Theological Retrieval for Evangelicals

1. Evangelicals Must Reclaim Their Rich Catholic Heritage

The affirmation of a robust Protestant identity need not prohibit, but should rather encourage, an appropriation of the wisdom of the early and medieval church.

Historical rootlessness. Many evangelicals today feel a profound sense of emptiness and dislocation, leading some to seek historical depth in Roman Catholicism or Eastern Orthodoxy. This "ache for history" stems from a perceived shallowness in contemporary evangelicalism, often characterized by a "me and my Bible" theological method that neglects centuries of Christian thought. This trend highlights a real problem within evangelicalism that demands attention and a more robust engagement with the past.

Reformation as retrieval. The Reformers themselves, including Calvin and Luther, did not aim to create a new church but to reform and retrieve the ancient, true church. They affirmed the ecumenical creeds and councils, drawing extensively from church fathers like Augustine and even medieval theologians. Figures like Francis Turretin and John Jewel argued for the historical continuity of Protestantism, emphasizing the preservation of the true church through all ages, even amidst corruption.

Beyond Warfield's filter. B. B. Warfield's approach, which viewed Augustine through a Reformation filter, risks failing to appreciate patristic and medieval theology on its own terms. A more inclusive approach, where all two thousand years of church history serve as our primary theological community, allows for deeper learning and challenges modern assumptions. This "Reforming Catholicity" is not a compromise of Protestant distinctives but a richer, more authentic expression of them.

2. Retrieval Offers Deep Education, Spiritual Formation, and Fresh Perspectives

The Christian past . . . precisely because it is foreign to contemporary conventions, can function as an instrument for the enlargement of vision.

Theological education. Retrieval serves as a vital means of theological education, allowing us to learn from doctrinal battles and precise formulations developed in earlier eras. For instance, medieval reflections on angelology offer insights into the nature of creation, space, and time that are often neglected today. Engaging figures like John Duns Scotus can provide nuance in areas where evangelical theology might be "flat-footed," such as ontology and the doctrine of God.

Formative experience. Beyond mere intellectual knowledge, engaging classical theology is a formative experience, shaping theological values and sensitivities. It's like traveling to a foreign country, immersing oneself in a different culture, and gaining new perspectives. This process deepens our appreciation for theological concerns we might not otherwise feel, such as the profound significance of the Creator/creation distinction or divine simplicity.

Reframing modern debates. Because pre-Reformation theology operated outside the modern "liberal versus conservative" spectrum, it can helpfully redirect and reframe contemporary theological discussions. It exposes modern eccentricities and assumptions, offering a "decentering" influence that broadens our vision. This historical perspective acts like a counselor, providing an outside view on our current theological landscape, fostering healing and reconciliation.

3. Guard Against Distorting, Artificial, or Reductionist Retrieval

Retrieval is a complicated task, and there are scores of issues involved in it that are not answered or even raised in what follows.

Danger of distortion. Retrieval must be approached with deep respect for the original context and concerns of historical resources, avoiding quick applications that caricature or misconstrue past thought. If motivated by present agendas or polemical purposes, retrieval can become a piecemeal ransacking of quotes rather than a genuine engagement with the past. Rigorous historical scholarship is essential to prevent misrepresentation.

Peril of artificiality. Past resources should not be forced into serving present needs in an inauthentic or contrived manner. Thoughtful retrieval requires restraint and modesty, allowing the historical source to speak on its own terms before drawing constructive usages. When retrieval becomes a theological "fad," it risks prioritizing style and trend over substance and truth, leading to superficial applications.

Avoid repristination and minimalism. Retrieval is not merely restating the past as a final verdict, nor should it flatten out difficult or cacophonous elements in search of a common denominator. Repristination ignores the challenges of modernity, while minimalism sacrifices genuine theological differences for a superficial unity. True retrieval embraces the "holy strangeness of the past" and allows it to constructively challenge contemporary thought, even leading to respectful disagreement.

4. God's Transcendence Demands a Unique Creator-Creation Distinction

God is not an existing thing as much as he was above existence as the ground of existing things.

Infinite distance, intimate proximity. The Creator/creation distinction, as explored by figures like Boethius, Calvin, and Torrance, reveals a complex relationship of both immense distance and dynamic involvement. God is utterly foreign yet eerily familiar to creation; beyond it, yet containing it. This paradox is crucial for understanding divine attributes like omnipresence and eternality, where God is not merely outside time and space but masters and surrounds them.

Author-story metaphor. Imagining God as an author (like Tolkien) and creation as a story (like Middle-earth) helps conceptualize this unique relationship. The author is beyond the story, yet everything within it is contained in him. His knowledge of the story is "simple," encompassing all its past and future events in his present. This metaphor highlights God's qualitative ontological priority, where creation's reality is wholly derivative of God's being.

Anchoring in Christ. The Creator/creation distinction is anchored by Christ's incarnation and ascension. The extra Calvinisticum affirms that the incarnate Son was not limited to his human flesh but continued to uphold the universe. Torrance's view of the ascension as a space-time event, the "reverse of the incarnation," shows creation being drawn into God's realm, transforming heaven itself. These events fundamentally restructure the Creator/creation relationship, signaling creation's redemption into divine life.

5. Divine Simplicity Grounds the Trinity in Monotheistic Unity

The supreme unity and simplicity of God exclude every kind of plurality of absolute things, but not plurality of relations.

Beyond philosophical appendage. For classical theologians, divine simplicity was not an awkward philosophical concept but integrally related to the church's witness and worship. It was used in apologetics (Athenagoras), to describe divine beauty (Boethius), and as a ladder to divine beauty (Anselm). Pseudo-Dionysius and John of Damascus even linked it to soteriology, seeing redemption as a transformation from creational complexity into divine simplicity.

Diversity in definition. While often associated with Thomas Aquinas's "identity thesis" (God's essence, existence, and attributes are identical), divine simplicity has been understood in diverse ways. Cappadocian Fathers like Gregory of Nyssa and Basil of Caesarea upheld a "softer" version, emphasizing God's attributes are not parts of God but not identical with his essence. Eastern theology, generally, used simplicity more apophatically to set conditions for Trinitarian discussion, rather than for ambitious constructive purposes.

Trinity as resource, not problem. Unlike non-Trinitarian theists who saw simplicity as incompatible with the Trinity, classical Christian theologians used divine simplicity to ground the Trinity as firmly monotheistic. Augustine, Anselm, Basil, and John of Damascus argued that God's simplicity requires the divine persons to be bound together as one God, not three separate entities. Simplicity makes oneness among the three persons necessary, not just possible, providing a more robust foundation for Trinitarian monotheism than perichoresis alone.

6. Atonement Unifies Recapitulation and Satisfaction Through Substitution

There can be another explanation, besides the one I offered [in Cur Deus Homo], for how God took a sinless human being out of the sinful mass of the human race. . . . After all, nothing prohibits there being a plurality of reasons for one and the same thing, any one of which can be sufficient in itself.

Beyond polarized debates. Contemporary evangelical atonement theology often polarizes around the acceptance or rejection of penal substitution. However, historical figures like Irenaeus, Anselm, and Athanasius demonstrate how various atonement motifs, particularly recapitulation and satisfaction, can be harmoniously integrated. They saw these themes as complementary, not contradictory, under the broader rubric of substitution.

Recapitulation's breadth. Irenaeus's concept of recapitulation emphasizes Christ's entire obedient, triumphant, incarnate life reversing Adam's fall, restoring human nature, and spreading divine incorruptibility. He saw Christ recapitulating every stage of human existence, standing in the place of every human being. This inclusive substitution is not an alternative to penal substitution but an entailment, as Christ's death plays a critical, vicarious role within this larger framework.

Satisfaction's purpose. Anselm's Cur Deus Homo, while focusing on Christ's death satisfying divine honor, also repeatedly situates this within the larger framework of Christ's entire incarnate life restoring human nature to its original blessed immortality. For Anselm, satisfaction serves recapitulation; the payment of debt is to restore human nature to its creational goal. Athanasius similarly blends these themes, seeing Christ's death as paying humanity's debt for "primal transgression" while his incarnation spreads incorruption.

7. Christ's Entire Incarnate Work is a Unified Act of Salvation

The staggering thing about this is that the exaltation of human nature into the life of God does not mean the disappearance of man or the swallowing up of human and creaturely being in the infinite ocean of the divine being, but rather that human nature, while remaining creaturely and human, is yet exalted in Christ to share in God’s life and glory.

Beyond instrumental salvation. Evangelical theology often views the incarnation as merely instrumentally salvific, a prerequisite for Christ's death and resurrection. However, the historical accounts of Irenaeus, Anselm, and Athanasius suggest an intrinsic soteriological significance to Christ's entire incarnate life. The incarnation fundamentally alters human nature, uniting it with divinity and incorruptibility, a process culminating in the resurrection.

The transfiguration's hint. The Transfiguration, often neglected in Protestant theology, offers a glimpse into the unique nature of Christ's earthly body even before his resurrection. Interpreted as a revelation of Jesus's true identity, it suggests that the glory and immortality into which he burst forth on Easter morning was not an arbitrary addition but the organic outworking of who the God-man already was. This event underscores that Christ's resurrection is the organic completion of the incarnation, not an entirely new development.

A unified narrative. Christ's saving work is a unity, with components that can be distinguished but never divided. The events of Bethlehem, Calvary, Easter, and the Ascension are not in competition but find their deepest meaning in relation to each other. Recapitulation at Bethlehem enhances the significance of the cross, and satisfaction at Calvary enhances the significance of the manger. This holistic view prevents reductionism and emphasizes the multifaceted nature of God's redemptive plan.

8. Pastoral Leadership Requires a Delicate Balance of Contemplation and Action

Wherever you go, let the pastoral book of St. Gregory be your companion. Read and re-read it often, that in it you may learn to know yourself and your work, that you may have before your eyes how you ought to live and teach.

The "art of arts." Gregory the Great's Book of Pastoral Rule emphasizes that effective pastoral ministry is the "art of arts," requiring a delicate balance of inner and outer qualities. He challenges the notion of separating a pastor's intellectual life from their practical duties, arguing that true greatness in leadership stems from a profound integration of both. This perspective counters modern tendencies to compartmentalize spiritual and administrative roles.

Balancing aspiration and unworthiness. Gregory insists that pastors must tremble before the awesome responsibility of spiritual leadership, acknowledging their unworthiness. Yet, he also warns against refusing a divine call out of false humility, which can be a form of self-interest. This balance of humility and willingness, sustained even after accomplishments, is crucial for avoiding spiritual pride and maintaining reverence for the office.

Contemplation, action, and preaching. The pastor's life must balance active engagement with the world and contemplative solitude. Gregory uses the Mary and Martha typology to illustrate this, emphasizing that effective leadership requires both spiritual vitality from quiet reflection and compassionate action for the flock. Furthermore, preaching demands balance, recognizing that different people need different kinds of exhortation, requiring shrewd sensitivity to human psychology and the deceitfulness of sin.

9. Embrace the Vastness of Church History to See Christ's Enduring Presence

There is a whole world back there, waiting to be explored—a world that helps us understand our own story and purpose as the people of God.

Beyond superficial labels. The labels "patristic" and "medieval" are as vague as "northeast" or "west," masking immense diversity and complexity within church history. Exploring this vastness reveals distinct theological traditions, such as the Greek, Syriac, Coptic, and Armenian churches in the East, which are often lost to Western Protestant consciousness. Engaging these neglected worlds is an exciting adventure that enriches our understanding of Christianity.

Christ's continuous mission. It is unwise to assume that Christ's promise to build his church was suspended for a millennium between the sixth and sixteenth centuries. Despite advances, retreats, corruptions, and renewals, Christ has continuously advanced his mission throughout history. From Boniface's missionary labors to Bonaventure's spiritual theology, Jesus's enduring presence can be found across diverse eras and traditions.

Unity in diversity. While acknowledging differences, we must seek the underlying unity in church history. Like C. S. Lewis's "mere Christianity," there is an "unmistakably the same" core that unites Bernard and Barth, Tertullian and Tolkien, Polycarp and Pentecostalism. Engaging the entirety of church history with a sense of personal identity—"this is our story"—allows us to critically discern while reverently receiving, ultimately deepening our understanding of God and our place in his ongoing work.

Last updated: February 9, 2026