Vern Sheridan Poythress
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Vern Sheridan Poythress (born 1946) is an American
philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
,
theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...
,
New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...
scholar and
mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...
, who is currently the New Testament chair of the ESV Oversight Committee. He is also the Distinguished Professor of New Testament, Biblical Interpretation, and Systematic Theology at
Westminster Theological Seminary Westminster Theological Seminary (WTS) is a Protestantism, Protestant Christian theology, theological seminary in the Reformed theology, Reformed theological tradition in Glenside, Pennsylvania. It was founded by members of the faculty of Prince ...
and editor of Westminster Theological Journal.


Biography

Poythress was born in
Madera, California Madera (Spanish language, Spanish for "Lumber") is a city in and the county seat of Madera County, California, Madera County, located in the San Joaquin Valley of California. Founded in 1876 as a timber town at the terminus of a major logging f ...
in 1946 to Ransom H. Poythress and Carola N. Poythress. He graduated from Bullard High School in
Fresno, California Fresno (; ) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County, California, Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley region. It covers a ...
. At the age of 20, Poythress earned a B.S. in mathematics with honor (valedictorian) from
California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small group of institutes ...
, in the year 1966. While there, he became a
Putnam Fellow The William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition, often abbreviated to Putnam Competition, is an annual mathematics competition for undergraduate college students enrolled at institutions of higher learning in the United States and Canada (regar ...
in 1964. He received his Ph.D. in mathematics from
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
, finishing in 1970.
Westminster Theological Seminary Westminster Theological Seminary (WTS) is a Protestantism, Protestant Christian theology, theological seminary in the Reformed theology, Reformed theological tradition in Glenside, Pennsylvania. It was founded by members of the faculty of Prince ...
awarded him both an M.Div and a Th.M in apologetics for work done in the years 1971-74. He earned an M.Litt from the
University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
in New Testament studies during 1974-76. He received a
Th.D. Doctor of Theology (, abbreviated DTh, ThD, DTheol, or Dr. theol.) is a terminal degree in the academic discipline of theology. The ThD, like the ecclesiastical Doctor of Sacred Theology, is an advanced research degree equivalent to the Doctor of ...
in New Testament from the
University of Stellenbosch Stellenbosch University (SU) (, ) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant university in Sub-Sahara ...
. In 1983, Poythress married Diane M. Poythress. They have two sons, Ransom Poythress and Justin Poythress. As of 2016, he was teaching New Testament and occasional courses on the philosophies of science and language at Westminster Theological Seminary in
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
, work he began in 1976. His blog with John M. Frame was listed in early 2018 as one of the top 50 Christian popular culture sites.


Thought

Poythress views
scientific law Scientific laws or laws of science are statements, based on repeated experiments or observations, that describe or predict a range of natural phenomena. The term ''law'' has diverse usage in many cases (approximate, accurate, broad, or narrow ...
as a form of the word of God. In 1976, Poythress wrote a chapter on "A Biblical View of Mathematics," in which he argued (among other things) that number is eternal because the Trinity is eternal. In a 1983 article, he suggested that mathematics is the
rhyme A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds (usually the exact same phonemes) in the final Stress (linguistics), stressed syllables and any following syllables of two or more words. Most often, this kind of rhyming (''perfect rhyming'') is consciou ...
of the universe. His philosophy of science draws on the work of
Thomas Kuhn Thomas Samuel Kuhn (; July 18, 1922 – June 17, 1996) was an American History and philosophy of science, historian and philosopher of science whose 1962 book ''The Structure of Scientific Revolutions'' was influential in both academic and ...
.


Publications

Poythress has published a number of books in different fields — Christian
philosophy of science Philosophy of science is the branch of philosophy concerned with the foundations, methods, and implications of science. Amongst its central questions are the difference between science and non-science, the reliability of scientific theories, ...
, linguistics, theological method, dispensationalism,
biblical law {{Short description, Legal aspects of the Bible Biblical law is the legal aspects of the Bible, the holy scriptures of Christianity and Judaism. Christianity * Abrogation of Old Covenant laws * Christian views on the Old Covenant, term referring t ...
,
copyright law A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive legal right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, e ...
, hermeneutics, Bible translation, and
eschatology Eschatology (; ) concerns expectations of the end of Contemporary era, present age, human history, or the world itself. The end of the world or end times is predicted by several world religions (both Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic and non-Abrah ...
and the
Book of Revelation The Book of Revelation, also known as the Book of the Apocalypse or the Apocalypse of John, is the final book of the New Testament, and therefore the final book of the Bible#Christian Bible, Christian Bible. Written in Greek language, Greek, ...
Frame-Poythress.org has
more extensive self-published bibliography
including: * ''Philosophy, Science, and the Sovereignty of God''. Presbyterian and Reformed: 1976, reprinted 2004. . *
Symphonic Theology: The Validity of Multiple Perspectives in Theology
'. Zondervan: 1987. . *

'. 2d ed. Presbyterian and Reformed: 1993. . *

' (Foundations of Contemporary Interpretation series, volume 6). Zondervan: 1988. . *

', Wolgemuth & Hyatt: 1991, reprinted Presbyterian & Reformed: 1995. . *

'. Presbyterian and Reformed: 1999. . *

', Presbyterian and Reformed: 2000. . *

' (with
Wayne Grudem Wayne A. Grudem (born 1948) is an American New Testament scholar, theologian, seminary professor, and author. He is a professor of theology and biblical studies at Phoenix Seminary in Phoenix, Arizona. Biography Early life and education Grud ...
). Broadman and Holman: 2000. . * ''The TNIV and the Gender-Neutral Bible Controversy'' (with
Wayne Grudem Wayne A. Grudem (born 1948) is an American New Testament scholar, theologian, seminary professor, and author. He is a professor of theology and biblical studies at Phoenix Seminary in Phoenix, Arizona. Biography Early life and education Grud ...
). Broadman and Holman: 2004. . *
Redeeming Science: A God-Centered Approach
'. Crossway Books: 2006. . *
In The Beginning Was The Word: Language--A God-Centered Approach
'. Crossway Books: 2009. . *
What Are Spiritual Gifts?
' (Basics of the Faith series). Presbyterian and Reformed, 2010. . *

'. Crossway Books: 2011. . *
Inerrancy and Worldview: Answering Modern Challenges to the Bible
'. Crossway Books: 2012. . *
Inerrancy and the Gospels: A God-Centered Approach to the Challenges of Harmonization
'. Crossway Books: 2012. . * ''Logic: A God-Centered Approach to the Foundation of Western Thought''. Crossway Books: 2013. . *
Redeeming Mathematics: A God-Centered Approach
'. Crossway Books: 2015. . * ''The Lordship of Christ: Serving Our Savior All of the Time, in All of Life, with All Our Heart''. Crossway Books: 2016. * ''The Miracles of Jesus: How the Savior’s Mighty Acts Serve as Signs of Redemption''. Crossway Books: 2016. * ''Reading the Word of God in the Presence of God: A Handbook for Biblical Interpretation''. Crossway Books: 2016. * ''Knowing and the Trinity: How Perspectives in Human Knowledge Imitate the Trinity''. P&R: 2018. * ''Theophany: A Biblical Theology of God’s Appearing''. Crossway Books: 2018. * ''Interpreting Eden: A Guide to Faithfully Reading and Understanding Genesis 1-3''. Crossway Books: 2019. * ''Redeeming Our Thinking about History: A God-Centered Approach''. Crossway Books: 2022. * ''Redeeming Reason: A God-Centered Approach''. Crossway Books: 2023. * ''Making Sense of the World: How the Trinity Helps to Explain Reality''. P&R: 2024). Additionally, he has published a number of scholarly articles, including:Selected publications from Poythress's * * * * * * * * * * *


References


Further reading

* A Festschrift dedicated to Poythress, with contributions from J. I. Packer, Brandon Crowe, Iain M. Duguid, Richard B. Gaffin Jr., Peter Lillback, Carl R. Trueman, Camden Bucey, Robert Cara, In Whan Kim, Lane Tipton, Pierce Taylor Hibbs, Jeff Waddington, Luke Lu, Brian Wood, and others.
Faculty page of the title subject, at Westminster Theological Seminary, by the title subject.

Resume of the article subject, by the article subject.
* nterview with title subject, after publication of ''Chance and the Sovereignty of God''.


External links


Frame-Poythress.org
a website that publishes books, articles, and audio by the title subject, and by theologian John Frame {{DEFAULTSORT:Poythress, Vernon Sheridan Living people 1946 births Presbyterian Church in America ministers Protestant philosophers American Calvinist and Reformed theologians Calvinist and Reformed philosophers California Institute of Technology alumni Harvard University alumni Westminster Theological Seminary alumni Westminster Theological Seminary faculty Putnam Fellows Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge American academic journal editors Stellenbosch University alumni California State University, Fresno faculty People from Madera, California 20th-century American writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century Calvinist and Reformed theologians 21st-century Calvinist and Reformed theologians 21st-century American Protestant theologians 20th-century American philosophers 21st-century American philosophers New Testament scholars American biblical scholars Editors of Christian publications American critics of atheism Writers about religion and science Complementarianism