Greystone Conversations

What is the future of Reformed theology? Or what might we pray and hope that it will be? In Episode 75 of Greystone Conversations, we continue to mark the 10th anniversary of the Institute with another special episode. From the beginning, Greystone has endeavored to commend and advance the tradition of confessional Reformed catholicity, and much of that effort has been a work of recovery, not only...

As Greystone celebrates 10 years, listen in to this unscripted, unusually personal episode as Pastor Jesse Crutchley asks Greystone founding President Dr. Mark A. Garcia questions about the Institute’s origin story, challenges and blessings, and next steps. Also, be the first to hear the big announcement of Greystone’s inaugural capital campaign, “Further Together.”

Once more we ask: how might it affect our perception and appreciation of the Anglican Formularies and the Anglican tradition if we were to ask what contribution that tradition makes to the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church, instead of thinking of it as a relatively isolated, even insulated church tradition? At Greystone, we embrace our confessional Reformed identity and practice, but we do...

How might it affect our perception and appreciation of the Continental Reformed tradition if we were to ask what contribution that tradition makes to the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church, instead of thinking of it as a relatively isolated, even insulated church tradition? At Greystone, we embrace our confessional Reformed identity and practice, but we do so somewhat differently than what...

How might it affect our perception and appreciation of Westminster Presbyterianism if we were to ask what contribution Presbyterianism makes to the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church, instead of thinking of it as a relatively isolated, even insulated church tradition? At Greystone, we embrace our confessional Reformed identity and practice, but we do so somewhat differently than what has be...

What are the roles of church councils in the overall faith and life of God’s people? Is there more to say than simply to note their importance for the history of theology? Are they infallible or fallible, antiquated or still viable options for resolving disagreements in the church?  To discuss these questions and more, Dr. Mark A. Garcia is joined by Dr. Todd Rester, associate professor of church...

What would you write to your adult children about the good life? Would it strike the modern notes of making the most of yourself and your abilities, seizing every opportunity, making a difference in the world? Or would it focus on the beauty and goodness of our created and providentially given limits, personally and relationally? This is the question that prompted Ephraim Radner’s most recent book...

In our day, while biblical and theological studies certainly continue to abound, questions about the traditional Christian understanding of the atonement are not primarily focused on the question is it biblical. Nor are they focused on whether it is theologically coherent. Instead, they are driven by a concern that it may be violent, and whether that is or is not biblical or theologically coherent...

What if preaching is not only to be carried out with humility, but is also itself a humble form of the Word of God in power? Augustine is known mostly for his large and profound theological treatises, but how can this most influential of theologians also teach us about the urgency of humility as a mode of preaching to humble people? In today's Greystone Conversations episode, Dr. Mark A. Garc...

What might it look like to refuse generalizations about faithful pastoral ministry and allow the people and context of actual ministerial labor to inform the measure of faithfulness? At Greystone, we make much of the ordinary sources of wisdom in God’s Word and ways. But by “ordinary” we don’t mean something less valuable or less important. In fact, we mean the opposite. It is in the ordinary (and...

Today’s Greystone Conversations episode is taken from Greystone’s upcoming Summer module, Domestic Violence in Theology & Pastoral Ministry —a module which, in many respects, might be among the most unexpected for a theology institute dedicated to the advancement of Reformed theology in the mode of Reformed catholicity. The unexpected topic of this module highlights one of the challenges the C...

How might a thematic analysis of Jeremiah, particularly the theme of the faithless bride, help pastors better serve their churches? What can Christians learn about the futility and dangers of sin by studying the Book of Jeremiah, and how might this theme of the faithless bride lead us to a deeper appreciation of Jesus Christ? Jeremiah’s confrontation with Israel over their faithlessness is still v...

To an extent which must be amusing to some, surprising to others, and perhaps even a bit unsettling to still others, all year long Greystone seems to be asking the question, what time is it? Is this a question the Scriptures themselves invite us to ask? From Genesis forward, including the long history of the Church since Pentecost, the people of God have recognized, confessed, and taught the theol...

In today’s episode of Greystone Conversations, we conclude to our conversation regarding craftsmanship and workmanship, and consider what might account for the resurgence of interest in craftmanship and the trades. This is the final episode in our five part series. For today’s Greystone Conversations episode, Dr. Mark A. Garcia is joined by Mr. Michael Sacasas and Mr. Joshua Klein, both fellows at...

In today’s episode of Greystone Conversations, we return to our conversation regarding craftsmanship and workmanship, and consider the ethics of workmanship in skill, perception, and habit. This is the forth episode in our five part series. For today’s Greystone Conversations episode, Dr. Mark A. Garcia is joined by Mr. Michael Sacasas and Mr. Joshua Klein, both fellows at Greystone who will be in...

In today’s episode of Greystone Conversations, we return to our conversation regarding craftsmanship and workmanship, and consider today the ends in view of such a theory of workmanship we have endeavored to express. This is the third episode in our five part series. For today’s Greystone Conversations episode, Dr. Mark A. Garcia is joined by Mr. Michael Sacasas and Mr. Joshua Klein, both fellows...

In today’s episode of Greystone Conversations, we return to our conversation regarding craftsmanship and workmanship, and consider today the special significance of David Pye to our overall interest in this series. This is the second episode in our five part series, and today we want to consider the very definition of craftsmanship and the larger discussion that that has long been a part of and wh...

Welcome to Greystone Conversations and the first episode in this special series focused on explaining and commending an exciting new initiative at Greystone Theological Institute, which in one way is rather unique and in other ways is deeply traditional. And as you have perhaps come to expect, or at least we hope you have come to expect, the combination of something that is new with something that...

It is trendy these days to be disruptive. Though it is a word that may seem to refer to a negative reality, “disruptive” is a word used in business, academic, and in many other contexts to refer to an upset that is needed and salutary. Is there a sense in which the concept and language of disruption may help the Church capture something important about her identity and nature, and how does the ans...

The form of the Word belongs to the meaning of the Word, and this includes its providentially ordered literary presentation. How do the Church’s ways of dividing up the Scriptures inform the way the Church has heard and read the Scriptures? We at Greystone were very pleased to speak recently with Prof. Charles (Chuck) Hill, Professor Emeritus of New Testament and Early Christianity at Reformed The...

Today we reflect on death, courage, and eschatology. Death and eschatology are often connected, of course, but courage takes its shape in relation to both of them. The questions that may elucidate the relationship could be put this way: How do my occasional experiences of great loss or of major life changes help prepare me for my death? Where is courage in that picture? And is there a relationship...

What is the form and dynamic of faithful ministry and theology in a contested time? And in what ways might those with Reformed Anglican sympathies appreciate and capitalize upon the very best of that tradition without falling for Anglo-catholicism? Perhaps surprisingly, both of these questions come together in one figure: the famous Archbishop of Armaugh, James Ussher. On 30 October at Greystone C...

How should we understand the psalmists who teach that God tests the kidneys and the heart? Who make much of our eyes, ears, and more, in an overtly spiritual and theological way? What is the anatomy of the soul according to the Psalms, which, it has been said, provides an organ recital of the ways of God’s relationship with people? Today’s episode is quite different from our usual offerings. Last...

There is a beautiful mystery in the fact that we often think of certain novels and poems in terms of our experiences at the time we first read them. This is both appropriate and fascinating, especially when second and third readings of the same literature yield further layers of our experiences with them. We are reminded, then, that we are biographical creatures, storied creatures, and that storie...

One way in which the biblical-theological work of Geerhardus Vos in the late 19th and early 20th century differed from what then and since has been called biblical theology was Vos’s commitment to the vertical dimension of history and revelation in relationship: by the vertical we mean that revelation is not limited to, exhausted by, or even primarily focused on the horizontal, historical, sequent...