The reality of God and historical method : an examination of theological historiography in critical dialogue with N. T. Wright

Abstract

This thesis argues that any historiography that would contribute to theological knowledge must take into consideration, at a methodological level, the reality of God. This theological claim, in turn, has significant implications for historical knowledge and thus, historiography. The thesis moves ahead in five chapters. The first is an overview and description of N. T. Wright’s historical and theological method as they both are grounded in his critical realist epistemology. The second chapter argues for a particular theological epistemology that goes beyond Wright’s and corrects it, drawing primarily on the work of T. F. Torrance and Søren Kierkegaard. In the third and fourth chapters an ‘apocalyptic’ theological approach is defined and articulated according to a progression from soteriology to Christology to creation. The final chapter builds upon this constructive theological work by articulating an ‘apocalyptic’ theology of history which is then used to articulate some key considerations for a theological approach to historiography in critical dialogue with Wright’s historical and theological method.