Christ the Center

This week, Dr. Gregg Allison gives an evangelical perspective of Roman Catholic theology. In his recent book, Roman Catholic Theology and Practice: An Evangelical Assessment , Dr. Allison considers major aspects of Roman Catholic theology, using the recent Catechism of the Catholic Church as his guide. The relationship of nature and grace, Christ’s connection to his church, and the seven sac...

While the Bible is not a history book in the sense that it’s also not a science book or a theology book, it certainly  is  historical. But what does that mean for biblical interpretation? In this episode we dive into chapter one of V. Philips Long’s The Art of Biblical History , which is titled, “History and the Genre(s) of the Bible: Is the Bible a History Book?” This is a fascinating...

The Christ the Center panel discusses the book of Hebrews, the brief letter of exhortation. The participants look at the main argument of the letter, the superiority of Christ and the new covenant to the old covenant and its priests and sacrificial system. The redemptive historical nature of the discourse is considered as are the major warnings in Hebrews 6 and 10. At the end of the day, Hebrews g...

Dr. Vern Poythress comes to the program today to speak about his book,  Redeeming Philosophy . In today’s discussion, Dr. Poythress helps us examine the roots of Western philosophy, uncover some of its limitations, and find answers to our questions in dependence upon God’s word. Dr. Poythress is the author of a number of books , including  Redeeming Science , In the Beginning Was the W...

Dr. Lane Tipton is back for Vos Group #11, considering chapter 6 of Geerhardus Vos’  Biblical Theology , “The Period Between Noah and the Great Patriarchs.” This week we look at part 2 of the chapter, points 3,  The division of tongues , and 4,  The election of the Shemites to furnish the bearers of redemption and revelation  (pp. 59-65). Roughly each month, Lane and Camden will...

James W. Scott speaks about the question of whether Machen himself wrote a history of the Presbyterian conflict that led to his defrocking, and accidentally, his death. His articles “Machen’s Lost Work on the Presbyterian Conflict,” Parts 1 and 2, introduce the idea that Edwin Rian’s book,  The Presbyterian Conflict , drew on heretofore undiscovered work by Machen himself....

This Reformation Day, Pastor Glen Clary speaks about Ulrich Zwingli, leader in the reform of Christian worship at the time of the Reformation. Pastor Clary highlights “the affair of the sausages” in which Zwingli took a bold stand for the unique authority of Scripture.  Sola Scriptura! And happy Reformation Day! Rev. Clary is the Associate Pastor of Providence OPC, Austin (Pflugerville...

Dr. Vern Poythress joins us to discuss divine and human authorship, in connection with his recent article in the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society (JETS), “Dispensing with Merely Human Meaning: Gains and Losses from Focusing on the Human Author, Illustrated by Zephaniah 1:2-3.”  The major emphasis in current biblical scholarship is upon the Bible’s human authors comp...

Reformed Forum kicks off their 2014 Theology Conference with a live recording of  Christ the Center . In this special episode, Lane G. Tipton speaks about the differences Christotelism and Christocentrism with regard to biblical hermeneutics. A debate has been raging for several years, and the panel seeks to clarify the issues and what is at stake. Links Christ the Center, episode 186: Redemptive...

Camden Bucey and Jim Cassidy discuss the significance of the Reformation in its own time and its continuing relevance for today. The European Reformations ,  Carter Lindberg Reformed Forum’s first theology conference begin’s today, and the conference talks will be livestreamed here . Participants: Camden Bucey , Jim Cassidy

Dr. Lane Tipton returns for Vos Group #10, to speak about the first two points of chapter six of Vos’  Biblical Theology   (pp. 56-59). The first point of chapter six is  The prophetic deliverances of Noah [Gen. 9:20-27],  and  The table of the nations . Roughly each month, Lane and Camden will work through the pages of Vos’  Biblical Theology . While Vos’ book is foundational, it’s tough fo...

Christ the Center regular Dr. Jim Cassidy discusses the present state of Calvinism in evangelical Christianity. Following up on a previous Christ the Center and Reformed Forum blog post , Dr. Cassidy highlights some of his concerns for the contemporary Calvinistic movement. Links John Piper’s lecture  from the 2014 WTS Gaffin lecture. Collin Hansen’s book, Young, Restless, Reformed: A...

Drs. Michael J. Kruger and Charles E. Hill speak about a book to which Dr. Hill contributed, How God Became Jesus: The Real Origins of Belief in Jesus’ Divine Nature , a response to Bart D. Ehrman’s How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee .  The thesis of Dr. Ehrman’s book is that the doctrine of Jesus’ divinity was an early accretion onto the...

Dr. Lane Tipton joins us to speak about the rest of chapter 5 (pgs. 51-55) of Geerhardus Vos’s  Biblical Theology, “The Noachian Revelation and the Development Leading Up to It.” In this portion, Vos explains the significance of the Noahic covenant in its common application to the blessed line of Seth and even to the cursed line of Ham. Roughly each month, Lane and Camden will wo...

Drs. Michael Haykin and Jeffrey Robinson Sr. join us to speak about John Calvin and Calvinism’s legacy in missions. Their book To the Ends of the Earth: Calvin’s Missional Vision and Legacy explores John Calvin’s theology concerning missions, the history of his involvement in foreign missions, and the influence of other Calvinistic missionaries of later times. Dr. Haykin  is Prof...

The Christ the Center panel discuss Edward J. Young’s “ The Origin of the Suffering Servant Idea .” While Isaiah 53’s well-known figure bears similarities to the myths of “dying and rising gods” in other ancient near east cultures, none of those figures is quite like the suffering servant of that chapter, which is the Lord Jesus Christ. E. J. Young, “ The...

Several contributors are on location in Green Lake, Wisconsin as we discuss the practice of ecclesiology. Although ecclesiology is one of the traditional  loci  of systematic theology, it is often under-studied and even under-appreciated. Even if we do study the subject thoroughly, we can fail to put biblical ecclesiology into practice as we ought. In this episode we discuss the practical importan...

Once again, we are joined by Dr. Marcus Johnson, author of  One with Christ : An Evangelical Theology of Salvation . This time Dr. Johnson spells out the implications of the doctrine of union with Christ for the application of salvation and for Christ’s body, the church. For the first part of our interview with Dr. Johnson, click here . Dr. Johnson is Associate Professor of Theology at Moody...

Dr. Marcus Johnson speaks about  One with Christ : An Evangelical Theology of Salvation , his recent book, published by Crossway. While many books have been published recently on the topic of union with Christ, Dr. Johnson’s book stands out for its up-to-date analysis and unique approach.  One with Christ charts a via media between federalist and realist approaches to the doctrine of union w...

This week, Dr. Lane Tipton leads  Christ the Center’ s “Vos Group” through chapter 5 of Geerhardus Vos’s  Biblical Theology, “The Noachian Revelation and the Development Leading Up to It.” In the first part of the chapter, pages 45-51, Vos explores the significance of the Canaanites and the Sethites in the biblical story, prior to Noah. Next time, we will discus...

Camden Bucey, Jeff Waddington, and Bob Tarullo tackle listeners’ questions this week, concerning redemptive-historical hermeneutics and preaching as well as apologetic arguments. Please send in your own questions which we can address in a later episode! Our last Listener Feedback episode was Christ the Center episode 317 . Participants: Camden Bucey , Jeff Waddington , Robert Tarullo

Dr. Chad B. Van Dixhoorn visits Christ the Center to speak about his forthcoming book, Confessing the Faith: A Reader’s Guide to the Westminster Confession   (Banner of Truth Trust, 2014). The book is a thorough help for understanding the Westminster Confession, useful for pastors and for Christians seeking to deepen their knowledge of Reformed doctrine. Today, Dr. Van Dixhoorn discusses questions...

The seventh episode of Vos Group, we arrive at chapter 4 of Geerhardus Vos’  Biblical Theology , with Lane Tipton and Camden Bucey. Having completed discussion of pre-redemptive special revelation, Vos moves to consideration of the first redemptive special revelation, which includes three curses , mention of the seed of both the woman and of the serpent, and prophecy of human suffering . Par...

Nancy Guthrie joins us to talk about seeing the Lord Jesus in the Old Testament prophets.  The Word of the Lord: Seeing Jesus in the Prophets  is the fifth in her Seeing Jesus in the Old Testament  series, and in it she explores everything from the suffering servant of Isaiah and the love of the prophet Hosea for his unfaithful wife, to Daniel’s stone that crushes every human kingdom and Eze...

Bryan Winter discusses the relationship between Dutch immigrants and the American Presbyterian Church, particularly as seen in the ministry of the Dutch secessionist minister, Peter Zonne. Winter is an attorney who practices law in Lake County, Illinois and serves as a Deacon at Hope OPC in Grayslake. Mr. Winter’s yet unpublished paper on Zonne details how Zonne uniquely led his congregation...