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Oliver D. Crisp Biography

Oliver D. Crisp (born 1972) is a British theologian who currently works as a professor of systematic theology at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. Crisp was, until 2011, a reader in divinity at Bristol University in the United Kingdom. He specializes in analytic theology, philosophical theology, and historical theology. His historical work focuses on eighteenth- and nineteenth-century American Reformed theologians, including Jonathan Edwards and William Shedd. His constructive work has, to date, primarily been in the areas of Christology and hamartiology.

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Oliver D. Crisp Quotes

Reformed theology belongs to this confessional tradition, and Reformed theologians and churches continue to write confessions even today.

Church, Churches, Today, Write, Writing

[Calvinistic tradition] has fashioned and shaped my thinking since I was a teenager.

Calvinistic, Teenager, Thinking, Tradition

The alternative of hypothetical universalism, according to which Christ's work is sufficient for all but efficient only for the elect, was alive and well in early Reformed thought. Moreover - and importantly for our purposes - this view was not regarded as an aberration but as a legitimate position that could be taken within the confessional bounds of Reformed thought. But that means that the Five Points aren't the non-negotiable conceptual core of Calvinism after all.

Bounds, Conceptual, Early, Mean, Taken, Views

The atonement chapter [from the book Saving Calvinism] shows how there are real riches in Reformed theology that most Christians today have no idea about.

Atonement, Book, Christian, Christians, Real

I'm sometimes asked about my productivity, which I find a bit embarrassing to be honest. I don't really have a particularly interesting answer to this question.

Answer, Answers, Honest, Interesting, Productivity, Question

[John Calvin's] treatment of the person and work of Christ, of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer, of prayer and liturgy, of the sacraments, and of the way in which we have an in-built sense of the divine that we suppress to our great sorrow - these are all immense contributions to Christian thought. The same could be said of his commentaries, which are still regularly consulted by biblical critics today.

Christian, Prayer, Biblical, Regularly, Liturgy, Treatment

In the chapter on the nature of the atonement [in the book saving Calvinism] I argue that it is a mistake to think that penal substitution is the only option on the doctrine of atonement.

Argue, Book, Mistake, Saving, Substitution, Thinking

Sometimes we can lose the wood for the trees. Some specific issues dealt with in the book [Saving Calvinism]: the scope of election (who is saved?); the nature of the atonement (do we have to hold to penal substitution if we're Reformed?); the scope of the atonement (for whom did Christ die?); whether we have to hold to some sort of theological determinism (God ordains all that comes to pass).

Book, Dealt, Determinism, Issues, Tree

For instance, the notion of non-penal substitution. This idea, found in the work of the nineteenth century Scottish Reformed theologian John McLeod Campbell and based upon his reading of the letter to the Hebrews in particular, is that Christ offers up his life and death as a penitential act on our behalf, rather than as a punishment in our stead.

Christ, Ideas, John, Punishment, Reading

The book [Saving Calvinism] argues in each case that the Reformed tradition is broader and deeper than we might think at first glance - not that there are people on the margins of the tradition saying crazy things we should pay attention to, but rather that there are resources within the "mainstream" so to speak, which give us reason to think that the tradition is nowhere near as doctrinally narrow as the so-called "Five Points of Calvinism" might lead one to believe.

Believe, Book, Calvinism, Crazy, Points, Tradition

Jonathan Edwards developed a Calvinistic strand of the doctrine.

Calvinistic, Developed, Doctrine, Edwards, Jonathan, Strands

For those interested in Reformed thought more broadly, I'd recommend Peter Leithart's recent book on Reformed Catholicism entitled, The End of Protestantism: Pursuing Unity in a Fragmented Church (Brazos Press, 2016), as a thought-provoking and stimulating read that should get us all thinking about the future shape of the Church, wherever we come from.

Book, Catholicism, Come, Protestantism, Thinking, Thought Provoking

There are constraints on what counts as "Reformed. " It's more than a name or a label. It's about belonging to a particular theological stream or tradition, which is shaped in important respects by particular thinkers and their work, particular arguments and ideas, a particular community (especially, particular church communities, denominations, and so on), particular liturgies or ways of worshipping and living out the Christian life, and particular confessions that inform the practices of these communities.

Arguments, Christian, Confessions, Ideas, Practice, Thinkers

It is often reported that the Five Points of Calvinism are the conceptual hard-core of Reformed thought. That is very misleading. The Five Points supposedly originate with the Synod of Dort in the early seventeenth century. Yet we find important Reformed leaders who were signatories to that documentation who don't think that limited atonement is the right way to think about the scope of Christ's saving work. How can this be? The answer that recent historical theology has thrown up is that the canons of the Synod don't require adherence to the doctrine of limited atonement.

Canons, Five, Historical, Leader, Saving, Thinking

I do think that I have been fortunate to make friendships with other scholars, and form reading groups where ideas are exchanged and papers are read. That is a real boon, and it is something I think every scholar or writer can benefit from.

Friendships, Reading, Real, Scholar, Scholars, Thinking

[John Calvin's] Humanist training makes him an excellent writer. What is more, he is as relevant today as he was 500 years ago.

500, Humanist, Today, Training, Years

The confessions don't speak with one voice. They are more like a cluster of closely-related but distinct voices - a kind of choir, if you like.

Choir, Kind, Speak, Voice, Voices

I don't really have a lot of interns, although I do now use Research Assistants to help me compile indexes when that is necessary.

Assistants, Help, Indexes, Research, Use

The Reformed tradition at the beginning of the twenty-first century is different as a consequence of this - and different in nontrivial ways. Some may scoff at this, saying that such "developments" don't represent Reformed thought. But by what standard? Perhaps by the Westminster Confession. But this is only one Reformed confession, and it was only ever a subordinate standard.

Confession, Development, Different, Scoff, Twenties, Westminster

[John] Calvin is often identified with his account of predestination. Yet that appears in the third book of his Institutes, not the first.

Book, Firsts, Thirds, Predestination, Appears, Calvin

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