Gospel Conversations podcast

In this talk, we look at the 'situational' aspect of our growth and calling. How do we act in this world? Christians through the ages have been torn between the 'monk' and the 'merchant' for their choices. We offer a paradigm shift by going back to Genesis and grounding our answer in the creational mandate. We link this mandate with kingship and then try to modernise that term by equating it with transformation and design. This is a groundbreaking topic, and we are only beginning the dialogue in this talk but I think it launches us on a healthy trajectory.

In this talk, we look at the 'normative' aspect of Trinity thinking. Our learning goal is to have our minds transformed to God's agenda rather than ours. We look at the typical evangelical interpretation of the gospel and reveal its shortcomings. Tony does that by synthesising the four spiritual laws onto a one-page architecture which reveals its shortcomings. He then asks, "Is there a better way?" and finishes by offering an alternative framing of the gospel that blows open the scope of Christ's achievement and lifts our thinking to awesome heights. A must listen talk!!

Tony argues that we have narrowed Christian growth by framing it as a religious effort. He spends the first part of this talk, diagnosing the religious mindset and explaining how it distorts the gospel. But the question becomes, "Is there a better way to frame our growth journey?" Tony turns to the structure of the Trinity as the architecture for what makes us truly human and thus truly Christlike. He offers a simple but powerful Trinitarian model to guide our growth agenda—as a life agenda rather than a religious agenda.

Ron moves on to the topic of cosmology—ie what is the origin of the universe. This is mind-boggling stuff and dwarfs the more conventional 'evolution' debates. He explains the anthropic principle that is fast emerging among scientists and which is ironically putting this little old earth back at the centre of attention. He describes the earth as the ark of humanity—a wonder of life in the midst of a barren universe. He contrasts the scientific view of cosmology with the Jewish view. Listen for some of the great discussion here—particularly as we develop the metaphor of the car to explain all of this.

Ron confronts the question, "How well does Genesis 1 fit in with the new science?" Most people wonder whether Genesis fits with evolution, but Ron takes a far broader view and compares the implications of Genesis with cosmology—the theory of relativity and the origins of the universe. He concludes that Genesis is surprisingly modern, although it does not try to be a science textbook. Then he compares the whole secular and Greek view of reality with its great rival the Jewish tradition—a topic he will develop in his next talk.

In this talk, Tony opens up how the doctrine of the Trinity frames our whole role in creation. The creating God has mandated that we humans will continue his expansive work in creation. We can only do this, by sharing his nature, which equips us to be Trinitarian agents. This culminates in the rule of God. Tony then suggests how this stupendous framework challenges the agenda for sin-based Christianity. He declares that we need to reframe the agenda of the Christian life away from religion towards co-creation.

Tony builds a breathtaking theory of human creativity in this talk. He begins by critiquing the dominance of the scientific method as the only road to truth. He points out that this dominance has been hostile to faith, and has patronised faith as anti-intellectual. But he points out the limitations of scientific logic, and in particular, its anti-humanistic assumptions. Then he offers an alternative thinking methodology whose origins he finds in Aristotle, whose ultimate manifestation he finds in all of human creativity (including strategy) - and whose mandate he finds in Genesis 1 and 2 and the command to rule creation. This talk summarises Tony's PhD thesis. If anyone wants to explore further reading on this, email tony on [email protected]

This is part two of Tony's talk on the Trinity and creativity. Having established the intrinsical creativity character of the Trinity, he moves onto the role of humanity in this creative process as 'trinitarian agents'. At the end of the talk, he addresses the question of the role of sin and the 'Fall' in this otherwise optimistic and expansive picture. Again, a set of Powerpoint slides accompanies this talk (see the slides called 'Trinitarian agents'.

This talk comes in two parts. In this the first part, Tony outlines why the creative act lies at the heart of the Trinitarian Godhead. He bases this part of the talk on Jonathan Edwards' great essay "The Ends for which God Created the Worlds". Look out for a very important interaction with Mark Strom towards the end of the talk, which turns the Christian engagement with the world on its head - from 'application' to 'discovery'. There are Powerpoint slides to accompany the talk which are on the website, so use them as you listen. Enjoy!

Tony introduces 'language' as the archetypal view of the Trinity. He argues that the 'Trinity' is the utterly novel invention of the Christian church - it is an enigma that is unique and central to the Christian belief system. We do well to peer into it. He explains how the doctrine developed in the fourth century, and then how it slipped into neglect after the Reformation. The climax of the talk is the stunning moves Jonathan Edwards made to not only recover the Trinity but to lift the whole debate to a new breathtaking level. This new view radically reshapes how we look at creation and ourselves. Listen to the talk with the accompanying Powerpoint slides.