The Historical Adam

Last week I had the privilege of, once again, joining the fellows from the Reformed Forum on Christ the Center. This week we discussed whether Adam was a real historical person and whether it matters for our understanding of Scripture and theology as a whole. In particular, we discussed a video clip recently posted by Tremper Longman (posted below). You can find the audio clip here. Pay particular attention to the comments on this one. They are very interesting.

Tim Keller on Christ the Center

We recently had the opportunity to talk with Dr. Tim Keller about his newest book Counterfeit God’s: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex and Power and the Only Hope that Matters. In this book Dr. Keller argues that all sin is, in some sense, idolatry. He points out that all humans were created to worship and serve the true and living God. If they are not worshiping the true God they will always put something or someone in His place. In this interview we asked Dr. Keller questions about this new book. You can find the interview here. We hope you enjoy this episode of Christ the Center.

Guy Waters on Christ the Center

The Christ the Center panel met with Dr. Guy Waters, associate professor of New Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, to discuss the importance of membership in a local congregation. The biblical basis for church membership was explored along with its connection to mutual support, discipline, accountability and observance of baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Also discussed was the significance of the non-communicant/communicant member distinction and its basis in Scripture. It was noted that aversion to local church membership among Christians is a relatively recent phenomenon and so this proved to be a very practical conversation. Especially in our time with the rise of the virtual church movement. The audio for the interview can be found here.

Carl Trueman on the Right Use of Media

This Thursday, October 15th, at 3 pm eastern we will be interviewing Carl Trueman on Christ the Center. Carl Trueman is Professor of Historical Theology and Church History at Westminster Theological Seminary and a regular contributor on Reformation 21. The topic of discussion will be the use of media. This topic is one that is timely and our discussion with Dr. Trueman should be good. You can listen to the live feed and join the chat room during the live interview here.

Parsons on Christ the Center

On the latest edition of Christ the Center, Burk Parsons joined us to discuss two books he has edited. A majority of the discussion centers around Assured by God: Living in the Fullness of God’s Grace, a wonderful collection of contributions on the reformed doctrine of assurance. Burk explains the importance of the doctrine for the Christian life.

The second book is also a collection of essays titled John Calvin: A Heart for Devotion, Doctrine, and Doxology, another great book about the great Geneva reformer. Of particular interest is chapter two, by Derek Thomas, which is a biography of Calvin that answers the question, "Who was John Calvin?" This book stands out from the multitude of recent Calvin titles in that it was written for the layperson. Listen to us discuss these two books with Burk here.

Tom Schreiner on Christ the Center

The latest edition of Christ the Center features an interview we did with Dr. Thomas R. Schreiner on his latest book New Testament Theology: Magnifying God in Christ. Schreiner is a well respected New Testament scholar and after listening to our interview with him, I am sure you will be able to understand why. His outstanding reputation has come, in part, from a few note worthy contributions he has made to the field of New Testament studies, including his Commentary on Romans and his work on the Apostle Paul. The audio of the interview can be found here.

Rick Phillips on Christ the Center

I once again had the privilege of being a panelist on Christ the Center. We welcomed Richard Phillips to discuss his new book The Masculine Mandate: God’s Calling to Men. The book is a reaction to recent cultural trends on what it is to be a man, specificly those found in John Eldredge’s mega-hit Wild at Heart. However this book is much more than a simple reaction, Phillips promotes a positive biblical approach to masculinity by touching on biblical anthropology and God’s specific call that men should “work” and “keep” as instructed to do in Genesis. The audio of this interview can be found here.

Schreiner on Christ the Center

It is my pleasure to announce that Dr. Tom Schreiner will be our guest on Christ the Center this Friday starting around 2 pm eastern. You can listen in live and chat with us here. We will be discussing his outstanding book New Testament Theology: Magnifying God in Christ, particularly his chapter on the Kingdom of God. This should be a great show. If you have any questions for Dr. Schreiner you can email them to me or leave them in the comment section of this post.

Christ the Center on The Life and Thought of Lemuel Haynes

About a month or so ago I had the privilege of joining the guys from Christ the Center to interview Thabiti Anyabwile on the life and thought of Lemuel Haynes. Rev. Anyabwile is Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church of Grand Cayman (talk about suffering for the Lord!). He has edited May We Meet in the Heavenly World, a book of Haynes' writings which includes a helpful biography, as well as authored the book The Decline of African American Theology: From Biblical Faith to Cultural Captivity. A little bit about Haynes, he lived from 1753 to 1833 and was an influential African-American pastor during the American Revolution. He was a devoted Calvinist who argued against slavery through the lens of God’s providence. Haynes was a well-known preacher and writer during his lifetime, but unfortunately, many have forgotten him in recent years. Our discussion of the life and thought of Lemuel Haynes can be found here. I also wanted to thank my good friend Chris Rehers who let me record from his house while my internet connection was down. Thanks!

Christ the Center on The Regulative Principle of Worship

During the PCA's General Assembly Nick Batzing and myself had the privilege of sitting down with Dr. Derek Thomas to discuss the regulative principle of worship. Derek Thomas is the John E. Richards Professor of Systematic and Practical Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary, Jackson, Mississippi. He is also the minister of teaching at First Presbyterian Church in Jackson, Mississippi. Dr. Thomas has authored numerous books including: What Is Providence?, Praying the Saviour's Way and Calvin's Teaching On Job. The audio of our interview can be found here. Hope you enjoy.

Chist the Center on The Importance of the Original Languages

A few weeks back we had the privilege of interviewing my boss Dr. Miles Van Pelt. Dr. Van Pelt is the Associate Professor of Old Testament and the Academic Dean at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, MS. In this interview we talked about the importance of the original languages of Greek and Hebrew for biblical study.Dr. Van Pelt has helped produce several popular books and resources for original language study including Basics of Biblical Hebrew and Vocabulary Guide to Biblical Hebrew. The audio of this interview can be found here. Enjoy the conversation!

You might also consider adding Christ the Center to your podcast feed. You can do this by going here and clicking on the the itunes button or the podcast button (depending on which one you use) under the heading "Subscribe to All Programs" on the right side of the page. This will have all the podcasts that the Reformed Forum does sent directly to you every time a new episode is posted.

Christ the Center with Gamble

Once again, I have the privilege to be on Christ the Center. We interview Dr. Richard C. Gamble on his new book, volume one, of his theology book, The Whole Counsel of God v.1: God’s Mighty Acts in the Old Testament. We discussed the influences and aims of this substantial new volume. This book is a great attempt at a theology text that blends the best of biblical theology with systematic theology. I would highly recommend it. You can find the audio for the interview here.

Christ the Center on New Testament Textual Criticism

About 3 weeks ago I was one of the panelists on Christ the Center. We interviews Dan Wallace and discussed the challenges facing New Testament textual criticism in the 21st century. Dr. Wallace is the senior New Testament editor of the NET Bible and coeditor of the NET-Nestle Greek-English diglot. He has also founded The Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts, an institute with an initial purpose to preserve Scripture by taking digital photographs of all known Greek New Testament manuscripts. You can download the program here. Enjoy!