Christ the Center

Vos Group continues our study looking at the majesty and holiness of God and its relationship to the place of worship. Read along in Biblical Theology on pp. 150–154.

Today we speak about John Murray's "The Attestation of Scripture," a chapter in The Infallible Word. Murray writes, The objective witness is that Scripture is authoritative by reason of the character it possesses as the infallible Word of God and this divine quality belongs to Scripture because it is the product of God’s creative breath through the mode of plenary inspiration by the Holy Spirit.

In his book Created & Creating, William Edgar offers a rich biblical theology in light of our contemporary culture that contends that Christians must engaged in culture. Dr. Edgar is Professor of Apologetics at Westminster Theological Seminary. He joins us to speak about this wonderful book. Its thesis is simple: the cultural mandate, declared at the dawn of human history, and reiterated through the different episodes of redemptive history, culminating in Jesus' Great Commission, is the central calling for humanity.

The tabernacle is a premier symbol and type in the Old Testament. It demonstrates God's dwelling with his people. Lane Tipton and Camden Bucey turn to Vos's discussion and consider the redemptive-historical significance of the tabernacle. Read along on pp. 148–150.

Peter Gurry speaks about a new method of textual criticism used in the latest critical editions of the New Testament.

Today we speak with Austin Reed about Karl Barth's theology of election. Austin is a student at Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary and walks us through a critical review of Karl Barth's Infralapsarian Theology: Origins and Development, 1920-1953 by Shao Kai Tseng. Tseng challenges the scholarly status quo, arguing that despite Barth's stated favor of supralapsarianism, his mature lapsarian theology is complex and dialectical. It demonstrates elements of both supra- and infralapsarianism, though it favors the latter. In Tseng's assessment, Barth's theology is basically infralapsarian because he sees the object of election as fallen humankind and understands the incarnation as God's act of taking on human nature in its condition of fallenness. Be sure to read Austin Reed's review of Reading Barth with Charity: A Hermeneutic Proposal by George Hunsinger.  

On this episode, we are joined by Ryan McGraw, who speaks about the foundational role and practical significance of Trinitarian theology to John Owen. Dr. McGraw is Professor of Systematic Theology at Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Greenville, South Caroline. His article, "Trinitarian Doxology: Reassessing John Owen's Contribution to Reformed Orthodox Trinitarian Theology" was published in The Westminster Theological Journal, Vol. 77, No. 2. Dr. McGraw joined us on a previous episode of Christ the Center to speak about the meaning of the phrase "good and necessary consequence" in the Westminster Confession of Faith 1.6.

On this episode, we are joined by Nathaniel Gray Sutanto, who speaks about the Theological Interpretation of Scripture (TIS). Gray is a PhD Candidate at New College, University of Edinburgh. His article, "On the Theological Interpretation of Scripture: The Indirect Identity Thesis, Reformed Orthodoxy, and Trinitarian Considerations" was published in The Westminster Theological Journal, Vol. 77, No. 2. TIS is an approach to reading biblical texts that seeks to do justice to the theological nature of the texts and embrace the influence of theology on interpretation. Sutanto focuses on Francis Watson and his relationship to Karl Barth's doctrine of revelation. He concludes that, “. . . the uniqueness of TIS depends upon the assumption of the validity of Kant’s turn in philosophical history along with its attendant ideological implications.”

As another year gets into swing, many people have begun new Bible reading plans. Reading through Scripture each day is a powerful and transformative discipline. We discuss the practice of Bible reading personally, in the home, and in the church.

We continue our study of Geerhardus Vos's Biblical Theology: Old and New Testaments to consider typology and how types relate to symbols. This is some of the richest material in Vos. Read along on pp. 143-148.