Christ the Center

In this episode of Christ the Center , Camden Bucey welcomes Matthew Adams, senior pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Dillon, South Carolina, to discuss his book Act Like a Man: Understanding the Biblical Call to Masculinity , published by Christian Focus. Adams argues for a vision of manhood grounded in Scripture and formed by the Holy Spirit rather than by cultural capitulation, reactionary...

We welcome Matthew Vogan to discuss The Nature of the Church by John Brown of Wamphray, a concise seventeenth-century work on Presbyterian ecclesiology republished by Grange Press. Brown, a Scottish Covenanter exiled to the Netherlands, wrote with deep conviction about Christ's headship over the church, the visible and invisible church, church government, discipline, unity, and the distinction bet...

We welcome Dr. Michael Mock to discuss his D.Min. dissertation on John Calvin's pastoral counseling through his correspondence. Drawing from Calvin's letters, Mock shows how the Reformer cared for people amid grief, anxiety, marital conflict, abuse, persecution, and suffering with theological depth and compassion. The conversation challenges the caricature of Calvin as cold or detached, highlighti...

In this special on-location episode of  Christ the Center , Camden Bucey visits Gießen, Germany, to explore a remarkable work of confessional Reformed renewal. Through conversations with Johann, Lukas Strauß, and Philip Paul, listeners are introduced to the Academy for Reformed Theology, a growing seminary that serves students across German-speaking Europe through a hybrid model of in-person inten...

In this episode, Camden Bucey welcomes David T. Irving, President of Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi, for a rich conversation on Irving's dissertation,  Mississippi's Greatest Minister: A Historical Study of Cornelius W. Grafton's 61-Year Pastorate, 1873–1934 . Before turning to Grafton, they discuss Irving's recent transition into seminary leadership and the growing pastoral...

In this concluding installment of Vos Group's extended journey through Geerhardus Vos's  Biblical Theology: Old and New Testaments , Camden Bucey and Lane Tipton reflect on one of the most significant themes in Vos's account of redemptive history: the relationship between the kingdom of God and the church. Focusing especially on Matthew 16 and Jesus's promise, "I will build my church," they explai...

In this episode of  Christ the Center , we welcome Donald John MacLean, President of  Westminster Seminary UK  and trustee of the  Banner of Truth Trust , for a rich conversation on James Walker's  The Theology and Theologians of Scotland . Their discussion begins with an update on  Westminster Seminary UK's  move to Oxford and the remarkable ministry of the Reformed Colloquium in Budapest, where...

Pastoral ministry requires more than competence, productivity, or weekly sermon preparation. It requires deep theological roots and the kind of real friendship that helps a man endure, grow, and remain faithful over time. In this conversation, Camden Bucey is joined by Derrick Brite and Sean Morris to explore why theological formation and pastoral brotherhood are essential for long-term ministry h...

In this episode of Christ the Center, Camden Bucey speaks with Lee Hutchings and Ben Kappers about the work of planting ordinary means of grace churches and learning to trust Christ to build his church. Drawing from their ministry experience in North Canton, Ohio, and St. George, Utah, they reflect on the challenges of church planting, the slow and often hidden nature of growth, and the need to re...

In this episode of Christ the Center , Camden Bucey and Lane Tipton continue their study of Geerhardus Vos's Biblical Theology . Turning to Vos's treatment of the kingdom of God and the church, they explore the importance of Caesarea Philippi, Peter's confession, and Christ's promise, "I will build my church." Lane explains why Vos sees this moment as a decisive redemptive-historical transition: t...

Why has the doctrine of adoption received so little attention in Reformed theology? In this live episode of Christ the Center , Camden Bucey is joined by Jonathan Master and Matt Holst at Shiloh Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Raleigh, North Carolina, to discuss John L. Girardeau's rich and pastoral treatment of adoption. The conversation explores why adoption should not be collapsed into justific...

What is a Presbyterian? Is Presbyterianism merely a style of church government, or is it a coherent biblical and theological system? In this episode we welcome Matthew Adams and Ben Ratliff for a lively conversation on Presbyterian identity, church government, and why polity still matters. The discussion begins with Matt Adams's article, " Grassroots Presbyterianism ≠ Congregationalism ," and expa...

In this special crossover episode—recorded at Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary —Camden Bucey joins Jonathan Master, President of Greenville Seminary, for a conversation on the life, method, and enduring relevance of Geerhardus Vos (1862–1949). Vos stands as a remarkable bridge figure: Dutch by birth, deeply shaped by continental Reformed theology and close friendship with Herman Bavinc...

In a culture saturated with self-help strategies, identity politics, and the language of "manifesting," where do Christians turn for a stable, coherent sense of self? On this episode of Christ the Center , Camden Bucey sits down with pastor and author Justin N. Poythress to explore the deep theological roots of the identity crisis plaguing our age. Drawing from his new book, Who Am I? And What Am...

Dr. Robert Letham joins Lane Tipton and Camden Bucey to discuss Dr. Letham’s recent book The Eternal Son (P&R Publishing). Their conversation presses into a simple but urgent claim: Christology is not a side department of theology—it is the living center. When the church loses clarity about who the Son is, the gospel itself becomes unclear because salvation depends on the identity of the Savio...

In this episode, Dan Ragusa speaks about Letters from America (Reformed Forum). Between 1935 and 1940, Cornelius Van Til (1895–1987) wrote twenty-four letters from America for the Dutch magazine De Reformatie at the invitation of its editor Klaas Schilder (1890–1952). Daniel Ragusa’s translation presents these letters in English for the first time. Letters from America opens a window into a critic...

In this episode, we continue engaging Geerhardus Vos’s treatment of repentance and the righteousness of the kingdom. The discussion begins by clarifying the close relationship between faith and repentance: Both are saving graces, sovereignly gifted by God, inseparably joined in conversion, yet not identical. Faith uniquely receives and rests upon Christ for justification, while repentance—though n...

In this episode, Nick Bullock, senior pastor of  Christ Church (PCA)  in New Braunfels, Texas, joins Camden Bucey and Jim Cassidy to discuss an upcoming conference themed "Thy Word is Truth" (February 27–March 1, 2026) and, more importantly, why a sturdy doctrine of Scripture is not a luxury but a necessity for the church. They explore how Scripture's authority undergirds every other theological c...

In this episode we welcome church historian Stephen O. Presley to explore the life, theology, and enduring relevance of Irenaeus of Lyons. Writing in the latter half of the second century, Irenaeus emerges not merely as a polemicist against Gnosticism but as a deeply pastoral theologian—one whose doctrine, biblical interpretation, and ecclesial commitments were inseparably bound to the life of the...

In this episode of Christ the Center , Camden Bucey and Lane Tipton discuss a deceptively brief but theologically weighty section of Geerhardus Vos’s Biblical Theology , exploring Jesus’s critique of first-century Jewish ethics. Far from addressing merely surface-level moral failures, Vos shows that Jesus exposes a deeper religious collapse—one marked by practical deism and pervasive self-centered...

In this episode of Christ the Center , we welcome Josiah Leinbach to discuss William Whitaker’s A Disputation on Holy Scripture —a monumental sixteenth-century defense of sola Scriptura , newly edited and republished by Prolego Press. Written in 1588 against leading Roman Catholic theologians such as Robert Bellarmine, Whitaker’s work offers a comprehensive treatment of Scripture’s authority, cano...

In this episode, Camden Bucey and Marcus Mininger reflect together on Resurrection and Redemption by Richard B. Gaffin Jr.—a work that has profoundly shaped Reformed biblical theology over the past half century. Rather than offering a technical review, the conversation unfolds as a guided meditation on the book’s central claim: Christ’s resurrection is not a theological afterthought but the contro...

Dr. C. N. Willborn, pastor of Covenant PCA in Oak Ridge, Tennessee , speaks about the life, ministry, and enduring theological legacy of John Lafayette Girardeau—a figure often hidden in the shadow of Thornwell and Dabney, yet towering in pastoral warmth, covenant theology, and confessional clarity. Girardeau emerges as a remarkably gifted scholar, a pastor deeply loved by both enslaved and free B...

As Christ the Center closes out another year of weekly theological conversation, this special episode reflects on God’s faithfulness throughout 2025 by revisiting the most-watched and most-listened-to episodes of the year. Drawing from YouTube engagement, Camden Bucey highlights ten conversations that resonated deeply with listeners—spanning biblical exegesis, redemptive-historical interpretation,...

In this conversation from Austin, Jim Cassidy, Lane Tipton, and Camden Bucey reflect on the abiding value of the Westminster Shorter Catechism as a tool for cultivating a God-centered, covenantally rich, and confessionally rooted Christian life. The discussion highlights Jim’s new book, Introducing the Faith: A Study of the Westminster Shorter Catechism , which serves as a written complement to hi...