Dr. Jordan J. Ballor, senior research fellow and director of publishing for the Acton Institute, joins us to speak about Abraham Kuyper's public theology. Dr. Ballor is a general editor of Abraham Kuyper's Collected Works on Public Theology published by Lexham Press. Kuyper was something of a polymath/renaissance man. Along with being an influential theologian and also a journalist, he served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands between 1901 and 1905. He established the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands, which upon its foundation became the second largest Reformed denomination in the country behind the state-supported Dutch Reformed Church.

Jordan J. Ballor (Dr. theol., University of Zurich; PhD, Calvin Theological Seminary) is a senior research fellow and director of publishing at the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion & Liberty. He is also a postdoctoral researcher in theology and economics at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam as part of the "What Good Markets Are Good For" project. 

This week on Theology Simply Profound, Rob and Bob discuss the subject of holiness with portions of J. C. Ryle's classic book, Holiness: Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties, and Roots.

Matthew Patton speaks about his book, Basics of Hebrew Discourse: A Guide to Working with Hebrew Prose and Poetry (Zondervan Academic, 2019). Dr. Patton is pastor of Covenant Presbyterian Church (OPC) in Vandalia, Ohio.

This book, written by Matthew H. Patton, Frederic Clarke Putnam, and Miles V. Van Pelt, is a syntax resource for intermediate Hebrew students. This Basics book introduces students to the principles and exegetical benefits of discourse analysis (text linguistics) when applied to biblical Hebrew prose and poetry. Where standard Hebrew reference grammars have traditionally worked to describe the relationship between words and phrases within discrete clauses (micro syntax), discourse analysis works to describe those relationships that exist between clauses and texts (macro syntax).

This resource fills a needed gap for intermediate Hebrew students and gives them the tools to work with Hebrew syntax on the macro level. Professors and pastors working with Hebrew will also find this one-of-a-kind resource highly valuable.

While students of Hebrew will certainly gain from Patton's work, listeners will gain a deeper understanding of the Bible and tools for studying it in the English language as well.

This week on Theology Simply Profound, Bob begins reading the 1922 edition of Grace and Glory, a collection of sermons delivered at Princeton Theological Seminary by Geerhardus Vos. The first of these sermons is on Hosea 14:8, "The Wonderful Tree."

Carlton Wynne and Charles Williams speak about the new edition of Herman Bavinck's The Wonderful Works of God published by Westminster Seminary Press. The book was first published in English under the title, Our Reasonable Faith. The new edition is re-typeset and includes an introduction by Dr. Wynne, Bavinck's original introduction translated by Nathaniel Gray Sutanto, and helpful indices collected by Charles Williams.

Carlton Wynne is associate professor of systematic theology and apologetics at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, PA.

Charles Williams is pastor of Bethel Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Wheaton, Illinois.

Shawn Ritenour, Professor of Economics at Grove City College, speaks about the basics of economics and the Christian principles upon which the study must be based. Dr. Ritenour is the author of Foundations of Economics: A Christian View (Wipf & Stock).

In episode 81, Joel Fick leads us in a study of the birth of Moses. He demonstrates a model of preaching Christ not based upon merely noting a few parallels between an Old Testament character and the life of Christ, but based upon deep theological themes and direct scriptural references.

We turn to pages 224–229 of Vos’s book, Biblical Theology, to speak about the intra-mental state of the prophet, by which Vos means to inquire into “how the soul felt and reacted under the things shown within the vision” (p. 224).

Far too much attention has been given to what is represented by the Greek term ecstasis. The term served first as a translation of the Hebrew tardemah (cf. Gen. 2:21 with Adam and Genesis 15:12 with Abram). In Adam’s case, there is no visionary state. In Abram’s case, there is such a vision (expound the theology of the theophany). But tardemah does not throw any light on Abram’s state of mind.

Ecstasis, on the other hand, has a very definite conception in Greek consciousness that leads in the direction of error. That conception is that of “insanity or mania” and was applied to the oracular process—the process of receiving visions and the resultant state in which it put the seer-prophet. This led to a close association between the prophet and some feature of instability—some manic tendency that seems inherent to the process of receiving a vision.

Vos points us to God's inspired, inerrant, and infallible revelation in history, which does not bypass the human mind or allow the recipient to escape his humanity, but elevates him to greater communion with God.