Retrieving Eternal Generation

Although the doctrine of eternal generation has been affirmed by theologians of nearly every ecclesiastical tradition since the fourth century, it has fallen on hard times among evangelical theologians since the nineteenth century. The doctrine has been a structural element in two larger doctrinal complexes: Christology and the Trinity. The neglect of the doctrine of eternal generation represents a great loss for constructive evangelical Trinitarian theology.

Retrieving the doctrine of eternal generation for contemporary evangelical theology calls for a multifaceted approach. Retrieving Eternal Generation addresses (1) the hermeneutical logic and biblical bases of the doctrine of eternal generation; (2) key historical figures and moments in the development of the doctrine of eternal generation; and (3) the broad dogmatic significance of the doctrine of eternal generation for theology. The book addresses both the common modern objections to the doctrine of eternal generation and presents the productive import of the doctrine for twenty-first century evangelical theology. Contributors include Michael Allen, Lewis Ayres, D. A. Carson, Oliver Crisp, and more.

Fred Sanders?(PhD, Graduate Theological Union) is professor of theology in the Torrey Honors College at Biola University in La Mirada, California. He is author of numerous books including?The Triune God?in the New Studies in Dogmatics series;?The Deep Things of God: How the Trinity Changes Everything;?Union with Christ and the Life of Faith;?The Holy Spirit: An Introduction; and Fountain of Salvation: Trinity and Soteriology. He is coeditor of?Jesus in Trinitarian Perspective: An Introductory Christology?and?Retrieving Eternal Generation. He is also the co-founder of the Los Angeles Theology Conference. 

Scott Swain is Professor of Systematic Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Florida. He is author of several books, including The God of the Gospel: The Trinitarian Theology of Robert Jenson, and Trinity, Revelation, and Reading: A Theological Introduction to the Bible and its Interpretation. He serves as general editor (with Michael Allen) for T&T Clark’s International Theological Commentary and Zondervan’s New Studies in Dogmatics series.