Credo

C.S. Lewis has become a household name in contemporary culture. While many appreciate Lewis for The Chronicles of Narnia or Mere Christianity, most don't realize the reason these works are so magnetic. C.S. Lewis was a medieval man with a medieval mind who spent his entire life teaching students the medieval world.

Throughout his life, Lewis saw a great contrast between the medieval world and the modern world, with significant disparities in views on God, creation, and core pillars of the Christian faith and virtue. For Lewis, modernity had disenchanted the cosmos, forfeiting the medieval world's biblical commitment to participation in God, the one in whom we live, and move, and have our being. Lewis became a British Boethius, perpetuating classical thought against the threat of modern intellectual barbarians.

In this episode, Matthew Barrett talks with Jason Baxter on how the medieval mindset helps explain why we love C.S. Lewis so much.

John Webster is one of the most profound theologians in recent history. While some may not recognize the name, his works have set a trajectory for theology and dogmatics in evangelical scholarship. Webster not only had a great understanding of the Great Tradition and a deep grasp of exegesis, but he also summoned the next generation to take theology seriously as a discipline in and of itself, what Webster called theological theology.

In this episode, Matthew Barrett talks with Tyler Wittman on the enduring legacy of John Webster, why his works have influenced so many theologians today, and how the late theologian can help Christians today make theology theological again.

John Webster is one of the most profound theologians in recent history. While some may not recognize the name, his works have set a trajectory for theology and dogmatics in evangelical scholarship. Webster not only had a great understanding of the Great Tradition and a deep grasp of exegesis, but he also summoned the next generation to take theology seriously as a discipline in and of itself, what Webster called theological theology.

In this episode, Matthew Barrett talks with Tyler Wittman on the enduring legacy of John Webster, why his works have influenced so many theologians today, and how the late theologian can help Christians today make theology theological again.

In the 21st century Christians have proved one thing with their fiery rhetoric: we fear man instead of God. That misplaced fear has created extreme hostility towards others in society. That misplaced fear has been exposed lately when Christians engage controversial topics such as Christian America, cancel culture, martyr complex, LGBTQ+, racism, and more. Yet our misplaced fear often reveals more about us than our opponents. For example, our raging hostility towards our neighbor reveals a troubling mindset: we see them as our enemy rather than the mission field God has entrusted to us. As a result, we no longer tolerate Jesus' command to love our enemies.

In this episode, Michael Horton joins Matthew Barrett and delivers a bold and sobering admonition, reminding Christians today that Jesus had strong words for his disciples when they displayed a fear of man instead of a fear of God. Horton calls on Christians everywhere to model the compassion of Jesus not only in the church but in society as well. And Horton gives us a constructive remedy when he revisits our approach to culture and asks us to reconsider whether we've properly understood God's two kingdoms.

In the 21st century Christians have proved one thing with their fiery rhetoric: we fear man instead of God. That misplaced fear has created extreme hostility towards others in society. That misplaced fear has been exposed lately when Christians engage controversial topics such as Christian America, cancel culture, martyr complex, LGBTQ+, racism, and more. Yet our misplaced fear often reveals more about us than our opponents. For example, our raging hostility towards our neighbor reveals a troubling mindset: we see them as our enemy rather than the mission field God has entrusted to us. As a result, we no longer tolerate Jesus' command to love our enemies.

In this episode, Michael Horton joins Matthew Barrett and delivers a bold and sobering admonition, reminding Christians today that Jesus had strong words for his disciples when they displayed a fear of man instead of a fear of God. Horton calls on Christians everywhere to model the compassion of Jesus not only in the church but in society as well. And Horton gives us a constructive remedy when he revisits our approach to culture and asks us to reconsider whether we've properly understood God's two kingdoms.

In the 21st century Christians have proved one thing with their fiery rhetoric: we fear man instead of God. That misplaced fear has created extreme hostility towards others in society. That misplaced fear has been exposed lately when Christians engage controversial topics such as Christian America, cancel culture, martyr complex, LGBTQ+, racism, and more. Yet our misplaced fear often reveals more about us than our opponents. For example, our raging hostility towards our neighbor reveals a troubling mindset: we see them as our enemy rather than the mission field God has entrusted to us. As a result, we no longer tolerate Jesus' command to love our enemies.

In this episode, Michael Horton joins Matthew Barrett and delivers a bold and sobering admonition, reminding Christians today that Jesus had strong words for his disciples when they displayed a fear of man instead of a fear of God. Horton calls on Christians everywhere to model the compassion of Jesus not only in the church but in society as well. And Horton gives us a constructive remedy when he revisits our approach to culture and asks us to reconsider whether we've properly understood God's two kingdoms.

Liturgy is to the church like oxygen is to the lungs.

Unfortunately, churches today can be suspicious towards liturgy, as if it is devoid of the heart. But for most of history the church has turned to liturgy as a vital part of worship. As the Reformers considered how to reform the church, for example, they not only relied on liturgy from the medieval period, but they insisted liturgy remain central to the life of the church. The call to worship, the adoration of praise, the reading of the law and confession of sin, the prayers of the saints, confessing creed and catechism - these are but a few components of liturgy that encourage doctrinal beliefs to seep into the hearts and minds of people.

In this episode, Jonathan Gibson joins Matthew Barrett to discuss the centrality of liturgy to the life the church and why liturgy can help Christians deepen their love of God.

The apostle John once wrote to the church and made a bold promise: “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). What does John mean when he says the Christian will see God? Older theologians referred to this doctrine as the beatific vision. Although often overlooked by evangelicals, the beatific appears everywhere in the New Testament as the Christian's most blessed hope and source of everlasting happiness and holiness. For this reason, the Great Tradition pursued the beatific vision to better understand the goal of theology and the Christian's spiritual ascent to God.

In this episode, Reformed theologian Michael Allen joins Matthew Barrett to discuss why the beatific vision is essential to our doctrine of God, the Christian life, and eschatology.

Stephen King will go down as one of the greatest fiction writers of his time. Although his works are not often considered relevant to theological conversation or even as against the Christian faith by some, King offers Christians a depth of knowledge into the human experience. He engages his readers in fruitful thought as they consider the deep sense of reality, the despair of this world, and the deep understanding of something that transcends this world. After engaging King, readers are left asking, "Could there be hope?" Specifically, "could there be a hope that enters into our reality that goes beyond the typical superficiality that we often see around us?"

In addition to the many novels King offers this generation, he also provides guidance to writers and aspiring writers in the craft. To be conversant with contemporary culture, Christians have picked up King's works both for his writing brilliance and understanding of the human experience. In reality, Christians have nothing to fear when it comes to engaging Stephen King, as he implicitly shows us how redemption is something we all long for as humans.

In this episode, Jared Wilson joins Matthew Barrett to discuss how the great Stephen King can help ministry leaders grow in their personal lives and ministries, both through his fictional works and writing guidance.

The hypostatic union is a great mystery of the Christian faith that our church fathers confessed over against a variety of Christological heresies. For example, in the fifth century the Definition of Chalcedon affirmed that the incarnate Son is both true God and true man, the one person of Christ subsisting in two natures. Yet these natures are not confused nor are they divided but the properties of each nature are conserved and concur in one person. To preserve the integrity of the Son's divinity, the church fathers refused to limit the Son to the human nature he assumed. Even when Jesus walked the earth, he continued to uphold the universe by the word of his power (Heb. 1:2; Col. 1:17).

This belief became known as the "extra" and took on great importance in the heat of debates between Reformed and Lutheran theologians during the Reformation. Although Calvin's name was attached to this doctrine and called the extra Calvinisticum, many others like Zwingli and Peter Martyr Vermigli taught the extra as well. However, the rise of Kenotic Christology in the last century threatens the extra, compromising the divine nature of Christ. At the heart of the matter is the question, how can Jesus be true man and yet remain true God?

In this episode, K.J. Drake joins Matthew Barrett to help us think through the extra Calvinisticum, explaining how the doctrine beautifully upholds Christ's humanity but without compromising his divinity in the hypostatic union.