Contemplating God with the Great Tradition - by Craig A Carter (Paperback)

About the Book

A leading Christian theologian presents the biblical and theological foundations of trinitarian classical theism.

Book Synopsis

Southwestern Journal of Theology 2021 Book Award (Theological Studies)

2021 Book Award, The Gospel Coalition (Honorable Mention, Academic Theology)

Following his well-received Interpreting Scripture with the Great Tradition, Craig Carter presents the biblical and theological foundations of trinitarian classical theism. Carter, a leading Christian theologian known for his provocative defenses of classical approaches to doctrine, critiques the recent trend toward modifying or rejecting classical theism in favor of modern "relational" understandings of God. The book includes a short history of trinitarian theology from its patristic origins to the modern period, and a concluding appendix provides a brief summary of classical trinitarian theology. Foreword by Carl R. Trueman.

From the Back Cover

Leading theologian Craig Carter presents the biblical and theological foundations of trinitarian classical theism.

"Carter shows that, far from putting God in a tidy box, the orthodox doctrine of God smashes our idolatrous tendencies and alerts us contemplatively to a better way found in Holy Scripture and prized in the Augustinian, Thomist, and Reformed traditions. Over against the mythologies of modern scientific study (even in its purportedly evangelical forms), Carter draws our gaze upward to the mysteries of the faith, outward to learn from the communion of saints, and forward to the never-ceasing call to contemplative exegesis of God's Word. Here evangelical and Reformed theological practice receives a needed recalibration."
--Michael Allen, Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando, Florida

"Written clearly and engagingly, this book is a clarion call for evangelical Protestants to reject modern metaphysics and return to Nicene metaphysics. Carter sees the rise of what he calls 'relational theism' as a move, both conscious and unconscious, that surrenders God's transcendence in order to emphasize his activity in history. Through a detailed study of Isaiah 40-48, the author shows that transcendence, with its necessary corollaries of immutability and impassibility, is not a creation of the philosophers but a profoundly biblical idea, one that we surrender at our peril."
--John N. Oswalt, Asbury Theological Seminary

"Carter makes another important contribution to the theological interpretation of Scripture, upholding Nicene trinitarian classical theism against modern metaphysical assumptions. I commend his defense of responsible exegesis, showing how the inspired human authors, and therefore the divine author of Scripture, exercised polemical-corrective theology in their writing by engaging with ancient Near Eastern mythology and Greco-Roman metaphysics and revealing a transcendent, sovereign, unique, and personal God."
--Aimee Byrd, author of Recovering from Biblical Manhood and Womanhood and Theological Fitness

"We have lots to learn from Carter's wonderful description and celebration of the biblical and theological merits of trinitarian classical theism. Carter writes with eloquence and humility, leading the reader toward an astonished inhabitation of the universal church's confession of the transcendent and sovereign Lord. Few books lead one to worship as overtly as Carter's, calling us to abandon shallow relational portraits of God in favor of delighting in the extraordinary grandeur of God."
--Christopher Holmes, University of Otago

About the Author

Craig A. Carter (PhD, University of St. Michael's College) is professor of theology at Tyndale University in Toronto and theologian in residence at Westney Heights Baptist Church in Ajax, Ontario. He is the author of four other books including Interpreting Scripture with the Great Tradition: Recovering the Genius of Premodern Exegesis.