Journal: Southern Baptist Journal of Theology
Volume: SBJT 27:2 (Summer 2023)
Article: Editorial: Learning From The Cappadocians
Author: Stephen J. Wellum

Editorial: Learning From The Cappadocians

Stephen J. Wellum

Stephen J. Wellum is Professor of Christian Theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and editor of Southern Baptist Journal of Theology. He received his PhD from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and he is the author of numerous essays and articles and the co-author with Peter Gentry of Kingdom through Covenant, 2nd edition (Crossway, 2012, 2018) and God’s Kingdom through God’s Covenants: A Concise Biblical Theology (Crossway, 2015); the co-editor of Progressive Covenantalism (B&H, 2016); the author of God the Son Incarnate: The Doctrine of the Person of Christ (Crossway, 2016) and Christ Alone—The Uniqueness of Jesus as Savior (Zondervan, 2017); and the co-author of Christ from Beginning to End: How the Full Story of Scripture Reveals the Full Glory of Christ (Zondervan, 2018); and the author of The Person of Christ: An Introduction (Crossway, 2021).

In the fourth century, the region of Cappadocia (what is today central Turkey) produced a number of significant theologians that were instrumental in upholding Nicene orthodoxy and setting the stage for orthodox Christology as given in the Chalcedonian Definition (451). Probably the most famous Cappadocians were Basil of Caesarea (330–379), his brother Gregory of Nyssa (335–395), and their friend, Gregory of Nazianzus (329–389). However, there were also other important people such as Amphilochius of Iconium (340–395), Asterius of Amasea (330–425), and a number of other people. In this issue of SBJT we want to discuss a number of these significant Cappadocians given their impact on the church, especially regarding their contribution to the orthodox formulation of the Trinity and Christology. Yet it was not only in these central doctrinal matters that the Cappadocians influenced the church, it was also in their practical and spiritual writings, a point we want to address as well.

The fourth century was a crucial era in church history. At the forefront of theological discussion was the doctrine of the Trinity, along with the

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deity of Christ and the deity of the Holy Spirit, both denied by Arianism and compromised by modalism. In these theological disputes, the name of Athanasius (295–373) looms large. It is not an overstatement to say that Athanasius was probably the central figure in the defense of pro-Nicene theology, specifically the deity of Christ. Athanasius, the archbishop and patriarch of Alexandria, spent roughly one-third of his forty-five years as bishop in exile due to imperial opposition. His opponents viewed him as inflexible, intolerant, and a single-issue man, but in truth he was a hero of the faith. After he was appointed th...