Reformed Forum

In this episode, Rob and Bob continue a series on familiar psalms that we tend to be drawn to more than others for one reason or another. Psalm 110 is quoted more than any other psalm in the New Testament. Why? What makes it so worthwhile for the New

Lane Tipton delivers a plenary address from the annual Reformed Forum Theology Conference, which was hosted October 8–9 at Providence OPC in Pflugerville, Texas. Dr. Tipton's address is titled, "Perichoresis, Endoxation, and the Glory-Spirit: Foundations for Image-Endowment and Covenant Theology in the Work of Meredith G. Kline"

Sandy Finlayson speaks about the life and ministry of Thomas Chalmers. Finlayson is the author of Chief Scottish Man: The Life and Ministry of Thomas Chalmers (Evangelical Press). Thomas Chalmers (1780-1847) was a significant figure in nineteenth-century Scotland. Without his vision, organizational skills, and his ability to mobilize opinion, it is unlikely that the Free Church would have come into existence. This new and updated biography—expanded significantly from Finlayson's Bitesize Biography—tells the story of visionary thinker, minister, and preacher Thomas Chalmers and the many years of struggle for the spiritual independence of the Church of Scotland. Mr. Finlayson is director of library services and professor of theological bibliography at Westminster Theological Seminary in Glenside, Pennsylvania.

In this episode, Rob and Bob begin a new series on familiar psalm that we tend to be drawn to more than others for one reason or another. We begin with one of the most well-known psalms, Psalm 23. Charles Spurgeon calls Psalm 23, "the pearl of the psalms." Why is this psalm so well loved? We discuss this and other things on today's episode.

Carlton Wynne, Lane Tipton, and Camden Bucey open Cornelius Van Til's book, The Defense of the Faith to pages 40–43, in which Van Til describes the Christian philosophy of reality. While to some degree it is necessary to use categories of God, man, and universe common to unbelievers in order to engage them apologetically and to evangelize, Christians must clearly set forth the distinctly Christian philosophy of reality. Van Til commences that work in chapter two and promptly addresses eternal unity and plurality with regard to the problem of the one and many.

Patrick O'Banion joins us to speak about Girolamo Zanchi and his book, The Spiritual Marriage between Christ and His Church and Every One of the Faithful. O'Banion translated and introduced a new edition of the book published by Reformation Heritage Books. Zanchi was an Italian Reformer, with close ties to Peter Martyr Vermigli. Developing from Girolama Zanchi's exegetical labors through Ephesians, Spiritual Marriage draws readers into the rich theological of doctrine of union with Christ. Following the lead of the apostle Paul, Zanchi demonstrates how our earthly marriages fulfill their truest purpose by drawing our attention toward the spiritual marriage between Christ and His Church. By paying attention to the Genesis account of Adam's marriage to Eve, to pertinent Old Testament laws, and to the teachings of Jesus and His apostles, we begin to understand something of that higher and heavenly union. This new translation helps us better understand the great mystery of Christ and His bride. Patrick O'Banion is International Trainer at Training Leaders International.

Jim Cassidy delivers a plenary address from the annual Reformed Forum Theology Conference, which was hosted October 8–9 at Providence OPC in Pflugerville, Texas. Cassidy investigates the ontological assumptions which led Karl Barth to reject the doctrine of the covenant of works. He considers how Barth's doctrine of God, with its actualistic ontology, is the ground for his rejection of the historic doctrine of classical federal theology. In the process of showing how his novel construction of the doctrine of God leads to his critique, Barth sets up—albeit unwittingly—how own kind of covenant of works whereby man today can ascend into "God's time for us" to gain the knowledge of God. This is Christ the Center episode 725 (https://www.reformedforum.org/ctc725)

This week on Theology Simply Profound, Rob and Bob continue a discussion of John Bunyan's, The Pilgrim's Progress, Book 2. In this episode, we find our band of pilgrims make their way through the Enchanted Grounds, meet another pil

Lane Tipton and Camden Bucey turn to pages 267–269 of Geerhardus Vos' book, Biblical Theology: Old and New Testaments, to consider the collective sin of the nation during the time of the prophets. Vos addresses several passages in this section, including Amos 5:25, Isaiah 1:10–17, and Hosea 6:6.

Jeff Waddington reviews Jonathan Edwards and the Immediacy of God by John Carrick. Jonathan Edwards is one of the outstanding figures in the history of the Christian church—he was, quite simply, a man of towering intellect and towering spirituality. But it has been noted, even by his friends and admirers, that his thought is also marked at times by certain idiosyncrasies which inevitably introduce certain complexities into his philosophical-theological system. This study contends that the theme of divine immediacy is the controlling theme and the correlating principle within Edwards's thought. It analyzes the theme of divine immediacy in the thought of Jonathan Edwards under four major heads: creation, the will, ecclesiology, and spiritual experience. Indeed, Dr. Carrick claims that the theme of the immediacy of God is the Ariadne's thread, which runs with consistency through the multiple aspects of Edwards's philosophical, theological, ecclesiological, experiential, and homiletical interests. But sometimes a man's strength is also his weakness, and it would appear that Edwards's profound commitment to the concept and the reality of the immediacy of God entails significant problems for his entire philosophical-theological system. Edwards's concept of divine immediacy finds its supreme expression, surely, in his doctrine of continuous creation; but is it not the case that this doctrine of continuous creation is in conflict with his determinism, that its tendency is to destroy the moral responsibility of man, and that it makes God both the author and the actor of sin? In short, is it not the case that Edwards's Ariadne's thread is, in fact, also his Achilles' heel?