Knowing Faith

Jen Wilkin, JT English, and Kyle Worley discuss what it means that God is Eternal and Immutable.Questions Covered in This Episode:What’s an incommunicable attribute? How is this different from a communicable attribute?Am I an eternal creature?What does eternal mean?Why is this crucial to our view of God?What verse identifies that God is eternal?What does it mean to say that God is immutable?Why does suggesting that God changes present problems?What about passages that seem to indicate that God didn’t know or changed his mind?Why is this good news for us?Helpful Definitions:Genesis 1-2, 1 Timothy 1:17, Ecclesiastes 3:11, Psalm 92, Revelation 21:6, Colossians 1:15-20, Genesis 18:16-33, Exodus 32:7-14, James 1:17, Malachi 3:6, Numbers 23:19, Exodus 3:14, Psalm 90:12Incommunicable Attribute: Things that are true about God, that are only true of God and are not true of anyone else.Communicable Attribute: Things that are true about God, that can also become true of us.Eternal: Not bound by time.Deism: The belief that God created something and then stepped away from his creation. God is absent and careless about his creation. Pantheism: The belief that God is a 1:1 correlation with His creation. God is powerless because he is his creation.Immutable: From eternity past to eternity future God is unchanging. God is always the same.Omniscient: All things are known effortlessly and instantly.Omnipotent: All powerful.Archetypal Knowledge: The knowledge that God has of Himself alone.Ectypal Knowledge: The knowledge that God offers His creatures that we can have through general revelation through His creation, through special revelation in scripture, and in Christ.Anthropomorphic: A way of expressing, in humanly understandable terms, something that is true.Resources Mentioned in This Episode:“None Like Him” by Jen Wilkin“Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise” by Jaron & Katherine KaminAmazon affiliate links are used where appropriate. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases, thank you for supporting Knowing Faith.Sponsors:Discover how Midwestern Seminary can equip you to more faithfully serve your church through formal theological education or FREE For the Church resources we provide: mbts.edu/KnowingFaithOur Sister Podcasts:The Family Discipleship Podcast | Confronting ChristianitySupport Training the Church and Become a Patron:patreon.com/trainingthechurch Follow Us:Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | WebsiteOur Sister Podcasts:The Family Discipleship Podcast  | Tiny TheologiansSupport Training the Church and Become a Patron:patreon.com/trainingthechurchYou can now receive your first seminary class for FREE from Midwestern Seminary after completing Lifeway’s Deep Discipleship curriculum, featuring JT, Jen and Kyle. Learn more at mbts.edu/deepdiscipleship.To learn more about our sponsors please visit our sponsor page.Editing and support by The Good Podcast Co.

Jen Wilkin, JT English, and Kyle Worley discuss what it means that God is Self-Existent & Self-Sufficient.Questions Covered in This Episode:What’s an incommunicable attribute of God?Who created God?What does God need to survive?What do we mean when we say that God is “self-existent?” How is this different from saying God is “self-sufficient?”What is Aseity?How do we know, from scripture, that God is self-existent and self-sufficient?Why is this crucial to our doctrine of God?Why is it good news?Helpful Definitions:Incommunicable Attribute: Things that are true about God, that are only true of God and are not true of anyone else.Communicable Attribute: Things that are true about God, that can also become true of us.Self-existent: God is the origin of all things, uncreated.Self-sufficient: God is lacking in nothing, He needs nothing.Independent: Not dependent on anything in order to exist.Aseity: God is a se, or has aseity: He is self-existent and self-sufficient. Resources Mentioned in This Episode:Genesis 1:1, Romans 11, Acts 17:24-28Amazon affiliate links are used where appropriate. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases, thank you for supporting Knowing Faith.Sponsors:Discover how Midwestern Seminary can equip you to more faithfully serve your church through formal theological education or FREE For the Church resources we provide: mbts.edu/KnowingFaithOur Sister Podcasts:The Family Discipleship Podcast | Confronting ChristianitySupport Training the Church and Become a Patron:patreon.com/trainingthechurch Follow Us:Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | WebsiteOur Sister Podcasts:The Family Discipleship Podcast  | Tiny TheologiansSupport Training the Church and Become a Patron:patreon.com/trainingthechurchYou can now receive your first seminary class for FREE from Midwestern Seminary after completing Lifeway’s Deep Discipleship curriculum, featuring JT, Jen and Kyle. Learn more at mbts.edu/deepdiscipleship.To learn more about our sponsors please visit our sponsor page.Editing and support by The Good Podcast Co.

Kyle Worley is joined by Jared C. Wilson to answer the question, why is it good news that God is omnipresent?Questions Covered in This Episode:Why is it good news that God is omnipresent?Can we talk about the omnipresence of Jesus?Guest Bio: Jared C. Wilson serves as Assistant Professor of Pastoral Ministry, Author in Residence, and General Editor, For the Church. He is the author of a number of books including but not limited to Gospel Wakefulness, The Prodigal Church, The Pastor’s Justification, and Supernatural Power for Everyday People. He also serves as an elder at Liberty Baptist Church. He and Becky have been married for twenty-three years, and they have two daughters: Macy and Grace.Helpful Definitions:Extra Calvinisticum: The mystery and wonder of the Son of God being incarnate and at the same time omnipresent.Sponsors:Discover how Midwestern Seminary can equip you to more faithfully serve your church through formal theological education or FREE For the Church resources we provide: mbts.edu/KnowingFaithOur Sister Podcasts:The Family Discipleship Podcast | Confronting ChristianitySupport Training the Church and Become a Patron:patreon.com/trainingthechurch Follow Us:Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | WebsiteOur Sister Podcasts:The Family Discipleship Podcast  | Tiny TheologiansSupport Training the Church and Become a Patron:patreon.com/trainingthechurchYou can now receive your first seminary class for FREE from Midwestern Seminary after completing Lifeway’s Deep Discipleship curriculum, featuring JT, Jen and Kyle. Learn more at mbts.edu/deepdiscipleship.To learn more about our sponsors please visit our sponsor page.Editing and support by The Good Podcast Co.

Kyle Worley and Rebecca McLaughlin talk about deconstructing; where has this come from and how should we engage?Questions Covered in This Episode:Let’s talk about deconstruction: Where has this come from?What is the most helpful way for us to approach people's real questions?Don’t we also need cultural deconstruction?How often are we deconstructing how culture (sarcasm, the sexual revolution, systemic injustice) has influenced us and our beliefs?Can the church be salvaged? Why not just embrace an anti-institutional practice of following Jesus?Resources Mentioned in This Episode:John 6:60-71“After Doubt” by A. J. SwobodaAmazon affiliate links are used where appropriate. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases, thank you for supporting Training the Church.Follow Us:Instagram | TwitterOur Sister Shows:Knowing Faith | The Family Discipleship PodcastConfronting Christianity is a podcast of Training the Church. For ad-free episodes and more content check out our Patreon. Follow Us:Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | WebsiteOur Sister Podcasts:The Family Discipleship Podcast  | Tiny TheologiansSupport Training the Church and Become a Patron:patreon.com/trainingthechurchYou can now receive your first seminary class for FREE from Midwestern Seminary after completing Lifeway’s Deep Discipleship curriculum, featuring JT, Jen and Kyle. Learn more at mbts.edu/deepdiscipleship.To learn more about our sponsors please visit our sponsor page.Editing and support by The Good Podcast Co.

Jen Wilkin, JT English, and Kyle Worley discuss what it means that God is infinite and incomprehensible.Questions Covered in This Episode:What do we mean by “the attributes of God?”What is the difference between incommunicable and communicable attributes?What do we mean by “God is infinite?”What does it mean that God is incomprehensible?Why is this not a problem? What if there is a hidden part of God that I don’t know about, and it’s not good?Why is it good news that God is infinite and incomprehensible?Helpful Definitions:Attribute: Something that is true about God, who he is.Incommunicable Attribute: Things that are true about God, that are only true of God and are not true of anyone else.Communicable Attribute: Things that are true about God, that can also become true of us.Infinite: No limit of any kind.Omnipotent: All powerful.Omniscient: All things are known effortlessly and instantly.Revelation: The self-disclosure of God. God Himself is the sole and proper witness to himself.General Revelation: God reveals his divine attributes in the world.Special Revelation: God reveals who He is in the Word of God incarnate and the Word of God inscripturated.Incomprehensible: Not able to be fully understood.Apophatic (Negative) Theology: We cannot in language or in knowledge know or rightly articulate the perfect goodness of the nature and character of God. So a more adequate solution than to use words that fail to describe who and what God is, is to use words that describe what he is not.Gnosticism: A heresy that plagued the early church. One of the main teachings of Gnosticism was that all physical matter is evil and all spiritual and immaterial things are good. Therefore, the Gnostic view of life was that death would free of us from the physical evil we can’t escape. Gnostics taught that after death, humans left their earthly bodies behind and enjoyed an immortal, spiritual presence with God.Resources Mentioned in This Episode:Acts 17:24-28, Psalm 139:6, 17-18, Psalm 90:2, 1 Corinthians 2:10, John 17:3Amazon affiliate links are used where appropriate. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases, thank you for supporting Knowing Faith.Sponsors:Discover how Midwestern Seminary can equip you to more faithfully serve your church through formal theological education or FREE For the Church resources we provide: mbts.edu/KnowingFaithOur Sister Podcasts:The Family Discipleship Podcast | Confronting ChristianitySupport Training the Church and Become a Patron:patreon.com/trainingthechurch Follow Us:Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | WebsiteOur Sister Podcasts:The Family Discipleship Podcast  | Tiny TheologiansSupport Training the Church and Become a Patron:patreon.com/trainingthechurchYou can now receive your first seminary class for FREE from Midwestern Seminary after completing Lifeway’s Deep Discipleship curriculum, featuring JT, Jen and Kyle. Learn more at mbts.edu/deepdiscipleship.To learn more about our sponsors please visit our sponsor page.Editing and support by The Good Podcast Co.

Kyle Worley is joined by Dr. Patrick Schreiner to answer the question, why is it important to emphasize the role of the whole Godhead, the Trinity, in the book of Acts?Questions Covered in This Episode:You wrote a book called the Mission of the Triune God: A Theology of Acts. Why is it important to pan out and emphasize the role of the whole Godhead, the Trinity in the book of Acts?Why does this matter?Guest Bio: Dr. Patrick Schreiner is the Director of the Residency PhD program and Associate Professor of New Testament and Biblical Theology at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. In addition he is the author of many books including but not limited to; commentary on Acts, The Visual Word: An Illustrated Guide to the New Testament Books, The Mission of the Triune God: A Theology of Acts, and the recently released Political Gospel.Resources Mentioned in This Episode:Acts 2:33, Acts 15:4, Acts 21, Philippians 2:13“The Mission of the Triune God: A Theology of Acts” by Patrick SchreinerAmazon affiliate links are used where appropriate. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases, thank you for supporting Knowing Faith.Sponsors:Discover how Midwestern Seminary can equip you to more faithfully serve your church through formal theological education or FREE For the Church resources we provide: mbts.edu/KnowingFaithOur Sister Podcasts:The Family Discipleship Podcast | Confronting ChristianitySupport Training the Church and Become a Patron:patreon.com/trainingthechurch Follow Us:Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | WebsiteOur Sister Podcasts:The Family Discipleship Podcast  | Tiny TheologiansSupport Training the Church and Become a Patron:patreon.com/trainingthechurchYou can now receive your first seminary class for FREE from Midwestern Seminary after completing Lifeway’s Deep Discipleship curriculum, featuring JT, Jen and Kyle. Learn more at mbts.edu/deepdiscipleship.To learn more about our sponsors please visit our sponsor page.Editing and support by The Good Podcast Co.

Jen Wilkin, JT English, and Kyle Worley discuss Ligonier Ministries The State of Theology survey and why it matters.Questions Covered in This Episode:How did we get here?What does this say about where we are at?What is a catechesis?Where do we go from here?What is the role of the/your church?Helpful Definitions:Catechesis: A system of instruction that typically relies on a structure of Q&A for the purposes of helping, historically illiterate people or people who could not yet read, begin to dwell on, contemplate, meditate on or memorize truths about something.For Christian purposes it is God and His story. A teaching device that is used for systematic instruction along a clearly defined scope and sequence of what the Christian story is, Christian belief is, and Christian formation is.Resources Mentioned in This Episode:Romans 12:1-2The State of Theology by LigonierNew City CatechismHeidelberg CatechismWestminster Shorter CatechismTraining the Church CohortAmazon affiliate links are used where appropriate. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases, thank you for supporting Knowing Faith.Sponsors:Discover how Midwestern Seminary can equip you to more faithfully serve your church through formal theological education or FREE For the Church resources we provide: mbts.edu/KnowingFaithOur Sister Podcasts:The Family Discipleship Podcast | Confronting ChristianitySupport Training the Church and Become a Patron:patreon.com/trainingthechurch Follow Us:Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | WebsiteOur Sister Podcasts:The Family Discipleship Podcast  | Tiny TheologiansSupport Training the Church and Become a Patron:patreon.com/trainingthechurchYou can now receive your first seminary class for FREE from Midwestern Seminary after completing Lifeway’s Deep Discipleship curriculum, featuring JT, Jen and Kyle. Learn more at mbts.edu/deepdiscipleship.To learn more about our sponsors please visit our sponsor page.Editing and support by The Good Podcast Co.

Jen Wilkin, JT English, and Kyle Worley discuss and define the communicable attributes of God.Questions Covered in This Episode:What are communicable attributes?Are the communicable attributes one of the ways we reflect the image of God?Are communicable attributes something God is or something God possesses?Are communicable attributes true of each person in the Godhead?How are they different from incommunicable attributes (what we discussed last episode)?How do we maintain a distinction between Creator and creature without minimizing the reality and depth of the shared communicable attributes?Helpful Definitions:Attribute: Something that is true about God, who he is.Communicable Attribute: Things that are true about God, that can also become true of us.Holy, loving, just, good, merciful, gracious, faithful, patient, truthful, wiseAnthropomorphic: A way of expressing, in humanly understandable terms, something that is true.Resources Mentioned in This Episode:John 3:16, 1 John 5:3“In His Image” by Jen WilkinKnowing Faith: Episode # 158 – What is God like? Incommunicable Attributes“Creation Regained” by Albert WoltersAmazon affiliate links are used where appropriate. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases, thank you for supporting Knowing Faith.Sponsors:Discover how Midwestern Seminary can equip you to more faithfully serve your church through formal theological education or FREE For the Church resources we provide: mbts.edu/KnowingFaithOur Sister Podcasts:The Family Discipleship Podcast | Confronting ChristianitySupport Training the Church and Become a Patron:patreon.com/trainingthechurch Follow Us:Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | WebsiteOur Sister Podcasts:The Family Discipleship Podcast  | Tiny TheologiansSupport Training the Church and Become a Patron:patreon.com/trainingthechurchYou can now receive your first seminary class for FREE from Midwestern Seminary after completing Lifeway’s Deep Discipleship curriculum, featuring JT, Jen and Kyle. Learn more at mbts.edu/deepdiscipleship.To learn more about our sponsors please visit our sponsor page.Editing and support by The Good Podcast Co.

Kyle Worley is joined by Dr. Thomas Kidd to answer the question, is evangelicalism a Trinitarian religious movement, and has it always been?Questions Covered in This Episode:Is evangelicalism a Trinitarian religious movement, and has it always been?Can someone not be a Trinitarian and be an evangelical?When we think about evangelical as a word, does the word hold enough significance to try to keep it?Helpful Definitions:Euangelion: Greek for evangelical; the good news.Guest Bio: Thomas S. Kidd serves as research professor of church history at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is the author or contributing editor to many books including but not limited to; Thomas Jefferson: A Biography of Spirit and Flesh, Who Is an Evangelical? The History of a Movement in Crisis, God of Liberty: A Religious History of the American Revolution, and The Great Awakening: The Roots of Evangelical Christianity in Colonial America.Sponsors:Discover how Midwestern Seminary can equip you to more faithfully serve your church through formal theological education or FREE For the Church resources we provide: mbts.edu/KnowingFaithOur Sister Podcasts:The Family Discipleship Podcast | Confronting ChristianitySupport Training the Church and Become a Patron:patreon.com/trainingthechurch Follow Us:Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | WebsiteOur Sister Podcasts:The Family Discipleship Podcast  | Tiny TheologiansSupport Training the Church and Become a Patron:patreon.com/trainingthechurchYou can now receive your first seminary class for FREE from Midwestern Seminary after completing Lifeway’s Deep Discipleship curriculum, featuring JT, Jen and Kyle. Learn more at mbts.edu/deepdiscipleship.To learn more about our sponsors please visit our sponsor page.Editing and support by The Good Podcast Co.

Jen Wilkin, JT English, and Kyle Worley discuss and define the incommunicable attributes of God.Questions Covered in This Episode:What is an incommunicable attribute?How are God’s attributes related to God’s nature? Are they something God possesses or words to describe what/who God is?What are some examples of incommunicable attributes?Does this make God unknowable? If he is so “other,” is it possible for us to truly know him?How do the incommunicable attributes shape the way we view God, the world, ourselves?Are the incommunicable attributes true of all the persons of the Godhead?Helpful Definitions:Attribute: Something that is true about God, who he is.Incommunicable Attribute: Things that are true about God, that are only true of God and are not true of anyone else.Omnipresent: Everywhere fully present.Omniscient: All things are known effortlessly and instantly.Omnipotent: All powerful.Infinite: No limit of any kind.Sovereign: He has the authority to use His power.Incomprehensible: Not able to be fully understood.Eternal: Not bound by time.Transcendent: He is other (by an infinite extent).Imminent: God is near to his creation.Divine Hiddenness: In God’s infinitude we cannot fully grasp all that He is. There is part of the divine life of God that is hidden from our view. Self-Existent: The origin of all things.Self-Sufficient: He needs nothing.Immutable: God is always the same.Resources Mentioned in This Episode:Isaiah 6“None Like Him” by Jen Wilkin“The Wonderful Works of God” by Herman BavinckAmazon affiliate links are used where appropriate. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases, thank you for supporting Knowing Faith.Sponsors:Discover how Midwestern Seminary can equip you to more faithfully serve your church through formal theological education or FREE For the Church resources we provide: mbts.edu/KnowingFaithOur Sister Podcasts:The Family Discipleship Podcast | Confronting ChristianitySupport Training the Church and Become a Patron:patreon.com/trainingthechurch Follow Us:Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | WebsiteOur Sister Podcasts:The Family Discipleship Podcast  | Tiny TheologiansSupport Training the Church and Become a Patron:patreon.com/trainingthechurchYou can now receive your first seminary class for FREE from Midwestern Seminary after completing Lifeway’s Deep Discipleship curriculum, featuring JT, Jen and Kyle. Learn more at mbts.edu/deepdiscipleship.To learn more about our sponsors please visit our sponsor page.Editing and support by The Good Podcast Co.