

MARSCAST
Mid-America Reformed Seminary
Join the faculty of Mid-America Reformed Seminary as they discuss everything from theology to cultural issues from a Reformed perspective.
*The opinions presented in each episode are those of the individual speaker and do not necessarily represent the views of the Seminary.*
*The opinions presented in each episode are those of the individual speaker and do not necessarily represent the views of the Seminary.*
Episodes
Mentioned books

Apr 16, 2020 • 26min
Dr. Strange, Imputation of Christ, and COVID-19
In this Round Table episode, you'll get to hear a conversation between Jared Luttjeboer and Dr. Alan Strange on his book, "Imputation of the Active Obedience of Christ in the Westminster Standards." Dr. Strange discusses the process of writing the book, the importance of the doctrine for seminary students, and believe it or not, how the imputation of the active obedience of Christ has anything to do with our current pandemic circumstances surrounding COVID-19.

Apr 9, 2020 • 22min
Christ and the Old Testament
One thing we find in the New Testament is that there is an appeal to understanding the work of Christ through the Old Testament. In this Round Table, our professors will speak to this question of Christ in the Old Testament and how it is that they as pastors, preachers, seek to preach Christ in all of Scripture.

Apr 2, 2020 • 21min
The Doctrine of God and the Old Testament
In this episode of Round Table, our faculty discuss amongst each other the continuity of the gospel in the Old Testament, particularly thinking of the question: Is the God of the Old Testament truly the God of the New Testament?

Mar 26, 2020 • 27min
Christianity and the Old Testament
Join Rev. Andrew Compton, Rev. Mark Vander Hart, and Dr. J. Mark Beach as they explore a new three-part series on the importance of the Old Testament for Christians. In this episode, right off the bat, they address that infamous sermon preached a couple of years ago by a prominent evangelical pastor who stated that Christians need to "unhitch" from the Old Testament. Do we though?

Mar 19, 2020 • 33min
Dr. Eric Watkins on Worship and Preaching
For this episode of Round Table, Dr. J. Mark Beach had the opportunity to interview one of our newest Instructors, Dr. Erick Watkins, on the subject of liturgics and preaching.

Mar 12, 2020 • 28min
Biblical Studies: Engaging the Academy
In our last episode, our faculty spent some time talking about Biblical Theology. What you’re going to hear from them today is how biblical studies are being practiced “out there,” in the academy, among non-Christians, among non-religious people.
There are many atheists who are engaged in doing biblical studies; they find it to be a fascinating corpus of literature as they study the Bible, and they’ve been doing so their whole career. There’s a lot of literature – magazines, journals, books – published by these individuals, and some of them are actually quite helpful and interesting, in spite of the significant areas of disagreement. But it goes to illustrate that there’s a large conversation going on in the world today about the Bible.
A good place to start is by imagining someone in a non-Christian university enrolled in a Biblical Studies program and asking yourself the question, “What will they end up doing?”
Taking part once again, in speaking order Associate Professor of Old Testament Rev. Mark Vander Hart, Assistant Professor of Old Testament Rev. Andrew Compton, and Associate Professor of New Testament Dr. Marcus Mininger

Mar 5, 2020 • 29min
Biblical Studies: Instruction at Mid-America
As we continue our discussion on biblical studies, we now move into biblical studies courses that are taken by our students. What does instruction at Mid-America look like, particularly in the classes in the biblical division? Taking part once again, in speaking order, are Assistant Professor of Old Testament Rev. Andrew Compton, Associate Professor of New Testament Dr. Marcus Mininger, and Associate Professor of Old Testament Rev. Mark Vander Hart.

Feb 27, 2020 • 25min
Biblical Studies: The Languages
We’re launching into a new three-part series on Biblical Studies here at Mid-America Reformed Seminary. We thought we’d take some time to discuss what it means to do biblical scholarship, and we thought we’d start with a discussion on the biblical languages. Mid-America is one of the seminaries which are getting fewer and fewer as time goes by that have a rigorous commitment to and requirement of the biblical languages. Mid-America not only has classes strictly in Hebrew and Koine Greek, but even during their time in exegesis classes (Old Testament and New), students are thoroughly engaged in the biblical languages as they weave their way through the biblical text. Taking part in this discussion, in speaking order, are Associate Professor of Old Testament Rev. Mark Vander Hart, Assistant Professor of Old Testament Rev. Andrew Compton, and Associate Professor of New Testament Dr. Marcus Mininger. They start with a basic question: In what languages was the Bible written?

Feb 20, 2020 • 42min
Rev. Danny Patterson on Counselling
We had the privilege of having Rev. Danny Patterson come to campus for a week, teaching a portion of the Introduction to Counselling course. He sat down with Rev. Andrew Compton, who teaches the Applied Counselling course here at Mid-America, and who also conducted this interview. Check it out.

Feb 13, 2020 • 30min
Outreach Part 3
The faculty of Mid-America have been talking about the work of the church and its efforts to be "outward" facing, to be looking out in mission, and specifically what it means to contextualize the message: to speak concretely and clearly to people in categories that they know.
But in doing this, do we risk setting ourselves up to dumb down the gospel, to dumb down corporate worship, to do something that is somehow not fitting for the worship of the Triune God?
How can we navigate some of these waters? Joining once again around the table to elaborate on this are Rev. Mark Vander Hart, Rev. Andrew Compton, Dr. J. Mark Beach, and Dr. Alan Strange.