This episode is part of the Restoration Theology class.

As we continue through our survey of the major branches of theology, we come to the subject of doctrinal precedents. Who has believed a particular idea before? Were there any Christians who held position x in the past? Who were they? If the majority of the church no longer holds to a certain belief, what happened?

When I was in high school, I thought history was terribly boring. Learning the names of dead American presidents or about European wars never appealed to me. You may feel this way too. However, right from my first time encountering Christian history, I felt different. Perhaps that was a gift of God. Or maybe it’s because Christian history is family history. I was learning about my ancestors in the faith–the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Today you’re going to learn a method to do historical theology. This will empower you to test your beliefs in the laboratory of history and see who held them previously. Such an exercise is important in our quest for doctrinal truth. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I do.

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—— Links ——

• Check out the other episodes of the Restoration Theology class
• Support Restitutio by donating here
• Join our Facebook group, follow on X @RestitutioSF or Instagram @Sean.P.Finnegan or Threads @sean.p.finnegan
• Leave a 90 second voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play it out on the air
• Who is Sean Finnegan? Read his bio here
• Get Finnegan’s book, Kingdom Journey to learn about God’s kingdom coming on earth as well as the story of how Christianity lost this pearl of great price.
• Get the transcript of this episode
• Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library.

This episode is part of the Restoration Theology class.

Restoration Theology is an approach that brings together good hermeneutics and good theology. We’ve talked a great deal about hermeneutics, which how to interpret the Bible well, and now we’re working our way through all the major branches of theology. In previous episodes, we’ve looked at biblical and systematic theologies and now we’re ready to see how analytic theology can help us evaluate our doctrines.

Though analytic theology may seem intimidating at first–what with all the symbols and logical operators–it’s actually quite a commonsensical way to approach doctrine. If we boil it down, analytic theology is merely the application of reason to your belief. We all do this all the time. We look at some weird belief and say, “Well, that doesn’t make sense. I’m not going to believe that.” We come up against a different way of putting together scripture and we scrutinize the reasoning. We say, “Hey that argument doesn’t work because of this problem.” Analytic theology provides the tools to formalize this process. And I’m excited to share with you a method to harness the power of this field without having to do years of schooling or spend hundreds of hours reading dry textbooks.

Listen on Spotify

Listen on Apple Podcasts

—— Links ——

• Check out the other episodes of the Restoration Theology class
• Support Restitutio by donating here
• Join our Facebook group, follow on X @RestitutioSF or Instagram @Sean.P.Finnegan
• Leave a 90 second voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play it out on the air
• Who is Sean Finnegan? Read his bio here
• Get Finnegan’s book, Kingdom Journey to learn about God’s kingdom coming on earth as well as the story of how Christianity lost this pearl of great price.
• Get the transcript of this episode
• Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library.

This episode is part of the Restoration Theology class.

Whereas last time we focused on differences and development, today our goal is to perceive the final form of a doctrine. Because restorationists believe God inspired scripture, we recognize that amidst the diversity we can also detect coherence. Although there were many authors, there was only one God inspiring each of them.

Today you’re going to learn about how to do systematic theology well. Rather than merely collecting a few texts that support your belief, you’ll also learn what other steps are necessary to put together a robust theological statement. You’ll also learn about the limitations of systematic theology.

Listen on Spotify

Listen on Apple Podcasts

—— Links ——

• Check out the other episodes of the Restoration Theology class
• Support Restitutio by donating here
• Join our Facebook group, follow on X @RestitutioSF or Instagram @Sean.P.Finnegan
• Leave a 90 second voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play it out on the air
• Who is Sean Finnegan? Read his bio here
• Get Finnegan’s book, Kingdom Journey to learn about God’s kingdom coming on earth as well as the story of how Christianity lost this pearl of great price.
• Get the transcript of this episode
• Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library.