MARSCAST

This episode explores John Calvin's perspective on the relationship between the Old and New Testaments as outlined in his Institutes of the Christian Religion, focusing on Book Two, Chapters 9-11.

Dr. J. Mark Beach looks at Calvin's view of law and gospel, explaining how Calvin sees both continuity and differences between the testaments. Key points include:

The episode provides a nuanced look at Calvin's theology, emphasizing his view that while the manner of dispensation differs, the substance of God's covenant remains the same across both testaments.

In this episode, Dr. Beach explores John Calvin's teachings on how fallen humanity can find redemption in Christ according to Book 2, Chapter 6 of his famous work The Institutes of the Christian Religion.

Calvin argues that true knowledge of God is useless without also having faith in Him as our Redeemer through Christ. He explains how the Old Testament law was never intended to provide a way to achieve righteousness through our own efforts but rather to expose our depravity and desperate need for God's redemptive grace.

Dr. Beach walks through Calvin's threefold "uses of the law" - to show our sin, restrain evil, and instruct believers in righteousness after being freed from the law's condemnation through Christ. We learn how even the Old Testament ceremonies foreshadowed the coming of the gospel promises fulfilled in Jesus.

Throughout, Calvin masterfully shows how the way of salvation through grace alone in Christ alone was the same essence in both the Old and New Testaments. The law served to drive us to the Redeemer, in whom alone we can be justified and reconciled to God.

In this episode, Dr. J. Mark Beach explores John Calvin's views on human nature and free will as presented in Book II, Chapters 2-3 of his influential work Institutes of the Christian Religion.

Calvin grapples with the difficult question of human freedom in light of the Fall and original sin. He warns against the perils of complacency if we deny human ability, or boastfulness if we overestimate our capabilities apart from God's grace.

Calvin distinguishes three types of freedom - from necessity, from sin, and from misery. He argues that while humans are not under external compulsion, our wills are bound and enslaved to sin and misery because of our corrupt nature inherited from Adam.

Dr. Beach explores how Calvin viewed the human faculties of understanding and will after the Fall. He saw the intellect as still capable in earthly matters due to God's common grace but blind to spiritual truths without divine illumination. The will, though enslaved to sin, still makes choices flowing from our fallen inclinations.

Calvin rejected the term "free will" as puffing up human pride yet affirmed that humans are still willing agents who make real choices, just not the ability to change their sinful nature apart from God's remedying grace.

Dr. Beach also touches on Calvin's perspective on natural law, the purpose of the Ten Commandments, human society and political order, and the need for God's restraining grace to hold back the full effects of human depravity.

In this episode, Dr. J. Mark Beach dives deep into Book 2 of John Calvin's seminal work, The Institutes of the Christian Religion. After covering knowledge of God as Creator in Book 1, Calvin turns his attention in Book 2 to understanding humanity's fallen, depraved state and need for redemption.

Dr. Beach provides an in-depth analysis of Calvin's teaching on the gravity of Adam's sin, his rebellion against God's word and authority. He explores Calvin's view that Adam's fall impacted not just himself but all of humanity, passing down a "contagion" of sin and corruption to all his descendants.

Calvin's doctrine of original sin or total depravity is unpacked - that from birth, mankind is infected with sin, unable to will or do true good, deserving of God's wrath. Yet this is not a doctrine of pessimism but a sober assessment following Scripture's teachings.

The episode examines Calvin's nuanced view that while human nature is gravely impacted, through common grace, people can still do civil good outwardly. But the root issue remains - only God's intervening grace can remedy our inward fallenness and inability.

Throughout, Dr. Beach shows how, for Calvin, rightly understanding our desperately sinful condition is crucial to grasping our need for redemption in Christ alone. This foundation sets the stage for his later teachings on salvation and the work of Christ as Redeemer.

In this episode, Dr. Alan Strange joins the podcast again to discuss the development of the doctrine of justification, particularly in the medieval period. He explains how Augustine recovered key aspects of Paul's teaching on justification being by grace alone while still viewing it as an ongoing process of being "made righteous" rather than a punctiliar declarative act.

Dr. Strange describes how in the centuries after Augustine, there was confusion and lack of clarity around his actual views, with some of Pelagius' works even being mistakenly attributed to other church fathers. He contrasts Augustine and Aquinas' view of faith involving "caritas" or love/obedience to the law with the Reformers' view of faith as fiducia or trust in Christ alone.

The discussion covers the key distinctions between the medieval Catholic view of justification as a process involving meriting grace through the sacraments and purgatory versus the Protestant Reformation's understanding of justification as a decisive declaration that happens at the moment of faith in Christ. Dr. Strange argues that the Reformation position actually recovered the biblical, Pauline view of justification by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

In this episode, Dr. Alan Strange continues the discussion on medieval church history. The conversation focuses on the major church councils and influential theologians from the Middle Ages. Dr. Strange begins by distinguishing the first seven ecumenical councils, which are recognized across Christian traditions, from the subsequent medieval councils after the East-West church schism in 1054.

He highlights the Lateran Councils, held in Rome from the 12th-13th centuries, which solidified papal authority and church doctrine like transubstantiation. Other notable councils like Lyons, Vienna, Constance, and Basel aimed to resolve issues like the Great Schism when there were multiple claimants to the papacy.

Dr. Strange also covers some of the influential medieval theologians and philosophers, including Boethius, John of Damascus, the debates between Ratramnus and Radbertus on the Eucharist, and John Scotus Eriugena's perspective integrating faith and reason. In evaluating this period, Dr. Strange praises the serious attempt to integrate faith and all areas of life while critiquing how the doctrine of the church overshadowed the doctrine of salvation.

In this episode, Dr. Alan Strange discusses scholasticism and mysticism in the medieval era of church history. He provides an in-depth look at scholasticism, explaining its origins in the monas-tic schools of the 9th and 10th centuries and how it contributed to the rise of universities in the 12th and 13th centuries. He analyzes the strengths and potential pitfalls of the scholastic method, which emphasizes making distinctions and applying Aristotelian logic to theological problems. The conversation then turns to mysticism, which arose partly in response to the arid intellectualism that scholasticism could produce at times. Dr. Strange examines the mystics' pursuit of direct, immediate experience of God and union with the divine. He weighs both the insights and ex-cesses of mysticism, contrasting its quest for the affective and experiential aspects of faith with the more rationalistic tendencies of some scholastics. Throughout the discussion, Dr. Strange provides historical context on key figures from both traditions, offering a nuanced perspective on scholasticism and mysticism as interconnected streams of medieval theology and philosophy. We hope this episode deepens your understanding of these influential movements while highlighting the need to ground reason and religious experience in God's revelation.

In this episode, Dr. Alan Strange explores the complex relationship between Christianity and Islam, examining whether the Islamic faith served as a "check" on defective Christian practice in the medieval era. He then dives into the Crusades - the series of religious wars waged by European Christians against Muslims in the medieval period, providing an overview of the reasons, motivations, and tremendous bloodshed that occurred. He then relates church/state entanglements of that era to the same tensions that still exist today, discussing how faith and politics can function properly.

In today's episode, Rev. Paul Ipema concludes his series on catechism preaching by highlighting the advantages of preaching from the catechism. He'll explain how the catechism's simplicity and clarity make it an accessible resource for systematically teaching core Christian doctrines to congregants of all ages. He'll also share insights from his own experience using the catechism in prison ministry and in children's catechism classes. Whether you're a pastor looking for reasons to prioritize catechism preaching or want to understand this historic practice better, this conversation will provide a helpful perspective.

In today's episode, we're discussing objections to the practice of catechism preaching. Rev. Paul Ipema joins us once again and addresses common criticisms, including claims that it's not truly expounding the Word of God, that the catechism is outdated, and that its tone is too polemical against other Christian traditions. While acknowledging the need for prudent handling, Rev. Ipema argues that catechism preaching has an important historical precedent and remains a valid way of faithfully teaching key biblical doctrines to congregations today. He unpacks the nuances of these objections and makes a case for why catechism exposition is still a valuable practice.