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Older episodes
- 961Vos Group #57 — Objective Revelation to the ProphetsWe turn to pages 214–216 of Geerhardus Vos’s book, Biblical Theology: Old and New Testaments, to discuss the kernel and divination theories of the reception of prophetic revelation. Critical scholars seek to identify human beings as the origin of the prophetic message. Vos defends the orthodox notion that God reveals himself in objective verbal revelation to the prophets, who delivered that inspired and inerrant message to the people. Participants: Camden Bucey, Lane G. Tipton
- 962Introduction to MalachiThis week on Theology Simply Profound, Rob and Bob begin to discuss the Book of Malachi. Participants: Rob McKenzie, Robert Tarullo
- 963The Authorship of IsaiahThe New Testament cites the book of Isaiah more than any other Old Testament book. Scripture itself treats the book as a literary work by a single author. In this episode, Will Wood, discusses critical approaches to this prophecy that tend to view the book of Isaiah as a composite work of many different people and even different groups. All the while, we will come to see that the question of authorship is not self-contained; it raises significant issues regarding fundamental matters of the faith. Will Wood is Assistant Professor of Old Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary in Atlanta, Georgia. Participants: Camden Bucey, Jeff Waddington, Will Wood
- 964Archibald Alexander and Princeton SeminaryTravis Fentiman and James M. Garretson speak about the new book, God, Creation, and Human Rebellion: Lecture Notes of Archibald Alexander from the Hand of Charles Hodge (Reformation Heritage Books). Fentiman discovered the handwritten notes through the Internet Archive and embarked on a crowdsourcing project to transcribe the notes. Dr. Garretson contributed a wonderful introduction. In this episode we discuss the historical context of American Presbyterianism in the late-eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the unique contribution of Archibald Alexander, and the significance of Princeton Seminary to both American and global presbyterianism. Participants: Camden Bucey, James Garretson, Jeff Waddington, Travis Fentiman
- 965Christianity and Liberalism – Chapter 1This week on Theology Simply Profound, we begin a series of readings of J. Gresham Machen’s 1923 classic book, Christianity and Liberalism. Participants: Robert Tarullo
- 966Machen’s Christianity and LiberalismDarryl G. Hart speaks about J. Gresham Machen’s classic work, Christianity and Liberalism. In becoming familiar the content and historical context of this book, people will gain an understanding not only of twentieth century Presbyterianism but also of global Christianity to a degree. And in contemplating the lessons of this era, people will also be better equipped to meet the challenges that face the contemporary church. Westminster Seminary Press has issued a new edition of Machen’s classic work and has included new essays by the faculty of Westminster Theological Seminary, the institution Machen founded in 1929 after the reorganization of the board of Princeton Seminary. Dr. D. G. Hart is Distinguished Associate Professor of History at Hillsdale College and the author or co-author of many books on American religious history, including Seeking a Better Country: 300 Years of American Presbyterianism, Defending the Faith: J. Gresham Machen and the Crisis of Conservative Protestantism in Modern America, and The Selected Shorter Writings of J. Gresham Machen. Participants: Camden Bucey, Darryl G. Hart, Jim Cassidy
- 967Offering Our Worst to the LordIn this episode of Theology Simply Profound, Rob and Bob discuss the first chapter of Malachi and the concern he has for the cold worship offered by his people and those who lead the people in this way. Participants: Rob McKenzie, Robert Tarullo
- 968Theology in the Life of the ChurchDoctrine is not optional for the body of Christ. Yet, neither is it to be pursued in abstraction. Christians must speak the truth in love, applying that truth in the changing circumstances of daily life. Using the biblical metaphors of a shepherd and a pilgrim, Jeff Waddington and Camden Bucey comment on a variety of challenges in the ministry and the importance of presenting every person mature in Christ (Col. 1:28). Participants: Camden Bucey, Jeff Waddington
- 969What the Lord Expects Us to KnowThe Book of Malachi speaks to the people of God after their return from exile in Babylon. They and their leaders are being called to account for offering their worst to the Lord. And now, in chapter 2, the priests are specifically addressed for their unfaithfulness. Rob and Bob discuss these things and many more on this week’s episode of Theology Simply Profound. Participants: Rob McKenzie, Robert Tarullo
- 970Vos Group #58 — Revelation through Speech and HearingIn this episode, we turn to pages 216–220 of Vos’s book, Biblical Theology, to discuss the reception of divine revelation through speech and hearing. Vos treats this topic because, among other things, it lies at the heart of true religion. If God is not speaking, then we do not know him. If it is merely men who speak, we do not know God and therefore are not in a religious bond of covenantal fellowship with him. It is of the essence of true religion to affirm that God speaks and that prophets hear God speaking and then speak that same Word to the church. You cannot have true religion without such supernatural verbal revelation. This requires that God speaks to the prophet before the prophet spoke. This is critical, since it utterly destroys the liberal theories that locate the actual words in human agency alone, such as the kernel theory we talked about earlier. The speaking of God is not meant in a figurative way, “but in the literal sense it appears in various ways” (p. 217). Vos next makes a point that the verbal communication from Jehovah is both external and internal, and that internal (to the soul or audible only to the prophet) does not collapse into the “consciousness theology” and the subjectivism of the liberal concept of “revelation” where revelation simply means a heightened moral consciousness or awareness of nearness to the ethical ideal of the prophetic religion. Vos urges us not to probe the proportion of internal and external revelation, but to accept that both forms come to the prophets, making them bearers of words that have divine authority. Participants: Camden Bucey, Lane G. Tipton
- 971Christianity and Liberalism – Chapter 2This week on Theology Simply Profound, Bob reads from J. Gresham Machen’s 1923 classic work, Christianity and Liberalism, Chapter 2, Doctrine. Participants: Robert Tarullo
- 972Genesis 25:1–21 — Epilogue to AbrahamIn Episode 78 the panel discusses how the story of redemption shifts focus from Abraham to his descendants, and particularly to Isaac and Jacob. Employing a covenantal and redemptive-historical hermeneutic becomes important in understanding the significance of this shift and its implication for the inclusion of the Gentiles. Participants: Adam York, Jim Cassidy, Mark Wind
- 973The Mountain of the LordMountains appear throughout the Bible as an important symbol of God meeting with man. In this episode, we trace the biblical-theological theme of mountains in an effort to understand more deeply God’s plan and purpose in bringing his covenantal people to glory. Participants: Camden Bucey, Glen Clary, Jeff Waddington
- 974Schools of Biblical CriticismWill Wood discusses various approaches to higher criticism, including source, form, and redaction criticism. This conversation dives into a topic that was covered briefly in an episode on the authorship of Isaiah. Biblical higher criticism demonstrates several presuppositions that are contrary to orthodox understandings of history and the Bible. For example, predictive prophecy cannot exist. As a result, there is no a priori reason in their view for the Bible to have been written in the form we now possess. Source criticism seeks to investigate how the various Bible books came into being through the use of disparate sources. Form criticism does not look for written precursors to biblical texts but to oral precursors. Form critics believe earlier Israelite society was pre-literate. Therefore, sources that supposedly came to comprise the Bible were passed down through different oral forms, or getungen, which help to access the sitz im leben, or setting in life of the community. Tradition-historical criticism uses methods from both source and form criticism. It distinguishes between traditium, which is the particular tradition content passed down, and traditio, which is the process of transmission. Redaction criticism asks how the biblical books were brought into the full text we have today. Redaction critics are not merely concerned with oral or written sources, but with the activity of a type of editor, who brought them together. Participants: Camden Bucey, Jeff Waddington, Will Wood
- 975Christianity and Liberalism – Chapter 3This week on Theology Simply Profound, Bob reads from J. Gresham Machen’s 1923 classic work, Christianity and Liberalism, Chapter 3, God and Man. Participants: Robert Tarullo
- 976Genesis 25:22–34 — A Conflict for the AgesThe conflict between Jacob and Esau serves as a paradigm for the redemptive conflict of the ages. God uses what the world would consider weak to accomplish his plan and demonstrate his power. Participants: Adam York, Jim Cassidy, Mark A. Winder
- 977Christian Perspectives on Sport HuntingDr. Bracy V. Hill, senior lecturer in history at Baylor University, speaks about Christian perspectives on sport hunting. While hunting isn’t the first thing on the minds of biblical scholars, hunting is mentioned and used in numerous metaphors throughout Scripture. One particularly mysterious account is that of Nimrod in Genesis 10. Moreover, the activity of hunting raises many important theological issues, such as man’s relationship to creation, the nature and eschatology of death, and the Christian’s directedness away from a wilderness toward a heavenly city. Dr. Hill is co-editor of God, Nimrod, and the World: Exploring Christian Perspectives on Sport Hunting in which many of these themes are addressed. Dr. Hill is the author of many article and wrote a dissertation titled, “The Language of Dissent: The Defense of Eighteenth-Century English Dissent in the Works and Sermons of James Peirce.” He also appeared on the Meateater Podcast to discuss many of these themes but to an audience of hunters. Participants: Bracy Hill, Camden Bucey
- 978Christianity and Liberalism – Chapter 4This week on Theology Simply Profound, Bob reads from J. Gresham Machen’s 1923 classic work, Christianity and Liberalism, Chapter 4, The Bible. Participants: Robert Tarullo
- 979Petrus Van Mastricht’s Theoretical and Practical TheologyTodd M. Rester speaks about the theology of Petrus Van Mastricht (1630–1706). Dr. Rester has served as a translator of Mastricht’s Theoretical-Practical Theology, which is being published by Reformation Heritage Books and edited by Dr. Joel Beeke. As of this interview, the first two volumes (Prolegomena and Faith in the Triune God) are available. Mastricht presents a theological method particularly instructive for contemporary readers, treating every theological topic according to exegetical, dogmatic, elenctic, and practical concerns. Dr. Rester is associate professor of church history at Westminster Theological Seminary in Glenside, Pennsylvania. He has served as a post-doctoral research fellow for the EU European Research Council project and at Queen’s University Belfast. Participants: Camden Bucey, Todd Rester
- 980The Day of His ComingThis week on Theology Simply Profound, Rob and Bob pick up their discussion of Malachi 2:17–3:6 where they discuss Malachi’s presentation of the coming of God, as well as the words made made well-known by Handel’s Messiah, “…He is like a refiner’s fire…” Participants: Rob McKenzie, Robert Tarullo
- 981The Imputation of Active Obedience in the Westminster StandardsDr. Alan Strange discusses the Westminster Assembly and the Westminster Standards and whether they affirmed the imputation of Christ’s active obedience as necessary for our justification. Strange has written, The Imputation of the Active Obedience of Christ in the Westminster Standards, which is published by Reformation Heritage Books in their Explorations in Reformed Confessional Theology series. In the book, Strange gives a survey of church history before and during the Reformation to see how the Assembly relates to the tradition before it. He reflects on the relation of imputation to federal theology, modern challenges to the doctrine, and important rules for interpreting the confessional document. Dr. Strange is professor of church history at Mid-America Reformed Seminary in Dyer, Indiana. Links Strange, “The Imputation of the Active Obedience of Christ“ Participants: Alan Strange, Camden Bucey
- 982The Law and the Spirit in Old and New CovenantsGlen Clary and Camden Bucey speak about their addresses at the recent theology conference. Glen covered the topic of ascending the mountain of the Lord and the role of the tabernacle and sacrificial system in the Sinai Covenant. Camden compared Galatians 2–4 with Romans 7–8 in order to address Paul’s phrase that “the law is Spiritual” in Romans 7:14. Participants: Camden Bucey, Glen Clary, Jim Cassidy
- 983Christianity and Liberalism – Chapter 5This week on Theology Simply Profound, Bob reads from his 1923 edition of J. Gresham Machen’s classic work, Christianity and Liberalism, Chapter 5, Christ. Participants: Robert Tarullo
- 984The History of HeavenLane Tipton speaks about his recent conference addresses and his newly available video course, Foundations of Covenant Theology. In this conversation, we seek to address the question of the Spiritual character of the law as an administration of the Covenant of Grace in the Old Testament and set the priority for the history of heaven as a frame of reference for understanding covenant theology in general and the law’s relationship to the Covenant of Works and Covenant of Grace in particular. In the beginning in Genesis 1:1, “heavens” is a reference to an archetypal temple-dwelling of God. Before God creates an earthly temple or tabernacle, he makes a heavenly temple dwelling that he fills with the glory of his Spirit and populates with angels. The earth is a replica of these invisible heavens. Prior to a history on earth per se, there is a bona fide history of heaven, which results in the Lord being enthroned in heaven at the end of the creation week. Covenant history now moves forward with the death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ to this throne and his return when he will bring his people into this glory. Order Now Links YouTube playlist of all the 2019 Theology Conference addresses. Participants: Camden Bucey, Lane G. Tipton
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