Grace in Common

Join us for a conversation with Michael Allen, Professor of Systematic Theology at RTS Orlando, on the beatific vision - the Christian teaching that the goal of human existence is to 'see God'. In recent years, the neo-Calvinist tradition has faced critical questioning on the richness of its handling of this important doctrine. In this week's episode, we discuss those critiques, particularly in relation to Bavinck's Reformed Dogmatics. Works cited: Michael Allen, Grounded in Heaven: Recentering Christian Hope and Life on God (2018) Michael Allen, 'On Bavinck, the Beatific Vision, and Theological Practice,' Reformed Faith and Practice (2022). Hans Boersma, Seeing God: The Beatific Vision in Christian Tradition (2018) Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, 4 vols. (2003-8) Cory Brock, 'Revisiting Bavinck and the Beatific Vision,' Journal of Biblical and Theological Studies (2021) James Eglinton, Bavinck: A Critical Biography (2020)

Suggested Reading: Vincent Bacote, The Spirit in Public Theology (Baker Academic, 2005); 'Erasing Race', in Black Scholars in White Space, Anthony Bradley (ed.), (Pickwick, 2015); Reckoning with Race (Brill, 2021), 'Kuyper on Race' in Calvinism for a Secular Age, Rob and Jessica Joustra (eds.), (IVP, 2022).  Richard Mouw, Abraham Kuyper: A Short and Personal Introduction (Eerdmans, 2011) J. Kameron Karter, Race: A Theological Account (Oxford, 2009)

An episode on the occasion of the publication of the Klaas Schilder Reader. A Neo-Calvinist Bonhoeffer, a "loyal opposition in the Neo-Calvinist tradition", "a theology for the trenches of life". Who was this second generation neo-Calvinist? How did he differ from Kuyper and Bavinck? Join us in a conversation about possible weaknesses in the Neo-Calvinist tradition on sphere sovereignty, common grace, the church as institution etc. George Harinck, Marinus de Jong and Richard Mouw (eds.), The Klaas Schilder Reader: The Essential Theological Writings (Lexham Academic, 2022) https://lexhampress.com/product/213957/the-klaas-schilder-reader-the-essential-theological-writings  Marinus de Jong, “The Church is the Means, the World is the End: The Development of Klaas Schilder’s thought on the Church and the World (PhD Thesis, Kampen Theological University, 2019) https://www.tukampen.nl/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/proefschrift-Marinus-de-Jong-final-3.pdf Our essential Neo-calvinist reading list: Primary Sources Herman Bavinck, “The Catholicity of Christendom and Church” in: Calvin Theological Journal 27 (1992) https://sources.neocalvinism.org/.full_pdfs/bavinck_1992_catholicity.pdf  Herman Bavinck, “Modernity and Orthodoxy” in The Bavinck Review 7 (2016) https://sources.neocalvinism.org/.full_pdfs/bavinck_2016_modernism.pdf also in Bruce Pass (ed.), On Theology: Herman Bavinck's Academic Orations (Brill) Bavinck, “The Kingdom of God, The Highest Good” In: The Bavinck Review 2 (2011) https://sources.neocalvinism.org/.full_pdfs/bavinck_2011_kingdom.pdf  Abraham Kuyper, Lectures on Calvinism (1898) https://sources.neocalvinism.org/.full_pdfs/kuyper/LecturesOnCalvinism.pdf  Abraham Kuyper, ”Conservatism and orthodoxy: False and True Preservation” in James Bratt (ed.), Abraham Kuyper: A Centennial Reader (Eerdmans, 1998)  Abraham Kuyper, ”Uniformity and the Curse of Modern Life” in James Bratt (ed.), Abraham Kuyper: A Centennial Reader (Eerdmans, 1998)  Secondary Sources Jessica Joustra and Robert Joustra (eds.), Calvinism for a Secular Age (IVP, 2022) https://www.ivpress.com/calvinism-for-a-secular-age James Eglinton, Herman Bavinck: A Critical Biography (Baker Academic, 2020) http://bakerpublishinggroup.com/books/bavinck/397260 James Bratt, Abraham Kuyper: Modern Calvinist, Christian Democrat (Eerdmans, 2013) https://www.eerdmans.com/Products/6906/abraham-kuyper.aspx  Cory Brock and Nathanial Sutanto, Neo-Calvinism: A Theological Introduction (Lexham, forthcoming) https://lexhampress.com/product/224276/neo-calvinism-a-theological-introduction 

What, if anything, does theology have to say about how we clothe our bodies? Join us for a conversation with neo-Calvinist cultural theologian Dr Robert Covolo, author of Fashion Theology, for a wide-ranging discussion on culture, fashion, and theology. Works cited: Robert Covolo, Fashion Theology (Baylor University Press, 2020) Abraham Kuyper, 'Uniformity: The Curse of Modern Life,' Abraham Kuyper: A Centennial Reader (Eerdmans, 1998) David Friedrich Strauss, The Old Faith and The New: A Confession (1872) Friedrich Nietzsche, 'David Strauss, the Confessor and the Writer,' Untimely Meditations (1873) Thomas Carlyle, Sartor Resartus: The Life and Opinions of Herr Teufelsdröckh in Three Books (1831) Carl Trueman, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to Sexual Revolution (Crossway, 2020) Charles Taylor, The Ethics of Authenticity (Harvard University Press, 2018)

In this episode, we discuss the current online controversy on the 'third way' - an approach to Christianity and culture currently most closely associated with Tim Keller, but most historically rooted in the neo-Calvinist tradition. Join us for American, Asian, and European perspectives on this American debate. Sources: James Wood, 'How I Evolved on Tim Keller,' First Things. Aaron Renn, 'The Three Worlds of Evangelicalism,' First Things. Chris Watkin, 'The Third Way is Dead. Long Live the Third Way!,' The Gospel Coalition. Rod Dreher, 'Tim Keller & Myxomatosis Christians,' The American Conservative. Gray Sutanto, 'The Limits of Christian Pluralism, and the Relevance of Neo-Calvinism for Indonesia,' Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Religion and Ethics. Gray Sutanto, 'The Ahok Affair: How Should Christians Respond?,' Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Religion and Ethics. Timothy Keller, Center Church (2012).

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In this episode of Grace in Common we discuss the University, its Christian origins and the way in which the University still is a deeply Christian concept. Seb Falk, The Light Ages: The Surprising Story of Medieval Science (2020) Herman Bavinck, Christelijke wetenschap (Kok, 1904); English Translation Christian Scholarship (Crossway, forthcoming) Abraham Kuyper, Lectures on Calvinism (1898) Timothy Keene, "Kuyper and Dooyeweerd: Sphere Sovereignty and Modal Aspects" in: Transformation: An International Journal of Holistic Mission Studies 33-1 (2016)  Marinus de Jong ”The Heart of the Academy: Herman Bavinck in Debate with Modernity on the Academy, Theology and the Church” in The Kuyper Center Review. Vol 5 (Eerdmans, 2015)  Nathaniel Gray Sutanto, God and Knowledge: Herman Bavinck’s Theological Epistemology ( T&T Clark, 2020)

In this episode, we have a full-orbed conversation with Shao Kai Tseng (DPhil, Oxford). He is research professor in the Department of Philosophy at Zhejiang University, China. He is the author of Karl Barth's Infralapsarian Theology (2016) and Hegel (2018), and a contributor to the Oxford Handbook of Nineteenth-Century Christian Thought (2017) and Blackwell Companion to Karl Barth.

Exploring the neo-Calvinist tradition and its relationship to the modern world. Discussion on modernity and its impact on traditional authorities. Exploring the views of Herman Bavink as a modern Christian. Emphasizing the need for theology to demonstrate its relevance in a modern world. The global influence of modernity on Christianity and the role of neo-Calvinism. The influence of historical events on theology and the importance of a strong church in a secular context.

In this episode, Cory Brock, Gray Sutanto, and James Eglinton discuss the distinctive account of apologetics found in the neo-Calvinist tradition. Join us as we cover the applications of apologetics to psychology and culture, and its relationship to evangelism. Books mentioned: - James Bratt, John Bolt, Paul Visser (eds.), The J.H. Bavinck Reader (2013), especially 'Religious Consciousness and Christian Faith' - Cornelius van Til, Defense of the Faith (1955) - James Eglinton, 'Voetius: Can we classify sin?', 'Herman Bavinck: Can we predict sin?', 'J.H. Bavinck: Can we Psychologise Sin?' - Daniel Strange, Their Rock is not like our Rock: A Theology of Religions (2015) - Tom Holland, Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind (2019)