Camden Bucey and Ryan Noha discuss the work of Reformed Forum and the generous supporters that have partnered in our mission to present every person mature in Christ (Col. 1:28).

This month, we have prayerfully set a stretch goal to add 25 new monthly donors toward a combined $1,000 of additional monthly support for our mission. With your help, we're already on the precipice of achieving this goal.

Listen as Camden and Ryan explain how you can help and as they explain our organizational history, business plan, financial health, and needs.

Reformed Forum relies on the generous support of our community to endeavor after our mission. Your donations help us to keep our content available around the world for all who are interested in learning more about Reformed theology.

Donate now at https://www.reformedforum.org/donate

Give now to double your impact! Gifts up to $75,000 will be matched through the end of the year.

Christian education is one of the core activities of the local church. In addition to preaching, healthy local churches develop mature members of Christ’s body through Sunday school courses, Bible studies, and discipleship groups. But given their many other ministerial duties, pastors and ruling elders often lack the adequate time and energy to develop and teach new lessons each week.

Local churches often rely on supplemental resources, such as Bible study books and video courses. But many have run out of available options suitable for congregations seeking rich, confessionally Reformed teaching.

There is an even greater need in non-English-speaking contexts. The confessionally Reformed resources necessary to aid in their Spiritual growth simply do not exist. In the rare cases that they do exist, accessing them is often cost-prohibitive.

Reformed Forum produces resources that benefit local churches at home and around the world. And we seek to come alongside local churches by providing these resources in English, Spanish, and Chinese for free.

Our mission is to support the church in her charge of presenting every person mature in Christ (Col. 1:28). We continue to advance this mission as more than 4,000 students throughout 84 countries have already accessed our growing online curriculum.

The Goal

In order to reach the next wave of Reformed Christians, we have launched the Every Person Mature campaign. Our goal is to raise $150,000 by the end of 2022 so that we may continue to provide free theological resources for your congregation and others like it around the world.

The good news is that we are nearly halfway there! A generous donor has committed to match all donations toward this cause up to $75,000. By donating to the Every Person Mature campaign, you will fund essential resources for believers who are hungry for confessionally Reformed resources. Give before the end of the year, and our generous matching donor will match your gift to double your impact.

Thank you for partnering with us.

Donations to Reformed Forum are tax-deductible to the full extent allowed by law. To make a donation, please visit reformedforum.org/donate. You may also mail a check payable to Reformed Forum, 1585 N. Milwaukee Ave, Ste 113, Libertyville, IL 60048.

On September 1, 2022, Lane Tipton fielded questions on his book, The Trinitarian Theology of Cornelius Van Til.

Cornelius Van Til (1895–1987) offered a confessionally Reformed doctrine of the Creator-creature relation that stands out as distinct in contrast to both traditional Roman Catholic and contemporary Barthian alternatives. His Trinitarian theology of the Creator-creature relation supplied a pioneering enrichment of Reformed theology in the traditions of Old Princeton and Old Amsterdam.

In the book, Lane G. Tipton interprets Van Til in his own historical and polemical context and demonstrates how the immutably dynamic life of the self-contained Trinity bears upon God’s relation to Adam in the work of creation, the act of special providence in covenant, and the person and eternal Son in the event of incarnation.

Tipton argues that Van Til’s Trinitarian theology deepens confessionally Reformed Trinitarianism and federalism in contrast to medieval Thomistic and modern Barthian theological alternatives. In a period marked by theological decline, he strives to clarify and extend confessional Reformed Trinitarian and federal theology in the service of the church’s union and communion with the immutable person of the crucified and ascended Christ of Scripture.

Jeff Waddington, Lane Tipton, Glen Clary, Jim Cassidy, and Camden Bucey answer questions at the Reformed Forum Theology Conference held at Hope OPC in Grayslake, Illinois on October 12, 2019.

Dr. Jeffrey C. Waddington delivers a plenary address at the 2019 Reformed Forum Theology Conference held at Hope OPC in Grayslake, Illinois.

Dr. Lane G. Tipton delivers his first plenary address at the 2019 Reformed Forum Theology Conference held at Hope OPC in Grayslake, Illinois.

Dr. Lane G. Tipton delivers his second plenary address at the 2019 Reformed Forum Theology Conference held at Hope OPC in Grayslake, Illinois. In this address, he discusses Paul's Christological interpretation of the new beginning in 1 Corinthians 15:45–49.

Camden Bucey speaks at our 2019 Theology Conference held at Hope OPC in Grayslake, Illinois. The theme of the conference is “The Law Is Spiritual,” which is a phrase that comes from Romans 7:14. This is a verse that has been a perennial challenge for interpreters. What does it mean for the law to be “spiritual”? In this opening lecture, Dr. Bucey offers several exegetical, hermeneutical, and biblical-theological suggestions for approaching this difficult verse and its immediate context, namely Romans 7. This is a sketch of what could be developed in due course.

There is a typological and eschatological difference post-Pentecost. This is a fundamental point of Paul’s epistle to the Galatians. There is deep congruence between Galatians’ structure and that of Romans. It is interesting to compare the flow of Paul’s argument in Galatians with that of Romans. If that is true, you should be able to look to one letter for assistance when the other is particularly difficult to understand. Romans 7 is one of those chapters, particularly with regard to the so-called “schizophrenic I.”[1] When Paul uses the first-person singular pronoun, what does he mean?

The ancient
church held the view that Paul was referring to himself when he was an
unbeliever. The Augustinian and Reformational tradition viewed it as the
struggle of a believer battling with indwelling sin in this age. Others have
argued for a redemptive-historical view that Paul describes life under the Old
Covenant.

We will
consider consider the hypothesis that Romans 7:14a is explained in part by
Galatians 3:19 and Galatians 3:22–24 sheds light on Romans 7:14b. The struggle
of Romans 7 is that of the earthly/dust (χοϊκός) man (1 Corinthians 15:47–48). The law originates from heaven
and guides us as a pedagogue unto the precipice just as Moses brought the
people to the Jordan. But to cross over into the promised land, we need the man
of heaven, the life-giving Spirit. Once there, we can offer the obedience of
faith (Romans 1:5), which was the goal of the law in the first place (Romans
8:4).

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[1] See Dennis Johnson’s chapter in Resurrection and Eschatology: Essays in Honor of Richard B. Gaffin, Jr.

Rev. Danny E. Olinger lectures on the connection Geerhardus Vos and J. Gresham Machen. This lesson was taught at Hope Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Grayslake, Illinois as part of the Reformed Forum 2018 Theology Conference.

[embed]https://youtu.be/5fon82fe0u8[/embed]

Camden Bucey delivers the concluding address at the Reformed Forum 2018 Theology Conference at Hope Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Grayslake, Illinois.

[embed]https://youtu.be/TvmdnQyaAII[/embed]

Glen Clary delivers a plenary address at the Reformed Forum 2018 Theology Conference at Hope Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Grayslake, Illinois.

Download the handouts.

[embed]https://youtu.be/7KHYPVMhBWE[/embed]

Jim Cassidy delivers a plenary address at the Reformed Forum 2018 Theology Conference at Hope Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Grayslake, Illinois.

Download the handout.

[embed]https://youtu.be/k1Ih83fw4h4[/embed]

Jeff Waddington spoke at the fifth annual Reformed Forum Conference, which was held October 5–7, 2018 at Hope OPC in Grayslake, Illinois. The theme of the conference was “Seeing God: The Deeper Protestant Conception.” The speakers addressed important theological challenges and controversies facing the contemporary Reformed church by exploring the theologies of Thomas Aquinas, Karl Barth, and Geerhardus Vos on the beatific vision and glorification of man.

Watch on YouTube

Lane Tipton delivers the first plenary address at the Reformed Forum 2018 Theology Conference at Hope Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Grayslake, Illinois.

Download the lecture notes to follow along.

Watch on YouTube

Camden Bucey delivers the opening and introductory address at the Reformed Forum 2018 Theology Conference at Hope Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Grayslake, Illinois.

Watch on YouTube

The fifth annual Reformed Forum Conference will be held October 5–7, 2018 at Hope OPC in Grayslake, Illinois. Our theme will be, “Seeing God: The Deeper Protestant Conception.” We will address important theological challenges and controversies facing the contemporary Reformed church by exploring the theologies of Thomas Aquinas, Karl Barth, and Geerhardus Vos on the beatific vision and glorification of man. The beatific vision captures the glorious reality believers will experience when Christ returns. “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). This presents an important theological question: How shall we be like him? Is it by participating in the divine essence? Is it by being identified with God in a revelatory Christ-event? Does God change his being in some manner to accommodate this new relationship?

Reformed orthodoxy demands a deeper conception.

Our conference theme may sound esoteric, but these are critically important matters facing the Church today as an age-old theological controversy is rising once again. We seek to present a clear thesis that Vos offers the biblical way forward between two forms of divine-human univocism. These are represented by consistent Thomism and modernist Barthianism. Ostensibly, these systems are diametrically opposed to one another, yet Vos’s insights will help demonstrate how Thomism and Barthianism eventually converge in what Cornelius Van Til termed the “Aristotle-Christ-Kant Synthesis.” Through the biblical doctrines of divine immutability, covenant, and the image of God, Vos demonstrates how God enters into a glorious communion bond with his people without deifying them or becoming a creature himself. We plan to devote several episodes of Christ the Center to this subject leading up to the conference and develop a pre-conference reading list for those who want to get the most out of their experience. We look forward to seeing you in October. Register Now

The adult Sunday school lesson from the Reformed Forum 2017 Theology Conference Hope Presbyterian Church (OPC)

The Reformation of Apologetics, Session #5 Reformed Forum 2017 Theology Conference Hope Presbyterian Church (OPC)

The Reformation of Apologetics, Session #4 Reformed Forum 2017 Theology Conference Hope Presbyterian Church (OPC)

The Reformation of Apologetics, Session #2 Reformed Forum 2017 Theology Conference Hope Presbyterian Church (OPC)

The Reformation of Apologetics, Session #1 Reformed Forum 2017 Theology Conference Hope Presbyterian Church (OPC)

VIP dinner lecture from Market House on the Square in Lake Forest, Illinois.

Reformed Forum is pleased to welcome Theology Simply Profound. Rob McKenzie and Bob Tarullo address issues of Reformed theology in an accessible manner. If Christ the Center is an advanced course, this is your prolegomena. Think of it as Reformed meat and

This week we’re at The Gospel Coalition 2017 Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana. We’re meeting a ton of new people and telling them about our mission to assist the Church in her call to discipleship. With a host of new listeners, I wanted to release a special welcome episode into our podcast feed and provide a short introduction to what we do here at Reformed Forum.

We’ve been podcasting since January 2008. Our flagship program, Christ the Center has released a new episode every Friday since that first episode was released over nine years ago. We’ve just published our first book No Uncertain Sound, which plants a flag for our distinctive confessional Reformed theology. We are unabashed in promoting historic Protestantism in the tradition of the Westminster Standards and the three forms of unity: the Canons of Dort, the Belgic Confession, the Heidelberg Catechism. We believe this important, since we live in an age of broad and often pragmatic evangelicalism. We’re promoting something substantial and enduring.

But even beyond our confessional tradition, we specifically advance theology in the tradition of Geerhardus Vos and Cornelius Van Til. We’ve detailed all of this in our book No Uncertain Sound. We hope you pick up a copy and fall in love with this rich theology arising from a redemptive-historical hermeneutic.

At the end of the episode, we include a portion of Christ the Center episode 378 with Dr. Carl Trueman. In this episode, we speak about Dr. Trueman's book Luther on the Christian Life, in which he paints a portrait of Martin Luther through his historical context, theological system, and approach to the Christian life. Luther is often treated in a black-and-white fashion or exclusively through his succinct theological quips and mottoes. Trueman helps us to see the practical and pastoral context in which Luther lived and ministered and thereby grants to us a better understanding of both the man and his theology.

Camden Bucey speaks at the 2016 Reformed Forum Theology Conference held at Hope Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Grayslake, Illinois on October 8, 2016.

Lane Tipton speaks at the 2016 Reformed Forum Theology Conference held at Hope Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Grayslake, Illinois on October 8, 2016.

Jeff Waddington speaks at the 2016 Reformed Forum Theology Conference held at Hope Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Grayslake, Illinois on October 8, 2016.

Glen Clary speaks at the 2016 Reformed Forum Theology Conference held at Hope Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Grayslake, Illinois on October 8, 2016.

Jim Cassidy speaks at the 2016 Reformed Forum Theology Conference held at Hope Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Grayslake, Illinois on October 8, 2016.

Lane Tipton delivers his first address at the 2016 Reformed Forum Theology Conference held at Hope Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Grayslake, Illinois on October 8, 2016.

Dr. James J. Cassidy delivers the first plenary address from our Austin Theology Conference at Pflugerville, Texas on April 30, 2016.

Dr. Camden M. Bucey delivers the second plenary address from our Austin Theology Conference at Pflugerville, Texas on April 30, 2016.

Dr. Lane G. Tipton delivers the first plenary address from our Austin Theology Conference at Pflugerville, Texas on April 30, 2016.

Lane Tipton teaches from the book of Hebrews during the adult Sunday school class as part of the 2015 Reformed Forum Theology Conference at Hope Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Grayslake, Illinois.

We are pleased to announce the paper selections and program for the Covenantal Apologetics Colloquium, which will be held online on Saturday, December 5th, at 7pm (Eastern Standard Time). We’ll be streaming the event live through Google Hangouts On Air.

Dr. Richard B. Gaffin, Jr. preaches during the morning service at Hope OPC in Grayslake, Illinois at the 2015 Reformed Forum theology Conference.

Dr. Jeffrey C. Waddington delivers his breakout session at the 2015 Reformed Forum theology Conference.

Dr. Lane G. Tipton fields questions during his breakout session at the 2015 Reformed Forum theology Conference.

Dr. Lane G. Tipton delivers his second plenary address at the 2015 Reformed Forum theology Conference.

Dr. Richard B. Gaffin, Jr. delivers his second plenary address at the 2015 Reformed Forum theology Conference.

Dr. James J. Cassidy delivers a breakout session at the 2015 Reformed Forum theology Conference.

Dr. Camden M. Bucey delivers a breakout session at the 2015 Reformed Forum theology Conference.

Dr. Lane G. Tipton delivers his first plenary address at the 2015 Reformed Forum theology Conference.

Dr. Richard B. Gaffin, Jr. delivers his first plenary address at the 2015 Reformed Forum Theology Conference.

We take a break from our regular theological programming to listen as Camden Bucey shares several podcasting tips and tricks.