Evangelical Philosophical Society

AbbreviationEPS

FoundedDecember 28, 1974; 51 years ago

33-0197224

Evangelical Philosophical Society

Abbreviation	EPS
Founded	December 28, 1974; 51 years ago (1974-12-28)
Type	Academic association
Tax ID no.	33-0197224
Legal status	501(c)(3) nonprofit organization
Focus	Evangelical Philosophy
Location	La Mirada, California
President	Keith Hess
First President	Norman Geisler
Publication	Philosophia Christi
Affiliations	Evangelical Theological Society

The Evangelical Philosophical Society (EPS) is an organization devoted to the study of philosophy, philosophy of religion, philosophical theology, apologetics, and ethics from an evangelical perspective.^[1] Membership is open to professional scholars, and associate membership is available to laypersons and students. The current president of the organization is Keith Hess.^[2]

Philosophia Christi is a peer-reviewed academic journal published twice a year by the Evangelical Philosophical Society with the support of Biola University as a vehicle for the scholarly discussion of philosophy and philosophical issues as well as philosophy of religion, philosophical theology, and philosophical apologetics.^[3] Its editor is Ross Inman.^[3]

History

The Evangelical Philosophical Society (EPS) is considered a "sister society" to the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS). EPS was founded in 1974^[4] at Dallas Theological Seminary when a group of scholars from ETS met at the ETS annual meeting in December 1974 to discuss concerns related to philosophy of religion.^[5] At this meeting, a steering committee was established to explore the idea of forming a new society to focus on philosophy.^[6] EPS was then officially organized at the ETS annual meeting in Philadelphia on December 28, 1976, with Norman Geisler serving as its first president.^[1] There were twenty charter members of the EPS.^[1] In 1978, EPS began publishing its own journal, the Bulletin of the Evangelical Philosophical Society, which was later renamed Philosophia Christi in 1994.^[7]

In 1998, plans were made to restructure the Evangelical Philosophical Society in several ways. Among these was lengthening the term of officers from one to three years and relaunching the EPS journal, Philosophia Christi, starting with "Series 2" in 1999.

Presidents

#	Years	President	Ref
1	1976–1977	Norman Geisler	^[1]^[8]
2	1977–1978	Gordon R. Lewis	^[9]
3	1978–1979	Paul Feinberg
4	1979–1980	Stanley R. Obitts
5	1980–1981	John Jefferson Davis	^[10]
6	1981-1982	William F. Luck, Sr.	^[11]^[12]
7	1982–1983	Stephen M. Clinton	^[13]
8	1983–1984	Gary Habermas
9	1984–1985	Winfried Corduan	^[14]^[15]
10	1985–1986	John Feinberg	^[16]
11	1986–1987	Terry L. Miethe	^[16]
12	1987–1988	Stephen R. Spencer	^[16]
13	1988–1989	L. Russ Bush	^[17]
14	1989–1990	Gordon R. Lewis^[a]
15	1990–1991	Millard Erickson
16	1991–1992	Francis J. Beckwith R. Douglas Geivett^[b]
17	1992–1993
18	1993–1994	Michael Bauman
19	1994–1995	William Johnson
20	1995–1996	Donald T. Williams	^[18]
21	1996–1997	William Lane Craig	^[19]
22	1997–1998^[c]	W. David Beck	^[22]^[23]
23	1998–2005^[d]	William Lane Craig	^[24]
24	2005–2012	Paul Copan	^[25]
25	2012–2018	Angus Menuge	^[26]
26	2018–2024	Michael W. Austin	^[27]
27	2024–present	Keith Hess	^[2]

References

1 2 3 4 Geisler, Norman (March 1977). "Announcements" (PDF). Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society. 20 (1): 96. Retrieved November 19, 2023.
1 2 Lee, Chris; Hess, Keith (December 3, 2024). "Post-Annual Meeting Announcements: New EPS President, Graduate Paper Winners, and Giving Tuesday". Evangelical Philosophical Society. Retrieved December 5, 2024.
1 2 "Philosophia Christi". Evangelical Philosophical Society. 20 February 2020. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
↑ "About". Evangelical Philosophical Society. 20 February 2020. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
↑ Grounds, Vernon C. (March 1975). "Twenty-Sixth Annual Meeting" (PDF). Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society. 18 (1): 58. Thus for the first time in any of our 26 Annual Meetings a Task Force for Philosophy of Religion convened to discuss that aspect of evangelical concern.
↑ Luck, William F. C. (1982). "Inerrancy Defiled: The Place of Ethics in the Current Debate". Bulletin of the Evangelical Philosophical Society. 5 (1): 11. The origins of the Evangelical Philosophical Society can be traced to a number of conversations between Norman L. Geisler and others such as myself in the spring of 1974. We felt that there was a need for a platform for Evangelicals whose interests and perspectives in areas such as philosophy, philosophical theology, apologetics, and ethics were not fully appreciated by other existing organizations such as the American Philosophical Association or even the Evangelical Theological Society. These conversations led that same year to a meeting at the ETS national meetings in Dallas for those interested. The result was the formation of a steering committee whose task it was to work out the details of a new society.
↑ Clinton, Stephen M. (1994). "The Evangelical Philosophical Society". Philosophia Christi (Series 1). 17 (1). We are pleased to bring you this volume for 1994 (Volume 17).... Beginning with Vol. 17 the name of the journal was changed from the Bulletin of the Evangelical Philosophical Society to Philosophia Christi.
↑ "About Norman Leo Geisler". NormanGeisler.com. Retrieved November 20, 2023. First president of Evangelical Philosophical Society (1976)
↑ "1978 Officers of Evangelical Philosophical Society". Bulletin of the Evangelical Philosophical Society. 1 (1): 12. 1978. President: Gordon L. [sic] Lewis, Denver Colorado
↑ "Evangelical Philosophical Society". Bulletin of the Evangelical Philosophical Society. 4 (1). 1981.
↑ Luck, William F. C. (1982). "Inerrancy Defiled: The Place of Ethics in the Current Debate". Bulletin of the Evangelical Philosophical Society. 5 (1): 11. William F. Luck is Professor of Christian Ethics at Moody Bible Institute, Chicago Illinois. This paper was first delivered as the Presidential Address presented at the national meeting of the Evangelical Philosophical Society, held in December, 1982 at Northeastern Bible College, Essex Fells, New Jersey.
↑ "William Luck". Bible.org. Retrieved November 20, 2023. [Luck] has been an officer of the Evangelical Theological Society and President of the Evangelical Philosophical Society.
↑ "Evangelical Philosophical Society". Bulletin of the Evangelical Philosophical Society. 5 (1): ii. 1982.
↑ "Curriculum Vitae Winfried Corduan: Under Construction over a Lifetime". Win Corduan's Website: and miles to go before I sleep. Retrieved November 20, 2023. Evangelical Philosophical Society Offices: Secretary/Treasurer, 1982-83. Vice president, 1983-84. President, 1984-85.
↑ "Evangelical Philosophical Society". Bulletin of the Evangelical Philosophical Society. 6 (1) (published April 1985): ii. 1983.
1 2 3 "Evangelical Philosophical Society". Bulletin of the Evangelical Philosophical Society. 10 (1) (published March 1988): ii. 1987.
↑ "The Evangelical Philosophical Society". Bulletin of the Evangelical Philosophical Society. 11 (1) (published March 1989): ii. 1988.
↑ "About Dr. Williams". Donald T. Williams. Retrieved November 20, 2023. Evangelical Philosophical Society (Vice President, 1994-95, President, 1995-96)
↑ Matthews, Douglas K. (Summer 1998). "Overture to a Dialog on Hugh Ross". Philosophia Christi (Series 1). 21 (1). Hugh Ross engaged in a lively panel discussion before an overflow crowd at the 1997 Evangelical Philosophical Association [sic] (EPS) national meeting. [...] William Lane Craig devoted his EPS presidential address to Ross's 'extra-dimensional deity.'
↑ Clinton, Stephen M. (Summer 1998). "The Evangelical Philosophical Society". Philosophia Christi (Series 1). 21 (1). Presidents of the Society: Michael Bauman, David Beck, Frank Beckwith, L. Russell Bush, David Clark [elected vice president but not president], Stephen Clinton, Winfried Corduan, William Craig, John Jefferson Davis, Millard Erickson, John Feinberg, Paul Feinberg, Norman Geisler, Douglas Geivett, Gary Habermas, William Johnson, Gordon Lewis, William Luck, Terry Miethe, Stanley Obbits [sic, name is correctly spelled Obitts], Stephen Spencer, Donald Williams.
↑ "The Evangelical Philosophical Society". Evangelical Philosophical Society. Archived from the original on September 9, 1999. Retrieved November 20, 2023. Former Presidents of the Society include Michael Bauman, [W. David Beck mistakenly excluded,] Frank Beckwith, L. Russell Bush, Stephen Clinton, Winfried Corduan, William Craig, John Jefferson Davis, Millard Erickson, John Feinberg, Paul Feinberg, Norman Geisler, Douglas Geivett, Gary Habermas, William Johnson, Gordon Lewis, William Luck, Terry Miethe, Stanley Obbits [sic, name is correctly spelled Obitts], Stephen Spencer, Donald Williams.
↑ "Teaching Them All Things: The Evangelical Theological Society presents its 50th Anniversary Annual Meeting" (PDF). Evangelical Theological Society. p. 45. Evangelical Philosophical Society (EPS) President: David Beck, Liberty University.
↑ Beck, W. David (Winter 2000). "The Cosmological Argument: A Current Bibliographical Appraisal". Philosophia Christi (Series 2). 2 (2). In our recent restructuring of Philosophia Christi, we set aside the tradition of publishing the annual [EPS] presidential address. However, [...] we here present the final address that was delivered [by W. David Beck] at our national meeting in November 1998.
↑ "The Evangelical Philosophical Society Officers". Evangelical Philosophical Society. Archived from the original on September 9, 1999. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
↑ "EPS Officers". Evangelical Philosophical Society. Archived from the original on June 9, 2007. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
↑ "Officers". Evangelical Philosophical Society. Archived from the original on September 22, 2015. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
↑ "Executive Committee". Evangelical Philosophical Society. 3 March 2020. Archived from the original on March 28, 2023. Retrieved November 20, 2023.

Evangelical Philosophical Society

History

Presidents

See also

References

External links

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