Reformed Forum

Today we welcome Peter Gurry to speak about New Testament textual criticism. Peter is a PhD candidate at Fitzwilliam College, University of Cambridge and has written an article titled, “How Your Greek NT is Changing: A Simple Introduction to the Coherence-Based Genealogical Method (CBGM)” (JETS Volume 59, No. 4, 675–689). The coherence-based genealogical method was used in editing the Catholic epistles for the NA28 and UBS5 critical editions of the New Testament.

In this conversation, we learn about the basic principles of the method and how it differs from traditional approaches. We also discuss its advantages and the challenges that lay ahead in terms of scholarly reception and methodological refinement.

Participants: Camden Bucey, Marcus Mininger, Peter Gurry

Mentioned in this episode:

Christ the Center 1000 Live in Austin, TX

Christ the Center 1000 Summit

Christ the Center 1000

Christ the Center 1000 Summit

Peter Gurry speaks about a new method of textual criticism used in the latest critical editions of the New Testament.

I am sure that all of us have felt time drag by, as if a second is an hour. All most of us have to do is think back to being a child trying to make it to Christmas morning. You lay there in your bed and you feel like the night will never end. The older we get the quicker times seems to go and we start to long for the days of childhood when an afternoon could feel like days, as we were locked away in our minds imagination. Psalm 90 records a prayer of Moses where this fleeting life is contrasted with the eternality of our own works. To God time is eternal to us our lives are a moment away from returning to the dust. So Moses tells us to ask God to help us number our days so we might make every day count as worthwhile. Moses tries to teach us that what is important are the works that we do that are established by God for eternity. What does this have to do with this passage? What are the bowl judgments all about and what is the battle of Armageddon?

Theology Simply Profound is a podcast of Westminster Presbyterian Church, an Orthodox Presbyterian Church, serving the western suburbs of Chicago, where God powerfully speaks through his means of grace. Also, check out the work of the OPC in Chicagoland at Chicago Reformed.

Music credit: pamelayork.com. Thank you, Pamela York, for the use of your beautiful jazzy rendition of “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.” We encourage our listeners to check out her website and consider purchasing some of her music.

Participants: Rob McKenzie, Robert Tarullo

Today we speak with Austin Reed about Karl Barth’s theology of election. Austin is a student at Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary and walks us through a critical review of Karl Barth’s Infralapsarian Theology: Origins and Development, 1920-1953 by Shao Kai Tseng. Tseng challenges the scholarly status quo, arguing that despite Barth’s stated favor of supralapsarianism, his mature lapsarian theology is complex and dialectical. It demonstrates elements of both supra- and infralapsarianism, though it favors the latter. In Tseng’s assessment, Barth’s theology is basically infralapsarian because he sees the object of election as fallen humankind and understands the incarnation as God’s act of taking on human nature in its condition of fallenness.

Be sure to read Austin Reed’s review of Reading Barth with Charity: A Hermeneutic Proposal by George Hunsinger.

Participants: Austin Reed, Camden Bucey, Jim Cassidy

Today we speak with Austin Reed about Karl Barth's theology of election. Austin is a student at Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary and walks us through a critical review of Karl Barth's Infralapsarian Theology: Origins and Development, 1920-1953 by Shao Kai Tseng. Tseng challenges the scholarly status quo, arguing that despite Barth's stated favor of supralapsarianism, his mature lapsarian theology is complex and dialectical. It demonstrates elements of both supra- and infralapsarianism, though it favors the latter. In Tseng's assessment, Barth's theology is basically infralapsarian because he sees the object of election as fallen humankind and understands the incarnation as God's act of taking on human nature in its condition of fallenness.

Be sure to read Austin Reed's review of Reading Barth with Charity: A Hermeneutic Proposal by George Hunsinger.

Most people have heard the name; “Lady Jane Gray”, some will even remember that she was a queen of England, albeit for only nine days. What most people don’t know is that she was a highly intelligent young woman with great faith and a great devotion to the doctrines of the Reformation. In the end she was take to the Tower of London and beheaded. True, part of her execution was political but part was also because of her Protestantism. If we pull back the curtain from this reality we will see a different type of struggle. We will see-as John did, Beasts rising out of the land and sea. We will see a lamb with horns speaking, but we will hear the voice of a deceptive serpent. We will understand that no matter what circumstances lead to Jane’s execution we know it was the war of the dragon against the people of God. How does God look upon a death like this? How should we understand the persecutions we endure and how should we now live?

Theology Simply Profound is a podcast of Westminster Presbyterian Church, an Orthodox Presbyterian Church, serving the western suburbs of Chicago, where God powerfully speaks through his means of grace. Also, check out the work of the OPC in Chicagoland at Chicago Reformed.

Music credit: pamelayork.com. Thank you, Pamela York, for the use of your beautiful jazzy rendition of “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.” We encourage our listeners to check out her website and consider purchasing some of her music.

Participants: Rob McKenzie, Robert Tarullo

Mentioned in this episode:

Christ the Center 1000

Christ the Center 1000

On this episode, we are joined by Ryan McGraw, who speaks about the foundational role and practical significance of Trinitarian theology to John Owen. Dr. McGraw is Professor of Systematic Theology at Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Greenville, South Caroline. His article, “Trinitarian Doxology: Reassessing John Owen’s Contribution to Reformed Orthodox Trinitarian Theology” was published in The Westminster Theological Journal, Vol. 77, No. 2.

Dr. McGraw joined us on a previous episode of Christ the Center to speak about the meaning of the phrase “good and necessary consequence” in the Westminster Confession of Faith 1.6.

Participants: Camden Bucey, Jim Cassidy, Ryan McGraw

Mentioned in this episode:

Christ the Center 1000 Live in Austin, TX

Christ the Center 1000 Summit

Christ the Center 1000

Christ the Center 1000 Summit

On this episode, we are joined by Ryan McGraw, who speaks about the foundational role and practical significance of Trinitarian theology to John Owen. Dr. McGraw is Professor of Systematic Theology at Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Greenville, South Caroline. His article, "Trinitarian Doxology: Reassessing John Owen's Contribution to Reformed Orthodox Trinitarian Theology" was published in The Westminster Theological Journal, Vol. 77, No. 2.

Dr. McGraw joined us on a previous episode of Christ the Center to speak about the meaning of the phrase "good and necessary consequence" in the Westminster Confession of Faith 1.6.

On this episode, we are joined by Nathaniel Gray Sutanto, who speaks about the Theological Interpretation of Scripture (TIS). Gray is a PhD Candidate at New College, University of Edinburgh. His article, “On the Theological Interpretation of Scripture: The Indirect Identity Thesis, Reformed Orthodoxy, and Trinitarian Considerations” was published in The Westminster Theological Journal, Vol. 77, No. 2.

TIS is an approach to reading biblical texts that explicitly considers the theological nature of the texts and embraces the influence of theology on interpretation. Sutanto focuses on Francis Watson and his relationship to Karl Barth’s doctrine of revelation. He concludes that, “. . . the uniqueness of TIS depends upon the assumption of the validity of Kant’s turn in philosophical history along with its attendant ideological implications.”

A NOTE ON THE AUDIO: After recording this episode, we discovered that our studio mixer is no longer supported on the current version of our operating system. While it still recorded, it did not record true to the inputs. This is most inconvenient… Furthermore, we can’t do anything about what we recorded. We humbly bring to you what sounds like a most unusual conversation among pre-pubescent theologians.

Participants: Camden Bucey, Jared Oliphint, Nathaniel Gray Sutanto

Mentioned in this episode:

Christ the Center 1000 Live in Austin, TX

Christ the Center 1000 Summit

Christ the Center 1000

Christ the Center 1000 Summit

On this episode, we are joined by Nathaniel Gray Sutanto, who speaks about the Theological Interpretation of Scripture (TIS). Gray is a PhD Candidate at New College, University of Edinburgh. His article, "On the Theological Interpretation of Scripture: The Indirect Identity Thesis, Reformed Orthodoxy, and Trinitarian Considerations" was published in The Westminster Theological Journal, Vol. 77, No. 2.

TIS is an approach to reading biblical texts that seeks to do justice to the theological nature of the texts and embrace the influence of theology on interpretation. Sutanto focuses on Francis Watson and his relationship to Karl Barth's doctrine of revelation. He concludes that, ". . . the uniqueness of TIS depends upon the assumption of the validity of Kant's turn in philosophical history along with its attendant ideological implications."