Steve Bagby

Thanks for visiting my blog. I am a native Texan pursuing a PhD in theology at Durham University in the United Kingdom. My specialization is patristic theology (specifically, Origen of Alexandria), but I am also deeply interested in the theology of Augustine, Anselm, Luther, Calvin, and Barth. Other academic interests include early Medieval Christianity, Dutch Reformed theology and history, and liturgics. Also, since truth has one source but is received through various mediums, I also include in this blog my passion for the history of film and filmmaking.

I want to highlight the fact that many erroneous assumptions about worship, theology, and culture are unwittingly adopted and absorbed into today’s Church. In turn, the Church has often obscured the gospel message with the American values of consumerism, patriotism, corporatism, pragmatism, and entertainment. With this in mind, my blog is not another blog for “theology geeks,” but seeks to be a small help for those in the Church by reexamining our assumptions through the reading of sound works throughout Christian history. Personally, I have found reading groups immensely helpful in drawing out the implications of the gospel for the Church in the world. Critical reflection on our assumptions and a host of other Christian issues can be found on the Recommended Books page to the right. I sincerely believe the Church needs challenging in its thinking, away from the endless flow of superficial books and sermons (some outright heretical) that are produced within evangelicalism and the broader culture, and toward books that critically reflect on what it means to be witnesses to Jesus Christ in our world.

Finally, the phrase by my name, fides quaerens intellectum, means “faith seeking understanding.” This phrase is drawn from the 11th century theologian Anselm, but is the predominant method through most of Christian history, where theology is an expression of our worship of God, being doxological in character. Our understanding is predicated on God’s bestowal of grace, not on our ability to deduce the claims of Christianity through reason. In practice, many people (under Enlightenment assumptions) reverse the phrase into “understanding seeking faith,” whereby one must find credible “proof” in order to believe. Having said this, you will not find some familiar books on theology and apologetics here that seek to implement certain claims on knowledge seen as necessary to bring forth faith. Theology is a reflective discipline and expression of what is already taking place through the liturgy in the Church. Therefore, there need not be a division between theology and spirituality, nor should we see theology as an appendix to true faith.