Steveporter

Faculty Information
Steve L. Porter
Associate Professor of Theology and Philosophy

*Ph.D. (Philosophy), University of Southern California
*M.Phil. (Philosophical Theology), Oriel College, University of Oxford
*M.A. (Philosophy of Religion/Ethics), Talbot School of Theology
*B.A. (Christian Education), Biola University

Dr. Porter teaches theology and philosophy for Talbot's Institute for Spiritual Formation
and at Rosemead School of Psychology. He has contributed articles to the Journal of the
Evangelical Theological Society, Philosophia Christi, Faith and Philosophy, and the
Journal for Psychology and Theology.

Research Interests
Theological Methodology
Doctrine of Sanctification
Philosophical Theology
Integration of Psychology and Theology

Courses
Theology 1: Revelation, Theology-Integration, and the Nature of God
Theology 3: Christ, Salvation, and the Spirit
Theology 5: Christian Ethics
Maturity: Psychological and Theological Perspectives

Publications
Books:
Resoring the Foundations of Epistemic Justification: A Direct Realist and Conceptualist
Theory of Foundationalism (Lanham, MY: Lexington Books, 2006).
Book Chapters:
• “Rethinking the Logic of Penal Substitution,” in William Lane Craig, Michael Murray,
and Daniel Howard- Snyder, eds., Philosophy of Religion (Edinburgh: University of
Edinburgh Press, 2001) 596–608.
• “Dostoyevsky, Woody Allen, and the Doctrine of Penal Substitution,” in Paul Copan
and William Lane Craig, eds., Contending with Christianity’s Critics (Broadman and
Holman, 2009) 233–248.
• “Contentment as a Christian Virtue,” in Mike Austin and R. Douglas Geivett, eds.
(Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, forthcoming).

Book Reviews:
• A review of Richard Swinburne, Responsibility and Atonement (Oxford: Clarendon,
1989) in Philosophia Christi 2:2 (2000).
• “Have You Ever Wanted to Read Calvin’s Institutes?,” a review of Donald McKim,
Calvin’s Institutes: Abridged Edition (Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox, 2001) in
Journal of Psychology and Theology 31:3 (2003) 287.
• “Seeker-Sensitive Atheism,” a review of Kai Nielsen, Naturalism and Religion
(Amherst, NY: Prometheus, 2001) in Journal of Psychology and Theology 31:3 (2003)
287.
• “A Concise Summary of Reformed Theology,” a review of Donald McKim,
Introducing the Reformed Faith (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2001) in
Journal of Psychology and Theology 31:2 (2003) 159– 160.
• Co-authored with Peter C. Hill, “Why Search for the Soul?: A Religious Perspective on
the Mind-Body Problem,” a review of In Search of the Soul: Four Views of the Mind-
Body Problem, Joel B. Green and Stuart L. Palmer, eds. (Downers Grove, IL:
InterVarsity Press, 2005) in PsycCRITIQUES—Contemporary Psychology: APA Review
of Books (January 2006).
• A review of Graham A. Cole, Engaging with the Holy Spirit: Real Questions, Practical
Answers (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2007) in Themelios 33:3 (December 2008).

Journal Articles:
• “On the Resurgence of Interest in the Doctrine of Sanctification: Some Methodological
Concerns,” in Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 45/3 (September 2002)
415–426.
• “Swinburnian Atonement and the Doctrine of Penal Substitution,” in Faith and
Philosophy 21:2 (April 2004) 228–241.
• “Wesleyan Theological Methodology as a Theory of Integration,” in Journal of
Psychology and Theology 32:3 (Fall 2004) 190–199.
• Co-authored with Todd Hall, “Referential Integration: An Emotional Information
Processing Perspective On the Process of Integration,” in Journal of Psychology and
Theology 32:3 (Fall 2004) 167–180.
• “What do the Five Ways have to do with the Ascent of Mt. Carmel?: Apologetics as a
Modern Day Spiritual Discipline,” Philosophia Christi (March 2007).
• “Sanctification in a New Key: Relieving Evangelical Anxieties Over Spiritual
Formation,” Journal of Spiritual Formation and Soul Care 1:2 (Fall 2008).
• “Theology as Queen and Psychology as Handmaid?: The Authority of Theology in
Integrative Endeavors,” Journal of Psychology and Christianity 29:1 (2010) 3–14.
• “A Reply to the Respondents of ‘Theology as Queen and Psychology as Handmaid,’”
Journal of Psychology and Christianity 29:1 (2010) 33–40.

Presentations
Center for Individual and Family Therapy, July 2010 (Orange, CA)
• “The Problem of Spiritual Immaturity”
Center for Individual and Family Therapy, April 2010 (Orange, CA)
• “Taking Sin More Seriously”
Renovare International Conference, June 2009 (San Antonio, TX)
• “How We Lost the Way: Learning from the Historical Neglect of Spiritual Formation”
ISF Lecture Series, October 2008 (La Mirada, CA)
• “The Catastrophe of Following Jesus” Center for Individual and Family Training, August 2008 (Orange, CA) • “The Cure for Anxiety: Jesus, Freud, and Prozac” American Philosophical Society Pacific Division Society of Christian Philosophers, March 2008 (Pasadena, CA) • “Contentment as a Christian Virtue” Rock Harbor University Theology Intensives, October 2007 (Costa Mesa, CA) • The Doctrine of Scripture Colorado Springs Christian Counselors, October 2007 (Colorado Springs, CO) • “The Cure for Anxiety: Jesus, Freud, and Prozac” Denver Seminary, October 2007 (Denver, CO) • “The Cure for Anxiety: Jesus, Freud, and Prozac” Apologetics/Worldview Conference, April 2007 (Bellevue, WA) • “Is Jesus the Only Way?” • “The Challenge of Religious Pluralism” • “Why Doesn’t God Intervene More Often?” • “Apologetics as a Spiritual Discipline” G. Campbell Morgan Theology Seminar, March 2007 (La Mirada, CA) • “The Doctrine of Soteriology” Christian Association of Psychological Studies, March 2007 (Valley Forge, PA) • “The Cure for Anxiety: Jesus, Freud, and Prozac” Evangelical Theological Society National Conference, November 2006 (Washington, D.C.) • “The Sanctification Gap Revisited” • “A Plea for an Evangelical Spiritual Theology” Torrey Context Lectures, September 2006 (La Mirada, CA) • “Jonathan Edwards on Why Christians Don’t Grow” Evangelical Theological Society Far-West Division Meeting, April 2006 (La Mirada, CA) • “The Sanctification Gap Revisited” G. Campbell Morgan Theology Seminar, March 2006 (La Mirada, CA) • “The Doctrine of Sanctification” Taylor University, September 2005 (Fort Wayne, IN) • “The Value of Spiritual Formation” • “Spiritual Formation in the Christian University” Evangelical Theological Society National Conference, November 2004 (San Antonio, TX) • “Sanctification in a New Key: Relieving Evangelical Anxieties over Spiritual Formation” National Faculty Leadership Conference, Social Sciences Seminars, June 2004 (Alexandria, VA) • “Theology as Queen and Psychology as Handmaid: The Authoritative Supremacy of Theology?” Spiritual Formation Forum, May 2004 (Los Angeles, CA): • “Sanctification in a New Key: Relieving Evangelical Anxieties over Spiritual Formation” Evangelical Theological Society Far-West Regional Meeting, April 2004 (San Diego, CA) • “Theology as Queen and Science as Handmaid: The Authoritative Supremacy of Theology” Christian Association of Psychological Studies International Conference, March 2004 (Tampa Bay, FL) • “Theology as Queen and Psychology as Handmaid: The Authoritative Supremacy of Theology?” British Society of the Philosophy of Religion/SCP, August 2003 (Oxford, England) • “Swinburnian Atonement and the Doctrine of Penal Substitution” Christian Association of Psychological Studies International Conference, June 2003 (Anaheim, CA) ory of Integration” Evangelical Theological Society Far-West Regional Meeting, May 2003 (Sun Valley, CA) • “What do the Five Ways have to do with the Ascent of Mt. Carmel?: Apologetics as a Modern Day Spiritual Discipline” American Philosophical Association Pacific Division Meeting, March 2003 (San Francisco, CA) • “BonJour’s Representational Realism” Evangelical Philosophical Society, November 2001 (Colorado Springs, CO) • “Swinburnian Atonement and the Doctrine of Penal Substitution”
Society for the Study of Theology, April 2001 (University of Nottingham, England)
• “Natural Theology and Christian Spirituality: What do the Five Ways have to do with
the Ascent of Mt. Carmel?”

Joseph Butler Society, February 2001 (Oriel College, University of Oxford, England)
• “Swinburnian Atonement and a Modified Theory of Penal Substitution”
Gifford International Conference, May 2000 (University of Aberdeen, Scotland)
• “God and the Moral Order: A Response to C. Stephen Layman,” May 2000.
Evangelical Theological Society Far-West Regional Meeting, June 1998 (San Diego,
CA)
• “The Evangelical Embrace of Postmodernity: How Far Is Too Far?”

Affiliations
Member, Evangelical Theological Society
Member, Evangelical Philosophical Society
Member, Society of Christian Philosophers
Member, Christian Association for Psychological Studies

Contact Information
Phone: (562) 903-6000 ext.3209
Email: [email protected]

Source: http://media1.biola.edu/talbot/faculty/cvs/steve_porter.pdf