Christ the Center

We continue our #VosGroup series in pages 191–194 of Vos’ book Biblical Theology: Old and New Testaments to consider the biblical conception of prophetism. Vos beings by considering critical theories of prophetism based on the term “prophet.” Vos instructs us that all quests for seeking the conception of the prophet in etymology, rather in the teaching of the text, the meaning an...

Ken Golden speaks about the Lord’s Day throughout redemptive-history and what it means to seek our heavenly rest in Christ. In his book,  Entering God’s Rest: The Sabbath from Genesis to Revelation (Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, 2018), Rev. Golden seeks to move beyond a checklist of do’s and don’ts to consider the deeper significance of finding our joy in the Lord. P...

Dr. Lawrence Feingold brings us a Catholic’s perspective on Thomas Aquinas and the important connection between his doctrines of the Eucharist and the Beatific Vision. Dr. Feingold is Associate Professor of Theology and Philosophy at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in St. Louis. He is the author of  The Eucharist: Mystery of Presence, Sacrifice, and Communion and  The Natural Desire to See God Acco...

Jim Cassidy previews his address at the 2018 Reformed Forum conference by speaking about Barth on the analogy of being and the analogy of faith and how his views relate to the theology of Thomas Aquinas. Jim and Camden also speak about Barth’s views of natural theology and how they relate to the views of Cornelius Van Til. This is in response to recent remarks from Dr. Michael Allen on the C...

Dan Ragusa introduces us to the theological method of Petrus Van Mastricht, Dutch Reformed theologian, who maintained consistent Reformed orthodoxy against Cartesian influences. Van Mastricht wrote a polemic against Balthasar Bekker, a critic of paganism but a proponent of Cartesianism. In his polemic, Van Mastricht addresses the issue of Scriptural authority, theological method, and the proper en...

Jeff Waddington previews his address for the 2018 Theology Conference. He speaks about Pseudo-Dionysius, a key influence upon Thomas Aquinas. Dionysius attempted to integrate neoplatonism with Christianity. The result was a Christianization of the great chain of being. Register for the upcoming conference. Reading List Daria Spezzano,  The Glory of God’s Grace: Deification According to St. T...

We discuss how a return to sola scriptura through confessional Reformed theology spares us from the errors of Roman Catholicism and modernism. Reformed covenant theology, broadly considered, is facing a crisis regarding what constitutes “reformed” theology. The situation currently is one of chaos and confusion. Some claim that the way forward is by way of retrieving the theology of Thomas Aquinas,...

Darryl G. Hart, Distinguished Associate Professor of History at Hillsdale College , joins us to speak about his book,  Still Protesting: Why the Reformation Matters   (Reformation Heritage Books). This book addresses the divide between Protestants and Roman Catholics, considering some of the reasons that prompted the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation. It emerges particularly from the context...

We continue our #VosGroup series in pages 187–190 of Vos’ book Biblical Theology: Old and New Testaments to consider the word of God and prophetism. Prophetism is restricted to the word as its instrument. The prophetic ministry was a declarative, spiritual authority of one who speaks and writes in the words of Jehovah himself. There is the closest possible connection, then, between the proph...

Theologians often speak of regeneration, the work of the Holy Spirit to bring someone to the new birth. But the Westminster Standards speak of effectual calling as the work of the Spirit to give people new hearts, enlightening their minds and renewing their wills. Are effectual calling and regeneration the same thing? If not, how do they relate? In this episode, we discuss the relationship between...

Jim Cassidy and Camden Bucey speak about the relationship between the Old Covenant and New Covenant in the epistle to the Hebrews. Moses was a servant in God’s house, but Jesus Christ is a faithful son. Christ is the mediator of a  better  covenant. But we should not conclude that these covenants are unrelated. Indeed, Moses was a servant in God’s house, not a different house...

The impeccability of Christ is an important, though debated point. It involves not only the sinlessness of our savior, but whether it was possible for him to sin. As we consider the issue, we turn to F. W. Kremer’s article, “ The Impeccability of the Lord Jesus Christ ” published in Reformed Quarterly Review , Volume 26, April 1879. We discuss the tendency to consider Christ’s humanity indep...

David Owen Filson joins us to speak about Dr. J. Oliver Buswell, theologian and former president of Wheaton College and Covenant College and Seminary. Buswell was involved with the early modernist-fundamentalist controversy and the founding of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, though he joined the Bible Presbyterian Church when it split with the fledgling OPC over premillennialism and teetotalism....

We continue our #VosGroup series in pages 185–188 of Vos’ book Biblical Theology: Old and New Testaments to consider the unfolding of God’s plan as it moves from the period under Moses to that of the prophets. Prophetism marks an epochal movement in OT revelation. In other words, the “new happenings” of God’s mighty deeds in redemptive revelation bring enduring advancement toward consu...

Pierce Taylor Hibbs speaks about language and the Trinity. His book,  The Trinity, Language, and Human Behavior: A Reformed Exposition of the Language Theory of Kenneth L. Pike   is available in P&R Publishing’s Reformed Academic Dissertations series. Hibbs describes Kenneth Pike’s linguistic theory and compares it to the theology of Cornelius Van Til, demonstrating shared Trinitar...

In this episode, we speak about the free offer of the gospel. The real point in dispute in connection with the free offer of the gospel is whether it can properly be said that God desires the salvation of all men. This issue was related to several theological controversies of the 1940s and stemming back decades earlier. Much of this particular issue comes the split of 1924 within the Christian Ref...

The first paragraph of chapter twenty-nine in the Westminster Confession of Faith sets forth the institution of Lord’s Supper and the uses and ends for which it is designed: Our Lord Jesus, in the night wherein he was betrayed, instituted the sacrament of his body and blood, called the Lord’s Supper, to be observed in his church, unto the end of the world, for the perpetual remembrance of the sacr...

We continue our #VosGroup series in pages 175–182 of Vos’ book Biblical Theology: Old and New Testaments to consider ancestor worship and animism before moving to a summary of Part I of the entire book and specifically, revelation during the period of Moses. The movement from the Abrahamic to the Mosaic is a movement from lesser to greater directness of access to God. This “greater access” a...

We speak with Dr. Stephen G. Myers about Ebenezer Erskine and the important events of Presbyterian history with which he was involved. Dr. Myers is Professor of Historical Theology at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In his book, Scottish Federalism and Covenantalism in Transition: The Theology of Ebenezer Erskine , he touches upon many significant issues, including...

William VanDoodewaard speaks to us about Martin Bucer, John Knox, and the development of pastoral care during the Reformation. Dr. VanDoodewaard is professor of church history at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He is the author of  1 & 2 Peter: Feed My Sheep (Welwyn Commentary Series),   The Quest for the Historical Adam ,  and  The Marrow Controversy and Seced...

Bill Dennison speaks about Karl Marx, leading us through his biography, influences, and his intellectual effects upon social and political history. Dr. Dennison is Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at Covenant College and the author of Karl Marx   in P&R Publishing’s Great Thinkers series. Participants: Bill Dennison , Camden Bucey , Jeff Waddington

Jonathan Gibson and Mark Earngey speak about Reformation worship . Their new book Reformation Worship: Liturgies from the Past for the Present , is an irenic plea for the Church (and especially her ministers) to engage again in the two-millennia-old question: “How then shall we worship?” Along with chapters on the Scriptural and historical basis for Reformed worship, Gibson and Earngey...

Hebrews 6 has been a challenging passage to interpret for ages. What does it mean to fall away? What is the specific nature of the apostasy? Do majority interpretations do justice to all the features of the text? In this episode, we present a redemptive-historical interpretation of the text, identifying the apostasy as a desire for New Covenant members to revert to the Old Covenant. In effect, suc...

Camden Bucey and Jim Cassidy discuss Lamentations, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah. The overwhelming message of these books is “strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,” as Thomas O. Chisholm wrote in the hymn “Great Is Thy Faithfulness.” He based his beloved hymn upon Lamentations 3:22–23: “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning;...

Alan Strange speaks about the doctrine of the spirituality of the church in the ecclesiology of Charles Hodge and how it was formed in the years leading up to and during the American Civil War. Dr. Strange’s dissertation on the topic has been published in P&R Publishing’s Reformed Academic Dissertations series as The Doctrine of the Spirituality of the Church in the Ecclesiology of...