Reformed Forum

Several contributors to Philosophy for Theologians convene to discuss the guidelines for formulating a Christian epistemology. As a starting point, the panel looks at the seminal work by Edmund Gettier Is Justified True Belief Knowledge? In 1963 Gettier published a 3-page paper that turned the philosophical world on its head by supplying counterexamples that challenged the common definition of knowledge. Gettier’s examples have come to be known as demonstrating the Gettier Problem.

Participants: Camden Bucey, Jared Oliphint, Jonathan Brack, Nate Shannon

Bill Dennison discusses the possibility of a personal acquaintance between J. Gresham Machen and Rudolf Bultmann. Both men are key figures in opposing wings of Protestantism. Machen being the figurehead of conservative Presbyterianism in the early 20th c. as he founded Westminster Theological Seminary and led the movement to begin the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. Rudolf Bultmann, on the other hand, pioneered the Second Quest of higher biblical criticism. Dr. Dennison is Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, GA and Professor of Apologetics and Systematic Theology at Northwest Theological Seminary in Lynnwood, WA. Dennison is the author of The Young Bultmann: Context for His Understanding of God, 1884-1925.

Participants: Bill Dennison, Camden Bucey, Jared Oliphint

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Dr. Carl Trueman, Vice President for Academic Affairs at Westminster Theological Seminary, and Dr. Peter A. Lillback, President of Westminster, discuss the proper relationship of Christianity to the political sphere. Dr. Trueman is the author of Republocrat, a new book that challenges the reigning partisan brand of politics in the U.S. Dr. Lillback is the other of Wall of Misconception, a book arguing that the separation of church and state does not mean the separation of Christianity and government, as well as the book George Washington’s Sacred Fire, which was featured on the Glenn Beck program.

Participants: Camden Bucey, Carl Trueman, Jared Oliphint, Peter A. Lillback

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John V. Fesko provides an historical, biblical-theological, and systematic view of baptism in his new book Word, Water and Spirit. Dr. Fesko is the academic dean and associate professor of systematic theology at Westminster Seminary California. He is also the author of The Rule of Love and Justification: Understanding the Classic Reformed Doctrine. Rev. Fesko has appeared on two prior episodes of Christ the Center.

Participants: Camden Bucey, Jim Cassidy, John Fesko, Nick Batzig

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Christ the Center discusses the developments in Roman Catholic theology that came with Vatican II. In this episode, we welcome an able panel including Nathan Shannon, who wrote a ThM thesis on Karl Rahner, Michael Matossian, PhD candidate at Marquette University, and Danny Olinger, who studied at Duquesne University. Danny has written a helpful primer on Vatican II which appears in the lastest edition of Ordained Servant.

Participants: Camden Bucey, Danny Olinger, Michael Matossian, Nate Shannon

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Christ the Center 1000

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Chris Bolt from Choosing Hats discusses presuppositional apologetics.

Participants: Chris Bolt, Jared Oliphint, Jonathan Brack

Christ the Center speaks with Dennis Prutow, Professor of Homiletics and Pastoral Theology at Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary, to speak about his book So Pastor, What’s Your Point?

Participants: Camden Bucey, Nick Batzig

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Jim Cassidy and Camden Bucey open the subject of Van Til’s criticisms of Karl Barth. Van Til was one of Barth’s earliest English-writing critics, and his criticisms are found in his books The New Modernism and Christianity and Barthianism. Van Til’s take on Barth has come under fire, but at least one noted Barthian, Bruce McCormack, has vindicated Van Til’s understanding.

Participants: Camden Bucey, Jim Cassidy

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Dr. Barry Horner joins the program to discuss John Bunyan’s classic The Pilgrim’s Progress. Horner has thought deeply on the subject and has written a book of his own titled The Pilgrim’s Progress: Themes and Issues. His Doctor of Ministry degree from Westminster Seminary in California focused on the biblical/theological content of The Pilgrim’s Progress as well as its validity as an appropriate means for the communication of the Word of God. Dr. Horner teaches The Pilgrim’s Progress in church, seminar, and camp settings, and pastors Christ’s New Covenant Church, Tucson, Arizona.

Participants: Barry Horner, Camden Bucey, Nate Shannon

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The idea of natural theology has been much debated. One’s understanding regarding the project of natural theology will inevitably impact substantially one’s apologetic methodology and epistemology. K. Scott Oliphint and James Dolezal visit the Reformed Forum studio to discuss natural theology. Michael Sudduth’s book The Reformed Objection to Natural Theology (Burlington: Ashgate, 2009) will act as the foil of the discussion. The book is in the Ashgate “Philosophy of Religion” series edited by Paul Helm and Linda Zagzebski. In The Reformed Objection to Natural Theology Sudduth identifies three main categories in the world of Reformed objections to natural theology: objections from the immediacy of our knowledge of God, the noetic effects of sin, and the logic of theistic arguments. While recognizing various forms of natural theology, Sudduth argues that none of the main Reformed objections are successful against the project of natural theology itself. The foundation for Sudduth’s book was laid in his 1996 D.Phil. dissertation at the University of Oxford. In that work, Sudduth attempted “to synthesize the Reformed epistemology of Alvin Plantinga and features of the evidentialist tradition with its emphasis on natural theology – rational arguments for the existence and nature of God.” (Sudduth, Preface) The book is even titled after Plantinga’s 1980 paper of the same title.

Participants: Camden Bucey, James Dolezal, K. Scott Oliphint

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Christ the Center 1000 Live in Austin, TX

Christ the Center 1000 Summit

Christ the Center 1000

Christ the Center 1000 Summit