In this audio from the Janet Mefferd show, Doug Geivett, professor of philosophy in the Talbot School of Theology at Biola University, is interviewed on the topic of the movement called "The New Apolostolic Reformation" (NAR). What should Christians make of this widespread modern-day claim that new apostles and prophets walk among us? He discusses his new book: A New Apostolic Reformation? A Biblical Response to a Worldwide Movement. Other resources by Doug Geivett here. Find his blog here.

Full Interview MP3 Audio here. (37 minutes)

Enjoy.

The doctrine of the Trinity is one of Christianity’s most central, distinctive, and profoundly mysterious claims, and so it is hardly surprising that it often comes under attack by critics on all sides. Christian apologists have long found themselves facing charges that the doctrine of the Trinity is not taught (either explicitly or implicitly) in Scripture and that, at any rate, it is incoherent. It is with respect to the latter charge that Philosophical and Theological Essays on the Trinity (hereafter PTET) will be of interest to apologists. This collection of essays, edited by Thomas McCall and Michael C. Rea, brings together some important recent work in philosophical theology on the doctrine of the Trinity. The primary concern for most of the contributors in this volume is the issue of coherence, and consequently the majority of them either defend or critique various attempts to model the Trinity in a logically consistent and orthodox way. The result is an impressive collection of papers on one of the most difficult theological questions, and an important contribution to analytic theology.

Editors Matthew Barrett and Ardel B. Caneday offer yet another installment in Zondervan’s Counterpoints series.  This one is on the historicity of Adam with essays by Denis O. Lamoureux, John Walton, C. John Collins, and William D. Barrick.

Lamoureux kicks off the discussion with his evolutionary creation view and the rejection of a historical Adam.  He sums up his beliefs saying, “the Father, Son and Holy Spirit created the universe and life, including humans, through an ordained, sustained, and intelligent design-reflecting natural process” (37). The author dismisses scientific concordism, that is, the assumption that the facts of science align with the Bible.  He asserts that statements in Scripture about nature are from an ancient phenomenological perspective and that “Holy Scripture makes statements about how God created living organisms that never in fact happened” (46).  Does this mean that God lied?  No, he says.  It means that “the Holy Spirit used the biology-of-the-day as an incidental vessel to reveal inerrant spiritual truths” (57).

Adler and Van Doren said, “Many books are hardly worth even skimming; some should be read quickly; and a few should be read at a rate, usually quite slow, that allows for complete comprehension.”[1] Upon first reading this book, I wrote a review. After writing it, I thought, “I really should read this book again to understand it better.” So I did. And then I wrote a second review. It was ten pages long. Then I thought, “This book deserves one more reading.” So I gave Reading Genesis 1-2: An Evangelical Conversation a third and wrote this review.

This book deserves a thorough reading because of the rarity of its inclusive nature among evangelical works on the topic. Unfortunately, scholars who disagree about the interpretation of Gen 1–2 often spend more time talking about each other instead of talking to each other. This book brings together five distinct perspectives on these chapters from scholars who all hold to the authority and inerrancy of Scripture. The chapters derive from papers presented at a symposium at Bryan College in late 2011. The papers have been updated to include more recent discussions among evangelicals and each of the other contributors have been allowed to write a brief response appended to the end of the five main chapters. It also includes two chapters concerning the teaching of Gen 1–2 and unresolved chapters in these passages by two professors from Bryan College and a fine introduction by prominent Old Testament scholar Victor Hamilton.[2] The structure promotes dialogue but might have been improved by the addition of a brief final response by the chapter’s author.

This reviewer writes quite often about the importance of internal theological discussions to apologists. Eschatology (end times) tends to be one of the most fascinating, heated, and damaging debates within the Church. As prophecy enthusiasts keep attempting to predict the date of Christ's return (and fail), it makes the Christian worldview appear to be falsified from the perspective of unbelievers. In order to address these challenges, it is important that Christians think carefully about eschatology. Kenneth Samples (Reasons to Believe) attempts to provide a starting point for responsible thought and discussion in his most recent book, Christian Endgame: Careful Thinking About The End Times.

This is a short book of only 59 pages divided into eight chapters, plus three appendices. This review will provide an abbreviated chapter-by-chapter summary in an effort to not give away all the content of the book.

The past year saw a massive increase in theological conversation about Jesus’ divine Sonship for how Christians think and speak about Christ, especially in relation to Bible translation and missionary engagement with Muslims across the globe. Some may think that this whole discussion is unimportant, but they would be mistaken. Understanding the truth of Jesus as the Son of God is not only important, it is vital to a healthy and robust biblical Christianity as it seeks to make much of Jesus by spreading His fame to the nations. In his helpful new book Jesus The Son Of God A Christological Title Often overlooked, Sometimes Misunderstood And Currently Disputed, D.A. Carson writes to help the Church and its leaders to think through Son of God as a Christological Title, examine Son of God in Select Passages and then concludes his book by examining Jesus The Son of God in Christian and Muslim contexts.

At the outset of this review it must be noted that in Dr. Carson’s own words he does not desire this book to be “primary a contribution to the current disputes, as important as those debates may be. It is meant to foster clear thinking among Christians who want to know what we mean when we join believers across the centuries in confession, “I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and in his only Son Jesus, our Lord” (12).

In The Christian God, Richard Swinburne examines basic metaphysical categories[1]. Only when that task is done does he turn to an analysis of divine properties, the divine nature, and the Christian doctrines of the Trinity and Incarnation.

I have found it necessary to develop at length views on straight philosophical questions, which could then be applied subsequently to the philosophy of religion….Since religious issues are more contested even than general secular philosophical issues, we are more likely to reach clear and justified conclusions about the former if we start with a firm base in the latter. My strategy in The Christian God is the same. Part I is concerned with general metaphysical issues….Part II then expounds the account of the divine nature given by Western religion, with the aid of these concepts, and shows how it can naturally be extended to embrace the doctrines of the Trinity and the Incarnation. (Location 54, Kindle edition)

The Christian God is a very dense work of metaphysics, and not all of the metaphysical distinctions Swinburne makes in Part I are central to the goings-on in Part II. Of those that are central, even fewer are justified by arguments that can be easily fit into a succinct review. So in outlining Part I, I will mention only those distinctions which are central to Part II. Further, in discussing those distinctions, I will simply state the conclusion of Swinburne’s argument(s) supporting those distinctions.

The following transcript is from an Apologetics 315 interview with Michael Patton. Original audio here. If you enjoy transcripts, please consider supporting, which makes this possible.

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BA: Hello this is Brian Auten of Apologetics 315. Today’s interview is with Michael Patton. Michael is the president of Reclaiming the Mind and Credo House Ministries found at reclaimingthemind.org. This is a ministry of theological development for lay people. He blogs at Parchment and Pen at reclaimingthemind.org/blog and is also responsible for the development of Credo House of Theology found at credohouse.org. That’s a theological coffee house museum and book store. The purpose of our interview today is to talk about the interface between theology and apologetics, advice for studying theology and doing apologetics, and to hear about the work Michael is doing at Credo House. Well, thanks for joining me for this interview today Michael.

MP: Thanks for having me Brian, it’s great to have you…it’s great to be here, excuse me, I’m use to my own interviews that I do on my program.

BA: Well, I’d like to say thanks for your great resources, especially your interviews and the blog, the things you have available at reclaiming the mind and all of your theology program lectures have been real helpful for me.

MP: Ah, well great. Thank you so much. It’s fun, it’s what I love to do and it’s always nice as you know to see that it’s affecting people.

Reconciliation: A change in relationship or attitude from enmity to peace; the cessation of hostility in attitude or action. Reconciliation is a central doctrine of Christianity. Specifically, in Christ God reconciled the sinful, hostile world to himself by Christ's taking upon himself the cost of our hostility and enmity, thereby setting the world free to restored union with God (2 Cor 5:19). The foundational assumption of the gospel is that only God can bear and remove the consequences of human enmity toward God and the resulting separation from God; therefore God alone can effect this change in relationship.1

Today's interview is with C. Michael Patton, president of Reclaiming the Mind/Credo House Ministries, a ministry of theological development for lay-people. He blogs at Parchment and Pen and is also responsible for the development of the Credo House of Theology, a theological coffee house and bookstore. He talks about getting theology to the layperson, the relationship and interface between theology and apologetics, theological equipping for apologists, the importance of wresting with theological issues, pitfalls from neglecting theological training, advice for those considering seminary, the importance of community, important lessons and advice for doing theology and apologetics, and more. Get the Theology App here. See the Theology Program here. Theology Unplugged Podcast here.

Full Interview MP3 Audio here (40 min)

Enjoy.
Subscribe to the Apologetics 315 Interviews podcast here or in iTunes.

Grace (common, efficacious, prevenient): One of the central concepts of the Scriptures, grace speaks of God's loving actions toward creation and toward humankind in particular. Grace is the generous overflow of the love of God the Father toward the Son, Jesus Christ. This love is most clearly demonstrated to humans through God's selfless giving of Jesus to enable people to enter into a loving relationship with God as the Holy Spirit enables them. Common grace speaks of God's extension of favor to all people through providential care, regardless of whether or not they acknowledge and love God. Efficacious grace refers to the special application of grace to a person who comes by faith to Christ for salvation. It is the special act of God that brings about the true salvation of a person. Prevenient grace, though often thought to be synonymous with common grace, refers more specifically to the Wesleyan idea that God has enabled all people everywhere to respond favorably to the gospel if they so choose.1

1. Stanley J. Grenz, David Guretzki & Cherith Fee Nordling, Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1999), p. 56.

“Theology is for everyone. Indeed, everyone needs to be a theologian. In reality, everyone is a theologian — of one sort or another. And therein lies the problem. There is nothing wrong with being an amateur theologian or a professional theologian, but there is everything wrong with being an ignorant or sloppy theologian.”

- Dr. Charles Ryrie

[H/T: Chris Shannon]

The Theology Unplugged Podcast is an internet radio show that speaks on theological issues of the day, allowing the listener to make informed judgments on the most important theological issues today.... Over 50 MP3s dealing with subjects such as orthodoxy, hermeneutics, inerrancy, trinitarianism, truth, postmodernism, the emergent church, problem passages, and more.

Open in iTunes, or Subscribe directly in iTunes here. RSS feed here.

Enjoy.

iTunes U has a number of good lectures and courses available on apologetics and theology. Here is a small selection of what they have to offer. Clicking the links will open up in iTunes where you can subscribe to the audio or video for each course. If you find more good ones, please let us know in the comments.

• Systematic Theology 1 - Reformed Theological Seminary (RTS)
• Systematic Theology 2 - RTS
• Systematic Theology 3 - RTS
• Christian Apologetics - RTS (John Frame)
• Intro to Theology - Dallas Theological Seminary
• Apologetics and Outreach - Covenant Theological Seminary (Jerram Barrs)
• Apologetics - Assemblies of God Theological Seminary (Charles Self)
• Apologetics 678: Western and New Religions - Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary
• Apologetics 570: Far Eastern Religions - Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary
• Introduction to Apologetics - Liberty University (Ergun Caner)
• New Testament History & Theology - Covenant Theological Seminary
• History of Philosophy and Christian Thought - RTS (John Frame)
• Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology

Enjoy.

Although all of Wayne Grudem's excellent systematic theology audios are found freely on his Christian Essentials website, it seemed good to compile them into a podcast feed for easy assimilation. Apologists must be good theologians.

Subscribe directly in iTunes here. Find the RSS feed here.

Enjoy.

Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) has a feed for all their new audio resources. The most recent update is their Give Me An Answer Collegiate Conference 2009. Some of the audios include:
• Understanding Universalism, Inclusivism, Pluralism, and Exclusivism - MP3
• Teaching the Only Savior to Atheists - MP3
• Teaching the Only Savior to Postmoderns - MP3
• Teaching the Only Savior to Other Cultures - MP3
• The Gospel is an Offense–Don’t You Be - MP3
• Do All Roads Lead to Heaven? - MP3

The XML / Podcast feed can be found here. Enjoy.

Theologian Wayne Grudem, well known for his excellent and readable Systematic Theology, has a great website featuring hundreds of hours of his audio teachings for MP3 download. His Christian Essentials site is highly recommended!

Go here for the audio.

Enjoy.

[HT: Faith by Hearing]

Today's featured website is biblicaltraining.org. This is an excellent resource for topics such as: systematic theology, church history, apologetics, hermeneutics, and many other helpful areas.

The almost two dozen speakers include: Craig Blomberg, Daniel Wallace, Bruce Ware, John Piper, Ronald Nash, and more.

MP3 audio is available for free, access is free, and all the content is great. Check it out.
Enjoy.

Philosopher Douglas Groothuis of Denver Seminary presents a lecture on What Philosophers Wish Theologians and Biblical Scholars Knew About Philosophy. This lecture includes a brief Q&A session. Dr. Groothuis's blog is here. You can also download his apologetics course lectures here.

Full MP3 Audio here.

Enjoy.