We celebrate five-hundred episodes of Christ the Center.

Camden Bucey reviews Yves Congar's The Meaning of Tradition.

Today, Rob and Bob discuss Acts 8 and the progress of the gospel into Samaria through Philip.

We continue our #VosGroup series by opening pages 157–159 of Vos' book Biblical Theology: Old and New Testaments to consider offerings, gifts, and sacrifices within the Mosaic economy.

Reflecting on Acts 8:1-3, Rob and Bob discuss the scattering of the church after the death of Stephen.

Chris Castaldo compares the respective doctrines of justification of the Reformer Peter Martyr Vermigli and the Roman Catholic John Henry Cardinal Newman.

Today, Rob and Bob with Melodie McKenzie, discuss Stephen's speech in Acts 7, which leads us into the muddy of waters of sermons, some questions about preaching, and some thoughts on listening to sermons. Thanks for listening. Enjoy.

In June 2011, we spoke with Bill Dennison, Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at Covenant College, about Transformationalism and Christian Higher Education. In that episode, we touched upon his article, "Dutch Neo-Calvinism and the Roots for Transformation: An Introductory Essay" from the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 42/2 (June 1999). We only had a few minutes to discuss the article in episode 180, and so today, we pick up where we left off. Dennison contends that while Dutch neo-Calvinism sought to transform culture in response to the threat of the Enlightenment, they stood upon a foundation of Enlightenment principles to do it. Many of the themes discussed in this episode were developed and applied in our twelve-part series on Christ and Culture, in which Dennison debated Darryl Hart, Nelson Kloosterman, and Doug Wilson.

• In Defense of the Eschaton
• Transformationalism and Christian Higher Education
• Machen and Bultmann at Marburg
• Paul's Two-Age Construction and Apologetics

Paul gave Timothy specific instructions to ordain elders and deacons as the leaders of the churches that they were planting. The Deacons who we were first introduced in Acts 6 were to be dignified, honest, and faithful, not addicted to much wine, convinced of their faith and doctrine, mature in life and faith. They are to be the husband of one wife managing their household well. All that just so they can sweep the floor after a Sunday lunch. What are all of the responsibilities of deacons? Are they to be listened too or just the guys that take the offering every Sunday? Are they to be respected in the office or is it just a stepping stone to eldership?

We welcome Brandon Crowe back to the program to speak about the gospel of Matthew. Dr. Crowe is assistant professor of New Testament at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. He is the author of the article, "Fulfillment in Matthew as Eschatological Reversal" in Westminster Theological Journal 75 (2013), pp. 111–127. Matthew's use of the Old Testament has perplexed interpreters for years. It is difficult to ascertain precisely how Jesus "fulfills" the prophets in several of Matthew's references. Dr. Crowe argues that Jesus not only fulfills the Old Testament as the new Israel and consummate Davidic king, but according to Matthew's formulae, he does so by reversing Israel's pattern of covenant infidelity.

• The Last Adam: A Theology of the Obedient Life of Jesus in the Gospels
• The New Testament Foundations of Trinitarian Theology
• The Message of the General Epistles
• The Virgin Birth of Christ
• Deuteronomy and Christology in the Gospel of Matthew