Celebrating Christian Centenaries
Southwestern Journal of Theology
Volume 68, No. 1 - Fall 2025
Editor: Malcolm B. Yarnell III
Vol 1. By William Lane Craig. Hoboken: Wiley-Blackwell, 2025, 368 pp., $65.00.
William Lane Craig is one of the most noted and published evangelical philosophers of the last half-century. He has published philosophical works on wide-ranging topics, to say nothing of his myriad apologetics books. This corpus gives him both the depth and breadth of expertise needed to write a systematic treatment of philosophical theology. At the same time, he has taken positions in the last decade that have made many Evangelicals uneasy, such as his views on the incarnation and on the implications of Genesis 1–11 for human history. Nevertheless, the mere fact that he has collated his views and interactions with other scholars’ views makes Systematic Philosophical Theology a project worthy of attention.
A few caveats are in order before diving into the content of this volume. First, this review only concerns volume 1 of what is currently a three-volume work. Volumes 2a and 2b take up the attributes of God and natural theology, respectively, while volume 3 considers creation and humanity. At the writing of this review, only volumes 1 and 2a have been released. Second, Craig states in his preface the importance in philosophical theology of dealing with contemporary voices shaping the last several decades of conversations. In Craig’s view, “contemporary philosophers have not only advanced far beyond the figures of the past but have in many respects profited from and corrected their mistakes” (xvi). Thus, he deals extensively with contributors over the past century and less with ancient views. Third, Craig’s philosophical peccadillos come through regularly in the book, though he does not always give a background for them. Readers will encounter his anti-realist position on abstract objects, his Molinism, and other presuppositions he puts to use in his arguments.
Volume 1 of Systematic Philosophical Theology is broken into three sections. First, Craig deals with prolegomena, mainly focused on the resurgence of Christian philosophy in the twentieth century and with the differences between various philosophical disciplines overlapping and adjacent to philosophical theology. He also gives a short treatment of truth in which he defends correspondence as the valid definition for theological inquiry. The second section (Locus I) concerns the philosophy of revelation and scriptural inspiration. Here, Craig defines and defends a counterfactual theory as the best explanation for verbal plenary inspiration and for inerrancy. He also defends Christians’ ability to justifiably believe the scriptures are accurate testimonies of the events they describe. Finally, section three (Locus II) concerns philosophical definitions of beliefs and faith, especially focused on the propositional content of beliefs. The section concludes by considering various philosophical reasons why Christians can be rational in having faith.
Craig should be commended for his work in several ways. Each locus in the book begins with a thorough biblical interaction, grounding the book’s discussions in theological issues arising from biblical data. Counter to the works of systematic philosophical theologians like Paul Tillich, Craig desires to remain faithful to the broadly evangelical perspective about the normativity of Scripture. Craig’s interactions with biblical passages provide grounding for the book’s topics, and they set boundaries on what conclusions the discussions can properly find. Further, Craig interacts with other scholars in a mostly productive manner, allowing them to speak for themselves before critiquing or supporting their conclusions. He helpfully leaves his most technical interactions to the footnotes, which allows a broader audience to read the main text and profit from it. The historical review in his prolegomena section sets is especially helpful because it gives those outside the philosophical guild a window into the changes that have occurred over the last century and lends support to the resurgent fidelity that many Christian philosophers have toward Scripture and orthodoxy.
The volume has its limitations amidst its strengths. At times, Craig too quickly narrows the conversation to the position he considers correct. Alternative (and more popular) positions, therefore, sometimes receive less consideration than they deserve. A case study in this tendency occurs as part of his discussion about scriptural inspiration in a subsection unsubtly titled, “The Solution: A Molinist Theory of Inspiration” (134). Molinism, it should be noted, is not the majority position among theologians, philosophical or otherwise. Craig essentially neglects other theories on the coherence of verbal plenary inspiration, preferring his own view as the only legitimate option. Similar instances are not prevalent, but they are present. Craig takes several non-theological philosophical positions that place him in a minority among philosophers, and correspondingly favors several theories that are in the minority among philosophical theologians. Pastorally, the main drawback of the book is its steep learning curve. While Craig endeavors to keep the level of required background knowledge low, Systematic Philosophical Theology nevertheless is a work of philosophy, and analytic philosophy at that. Readers lacking the toolkit for analytic philosophy may find Craig’s lines of thinking difficult to follow. Still, the issues that Craig raises help evangelical readers gain a sense that difficult philosophical questions have good and trustworthy answers, serving a much-needed apologetic purpose.
