MarsCast

Dr. J. Mark Beach and Dr. Cornelis Venema continue their discussion on B.B. Warfield’s essay on "The Religious Life of Theological Students," this time addressing the lurking dangers nearby that attend theological studies. 

Dr. Beach and Dr. Venema sit down to analyze B.B. Warfield's address on "The Religious Life of Theological Students," keeping this first question in mind: Is the academic study of the Bible or theology a spiritually enriching experience? Is it a spiritual wasteland, or a spiritual oasis, which requires hard traveling but offers wonderful refreshment?

In this Round Table episode, you'll get to hear a conversation between Jared Luttjeboer and Dr. Alan Strange on his book, "Imputation of the Active Obedience of Christ in the Westminster Standards."  Dr. Strange discusses the process of writing the book, the importance of the doctrine for seminary students, and believe it or not, how the imputation of the active obedience of Christ has anything to do with our current pandemic circumstances surrounding COVID-19.

One thing we find in the New Testament is that there is an appeal to understanding the work of Christ through the Old Testament. In this Round Table, our professors will speak to this question of Christ in the Old Testament and how it is that they as pastors, preachers, seek to preach Christ in all of Scripture.

In this episode of Round Table, our faculty discuss amongst each other the continuity of the gospel in the Old Testament, particularly thinking of the question: Is the God of the Old Testament truly the God of the New Testament?

Join Rev. Andrew Compton, Rev. Mark Vander Hart, and Dr. J. Mark Beach as they explore a new three-part series on the importance of the Old Testament for Christians. In this episode, right off the bat, they address that infamous sermon preached a couple of years ago by a prominent evangelical pastor who stated that Christians need to "unhitch" from the Old Testament. Do we though?

For this episode of Round Table, Dr. J. Mark Beach had the opportunity to interview one of our newest Instructors, Dr. Erick Watkins, on the subject of liturgics and preaching.

In our last episode, our faculty spent some time talking about Biblical Theology. What you’re going to hear from them today is how biblical studies are being practiced “out there,” in the academy, among non-Christians, among non-religious people. 

There are many atheists who are engaged in doing biblical studies; they find it to be a fascinating corpus of literature as they study the Bible, and they’ve been doing so their whole career. There’s a lot of literature – magazines, journals, books – published by these individuals, and some of them are actually quite helpful and interesting, in spite of the significant areas of disagreement. But it goes to illustrate that there’s a large conversation going on in the world today about the Bible. 

A good place to start is by imagining someone in a non-Christian university enrolled in a Biblical Studies program and asking yourself the question, “What will they end up doing?” 

Taking part once again, in speaking order Associate Professor of Old Testament Rev. Mark Vander Hart, Assistant Professor of Old Testament Rev. Andrew Compton, and Associate Professor of New Testament Dr. Marcus Mininger

As we continue our discussion on biblical studies, we now move into biblical studies courses that are taken by our students.  What does instruction at Mid-America look like, particularly in the classes in the biblical division? Taking part once again, in speaking order, are Assistant Professor of Old Testament Rev. Andrew Compton, Associate Professor of New Testament Dr. Marcus Mininger, and Associate Professor of Old Testament Rev. Mark Vander Hart. 

We’re launching into a new three-part series on Biblical Studies here at Mid-America Reformed Seminary. We thought we’d take some time to discuss what it means to do biblical scholarship, and we thought we’d start with a discussion on the biblical languages. Mid-America is one of the seminaries which are getting fewer and fewer as time goes by that have a rigorous commitment to and requirement of the biblical languages. Mid-America not only has classes strictly in Hebrew and Koine Greek, but even during their time in exegesis classes (Old Testament and New), students are thoroughly engaged in the biblical languages as they weave their way through the biblical text. Taking part in this discussion, in speaking order, are Associate Professor of Old Testament Rev. Mark Vander Hart, Assistant Professor of Old Testament Rev. Andrew Compton, and Associate Professor of New Testament Dr. Marcus Mininger. They start with a basic question: In what languages was the Bible written?