Reformed Forum (Christ the Center)

Carlton Wynne takes us on a journey through modern theology as we turn our attention to the theology of Wolfhart Pannenberg.

Direct download: ctc377.mp3
Category:Christ the Center -- posted at: 6:01pm CDT

Vern Poythress explains how the Triune God of the Bible is the foundation for mathematics.

Direct download: ctc376.mp3
Category:Christ the Center -- posted at: 6:00pm CDT

Lane Tipton and Camden Bucey discuss the patriarch Abraham as they turn to pp. 76–81 of Geerhardus Vos's book Biblical Theology: Old and New Testaments.

Direct download: ctc375.mp3
Category:Christ the Center -- posted at: 4:37pm CDT

Michael Allen and Scott Swain discuss whether Christians and churches be both catholic and Reformed. In their book Reformed Catholicity: The Promise of Retrieval for Theology and Biblical Interpretation (Baker Academic), Allen and Swain suggest Reformed Christians can commit not only to the ultimate authority of Scripture but also to receiving Scripture within the context of the apostolic church. This manifesto presents a case that to be Reformed means to go deeper into true catholicity rather than away from it. At the same time, it means holding fast to sola Scriptura.

Michael Allen is Associate Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology and Dean of Students and Scott Swain is Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and Academic Dean at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Florida.

Direct download: ctc374.mp3
Category:Christ the Center -- posted at: 9:48am CDT

Throughout history, Genesis 6 has puzzled Bible interpreters. Who are the sons of God? Are they human royalty? Angelic beings? Demons? And who are the daughters of men? Did the union of these two produce demigod offspring who would plague the land? Rita F. Cefalu joins us to bring clarity to this discussion. Ms. Cefalu has written an excellent article, "Royal Priestly Heirs to the Restoration Promise of Genesis 3:15: A Biblical Theological Perspective on the Sons of God in Genesis 6" published in the Westminster Theological Journal. Building upon Meredith Kline, but offering her own interpretation on the matter, Ms. Cefalu provides a thorough and compelling treatment of this difficult passage.

Ms. Cefalu is Adjunct Assistant Professor of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of San Diego. She is a graduate of Westminster Seminary California (MA Theological Studies), Wheaton Graduate School, and a PhD candidate at Queens University Belfast.

6:1 When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown. (Genesis 6:1–4, English Standard Version)

Direct download: ctc373.mp3
Category:Christ the Center -- posted at: 7:09pm CDT

Lane Tipton and Camden Bucey speak about theophanies before turning  to pages 72–76 of Geerhardus Vos's Biblical Theology to speak about the Angel of Jehovah, or the Angel of the Lord. The presence of the Angel punctuates epochal moments in covenant history, and his presence is critical during the patriarchal period. Camden's article, "The Lord and His Messengers: Toward a Trinitarian Interpretation of Malachi 3:1–4," which was mentioned during the program, was published in The Confessional Presbyterian, Volume 7 (2011).

Direct download: ctc371.mp3
Category:Christ the Center -- posted at: 7:00pm CDT

Jim Cassidy, Glen Clary, and Camden Bucey peruse the tenth edition of the Confessional Presbyterian Journal. While they discuss the general contents of the issue, Glen Clary also speaks in some depth about his book on Reformed liturgy and the nature of the Church.

Direct download: ctc372.mp3
Category:Christ the Center -- posted at: 8:16pm CDT

Donald Macleod brings decades of preaching and teaching to this conversation regarding the atonement. Dr. Macleod has written a superb book on the subject titled Christ Crucified: Understanding the Atonement (IVP Academic).

Direct download: ctc370.mp3
Category:Christ the Center -- posted at: 8:15pm CDT

Jim Cassidy sits down with John Shaw to speak about Reformed church planting. Rev. Shaw is the General Secretary for the Committee on Home Missions and Church Extension in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.

Direct download: ctc369.mp3
Category:Christ the Center -- posted at: 8:14pm CDT

Nathaniel Gray Sutanto reexamines the argument from consciousness as he offers a covenantal apologetic crticism of common-sense realism.

Direct download: ctc368.mp3
Category:Christ the Center -- posted at: 7:55pm CDT

Building upon Geerhardus Vos's foundational essay "The Eschatological Aspect of the Pauline Conception of the Spirit" Dr. Lane Tipton develops the role of the Spirit with regard to redemptive history, the law and soteriology. Vos remarks that the core of Paul’s eschatology lies in the sphere of the Spirit. The Spirit, given to the resurrected Christ, inaugurates the eschatological age of the world to come. This world to come is realized climactically in the resurrection of Christ as the firstfruits of the one great resurrection of harvest in the Spirit.

Direct download: ctc367.mp3
Category:Christ the Center -- posted at: 4:15pm CDT

Lane Tipton and Camden Bucey open the beginning portion of the seventh chapter in Vos's Biblical Theology looking at Biblical criticism and theophany.

Direct download: ctc366.mp3
Category:Christ the Center -- posted at: 8:39pm CDT

In our final episode of the year, we take a look back at some of the best moments of 2014.

Direct download: ctc365.mp3
Category:Christ the Center -- posted at: 8:38pm CDT

Bruce Baugus speaks about the history and current state of missions in China with a focus on Reformed ecclesiology.

Direct download: ctc364.mp3
Category:Christ the Center -- posted at: 8:48pm CDT

Gregg Allison provides a helpful overview of official Roman Catholic teaching with the goal of helping evangelicals to understand the Catholic Church more deeply and accurately.

Direct download: ctc363.mp3
Category:Christ the Center -- posted at: 8:35pm CDT

Direct download: ctc362.mp3
Category:Christ the Center -- posted at: 7:40pm CDT

We open the book of Hebrews briefly addressing its authorship, Christology, covenantal theology, and the difficult question of apostasy.

Direct download: ctc361.mp3
Category:Christ the Center -- posted at: 11:09am CDT

Vern Poythress presents a God-centered approach to life's big questions as he leads us through his book Redeeming Philosophy (Crossway).

Direct download: ctc360.mp3
Category:Christ the Center -- posted at: 11:00pm CDT

Lane Tipton and Camden Bucey turn to points two and three of chapter 6 in Vos's Biblical Theology.

Direct download: ctc359.mp3
Category:Christ the Center -- posted at: 11:00pm CDT

Jim Scott builds a compelling case arguing that J. Gresham Machen had written a substantial portion of a book on the Presbyterian Conflict only to have it taken after his death and published by another author.

Direct download: ctc358.mp3
Category:Christ the Center -- posted at: 11:00pm CDT

Glen Clary lays out the issues regarding the beginning of the Reformation in Zurich by demonstrating Zwingli's commitment to sola Scriptura.

Direct download: ctc357.mp3
Category:Christ the Center -- posted at: 8:57am CDT

Vern Poythress instructs us in hermeneutical issues by opening his recent article Dispensing with Merely Human Meaning: Gains and Losses from Focusing on the Human Author, Illustrated by Zephaniah 1:2-3.

Direct download: ctc356.mp3
Category:Christ the Center -- posted at: 8:55am CDT