Adversaria Videos and Podcasts
Scripture, Theology, Liturgy, and Culture
Over the Christmas period, I will be posting videos exploring biblical echoes and symmetries in the stories of the nativity in the gospels. In this fourth video I discuss the connection between the ascension of Christ and Pentecost and the presentation in the Temple in Luke.
Continue reading “The Fourth Day of Christmas: Two Presentations in the Temple”
In this episode of the Theopolis Podcast, Peter Leithart and I discuss the readings for the fourth Sunday of Advent: Exodus 13:1-3, 11-15, Colossians 3:12-17, and Luke 2:22-40.
You can follow the Theopolis podcast on Soundcloud, iTunes, and on most podcast apps. You can read show notes over on the Theopolis podcast website. You can also see past episodes I have contributed to by clicking the ‘Theopolis Podcast’ link in the bar above.
Merry Christmas!
Over the Christmas period, I will be posting videos exploring biblical echoes and symmetries in the stories of the nativity in the gospels. This first video explores some connections between Christ’s birth and his death and resurrection. For more on this, see here.
Continue reading “The First Day of Christmas: Twin Nativities”
In this episode of the Theopolis Podcast, Peter Leithart and I discuss the readings for the fourth Sunday of Advent: Micah 5:2-5, Hebrews 10:5-10, and Luke 1:39-56.
You can follow the Theopolis podcast on Soundcloud, iTunes, and on most podcast apps. You can read show notes over on the Theopolis podcast website. You can also see past episodes I have contributed to by clicking the ‘Theopolis Podcast’ link in the bar above.
Trying to understand Ephesians 1 and was wondering if you could help. Paul seems to be addressing the visible/historical church in Ephesus. If my assumption is right then he is saying that the people in the visible church of Ephesus are predestined to adoption as sons, have redemption through Christ’s blood, have been gifted with every spiritual blessing, etc. My trouble is that as a Calvinist I don’t know how to make sense of the fact that he calls all of that visible church elect? Could you help me work through this important passage?
What do you think the relationship is between depth of theological understanding and being a good pastor? Is it a straight one to one correlation? Other things being equal, a better theological understanding will make a better church leader? Once you are over a certain threshold of theological understanding does it then become.more about preaching ability, love for people, management skills etc? I think I default to thinking that there is a very strong correspondence (as the people whose books have greatly helped me have all been deep thinkers), but the more I think about it the more this seems wrong (most local church leaders are not going to have the time or money to train to a very deep level).
Could you respond to some of the criticisms raised by this review of Echoes of Exodus?
Continue reading “Responding to Criticisms of Echoes of Exodus”
A number of years ago there was a lot of debate in certain circles in the UK revolving around these topics: the degree to which Christ/the Trinity is explicitly present in the OT; the nature of the Angel of the Lord; relatedly the object of believers’ faith in the OT (did OT saints trust consciously and explicitly in the Son?); the degree to which revelation is progressive from the OT to the NT. A lot of these threads were explored in the Blackham-Goldsworthy debate: http://www.theologian.org.uk/bible/blackham.html
What are your views on these topics? Some more specific questions might be:
– Does the OT, read on its own terms, clearly present a unipersonal God or a binitatian/Trinitarian God? Or does it murkily present the latter?
– How were OT believers saved? Through explicit faith in the Son, or through other means?
– Who is the Angel of the Lord?
Continue reading “The Trinity in the OT, the Faith of OT Believers, the Angel of the Lord”
Adversaria Videos and Podcasts 