Reformed Forum

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Hebrews: The Priesthood of Christ Sep 18, 2018

Show notes

This week on Theology Simply Profound, Rob and Bob discuss the mysterious figure of Melchizedek found in Genesis 14 and referenced several times in the Letter to the Hebrews. In discussing Melchizedek, we are brought before the wonderful work of Christ as the Christian’s Great High Priest by seeing the contrasts between the priesthood of Melchizedek and that of Aaron or the Levitical priesthood. By far, the Priesthood of Christ is superior to Aaron.

Participants: Rob McKenzie, Robert Tarullo

Mentioned in this episode:

Christ the Center 1000

Previewing Karl Barth and Thomas Aquinas on Analogy Sep 14, 2018

Show notes

Jim Cassidy previews his address at the 2018 Reformed Forum conference by speaking about Barth on the analogy of being and the analogy of faith and how his views relate to the theology of Thomas Aquinas. Jim and Camden also speak about Barth’s views of natural theology and how they relate to the views of Cornelius Van Til. This is in response to recent remarks from Dr. Michael Allen on the Credo Magazine podcast (around minute 37). If you’d like to jump directly to that portion of our discussion, you can watch it on YouTube.

Participants: Camden Bucey, Jim Cassidy

Mentioned in this episode:

Christ the Center 1000 Live in Austin, TX

Christ the Center 1000 Summit

Christ the Center 1000

Christ the Center 1000 Summit

“Christianity and Culture” Sep 11, 2018

Show notes

On this week’s episode of Theology Simply Profound, Bob reads J. Gresham Machen’s address as printed in The Princeton Theological Review, Volume 11 issue 1, 1913, “Christianity and Culture.”

Participants: Robert Tarullo

September 2018 Book Update Sep 10, 2018

Show notes

Ryan Noha speaks about several rare books that have been added to our online store.

Petrus van Mastricht’s Polemic against Balthasar Bekker Sep 07, 2018

Show notes

Dan Ragusa introduces us to the theological method of Petrus Van Mastricht, Dutch Reformed theologian, who maintained consistent Reformed orthodoxy against Cartesian influences. Van Mastricht wrote a polemic against Balthasar Bekker, a critic of paganism but a proponent of Cartesianism. In his polemic, Van Mastricht addresses the issue of Scriptural authority, theological method, and the proper end toward which all theologians and philosophers must be directed: worship of the one, true, and living God. Dan Ragusa is a PhD student at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Readings

Daniel Ragusa, “Beginning with Scripture, Ending with Worship: An Analysis of Petrus van Mastricht’s Polemic against Balthasar Bekker“
Petrus van Mastricht, Theoretical-Practical Theology Volume 1: Prolegomena
Adriaan C. Neele, The Art of Living to God

Participants: Camden Bucey, Dan Ragusa

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

Genesis 19:1–11 — A Supernatural Rescue Mission Sep 05, 2018

Show notes

Lot serves as a paradigm or picture of the salvation of sinners and judgment upon unbelievers. Sinners are not saved because they suddenly figure out God’s mercy and come running to him. They are saved because God does what they cannot do of their own accord.

Participants: Adam York, Glen Clary, Mark A. Winder

Hebrews: Interpreting Scripture Sep 04, 2018

Show notes

Rob and Bob continue our short series walking through portions of the Letter to the Hebrews interacting on occasion with dispensationalism’s understanding of various passages and concepts found so prominently in this wonderful letter to the church of Jesus Christ. This week’s episode Theology Simply Profound, we take a look at how the Preacher to the Hebrews interprets the Old Testament.

Participants: Rob McKenzie, Robert Tarullo

Mentioned in this episode:

Christ the Center 1000

A Brief Introduction to the Theology of Pseudo-Dionysius Aug 31, 2018

Show notes

Jeff Waddington previews his address for the 2018 Theology Conference. He speaks about Pseudo-Dionysius, a key influence upon Thomas Aquinas. Dionysius attempted to integrate neoplatonism with Christianity. The result was a Christianization of the great chain of being. Register for the upcoming conference.

Reading List

Daria Spezzano, The Glory of God’s Grace: Deification According to St. Thomas Aquinas
Dominic Legge: The Trinitarian Christology of St. Thomas Aquinas
Lawrence Feingold: The Natural Desire to See God According to St. Thomas and His Interpreters
Hans Boersma, Seeing God: The Beatific Vision in Christian Tradition

Participants: Camden Bucey, Jeff Waddington

The Deeper Protestant Conception Aug 24, 2018

Show notes

We discuss how a return to sola scriptura through confessional Reformed theology spares us from the errors of Roman Catholicism and modernism. Reformed covenant theology, broadly considered, is facing a crisis regarding what constitutes “reformed” theology. The situation currently is one of chaos and confusion. Some claim that the way forward is by way of retrieving the theology of Thomas Aquinas, the angelic doctor of the Roman Catholic church, in the service of a so-called “Reformed” apologetic. The line of this argument is that if you follow the Roman Catholic theology and method of Aquinas, you will arrive at Protestant conclusions. Others enlist Aquinas in conversation with the likes of John Webster and Karl Barth, in the interest of retrieving “catholic” tradition in the development of a reformed theological identity. Still others, outside of our reformed circles, are engaged in ecumenical dialogue between Thomas and Barth (Bruce McCormack and Thomas Joseph White’s Thomas Aquinas and Karl Barth: An Unofficial Dialogue, or Keith Johnson’s Karl Barth and the Analogia Entis, which helpfully to my mind points out the significant points of convergence between the two theologians). It is very much worth pointing out that Van Til virtually predicted this in advance in his sadly neglected but highly important work Confession of 1967, where he says, “If now we live in a dialogical age and if only the church as ecumenical can meet the needs of such an age, then surely the Roman Catholic too must learn to see this fact. As Martin Marty says, “If Protestants and Roman Catholics wish to make possible a creative coexistence, to enrich our pluralistic society, and to profit from each other’s separate histories, they will have to participate in dialogue.…” And what does such “dialogue” look like? Again, Van Til says, “It was Hans Urs von Balthasar who, more than anyone else, has helped Barth to see that Roman Catholicism also begins its theology from the Christ-Event. Roman Catholicism, says von Balthasar, does not believe in direct revelation any more than does Barth. To be sure, Rome does speak of “faith and works,” of “nature and grace,” of “reason and revelation.” But this “and” is not, as Barth thinks, fatal to the idea of the primacy of Christ and of faith in Christ. The whole discussion between Barth and the Roman Catholic position may therefore start from the idea that revelation is revelation in hiddenness. ”The difference between Barth and Roman Catholicism will therefore be not of principle but of degree” (Confession, 119).

Participants: Camden Bucey, Jim Cassidy, Lane G. Tipton

Genesis 18:16–33 — Abraham, the Friend of God Aug 22, 2018

Show notes

In Episode 57, we see that despite oncoming judgment, the passage underscores the deep relationship between God and Abraham. It is covenantal at its core.

Participants: Adam York, Mark A. Winder, Mark Jenkins

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