Reformed Forum

Gabe Fluhrer joins the panel to speak about inerrancy. The subject continues to be an issue of perennial importance. Gabe has edited a wonderful book on the subject with contributions from many well-recognized scholars and pastors. The contributions are taken from addresses at the Philadelphia Conference on Reformed Theology, organized each year by the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals.

Participants: Camden Bucey, Gabe Fluhrer, Jared Oliphint, Jim Cassidy

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On this episode we welcome Nancy Guthrie back to the program to speak about Christ in the Old Testament. Nancy has written the latest in her series on the subject titled The Wisdom of God: Seeing Jesus in the Psalms and Wisdom Books, which is the center of our discussion. Nancy is a member of Christ Presbyterian Church in Nashville, Tennessee, speaks at conferences worldwide, and is currently pursuing graduate studies at Covenant Theological Seminary. Nancy and her husband David have ministered to countless couples who have lost a child, and they continue to provide resources through retreats and Nancy’s autobiographical books on the subject such as Holding Onto Hope: A Pathway Through Suffering to the Heart of God.

Participants: Camden Bucey, Jared Oliphint, Nancy Guthrie

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Richard B. Gaffin, Jr. and Lane G. Tipton analyze arguments for credo-baptism and discuss Reformed views of covenant and election. Many Reformed Baptists will be quick to differentiate themselves from dispensationalists. They favor a covenantal hermeneutic that seeks to take into account the redemptive-historical features of Scripture. For this reason, many confessing credo-baptists argue that the Old Covenant administration has yielded several features to the New.

For instance, many Reformed Baptists argue that circumcision, the Old Covenant sign of membership, was given to physical seed, but water baptism, the New Covenant sign of membership, should only be given to spiritual seed. Moreover, the covenant included unregenerate members in its previous administration, but all people know the Lord in the New Covenant. Drs. Gaffin and Tipton analyze these and other arguments for credo-baptism.

Participants: Camden Bucey, Jared Oliphint, Lane G. Tipton, Richard B. Gaffin Jr.

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On this program we welcome Guy Prentiss Waters to speak about his book How Jesus Runs the Church. The doctrine of the church is critically important for the Christian life, but often lags behind in received attention. Dr. Waters brings us back to the Scriptural foundation that shows us how Jesus Christ actively reigns in and through his body.

Dr. Waters is Associate Professor of New Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi. He holds degrees from the University of Pennsylvania (B.A.), Westminster Theological Seminary (M.Div.), and Duke University (Ph.D.). He is ordained in the Presbyterian Church in America and is the author of Justification and the New Perspectives on Paul. Dr. Waters previously visited Christ the Center to speak about N.T. Wright’s doctrine of justification. You may listen to the entire two-part conversation (part 1 and part 2).

Participants: Camden Bucey, Guy Prentiss Waters, Jeff Waddington, Mark A. Winder

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In this episode, we welcome Dr. J. Todd Billings to speak about the doctrine of union with Christ and its implications for all of theology and ministry. Dr. Billings has written a new book on the subject, titled Union with Christ: Reframing Theology and Ministry for the Church, published by Baker.

Dr. J. Todd Billings is Associate Professor of Reformed Theology at Western Theological Seminary in Holland, MI. An ordained minister in the Reformed Church in America, he received his M.Div. from Fuller Seminary and his Th.D. from Harvard. His first book, Calvin, Participation, and the Gift: The Activity of Believers in Union With Christ (Oxford, 2007) won a 2009 Templeton Award for Theological Promise, awarded internationally for the best first books of scholars in theology and religious studies. He is also author of The Word of God for the People of God: An Entryway to the Theological Interpretation of Scripture (Eerdmans, 2010), and Union with Christ: Reframing Theology and Ministry for the Church (Baker Academic, 2011), winner of an “Award of Merit in Theology and Ethics” in the Christianity Today Book Awards, 2012. Dr. Billings has published articles in a variety of journals, including Modern Theology, Harvard Theological Review, Missiology, and International Journal of Systematic Theology, as well as periodicals such as Christianity Today, The Christian Century, and Sojourners. He has lectured at seminaries and universities around the world, and has been awarded grants from the Association of Theological Schools and the Wabash Center for his research.

Participants: Camden Bucey, J. Todd Billings, Jared Oliphint, Nick Batzig

Mentioned in this episode:

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Notwithstanding the diversity of opinion and debate that has surfaced throughout the last century and a half surrounding the nature of the Mosaic Covenant and the Law of God, Reformed theologians have constantly emphasized—with a great measure of uniformity—what has been denominated, the third use of the Law. With almost equal uniformity, myriads of objections continue to be raised when this subject is discussed among Christians today. In this episode, Nick Batzig leads a discussion on the law and unfolding redemptive-history.

Participants: Camden Bucey, Jeff Waddington, Nick Batzig

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Today we welcome Dr. David Skeel and James Sweet to speak about recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions that impact the church. Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC was a recent case that raised several important questions. Oyez.org asks, “Does the ministerial exception, which prohibits most employment-related lawsuits against religious organizations by employees performing religious functions, apply to a teacher at a religious elementary school who teaches the full secular curriculum, but also teaches daily religion classes, is a commissioned minister, and regularly leads students in prayer and worship?” Our guests discuss the decision and explain its significance for Christians.

David Skeel is the S. Samuel Arsht Professor of Corporate Law at the University of Pennsylvania and an elder at Tenth Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Philadelphia. He has written an op-ed on the case for the Wall Street Journal. James Sweet is counsel and Director of Special Projects for Westminster Theological Seminary and former chairman of Drinker, Biddle, and Reath.

Participants: Camden Bucey, David Skeel, James Sweet

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Rev. Dr. Mark Jones joins us to speak about diversity and debates within Puritanism. A healthy view of polemics has fallen on hard times, and Dr. Jones reminds us of several fruitful discussions over several issues related to the covenants. Our conversation focuses on the book Drawn into Controversie: Reformed Theological Diversity and Debates Within Seventeenth Century British Puritanism (Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, 2011), which Mark co-edited with Michael Haykin.

Mark is the minister of Faith Presbyterian Church, a congregation of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), in Vancouver, British Columbia. He is also Research Associate in the Faculty of Theology at University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa. Mark’s Ph.D. is from Leiden Universiteit (Oct. 2009) and his doctoral dissertation was entitled, “Why Heaven Kissed Earth: The Christology of the Puritan Reformed Orthodox theologian, Thomas Goodwin (1600–1680).”

Participants: Camden Bucey, Mark Jones, Nick Batzig

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In this episode, we welcome Michael Kruger to the program to speak about the theology and history of the canon. Dr. Kruger is one of the pastors at Uptown PCA in Charlotte, NC, as well as Professor of New Testament and Academic Dean at Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte, NC.

Dr. Kruger received his B.S. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, his M.Div. from Westminster Theological Seminary in California, and his Ph.D. from New College, The University of Edinburgh, Scotland. He is the author of The Gospel of the Savior (E.J. Brill, 2005), co-author of Gospel Fragments (Oxford University Press, 2009) and the forthcoming The Heresy of Orthodoxy: How Contemporary Culture’s Fascination with Diversity has Reshaped Our Understanding of Early Christianity (Crossway, 2010), and has had articles appear in such journals as The Journal of Theological Studies, The Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, The Expository Times, and The Master’s Seminary Journal.

His research interests center upon Christian Origins, particularly the development of the New Testament canon within the context of the early church. Prior to joining the RTS faculty, Dr. Kruger served in the pastorate for several years at Church of the Redeemer in Phoenix, AZ. There he developed a passion for preaching and ministry which he passes on to his students in the classroom. In addition to his faculty duties, he currently serves part-time as the Pastor of Discipleship Training at Uptown Christ Covenant Church in downtown Charlotte.

Participants: Camden Bucey, Jared Oliphint, Michael Kruger

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Christ the Center 1000

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Christ the Center 1000 Live in Austin, TX

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Today we welcome Owen Strachan to the program to speak about the new book, The Pastor as Scholar and the Scholar as Pastor: Reflections on Life and Ministry. Dr. Strachan is Assistant Professor of Christian Theology and Church History at Boyce College in Louisville, Kentucky. He has published six books and written with The Atlantic, First Things, Christianity Today, and the Scottish Bulletin of Evangelical Theology.

Participants: Camden Bucey, Jared Oliphint, Nick Batzig, Owen Strachan

Mentioned in this episode:

Christ the Center 1000

Christ the Center 1000 Summit

Christ the Center 1000 Live in Austin, TX

Christ the Center 1000 Summit