena
Read More
“Made of One Blood”: Eurocentric Monogenism and Equiano’s Interesting Narrative
Eric Michael Washington
Read More
We Are the Gods: Modern Science, Human Difference, and the Christian Imagination
Jules A. Martinez-Olivieri
Read More
Global Racialization
Tite Tiénou
Read More
The Contingency of Ideas and the
Moral Value of Science
Diarmid A. Finnegan
Read More
Do Europe and America Believe in
Their Own Gods?
Terence Keel
Read More
Animal Suffering and the Darwinian Problem of Evil
April, 2021

This symposium mines the depths of the age old problem of evil. However, this time it takes a slightly different perspective: Why do animals suffer? How do we square animal suffering with the science of evolution and the truths of Scripture? This six-part series digs deeper into these questions.

Animal Suffering and the Darwinian Problem of Evil: Introducing the Symposium
Kevin J. Vanhoozer
Read More
It Hath Been Already, of Old Time
Jon Garvey
Read More
Animals, Accountability, and Persons
A. Rahel Wells
Read More
On Lapsarian Theodicy
Gavin Ortlund
Read More
Chaos, Evil, and the Deep Harmonies of Nature
Nicola Hoggard Creegan
Read More
Animal Suffering and the Darwinian Problem of Evil: A Rejoinder
John Schneider
Read More
The Righteous Mind
April, 2021

In this book, social pscyhologist Jonathan Haidt explains the connection between morality, politics, and religion. The Righteous Mind addresses how moral decisions are based on intuition rather than reason.

The Righteous Mind: Introducing the Symposium
C. John Collins
Read More
Moral Intuitions in Science and Scripture
Kirsten Birkett
Read More
Better Reasoning and Moral Foundations May Unite Us
Anthony B. Bradley
Read More
A Grand Narrative for Civil Discourse
J. Daryl Charles
Read More
Moral Psychology, Christianity, and Pursuing the Common Good
Joshua Jipp
Read More
Paul, the Elephant, and the Rider
Te-Li Lau
Read More
Toward an Embodied Moral Theology
A. Mark Stirling
Read More
The Righteous Mind: Concluding Thoughts
C. John Collins
Read More
Plundering Eden
March, 2021

This book fits within that emerging field of Christian theological responses to ecological problems. In Plundering Eden, Wagenfuhr claims that the root cause of our ecological is a broken imagination, and he argues that reconciliation with God the Creator through Jesus Christ is the only means to ecological healing through a renewed, kenotic imagination expressed in the creation of an alternate environment that reveals the kingdom of God--the ekklesia.

Plundering Eden: Introducing the Symposium
Ken Keathley
Read More
Rewilding Creation and Receiving the Eucharist
Brian Brock
Read More
Priests of Creation, Not Only Ambassadors
Alexander Coe Stewart
Read More
Virtues, Vices, and Ecotheology
Celia Deane-Drummond
Read More
A Radical Challenge to Christian Discipleship
J. Richard Middleton
Read More
Plundering Eden: A Rejoinder
G. P. Wagenfuhr
Read More
The Doctrine of the Holy Trinity (Vol II)
January, 2021

Katherine Sonderegger follows her monumental volume on the doctrine of God with this second entry of her Systematic Theology, which explores the doctrine of the Holy Trinity.

The Inner Life of God: Introducing the Symposium
Matthew Wiley
Read More
Permanent Self-Hallowing and the Processional Life of God
Fred Sanders
Read More
Working Close to the Flame
Kirsten Sanders
Read More
The Holy One in Our Midst
Daniel L. Hill
Read More
Voice, Vestigia, and the Holiness of the Triune God
Beth Felker Jones
Read More
Remembering the Rural Church
November, 2020

In this multi-piece series, which includes a summary article, two book symposium, and an an interview with award-winning authors, Sapientia takes a closer look at the state of the rural church.

Remembering the Rural Church: Editors' Introduction
Matthew Wiley, Geoffrey Fulkerson
Read More
The Forgotten Church: Musings on the State of Rural Ministry
Glenn Daman
Read More
Planting Trees, Healing Nations: Introducing God's Country
Matthew Wiley
Read More
Abiding in Departure
Timothy Koch
Read More
A Love Song for the Rural Church
Charles E. Cotherman
Read More
God's Own Love for the Rural Church
Stephen Witmer
Read More
The Theological Heart of Rural Ministry: A Rejoinder
Brad Roth
Read More
Good News for Small Places: Introducing A Big Gospel
Gavin Ortlund
Read More
Seeing Through to a Cruciform Incarnationality
Brad Roth
Read More
A Big God, a Big Gospel, and the
Transcendence of Place
Edward W. Klink III
Read More
What Does Pepperell, MA Have to Do with Mpeketoni, Kenya?
Anthony Wainaina Njuguna
Read More
For the Sake of Effective Ministry: A Rejoinder
Stephen Witmer
Read More
Rural Ministry in Conversation:
An Interview with the Authors
Matthew Wiley, Geoffrey Fulkerson
Read More
Reformed Theology and Evolutionary Science
October, 2020

Gijsbert van den Brink has joined the fray of science and religion with a contribution from the perspective of the Reformed tradition. In his monograph, van den Brink brings his training in philosophy of science into conversation with the theological particularities of the Reformed tradition.

Distinctive Stances and Layered Concepts: Reformed Theology Engages Science
Oliver Crisp
Read More
Evolutionary Theory and the Story of Scripture
Craig G. Bartholomew
Read More
Evolutionary Evil and the Project of Theodicy
Michael J. Murray
Read More
Common Descent, Human Dignity,
and the Image of God
Mary L. Vanden Berg
Read More
Telling a Different Story?
Van den Brink's Account of Human Origins
Scott R. Swain
Read More
Darwin and Divine Providence
David Fergusson
Read More
Morality, the Cognitive Science of Religion,
and Revelation
Sarah Lane Ritchie
Read More
Reformed Theology and Evolutionary Theory:
A Rejoinder
Gijsbert van den Brink
Read More
The Genealogical Adam and Eve
August, 2020

Evolutionary science teaches that humans arose as a population, sharing common ancestors with other animals. The book of Genesis seems to say that all humans descended from Adam and Eve, a couple specially created by God. These two teachings seem contradictory, but is that necessarily so? In the Genalogical Adam and Eve, Swamidass draws upon some well-established but overlooked scientific insights to advance a new proposal on this old conversation.

The Genealogical Adam and Eve:
Introducing the Symposium
Ken Keathley
Read More
Is Adam God's First Image-Bearer?
Andrew Loke
Read More
Let Scripture Speak Clearly
Richard Averbeck
Read More
An Invitation to Reclaim Mystery and Pursue Unity
Anjeanette Roberts
Read More
Which Game? Whose Rules?
Paul Nelson
Read More
Hedges Around His Garden
Marcus Ross
Read More
The Genealogical Adam and Eve: A Rejoinder
S. Joshua Swamidass
Read More
Divine Action and the Human Mind
June, 2020

Is the human mind uniquely nonphysical or even spiritual, such that divine intentions can meet physical realities? As scholars in science and religion have spent decades attempting to identify a 'causal joint' between God and the natural world, human consciousness has been often privileged as just such a locus of divine-human interaction. Resisting this intuitively dualistic model, as well as contemporary noninterventionist theories divine action theories, Sarah Lane Ritchie argues that a theologically robust theistic naturalism, which she believes offers a more compelling vision of divine action in the mind.

Divine Action and the Human Mind: Introducing the Symposium
Paul M. Gould
Read More
The Enchanted and Dappled Place We Live
Jason D. Runyan
Read More
Taking the Theological Turn
William J. Abraham
Read More
On the Very Idea of Theological Naturalism
Bruce L. Gordon
Read More
Divine Action and the Human Mind: A Rejoinder
Sarah Lane Ritchie
Read More
Divine Agency and Divine Action, vol. III
May, 2020

Volume III of a tetralogy devoted to Divine Agency and Divine Action articulates a comprehensive vision of systematic theology focused on divine action from creation to eschatology.

Divine Agency and Divine Action, Vol. III: Introducing the Symposium
Terry J. Wright
Read More
Abraham and Aquinas on Divine Agency and Action
Michael Dodds
Read More
Just for Christians? Why Theology Is More than High-Level Catechesis
Gijsbert van den Brink
Read More
Where do the Divine Missions Fit in Abraham’s Theology of Divine Action?
Adonis Vidu
Read More
God’s Action in Christ: Observations on Abraham’s Account of Divine Action
Thomas H. McCall
Read More
Divine Agency and Divine Action, Vol. III:
A Rejoinder
William J. Abraham
Read More
Genes, Determinism, and God
May, 2020

In this book, the product of Denis Alexander's Gifford Lectures, he addresses the complex interplay between biological claims about genes, philosophical claims about determinism and theological claims about God.

Genes, Determinism, and God: Introducing the Symposium
Ken Keathley
Read More
Intuitions about Immateriality
Ken Keathley
Read More
Determining What Makes Me the Way I Am
Clay Carlson
Read More
Philosophical Worries About Denis Alexander's Incurable Problem
Michael Ruse
Read More
More Than Our Genes
Michael Wittmer
Read More
Genes, Determinism, and God: A Rejoinder
Denis Alexander
Read More
Miracles
January, 2020

God works in miraculous ways. In this series, various scholars engage the work of Luke Timothy Johnson on God's continued presence and power in creation. Johnson proposes an alternative to the secular vision and shows that signs and wonders are at the heart of the Christian faith.

Introducing Miracles: God's Presence and Power in Creation
Joshua Jipp
Read More
A Wonderful Biblical Theology, But Is That What We Were Expecting?
Craig Blomberg
Read More
Secularism Killed Providence, Too
Tim Sansbury
Read More
The Glass Is Half-Full
C. John Collins
Read More
The Problem Isn't Science
Roseanne J. Sension
Read More
Two Kinds of Double-Minded Thinking
Darrell Bock
Read More
Miracles: A Response to the Symposium
Luke Timothy Johnson
Read More
Unlocking Divine Action
January, 2020

Divine action is bound up with our notions of causality. The way God acts in the world is unlike any other agent, because he is the Cause of all other causes, the Creator and Sustainer of everything that exists. In Unlocking Divine Action, Michael Dodds reframes the conversation about divine action. He retrieves some of Thomas Aquinas’s teaching on causality and applies those ideas to the doctrines of freedom, providence, prayer, and miracles.

Unlocking Divine Action: Introducing the Symposium
Joel Chopp
Read More
The Case for a More Capacious Concept of Cause
Jennifer A. Frey
Read More
Thomas Aquinas and His Many Causes
Jeffrey Koperski
Read More
The Primary-Secondary Cause Distinction and Special Divine Acts
Robert A. Larmer
Read More
The Analogical Alternative
Philip Rolnick
Read More
Divine Agency, Thomism, and a Truly-Newtonian Philosophy of Science
Steven Horst
Read More
Unlocking Divine Action: A Rejoinder
Michael Dodds
Read More
Disability, Providence, and Ethics
December, 2019

Disability raises questions about our doctrine of providence on both a theological and an experiential level. The most common question is "why?", one that Hans Reinders welcomes. Grief should be expected as we grapple with the difficulties God allows. Yet, God's providence is ultimately about leading us to a transformed life.

Disability, Providence, and Ethics: Introducing the Symposium
Kirsten Birkett
Read More
Calvin, Providence, and Pain
Kirsten Birkett
Read More
The Disabled God
C. Ben Mitchell
Read More
Your Maker is Your Redeemer: Job and the Faithfulness of the Hidden God
Nathan Barczi
Read More
Hymns of Pain and the Purposes of God
Michael S. Beates
Read More
Disability, Calling, and Transformation
D. Christopher Ralston
Read More
Disability, Providence, and Ethics: A Rejoinder
Hans S. Reinders
Read More
The Providence of God
October, 2019

In this book on providence, David Fergusson takes a "polyphonic" approach. He gleans from various perspectives in church history to create a constructive work on God's action in the world.

The Providence of God: Introducing the Symposium
Rebekah Earnshaw
Read More
The Two Hands of God
Rebekah Earnshaw
Read More
Hooked on (Poly)phonics: Voicing Plaudits and Plaints
Kevin J. Vanhoozer
Read More
Double Agency and the Threefold Form of Providence
Terry J. Wright
Read More
Polyphany, Cacophany, Symphony
Thomas H. McCall
Read More
Wisdom and Providence
Craig G. Bartholomew
Read More
The Providence of God: A Rejoinder
David Fergusson
Read More
The Sermon on the Mount and Human Flourishing
August, 2018

What is a good and flourishing life? Jonathan Pennington delves into this question with The Sermon on the Mount. His book is interdisciplinary, so this conversation includes insight from scholars in several fields.

A Life for Eternity: Introducing the Pennington Symposium
Adam Joyce
Read More
A Mosaic and a Mountain: Applying Theological Ethics
Taylor Worley
Read More
The Spirit Who Gives Life: A Theological Response
Steve Guthrie
Read More
A Discourse on Human Flourishing?
Steve Bryan
Read More
Response to the Symposium
Jonathan Pennington
Read More
Undeniable
January, 2018

In Undeniable, Molecular Biologist Douglas Axe shows how biology confirms our "design intuition," which is our innate sense that the world was intentionally created. Despite evolutionary theory, biology verifies that there's a God who deliberately designed the world.

Was It Chance or Was It God? Introducing Axe's Undeniable
Kirsten Birkett
Read More
Intuitions, Proteins, and Evangelicals: A Response to Undeniable
Dennis Venema
Read More
Moving Paradigms and the Scientific Method: A Response to Undeniable
Cara Wall-Scheffler
Read More
Undeniably Limited: Designing a Box in which to Find the Creator
R. Joel Duff
Read More
Against "Common Science" and Alphabet Soup
Keith Fox
Read More
Response to the Symposium
Douglas Axe
Read More
Controversy of the Ages
November, 2017

This book examines the way evangelicals handle science-theology conflicts and read Scripture in light thereof. It claims the “battle” between science and theology has been oversimplified and in some arenas misreported.

Introduction to "Controversy of the Ages"
Darrell Bock
Read More
Toward Resolving the Controversy
Hugh Ross
Read More
Mere Creationism
Tim Morris
Read More
The Importance of Beginnings
Paul Garner
Read More
Controversy and Conversation
Jim Stump
Read More
Response to the Symposium
Ted Cabal
Read More
Adam and the Genome
June, 2017

Prevailing genomic science holds that humans descend from a large population. Is this science to be believed and why? And biblically and theologically, what does this mean for the fate of Adam and Eve? In this Biologos sponsored book, evangelical geneticist Dennis Venema and popular New Testament scholar Scot McKnight combine their expertise to proffer an account of “Adam and the genome.”

Adam and the Genome: Introducing the Symposium
Hans Madueme
Read More
What God Has Joined Together
Darrell Bock
Read More
On Insulin, Orangoutangs, and Adam
Jitse van der Meer
Read More
Wanted: A Plausible, Post-Genomic Biblical Adam and Eve
Elizabeth "Lisa" Sung
Read More
A Genealogical Adam and Eve in Evolution
S. Joshua Swamidass
Read More
If Christ Be Not Raised: Reflections on Methodological Naturalism
Fazale Rana
Read More
Response to the Symposium (Part 1)
Dennis Venema
Read More
Response to the Symposium (Part 2)
Scot McKnight
Read More
Science, Theology, & Charitable Discussion: A Symposium Recap
Thomas H. McCall
Read More