Reformed Forum

Latest Episodes:

The Fruit of the Spirit: Self-Control Dec 08, 2020

Show notes

On this week’s episode of Theology Simply Profound, Rob and Bob bring to a close their discussion of the fruit of the Spirit in light of the troubling and confusing days we currently live within. On the heels of Paul’s words about the fruit of the Spirit, Paul writes to the Galatians, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.” Rob and Bob discuss self-control and the temptation of becoming conceited, provoking one another, and becoming envious of one another in this context.

Participants: Rob McKenzie, Robert Tarullo

The Use of Irony in Redemptive-History Dec 04, 2020

Show notes

Dr. G. K. Beale speaks about the use of irony in redemptive-history, which is the subject of his book Redemptive Reversals and the Ironic Overturning of Human Wisdom (Crossway).

The Bible is full of ironic situations in which God overturns the world’s wisdom by doing the opposite of what is expected―people are punished by their own sin, the persecution of the church is the catalyst for its growth, Paul claims to have strength through weakness, and more. In this book, Beale explores God’s pattern of divine irony in both judgment and salvation, finding its greatest expression in Jesus’s triumph over death through death on a cross. Unpacking this pattern throughout redemptive history, Beale shows us how God often uses what is seemingly weak and foolish to underscore his own strength and power in the lives of his people today.

Dr. Beale holds the J. Gresham Machen chair of New Testament and is research professor of New Testament and biblical interpretation at Westminster Theological Seminary.

Links

G. K. Beale, “The Book of Revelation and COVID-19” in New Horizons Volume 41, No. 9 (September 2020)
G. K. Beale, Colossians and Philemon (Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament)
G. K. Beale and Benjamin L. Gladd, The Story Retold: A Biblical-Theological Introduction to the New Testament (IVP Academic)
G. K. Beale on Christ the Center, episode 54 — The Erosion of Inerrancy in Evangelicalism

Participants: Camden Bucey, Greg Beale

Covenant Theology in Hebrews Nov 27, 2020

Show notes

Dr. Robert Cara, Provost and Chief Academic Officer of Reformed Theological Seminary and Hugh and Sallie Reaves Professor of New Testament at RTS Charlotte, discusses the covenant theology evident in the letter to the Hebrews. God has one plan and purpose for his people throughout history, and he mediates this relationship through successive covenants, ultimately finding eschatological fulfillment in the New Covenant instituted by Jesus Christ.

Dr. Cara’s chapter, “Covenant in Hebrews” is available in Covenant Theology: Biblical, Theological, and Historical Perspectives (Crossway), edited by Guy Prentiss Waters, J. Nicholas Reid, and John R. Muether.

Participants: Camden Bucey, Robert Cara

The Fruit of the Spirit: Gentleness Nov 24, 2020

Show notes

On this week’s episode of Theology Simply Profound, Rob and Bob pick up their discussion of the fruit of the Spirit in light of the troubling and confusing days we currently live within. Jesus describes himself in Matthew 11 as being gentle and lowly in heart. What is this gentleness? How might be live in this world like Jesus with a gentle heart?

Participants: Rob McKenzie, Robert Tarullo

Mentioned in this episode:

Christ the Center 1000

Vos Group Excursus: The Wonderful Tree Nov 20, 2020

Show notes

In this episode of Vos Group, we turn to Vos’s sermon, “The Wonderful Tree,” in the collection of his sermons, Grace and Glory: Sermons Preached at Princeton Seminary. Preaching on Hosea 14:8, Vos describes the nature of religion as consisting of what God is for man and of what man is for God. Hosea features what God is for man in the metaphor of an evergreen cypress, offering life-giving sustenance and shade in all seasons. This sermon is the longest of Vos’s that we possess, and it demonstrates several surprising features, which Danny Olinger, Lane Tipton, and Camden Bucey discuss.

Participants: Camden Bucey, Danny Olinger, Lane G. Tipton

Constitution and Covenant in 1 Corinthians 1–4 Nov 13, 2020

Show notes

Dr. Bradley J. Bitner, associate professor of New Testament at Westminster Seminary California, speaks about constitution and covenant in ancient Corinth and how these inform Paul’s argument to the Corinthians. Dr. Bitner has written a thorough study of the subject titled, Paul’s Political Strategy in 1 Corinthians 1–4: Constitution and Covenant (Cambridge University Press).

In 1 Corinthians 1:1–4:6, we witness a collision of constitutions. This clash is the result of Paul contending for a specifically ecclesial politeia with reference to the larger colonial politeia. Birthed from Caesar’s unsystematic and privately composed memoranda, the lex coloniae provides an indispensable frame of reference for understanding life in early Roman Corinth, the colony named in his honor. For this reason, it is also crucial for the interpretation of the Pauline epistle known as 1 Corinthians.

Dr. Bitner served as a pastor for three years before pursuing doctoral studies. He completed his Ph.D. in New Testament and Early Christianity in 2013 at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. He has two other book projects in progress on the biblical theology of Geerhardus Vos and Paul’s paradigm for building up the church in 1 Corinthians.

Participants: Adam York, Bradley Bitner, Camden Bucey

Van Til Group #2 — The Doctrine of God Nov 06, 2020

Show notes

Lane Tipton, Carlton Wynne, and Camden Bucey discuss pages 25–29 of Cornelius Van Til’s book, The Defense of the Faith. In this section, Van Til details the doctrine of God that structures his apologetic thought. A Reformed apologetic seeks first to understand the nature of the God it seeks to set forth and defend. In Van Til’s estimate, we must ask “what kind” of a God we believe in before we can proceed in any meaningful way to set for the arguments for the existence and revelation of this God.

Links

Lane Tipton lectures from Mid-America Reformed Seminary: “Van Til’s Trinitarian Theology: Reformed or Revisionist?“

Participants: Camden Bucey, Carlton Wynne, Lane G. Tipton

The Fruit of the Spirit: Faithfulness Nov 03, 2020

Show notes

On this week’s episode of Theology Simply Profound, Rob and Bob pick up their discussion of the fruit of the Spirit in light of the troubling and confusing days we currently live within. What is faithfulness? God’s faithfulness? How are we to be faithful?

Participants: Rob McKenzie, Robert Tarullo

Mentioned in this episode:

Christ the Center 1000

The Sexual Revolution and the Rise of the Modern Self Oct 30, 2020

Show notes

Dr. Carl R. Trueman joins us to speak about his significant new book, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to Sexual Revolution (Crossway), in which he addresses the factors undergirding modern culture’s obsession with identity. Sexual identity in particular has dominated public discourse since the landmark Obergefell v. Hodges Supreme Court decision in 2015. Tracing influential thought from Augustine to Marx and beyond, Trueman explains the historical and intellectual phenomenon of the modern conception selfhood. Trueman writes,

My aim is to explain how and why a certain notion of the self has come to dominate the culture of the West, why this self finds its most obvious manifestation in the transformation of sexual mores, and what the wider implications of this transformation are and may well be in the future.

Dr. Trueman is professor of biblical and religious studies at Grove City College. He is an esteemed church historian and previously served as the William E. Simon Fellow in Religion and Public Life at Princeton University. Trueman has authored or edited more than a dozen books, including The Creedal Imperative, Luther on the Christian Life, and Histories and Fallacies. Trueman is a minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.

Participants: Camden Bucey, Carl Trueman

Mentioned in this episode:

Christ the Center 1000

Christ the Center 1000 Summit

Christ the Center 1000 Live in Austin, TX

Christ the Center 1000 Summit

A Critical Edition of the Westminster Confession of Faith Oct 23, 2020

Show notes

Dr. John Bower speaks about constructing a critical edition of the Westminster Confession of Faith using four historical authoritative texts and several other sources. Bower has done a tremendous service to the church and the academy. Both will benefit greatly from his careful scholarship. With Chad Van Dixhoorn, Dr. Bower is co-editor of Principal Documents of the Westminster Assembly published by Reformation Heritage Books. The Westminster Confession of Faith: A Critical Text and Introduction appears in that series.

Participants: Camden Bucey, John Bower

Mentioned in this episode:

Christ the Center 1000

Christ the Center 1000 Summit

Christ the Center 1000 Live in Austin, TX

Christ the Center 1000 Summit