The Henry Center Archive

Post-Lecture Interview with the Speaker

Lecture Title - Inadequacy: The Surprising Secret to Being Useful to God

The NBA champions this year was a team made up of fewer stars and less glitz than their opponents. We might say that humility triumphed over hubris. There are lessons-a-plenty in this for an evangelical church that routinely produces all-stars. Such an approach endangers the recipients of such adulation and discourages those who are by-passed in the process. In this lecture, Alistair Begg will consider God's pattern of using unlikely and ordinary characters and address the possibility that what we regard as a hindrance may be the key to usefulness in God's service.

Alistair Begg (DDiv Westminster Theological Seminary) is Senior Pastor at Parkside Church. He is author of many books, including Name Above all Names (Crossway, 2013), Pathway to Freedom: How God's Laws Guide Our Lives (Moody, 2021), and Brave by Faith: God-Sized Confidence in a Post-Christian World (The Good Book Company, 2021).

The Henry Center for Theological Understanding provides theological resources that help bridge the gap between the academy and the church. It houses a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues—for the good of the church, for the soul of the theological academy, for the sake of the world, and ultimately for the glory of God. The HCTU seeks to ground each of these initiatives in Scripture, and it pursues these goals collaboratively, in order to train a new generation of wise interpreters of the Word—lay persons and scholars alike—for the sake of tomorrow’s church, academy, and world.

Visit the HCTU website: https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/

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Debate Question - Is Social Justice an Essential Part of the Mission of the Church?

Lecture Title - A Kingdom of Friends: Matthew’s Vision for the “We” of Discipleship

Matthew’s Gospel presents a profound and nuanced vision of what it means to flourish as humans through becoming disciples of King Jesus. Flourishing in the kingdom of heaven requires a proper relationship to God, to other believers, and to the world outside of the church (“I, We, and They”). In this lecture, we will examine the vision Jesus gives for life together—the “we” of discipleship as a kingdom of true friends whose lives are marked by mercy and forgiveness. This vision can be seen especially in Joseph, the exemplar of the virtue of mercy, and the sophisticated and shocking “household code” of Matthew 18–20.

Jonathan T. Pennington (PhD University of St. Andrews) is Professor of New Testament Interpretation at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is the author of multiple books, including Reading the Gospels Wisely: A Narrative and Theological Introduction (Baker Academic, 2012), The Sermon on the Mount and Human Flourishing (Baker Academic, 2018), Jesus the Great Philosopher: Rediscovering the Wisdom Needed for the Good Life (Brazos Press, 2020), and Come and See: The Journey of Knowing God through Scripture (Crossway, 2023).

The Henry Center for Theological Understanding provides theological resources that help bridge the gap between the academy and the church. It houses a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues—for the good of the church, for the soul of the theological academy, for the sake of the world, and ultimately for the glory of God. The HCTU seeks to ground each of these initiatives in Scripture, and it pursues these goals collaboratively, in order to train a new generation of wise interpreters of the Word—lay persons and scholars alike—for the sake of tomorrow’s church, academy, and world.

Visit the HCTU website: https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/

Subscribe to the HCTU Newsletter: https://bit.ly/326pRL5

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Debate Question: Is the Lutheran Approach to Pauline Justification "Justified"?

Martin Luther and other reformers viewed Pauline justification as primarily, if not exclusively, a forensic matter between us and God. We are justified before God, through faith in Jesus Christ, according to his finished work on the cross. If one believes the gospel message, then one is justified before God. Reconciliation (with God and with other humans) is a necessary implication of justification but is not part of justification as such. New perspectives on Paul have challenged this account of justification (both historically and exegetically). Rather than being merely a forensic matter focused on human salvation and its relationship to divine satisfaction, this approach suggests that Pauline justification is essentially about human liberation and the reconciliation of people one with another. Rather than being merely a forensic matter focused on human salvation and its relationship to divine satisfaction, this approach suggests that Pauline justification is essentially about human liberation and the reconciliation of people one with another.

Douglas A. Campbell (PhD University of Toronto) is Professor of New Testament at Duke Divinity School. He is author of Framing Paul: An Epistolary Biography (Eerdmans, 2014), Paul: An Apostle’s Journey (Eerdmans, 2018), and Pauline Dogmatics: The Triumph of God’s Love (Eerdmans, 2020).

Douglas J. Moo (PhD University of St. Andrews) is Kenneth T. Wessner Professor of New Testament at Wheaton College. He is author of The Letter to the Romans (NICNT; 2nd edition) (Eerdmans, 2018) and A Theology of Paul and His Letters: The Gift of the New Realm in Christ (Zondervan Academic, 2021). He currently serves as chair for the New International Version translation committee.

The Henry Center for Theological Understanding provides theological resources that help bridge the gap between the academy and the church. It houses a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues—for the good of the church, for the soul of the theological academy, for the sake of the world, and ultimately for the glory of God. The HCTU seeks to ground each of these initiatives in Scripture, and it pursues these goals collaboratively, in order to train a new generation of wise interpreters of the Word—lay persons and scholars alike—for the sake of tomorrow’s church, academy, and world.

Visit the HCTU website: https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/

Subscribe to the HCTU Newsletter: https://bit.ly/326pRL

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Sermon Title - Finishing Well (1 Cor. 9:24-27)

Bryan C. Loritts (DMin Liberty University) is the president and founder of the Kainos Movement and the Teaching Pastor at The Summit Church. He is the author of the books The Dad Difference (Moody, 2020), Insider Outsider (Zondervan, 2018), and Saving the Saved (Zondervan, 2016).

The Henry Center for Theological Understanding provides theological resources that help bridge the gap between the academy and the church. It houses a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues—for the good of the church, for the soul of the theological academy, for the sake of the world, and ultimately for the glory of God. The HCTU seeks to ground each of these initiatives in Scripture, and it pursues these goals collaboratively, in order to train a new generation of wise interpreters of the Word—lay persons and scholars alike—for the sake of tomorrow’s church, academy, and world.

Visit the HCTU website: https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/

Subscribe to the HCTU Newsletter: https://bit.ly/326pRL5

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Sermon Title - The Multi-Ethnic Church (Eph. 2:11-22)

In a sermon on Ephesians 2:11-22, Brian Loritts makes a passionate appeal to Bible believing Christians to note the Gospel's vertical and horizontal dimensions. The Gospel addresses both reconciliation between God and sinners and reconciliation of all peoples in Christ. Loritts laments the fact that the modern church in America has resisted multi-ethnic unity. In so doing, American Christians have not embodied the radical unity that made the early church such a stunning validation of gospel power. He claims, "multi-ethnic is a symptom of the Gospel being lived out," and calls Evangelical pastors and leaders to embrace the opportunity to affect change and to pursue the kingdom vision of Revelation 7.

Bryan C. Loritts (DMin Liberty University) is the president and founder of the Kainos Movement and the Teaching Pastor at The Summit Church. He is the author of the books The Dad Difference (Moody, 2020), Insider Outsider (Zondervan, 2018), and Saving the Saved (Zondervan, 2016).

The Henry Center for Theological Understanding provides theological resources that help bridge the gap between the academy and the church. It houses a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues—for the good of the church, for the soul of the theological academy, for the sake of the world, and ultimately for the glory of God. The HCTU seeks to ground each of these initiatives in Scripture, and it pursues these goals collaboratively, in order to train a new generation of wise interpreters of the Word—lay persons and scholars alike—for the sake of tomorrow’s church, academy, and world.

Visit the HCTU website: https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/

Subscribe to the HCTU Newsletter: https://bit.ly/326pRL5

Connect with us!

Lecture Title - Transformed by the Renewing of the Mind: The Use of Scripture in "Spiritual Formation"

The Apostle Paul tells us to "not be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind" (Rom. 12:2). But how are we to go about renewing our mind? We will explain the role of scripture in the renewing of the mind, and the role of the pastor and the congregation in this process. We will also discuss the ways in which use of scripture fails to renew the mind-as often seems to be the case in our "Bible based" churches. What can be done about that? The larger picture of Christian "spiritual formation" will be discussed. How does it relate to "growth in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ"? Does being saved have anything to do with transformation of character?

Dallas Willard (PhD University of Wisconsin) was Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the University of Southern California. Within his interests were metaphysics, contemporary European philosophy, ethics and the history of ethics. An author of many books, his last one being Living in Christ's Presence: Final Words on Heaven and the Kingdom of God (InterVarsity Press, 2017).

The Henry Center for Theological Understanding provides theological resources that help bridge the gap between the academy and the church. It houses a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues—for the good of the church, for the soul of the theological academy, for the sake of the world, and ultimately for the glory of God. The HCTU seeks to ground each of these initiatives in Scripture, and it pursues these goals collaboratively, in order to train a new generation of wise interpreters of the Word—lay persons and scholars alike—for the sake of tomorrow’s church, academy, and world.

Visit the HCTU website: https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/

Subscribe to the HCTU Newsletter: https://bit.ly/326pRL5

Connect with us!

Lecture Title - Transformed by the Renewing of the Mind: The Use of Scripture in "Spiritual Formation"

The Apostle Paul tells us to "not be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind" (Rom. 12:2). But how are we to go about renewing our mind? We will explain the role of scripture in the renewing of the mind, and the role of the pastor and the congregation in this process. We will also discuss the ways in which use of scripture fails to renew the mind-as often seems to be the case in our "Bible based" churches. What can be done about that? The larger picture of Christian "spiritual formation" will be discussed. How does it relate to "growth in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ"? Does being saved have anything to do with transformation of character?

Dallas Willard (PhD University of Wisconsin) was Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the University of Southern California. Within his interests were metaphysics, contemporary European philosophy, ethics and the history of ethics. An author of many books, his last one being Living in Christ's Presence: Final Words on Heaven and the Kingdom of God (InterVarsity Press, 2017).

The Henry Center for Theological Understanding provides theological resources that help bridge the gap between the academy and the church. It houses a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues—for the good of the church, for the soul of the theological academy, for the sake of the world, and ultimately for the glory of God. The HCTU seeks to ground each of these initiatives in Scripture, and it pursues these goals collaboratively, in order to train a new generation of wise interpreters of the Word—lay persons and scholars alike—for the sake of tomorrow’s church, academy, and world.

Visit the HCTU website: https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/

Subscribe to the HCTU Newsletter: https://bit.ly/326pRL5

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Sermon Title - Gracing & Disgracing Grace: Forgiveness and Reconciliation

Preaching on Jesus’ famous parable of forgiveness (Matthew 18), Rev. Ralph West warns us against Disgracing Grace, in a manner similar to the Unforgiving Servant. This doesn’t mean that forgiveness is easy. It wasn’t easy for Jesus, and it isn’t easy for us. Whenever evil is put on a face, someone that looks a whole lot like us, we all become nervous. Yet, when our debt in relation to God is put in perspective–following Jesus arithmetic, a difference of $50,000,000 to $34–to not forgive is to disgrace grace. As with the parable, when the role is reversed, and we are not debtors but creditors, how will we respond? Will we grace grace or will we disgrace grace?

Ralph D. West (DMin Beeson Divinity School) is Founder and Senior Pastor of The Church Without Walls and Adjunct Professor of Preaching at the George W. Truett Theological Seminary.

The Henry Center for Theological Understanding provides theological resources that help bridge the gap between the academy and the church. It houses a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues—for the good of the church, for the soul of the theological academy, for the sake of the world, and ultimately for the glory of God. The HCTU seeks to ground each of these initiatives in Scripture, and it pursues these goals collaboratively, in order to train a new generation of wise interpreters of the Word—lay persons and scholars alike—for the sake of tomorrow’s church, academy, and world.

Visit the HCTU website: https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/

Subscribe to the HCTU Newsletter: https://bit.ly/326pRL5

Connect with us!

Sermon Title - The Final Christ

In John 4:7-14 and 6:27-40, Jesus uses the universal symbols of bread and water to draw people to himself, awakening in them a sense of their deeper hunger and thirst. He is the greater Jacob and the greater Moses, offering people the living water and bread of life - eternal life - that will satisfy them forever with himself. Those who eat and drink of Christ will never hunger or thirst again. Applied to our theological work, Christ reverses the wisdom of the world that elevates the pursuit of truth over truth itself and is more enamored with the brilliancy of its presentation than with He who is Wisdom in person. We are tempted by things that can only satisfy for a time, but Christ is the final food and final drink, the one in whom all the fullness of deity is present and in whom we are filled perfectly and entirely so that there is no more hunger and painful thirst.

Henri A. G. Blocher (DD Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary) is Professor Emeritus at Faculte Libre de Theologie Evangelique. He is author of In the Beginning: The Opening Chapters of Genesis (IVP Academic, 1984) and Original Sin: Illuminating the Riddle (IVP Academic, 2000). Blocher was a member of the Lausanne Committee on World Evangelization (1975-1980), served the World Evangelical Fellowship/Alliance in a number of capacities, and taught in schools in Europe, Australia, Africa, Canada, and the US.

The Henry Center for Theological Understanding provides theological resources that help bridge the gap between the academy and the church. It houses a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues—for the good of the church, for the soul of the theological academy, for the sake of the world, and ultimately for the glory of God. The HCTU seeks to ground each of these initiatives in Scripture, and it pursues these goals collaboratively, in order to train a new generation of wise interpreters of the Word—lay persons and scholars alike—for the sake of tomorrow’s church, academy, and world.

Visit the HCTU website: https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/

Subscribe to the HCTU Newsletter: https://bit.ly/326pRL5

Connect with us!