Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast The Henry Center Archive

Lecture Title - Reading John Among Rivals, Old and New

The Gospel of John cuts across the grain of secular culture in much the same way as it entered into the ancient world—as a text that sets out a striking claim about the presence of the invisible God in the material world. We understand what John is and who it was for by considering how the Gospel works as Scriptural reasoning tailored for those inclined to regard the act of directing worship to a human being as blasphemous. We understand how John still speaks by communicating the Gospel as narrative reasoning tailored for those inclined to regard the act of directing worship to a human being as absurd.

Steven M. Bryan (PhD University of Cambridge) is Professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He is the author of Jesus and Israel’s Traditions of Judgement and Restoration (Cambridge University Press, 2005) and Cultural Identity and the Purposes of God: A Biblical Theology of Ethnicity, Nationality, and Race (Crossway, 2022).

The Henry Center for Theological Understanding provides theological resources that help bridge the gap between the academy and the church. It houses a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues—for the good of the church, for the soul of the theological academy, for the sake of the world, and ultimately for the glory of God. The HCTU seeks to ground each of these initiatives in Scripture, and it pursues these goals collaboratively, in order to train a new generation of wise interpreters of the Word—lay persons and scholars alike—for the sake of tomorrow’s church, academy, and world.

Visit the HCTU website: https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/

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Lecture Title - Narrative Theologizing in the Gospels: Luke and Hospitality

It often seems easier and more obvious to go to New Testament letters for theology than to the Gospels. Yet the Gospel writers are themselves “theologizing” in light of the arrival of the Messiah, and they offer rich theological stories for interpretation and preaching. A captivating theme in Luke’s Gospel expressed narratively is hospitality. In this lecture, Jeannine Brown will explore that theme and how Luke theologizes toward it.

Jeannine K. Brown (PhD Luther Seminary) is Professor of New Testament at Bethel Seminary. In addition to numerous commentaries and academic articles, she is author of multiple books, including Relational Integration of Psychology and Christian Theology (Routledge, 2018), The Gospels as Stories (Baker Academic, 2020), and Scripture as Communication (2nd ed.) (Baker Academic, 2021).

The Henry Center for Theological Understanding provides theological resources that help bridge the gap between the academy and the church. It houses a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues—for the good of the church, for the soul of the theological academy, for the sake of the world, and ultimately for the glory of God. The HCTU seeks to ground each of these initiatives in Scripture, and it pursues these goals collaboratively, in order to train a new generation of wise interpreters of the Word—lay persons and scholars alike—for the sake of tomorrow’s church, academy, and world.

Visit the HCTU website: https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/

Subscribe to the HCTU Newsletter: https://bit.ly/326pRL5

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Discussion Topic - Healing and Resurrection Hope Resurrection hope is often muted in churches today as cultural forces of the modern West deny the reality and potency of death. What does genuine resurrection hope entail? Cancer patient J. Todd Billings and Taylor Worley recognize the tendency to equate hope with healing and prolonging life as long as possible. In this discussion, they emphasize that true resurrection hope resides in our participation in Christ's resurrection. Healing and resuscitation are temporary, but resurrection in our glorified bodies is the only permanent solution to death. J. Todd Billings (ThD Harvard) is the Gordon H. Girod Research Professor of Reformed Theology at Western Theological Seminary. He is the author of Union with Christ (Baker Academic, 2011), Rejoicing in Lament (Brazos Press, 2015), and The End of the Christian Life (Brazos Press, 2020).

Visit the HCTU website: https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/ Subscribe to the HCTU Newsletter: https://bit.ly/326pRL5 Connect with us! https://twitter.com/henry_center https://www.facebook.com/henrycenter/ https://www.instagram.com/thehenrycenter/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/thehenrycenter

Discussion Topic - Healing and Resurrection Hope Praying for healing is a controversial topic because it is difficult to know how to pray for someone with an incurable illness. Should "incurable" even be part of a Christian vocabulary? What does it mean to pray with someone rather than pray for someone? What theological assumptions undergird the way we pray? Do we believe in the power of prayer or the power of God? What is the role of prayers of lament? J. Todd Billings is joined by Taylor Worley and Geoff Fulkerson in discussing these questions and offering practical guidance for walking with people who are suffering. J. Todd Billings (ThD Harvard) is the Gordon H. Girod Research Professor of Reformed Theology at Western Theological Seminary. He is the author of Union with Christ (Baker Academic, 2011), Rejoicing in Lament (Brazos Press, 2015), and The End of the Christian Life (Brazos Press, 2020).

Visit the HCTU website: https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/ Subscribe to the HCTU Newsletter: https://bit.ly/326pRL5 Connect with us! https://twitter.com/henry_center https://www.facebook.com/henrycenter/ https://www.instagram.com/thehenrycenter/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/thehenrycenter

Lecture Title - A Firm Foundation: Six Pillars of Faith in the Midst of Suffering and Death Without exception, human beings come face to face with suffering and evil. We may entertain only the vaguest and most cliché-driven grasp of such matters until we ourselves suffer, or until we ourselves recognize the sheer malignity of evil in ourselves or others—and then suddenly we swirl around and gradually sink into faith-devouring despair. Far better is it to build the mental and emotional structures, generated by Scripture itself, that train us how to think about suffering and evil before the evil day comes. This lecture seeks to establish six major pillars that together support a way of thinking about such matters—or, to change the metaphor, a kind of prophylactic medicine to ward off the most debilitating elements of despair. D. A. Carson (PhD University of Cambridge) is Emeritus Professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He is author, co-author, and editor of over 45 books, including the Gold Medallion Award-winning book The Gagging of God: Christianity Confronts Pluralism (Zondervan Academic, 1996), An Introduction to the New Testament (2nd edition) (Zondervan Academic, 2005), and The Enduring Authority of the Christian Scriptures (Eerdmans, 2016). The Henry Center for Theological Understanding provides theological resources that help bridge the gap between the academy and the church. It houses a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues—for the good of the church, for the soul of the theological academy, for the sake of the world, and ultimately for the glory of God. The HCTU seeks to ground each of these initiatives in Scripture, and it pursues these goals collaboratively, in order to train a new generation of wise interpreters of the Word—lay persons and scholars alike—for the sake of tomorrow’s church, academy, and world. Visit the HCTU website: https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/ Subscribe to the HCTU Newsletter: https://bit.ly/326pRL5 Connect with us! https://twitter.com/henry_center https://www.facebook.com/henrycenter/ https://www.instagram.com/thehenrycenter/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/thehenrycenter

Lecture Title - T. F. Torrance’s Kataphysical Poetics: How the Incarnation Relates Science to Theology For T.F. Torrance, theological and scientific inquiry stand or fall together. Whereas Western scientists and theologians, ancient and modern, too often depend on universal methods and criteria, Torrance’s fundamental axiom is to think everything, from amoebas to the Alpha and Omega, in ways appropriate to their respective natures. Scientific theology thus begins with incarnation—the self-communication of God in space-time—also the controlling center for the doctrine of creation, insofar as “all things were created through him and for him” (Col. 1:16). Viewing creation through the lens of Christology allows Torrance to integrate theology and science, and to argue that theology contributes something to our knowledge of the natural world hidden from the natural sciences, namely, its contingent order, triadic relationality, and proleptic conditioning by redemption. Kevin J. Vanhoozer (PhD University of Cambridge) is Research Professor of Biblical and Systematic Theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He is the author and editor of numerous books, including The Drama of Doctrine: A Canonical-Linguistic Approach to Christian Theology (Westminster John Knox Press, 2005), Remythologizing Theology: Divine Action, Passion, and Authorship (Cambridge University Press, 2010), Faith Speaking Understanding: Performing the Drama of Doctrine (Westminster John Knox Press, 2014), and Hearers and Doers: A Pastor’s Guide to Making Disciples Through Scripture and Doctrine (Lexham Press, 2019). The Henry Center for Theological Understanding provides theological resources that help bridge the gap between the academy and the church. It houses a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues—for the good of the church, for the soul of the theological academy, for the sake of the world, and ultimately for the glory of God. The HCTU seeks to ground each of these initiatives in Scripture, and it pursues these goals collaboratively, in order to train a new generation of wise interpreters of the Word—lay persons and scholars alike—for the sake of tomorrow’s church, academy, and world. Visit the HCTU website: https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/ Subscribe to the HCTU Newsletter: https://bit.ly/326pRL5 Connect with us! https://twitter.com/henry_center https://www.facebook.com/henrycenter/ https://www.instagram.com/thehenrycenter/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/thehenrycenter

Lecture Title - The Glory of God and the Gladness of Man: Essential Affections in Edwards and the Life of the Church "Edwards probed the affections and religious experience with an intensity unique to the eighteenth century and perhaps the centuries since," McClymond and McDermott tell us in their book on Edwards' theology (2011). The upshot of that probing, Dr. John Piper will demonstrate in this lecture, was the elevation of the affections into the very nature of our trinitarian God and his sovereign purposes for the universe. When his biblical vision is grasped, everything in the life of the soul and the church changes. Response: Todd Wilson, Senior Pastor of Calvary Memorial Church John Piper (DTh University of Munich) is Founder and Teacher of DesiringGod.org, Chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary, and was  Senior Pastor for 33 years at Bethlehem Baptist Church. He is author of more than 50 books, most recently Providence (Crossway, 2021). The Henry Center for Theological Understanding provides theological resources that help bridge the gap between the academy and the church. It houses a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues—for the good of the church, for the soul of the theological academy, for the sake of the world, and ultimately for the glory of God. The HCTU seeks to ground each of these initiatives in Scripture, and it pursues these goals collaboratively, in order to train a new generation of wise interpreters of the Word—lay persons and scholars alike—for the sake of tomorrow’s church, academy, and world.

Visit the HCTU website: https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/ Subscribe to the HCTU Newsletter: https://bit.ly/326pRL5 Connect with us! https://twitter.com/henry_center https://www.facebook.com/henrycenter/ https://www.instagram.com/thehenrycenter/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/thehenrycenter

[An archived sermon from Trinity College chapel]

Sermon Title - What is the Joy of all Joys? Do you feel more loved by God when he makes much of you or when at great cost to himself frees you to enjoy making much of him forever? Thinking and preaching through this question has been one of Dr. John Piper's life passions. Yet it is a question that is prone to misunderstanding, especially by believers struggling to feel God's love. In this chapel address, Dr. Piper approaches the question from a different angle by showing how God does, in fact, make much of those who are in Christ. In doing so, God demonstrates an even greater love by making much of us not for our own sake but for his glory, because the self will never satisfy a heart made for God. John Piper (DTh University of Munich) is Founder and Teacher of DesiringGod.org, Chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary, and was Senior Pastor for 33 years at Bethlehem Baptist Church. He is author of more than 50 books, most recently Providence (Crossway, 2021). The Henry Center for Theological Understanding provides theological resources that help bridge the gap between the academy and the church. It houses a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues—for the good of the church, for the soul of the theological academy, for the sake of the world, and ultimately for the glory of God. The HCTU seeks to ground each of these initiatives in Scripture, and it pursues these goals collaboratively, in order to train a new generation of wise interpreters of the Word—lay persons and scholars alike—for the sake of tomorrow’s church, academy, and world.

Visit the HCTU website: https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/ Subscribe to the HCTU Newsletter: https://bit.ly/326pRL5 Connect with us! https://twitter.com/henry_center https://www.facebook.com/henrycenter/ https://www.instagram.com/thehenrycenter/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/thehenrycenter

Discussion Topic - Religious Pluralism and Christianity

A fuller discussion of this issue is available in an essay written by Dr. Harold Netland, which is available for free online at: www.christoncampuscci.org

Until the modern era, Christians largely took it for granted that Christianity is the one true religion for all humankind. By the late twentieth century, however, there were growing numbers of those identifying themselves as Christians who called for a radical pluralism in which Christianity is just one among many possible ways of responding to the divine. Harold Netland challenges the idea that all the major religions are more or less equally true and presents a Christian alternative to the challenge of religious diversity. Harold A. Netland (PhD Claremont Graduate University) is Professor of Philosophy of Religion and Intercultural Studies at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He is author of Encountering Religious Pluralism: The Challenge to Christian Faith and Mission (IVP Academic, 2001), Christianity and Religious Diversity: Clarifying Christian Commitments in a Globalizing Age (Baker Academic, 2015), and Religious Experience and the Knowledge of God: The Evidential Force of Divine Encounters (Baker Academic, 2022).

Visit the HCTU website: https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/ Subscribe to the HCTU Newsletter: https://bit.ly/326pRL5 Connect with us! https://twitter.com/henry_center https://www.facebook.com/henrycenter/ https://www.instagram.com/thehenrycenter/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/thehenrycenter

Lecture Title - Embracing the Cross: Scriptural Patterns and the Challenge of Discipleship in Mark

In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus calls his followers to embark on a transformative journey marked by suffering and self-sacrificial service, with the promise of a glorious future beyond immediate perception. This journey is central to the concept of discipleship in Mark; without it, discipleship doesn’t work. But Jesus’s call to deny yourself and take up your cross may seem foreign, unappealing, or irrelevant in contemporary contexts. We may even wonder if suffering is truly essential to discipleship, or if it is, what it entails. To address these issues, we will explore how Mark employs familiar scriptural stories as patterns to explain the experiences of Jesus and his followers. Ultimately, we will discover how these story-patterns can help us to a renewed understanding and practice of discipleship today.

Elizabeth E. Shively (PhD Emory University) is Professor of Christian Scriptures at George W. Truett Theological Seminary, Baylor University. In addition to her academic scholarship, she frequently preaches and teaches in churches and conference settings. She is the author of multiple books, including Apocalyptic Imagination in the Gospel of Mark (de Gruyter, 2012).

The Henry Center for Theological Understanding provides theological resources that help bridge the gap between the academy and the church. It houses a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues—for the good of the church, for the soul of the theological academy, for the sake of the world, and ultimately for the glory of God. The HCTU seeks to ground each of these initiatives in Scripture, and it pursues these goals collaboratively, in order to train a new generation of wise interpreters of the Word—lay persons and scholars alike—for the sake of tomorrow’s church, academy, and world.

Visit the HCTU website: https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/

Subscribe to the HCTU Newsletter: https://bit.ly/326pRL5

Connect with us! https://twitter.com/henry_center https://www.facebook.com/henrycenter/ https://www.instagram.com/thehenrycenter/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/thehenrycenter

Intercultural perspectives on emerging adulthood bring important depth and texture to any and all conversations about emerging adulthood. Each panelist in our intercultural perspectives panel share fresh stories and significant experiences drawn from their time working in non-white, immigrant, and diaspora ministry settings. By sharing their stories, they identify points of convergence and divergence with contemporary research on emerging adults. They also help see how crucial intercultural perspectives are for any person who hopes to minister to emerging adults. The panelists challenge assumptions, offer significant insights, and raise thought-provoking questions. Jared E. Alcántara (PhD Princeton Theological Seminary) is Associate Professor of Preaching and holds the Paul W. Powell Endowed Chair in Preaching at Baylor University’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary. He is also the author of several books on preaching, including The Practices of Christian Preaching: Essentials for Effective Proclamation (Baker Academic, 2019) and Crossover Preaching: Intercultural-Improvisational Homiletics in Conversation with Gardner C. Taylor (IVP Academic, 2015). Jerrica Bell Profit (BS Northwestern University) is Enablement Communications Manager at Salesforce. She previously worked in campus ministry through InterVarsity Christian Fellowship at the University of Illinois Chicago. Jimmy Roh (PhD Candidate Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary) is the Partnership Manager for Global Outreach at McLean Bible Church and Adjunct Instructor at Multnomah University.

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[Discussion/interview date: March 26th 2009]

The Center was pleased to welcome Trinity's former president back to campus. Dr. Waybright addressed the subject of ecclesiology through consideration of two passages in Ephesians. His talks are entitled "The Dream Church". His first sermon covered Ephesians 1:3-14 and is entitled "God's Idea--Not Mine", while his second covered Ephesians 2:11-22 and is entitled "From Dream to Reality." Gregory Waybright (PhD Marquette University) is President Emeritus of Trinity International University (1995-2007). He has also pastored churches in California, Wisconsin, and Illinois.

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[Discussion/interview date: March 24th 2009]

Discussion Topic - What is the Dream Church? The Center was pleased to welcome Trinity's former president back to campus. Dr. Waybright addressed the subject of ecclesiology through consideration of two passages in Ephesians. His talks are entitled "The Dream Church". His first sermon covered Ephesians 1:3-14 and is entitled "God's Idea--Not Mine", while his second covered Ephesians 2:11-22 and is entitled "From Dream to Reality." Gregory Waybright (PhD Marquette University) is President Emeritus of Trinity International University (1995-2007). He has also pastored churches in California, Wisconsin, and Illinois.

Visit the HCTU website: https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/ Subscribe to the HCTU Newsletter: https://bit.ly/326pRL5 Connect with us! https://twitter.com/henry_center https://www.facebook.com/henrycenter/ https://www.instagram.com/thehenrycenter/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/thehenrycenter

Sermon Title - "I Hope You Dance": A Sermon on Lamentations 3 Dr. Carolyn Gordon muses about how we survive “the next day,” that is the day after the day we never wanted to live through, when we wake up after a broken relationship, jobless, or bereft. She narrates Jeremiah’s story. His call from God was to prophesy from a life full of hardship and tragedy. And there were moments when he thought he could take no more, when he wanted to give up. So the words of Lamentations 3 are words for when there are no words. He is introspective, clearly and honestly expressing his angst, retrospective, remembering when God and his work, and given a new perspective, which allows him to lean on God’s mercies and grace. He is an example of one who, even in the distress, dances in the showers of God’s mercies and grace. Carolyn Gordon (PhD Howard University) is Associate Professor and Chair of Mass Communication at Mississippi Valley State University. She previously taught at Fuller Theological Seminary. She is a former columnist for The Beacon newspaper and has produced several television shows including, “Another Day” for KYFC-TV in Kansas City, Missouri and “A Point of View” for BSU-TV in Bowie, Maryland. The Henry Center for Theological Understanding provides theological resources that help bridge the gap between the academy and the church. It houses a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues—for the good of the church, for the soul of the theological academy, for the sake of the world, and ultimately for the glory of God. The HCTU seeks to ground each of these initiatives in Scripture, and it pursues these goals collaboratively, in order to train a new generation of wise interpreters of the Word—lay persons and scholars alike—for the sake of tomorrow’s church, academy, and world.

Visit the HCTU website: https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/ Subscribe to the HCTU Newsletter: https://bit.ly/326pRL5

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Discussion Title - Race in the US: The State of Race Relations [Parts 1-3]

---Henry Center archive audio---

(Dr. Peter Cha is currently Professor of Church, Culture and Society at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.)

Peter Cha, Associate Professor of Pastoral Theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, hosts a Henry Center dialogue with Michael Emerson, Alvin Sanders, and Peter Hong, who explore how racial prejudices have diminished in the United States in the last years, but at the same time, the social differences are increasing. Michael O. Emerson (PhD University of North Carolina) is Department Head and Professor of Sociology at University of Illinois Chicago. He is co-author of Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America (Oxford University Press, 2000), People of the Dream: Multiracial Congregations in the United States (Princeton University Press, 2006), and Market Cities, People Cities: The Shape of Our Urban Future (New York University Press, 2018). Alvin Sanders (PhD Miami University) is President and CEO at World Impact. He is author of Bridging the Diversity Gap: Leading toward God’s Multi-Ethnic Kingdom (Wesleyan Publishing House, 2013) and Uncommon Church: Community Transformation for the Common Good (InterVarsity Press, 2020). Peter Hong (MDiv & MA Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) founded and served as Lead Pastor for 19 years at New Community Covenant Church, a vibrant and growing urban, multiethnic church. The Henry Center for Theological Understanding provides theological resources that help bridge the gap between the academy and the church. It houses a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues—for the good of the church, for the soul of the theological academy, for the sake of the world, and ultimately for the glory of God. The HCTU seeks to ground each of these initiatives in Scripture, and it pursues these goals collaboratively, in order to train a new generation of wise interpreters of the Word—lay persons and scholars alike—for the sake of tomorrow’s church, academy, and world. Visit the HCTU website: https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/ Subscribe to the HCTU Newsletter: https://bit.ly/326pRL5

Connect with us! https://twitter.com/henry_center https://www.facebook.com/henrycenter/ https://www.instagram.com/thehenrycenter/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/thehenrycenter

Discussion Topic - Church and Reconciliation: State of the Issue Doctrine and doctrinal issues are not merely aloof ideas that flit about within the closed precincts of academic institutions, but the living reality of the people of God located within local neighborhoods, neighborhoods replete with all layers of broken relationships. Positively, churches everywhere have been entrusted with the “ministry of reconciliation” (2 Cor. 5:18), beginning with the thought that God brings together things that are broken. In this opening symposium, a conversation with Trinity’s own Peter Cha, Michael Reynolds, and Harold Netland, and moderated by pastor and president emeritus Gregory Waybright, we will begin framing our year-long conversation on the doctrine of Reconciliation by considering its very concrete and practical outworkings within the context of the local church. Peter T. Cha (PhD Northwestern University) is Professor of Church, Culture and Society at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He is co-editor of Growing Healthy Asian American Churches: Ministry Insights from Groundbreaking Congregations (InterVarsity Press, 2006). Harold A. Netland (PhD Claremont Graduate University) is Professor of Philosophy of Religion and Intercultural Studies at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He is author of Encountering Religious Pluralism: The Challenge to Christian Faith and Mission (IVP Academic, 2001), Christianity and Religious Diversity: Clarifying Christian Commitments in a Globalizing Age (Baker Academic, 2015), and Religious Experience and the Knowledge of God: The Evidential Force of Divine Encounters (Baker Academic, 2022). Michael D. Reynolds (DMin McCormick Theological Seminary) is Affiliate Professor of Pastoral Theology, Associate Professor of Christian Ministries, and Executive Director and Associate Dean of the Chicago Regional Center at Trinity International University. He is senior editor of the ESV Urban Devotional Bible (Crossway, 2007) and author of Still Off-Base About Race: When We Know the Truth, Things Will Be Different (Dream Releaser, 2021).

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Sermon Title - God and Sinners Reconciled: And Calls Us--Yes, Us--to Follow (Mark 8:34-38, 10:17-31) Greg Waybright continues his two-part series (part 1) on God and reconciliation in the gospel of Mark. He expounds Christ’s call to radical discipleship in Mark 8:34-38, and describes the path we can walk down alongside our eternal brothers and sisters in Mark 10:28-31. The hard work of reconciliation first requires that we deny ourselves and pick up our crosses in our pursuit of Christ, submitted to whatever he demands. Yet, Christ doesn’t leave us without the resources we need to do his work. He provides a family of God in the form of the local church – a family that grows with each new member of our respective communities reconciled to God our Father. This is the framework that guides us as we step into our neighborhoods as ambassadors of reconciliation. Gregory Waybright (PhD Marquette University) is President Emeritus of Trinity International University (1995-2007). He has also pastored churches in California, Wisconsin, and Illinois.

Visit the HCTU website: https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/ Subscribe to the HCTU Newsletter: https://bit.ly/326pRL5 Connect with us! https://twitter.com/henry_center https://www.facebook.com/henrycenter/ https://www.instagram.com/thehenrycenter/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/thehenrycenter

Sermon Title - God and Sinners Reconciled: He Enters In (Mark 7:24-30) Dr. Greg Waybright turns to an unlikely passage as he begins his first of two (part II) messages on God and Reconcilation. Expounding Mark 7:24-30, the story of the Syrophoenecian woman, Waybright draws out the ways that Jesus entered in to the lives of the disenfranchised, the sick, the marginalized, and the poor to reconcile them to himself. Jesus entered into the difficulties, pain, and brokenness of the world, and then shows how Christians are to do likewise. Gregory Waybright (PhD Marquette University) is President Emeritus of Trinity International University (1995-2007). He has also pastored churches in California, Wisconsin, and Illinois.

Visit the HCTU website: https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/ Subscribe to the HCTU Newsletter: https://bit.ly/326pRL5 Connect with us! https://twitter.com/henry_center https://www.facebook.com/henrycenter/ https://www.instagram.com/thehenrycenter/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/thehenrycenter

Lecture Title: Lost in Policy? The Person Beyond Public and Social Utility Contemporary Christian debates about public policy tend to rely on simply reading one’s preferred political views into Scripture. Often lost in the conversation, are the very people themselves. Drawing on resources from the tradition of Christian social thought, Bradley will call us to a vision of the human person ordered in Creation. This alternative understanding of personhood offers Evangelicals an opportunity to transcend the binaries and idols of “left” vs. “right” and to promote the basic social, political, and economic structures that lead to human flourishing. Anthony B. Bradley (PhD Westminster Theological Seminary) is Professor of Religious Studies and Director of the Center for the Study of Human Flourishing at The King’s College. He is also Distinguished Research Fellow at the Acton Institute. He is author or editor of multiple books, including Aliens in the Promised Land: Why Minority Leadership is Overlooked in White Christian Churches and Institutions (P&R, 2013), Ending Overcriminalization and Mass Incarceration: Hope from Civil Society (Cambridge University Press, 2018), and Faith in Society: 13 Profiles of Christians Adding Value to the Modern World (Resource, 2019). The Henry Center for Theological Understanding provides theological resources that help bridge the gap between the academy and the church. It houses a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues—for the good of the church, for the soul of the theological academy, for the sake of the world, and ultimately for the glory of God. The HCTU seeks to ground each of these initiatives in Scripture, and it pursues these goals collaboratively, in order to train a new generation of wise interpreters of the Word—lay persons and scholars alike—for the sake of tomorrow’s church, academy, and world.

Visit the HCTU website: https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/ Subscribe to the HCTU Newsletter: https://bit.ly/326pRL5 Connect with us! https://twitter.com/henry_center https://www.facebook.com/henrycenter/ https://www.instagram.com/thehenrycenter/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/thehenrycenter

Sermon Title - Looking Up and Looking Out: A Theology of Reconciliation There is something about the verticality of life. Whether telephone poles or sky scrapers. But we don’t simply look up; we also look out. There is also something horizontal. In our embodied existence, we see the two dimensions. Even on the cross, there is a vertical and a horizontal directionality. One is ineffective without the other. Yet, in much of our American culture, we have not sustained this mutuality. In this sermon, Rev. Ralph West exhorts the church to remember and live in the fact of the battle won. The victory of the cross has brought in the horizontality of the message, and now we are all ministers with a message and a ministry of reconciliation. Ralph D. West (DMin Beeson Divinity School) is Founder and Senior Pastor of The Church Without Walls and Adjunct Professor of Preaching at the George W. Truett Theological Seminary. The Henry Center for Theological Understanding provides theological resources that help bridge the gap between the academy and the church. It houses a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues—for the good of the church, for the soul of the theological academy, for the sake of the world, and ultimately for the glory of God. The HCTU seeks to ground each of these initiatives in Scripture, and it pursues these goals collaboratively, in order to train a new generation of wise interpreters of the Word—lay persons and scholars alike—for the sake of tomorrow’s church, academy, and world. Visit the HCTU website: https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/ Subscribe to the HCTU Newsletter: https://bit.ly/326pRL5 Connect with us! https://twitter.com/henry_center https://www.facebook.com/henrycenter/ https://www.instagram.com/thehenrycenter/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/thehenrycenter

Post-Lecture Interview with the Speaker

Lecture Title - Inadequacy: The Surprising Secret to Being Useful to God

The NBA champions this year was a team made up of fewer stars and less glitz than their opponents. We might say that humility triumphed over hubris. There are lessons-a-plenty in this for an evangelical church that routinely produces all-stars. Such an approach endangers the recipients of such adulation and discourages those who are by-passed in the process. In this lecture, Alistair Begg will consider God's pattern of using unlikely and ordinary characters and address the possibility that what we regard as a hindrance may be the key to usefulness in God's service.

Alistair Begg (DDiv Westminster Theological Seminary) is Senior Pastor at Parkside Church. He is author of many books, including Name Above all Names (Crossway, 2013), Pathway to Freedom: How God's Laws Guide Our Lives (Moody, 2021), and Brave by Faith: God-Sized Confidence in a Post-Christian World (The Good Book Company, 2021).

The Henry Center for Theological Understanding provides theological resources that help bridge the gap between the academy and the church. It houses a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues—for the good of the church, for the soul of the theological academy, for the sake of the world, and ultimately for the glory of God. The HCTU seeks to ground each of these initiatives in Scripture, and it pursues these goals collaboratively, in order to train a new generation of wise interpreters of the Word—lay persons and scholars alike—for the sake of tomorrow’s church, academy, and world.

Visit the HCTU website: https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/

Subscribe to the HCTU Newsletter: https://bit.ly/326pRL5

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Debate Question - Is Social Justice an Essential Part of the Mission of the Church? North American Evangelicals have recently experienced a revival of interest in issues of social justice. The growing sentiment among many today is that Jesus preached "good news to the poor," and was indeed among the poor and marginalized. These Christians believe that the implications of these facts should renew the church's understanding of the gospel and its mission. Rightly or wrongly, this interest in social justice is transforming the blueprint and vision of ecclesial ministry. For others, this blueprint conjures up concerns about 20th century liberal Protestantism and a watering down of the gospel's message of salvation. The defining mission of the church, for them, continues to be the sharing of the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ to all nations, generations, and social classes. The issue of social justice, though important, is not to be considered as an essential part of the mission of the church. The Henry Center for Theological Understanding, in its Trinity Debates forum, is pleased to provide a public venue for addressing this question by hosting two prominent voices from competing perspectives. Jim Wallis will answer "Yes" and R. Albert Mohler will answer "No." R. Albert Mohler, Jr. (PhD Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is author of many books, including Words From the Fire: Hearing the Voice of God in the 10 Commandments (Moody, 2009) and The Gathering Storm: Secularism, Culture, and the Church (Thomas Nelson, 2020). He hosts two programs, “The Briefing” and “Thinking in Public,” and also writes a popular blog. Jim Wallis is the Director of the Center on Faith and Justice and inaugural chair in Faith and Justice at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University. He is author many books, including God’s Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It (Harper Collins, 2006), America’s Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege, and the Bridge to a New America (Brazos Press, 2017), and Christ in Crisis?: Reclaiming Jesus in a Time of Fear, Hate, and Violence (Harper Collins, 2020). He is founder and was President of Sojourners, served on the White House Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, and also served as Vice Chair of the Global Agenda Council on Values of the World Economic Forum. The Henry Center for Theological Understanding provides theological resources that help bridge the gap between the academy and the church. It houses a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues—for the good of the church, for the soul of the theological academy, for the sake of the world, and ultimately for the glory of God. The HCTU seeks to ground each of these initiatives in Scripture, and it pursues these goals collaboratively, in order to train a new generation of wise interpreters of the Word—lay persons and scholars alike—for the sake of tomorrow’s church, academy, and world. Visit the HCTU website: https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/ Subscribe to the HCTU Newsletter: https://bit.ly/326pRL5 Connect with us! https://twitter.com/henry_center https://www.facebook.com/henrycenter/ https://www.instagram.com/thehenrycenter/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/thehenrycenter

Lecture Title - A Kingdom of Friends: Matthew’s Vision for the “We” of Discipleship

Matthew’s Gospel presents a profound and nuanced vision of what it means to flourish as humans through becoming disciples of King Jesus. Flourishing in the kingdom of heaven requires a proper relationship to God, to other believers, and to the world outside of the church (“I, We, and They”). In this lecture, we will examine the vision Jesus gives for life together—the “we” of discipleship as a kingdom of true friends whose lives are marked by mercy and forgiveness. This vision can be seen especially in Joseph, the exemplar of the virtue of mercy, and the sophisticated and shocking “household code” of Matthew 18–20.

Jonathan T. Pennington (PhD University of St. Andrews) is Professor of New Testament Interpretation at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is the author of multiple books, including Reading the Gospels Wisely: A Narrative and Theological Introduction (Baker Academic, 2012), The Sermon on the Mount and Human Flourishing (Baker Academic, 2018), Jesus the Great Philosopher: Rediscovering the Wisdom Needed for the Good Life (Brazos Press, 2020), and Come and See: The Journey of Knowing God through Scripture (Crossway, 2023).

The Henry Center for Theological Understanding provides theological resources that help bridge the gap between the academy and the church. It houses a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues—for the good of the church, for the soul of the theological academy, for the sake of the world, and ultimately for the glory of God. The HCTU seeks to ground each of these initiatives in Scripture, and it pursues these goals collaboratively, in order to train a new generation of wise interpreters of the Word—lay persons and scholars alike—for the sake of tomorrow’s church, academy, and world.

Visit the HCTU website: https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/

Subscribe to the HCTU Newsletter: https://bit.ly/326pRL5

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Debate Question: Is the Lutheran Approach to Pauline Justification "Justified"?

Martin Luther and other reformers viewed Pauline justification as primarily, if not exclusively, a forensic matter between us and God. We are justified before God, through faith in Jesus Christ, according to his finished work on the cross. If one believes the gospel message, then one is justified before God. Reconciliation (with God and with other humans) is a necessary implication of justification but is not part of justification as such. New perspectives on Paul have challenged this account of justification (both historically and exegetically). Rather than being merely a forensic matter focused on human salvation and its relationship to divine satisfaction, this approach suggests that Pauline justification is essentially about human liberation and the reconciliation of people one with another. Rather than being merely a forensic matter focused on human salvation and its relationship to divine satisfaction, this approach suggests that Pauline justification is essentially about human liberation and the reconciliation of people one with another.

Douglas A. Campbell (PhD University of Toronto) is Professor of New Testament at Duke Divinity School. He is author of Framing Paul: An Epistolary Biography (Eerdmans, 2014), Paul: An Apostle’s Journey (Eerdmans, 2018), and Pauline Dogmatics: The Triumph of God’s Love (Eerdmans, 2020).

Douglas J. Moo (PhD University of St. Andrews) is Kenneth T. Wessner Professor of New Testament at Wheaton College. He is author of The Letter to the Romans (NICNT; 2nd edition) (Eerdmans, 2018) and A Theology of Paul and His Letters: The Gift of the New Realm in Christ (Zondervan Academic, 2021). He currently serves as chair for the New International Version translation committee.

The Henry Center for Theological Understanding provides theological resources that help bridge the gap between the academy and the church. It houses a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues—for the good of the church, for the soul of the theological academy, for the sake of the world, and ultimately for the glory of God. The HCTU seeks to ground each of these initiatives in Scripture, and it pursues these goals collaboratively, in order to train a new generation of wise interpreters of the Word—lay persons and scholars alike—for the sake of tomorrow’s church, academy, and world.

Visit the HCTU website: https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/

Subscribe to the HCTU Newsletter: https://bit.ly/326pRL

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Sermon Title - Finishing Well (1 Cor. 9:24-27) Bryan Loritts comes from a long legacy of faithful men and women extending from his great, great grandfather Peter, an illiterate slave who loved the Word, to his father, Dr. Crawford Loritts. He celebrates this legacy in his sermon on 1 Corinthians 9:24-27. In this passage, Paul urges his readers to run with radical excellence and to compete with sacrificial endurance. No Christians will have a free pass on suffering, but those who run with integrity in the midst of it can finish well. Loritts urges us to continue the legacies of finishing well, which we have received from our faithful predecessors in the Gospel.

Bryan C. Loritts (DMin Liberty University) is the president and founder of the Kainos Movement and the Teaching Pastor at The Summit Church. He is the author of the books The Dad Difference (Moody, 2020), Insider Outsider (Zondervan, 2018), and Saving the Saved (Zondervan, 2016).

The Henry Center for Theological Understanding provides theological resources that help bridge the gap between the academy and the church. It houses a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues—for the good of the church, for the soul of the theological academy, for the sake of the world, and ultimately for the glory of God. The HCTU seeks to ground each of these initiatives in Scripture, and it pursues these goals collaboratively, in order to train a new generation of wise interpreters of the Word—lay persons and scholars alike—for the sake of tomorrow’s church, academy, and world.

Visit the HCTU website: https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/

Subscribe to the HCTU Newsletter: https://bit.ly/326pRL5

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Sermon Title - The Multi-Ethnic Church (Eph. 2:11-22)

In a sermon on Ephesians 2:11-22, Brian Loritts makes a passionate appeal to Bible believing Christians to note the Gospel's vertical and horizontal dimensions. The Gospel addresses both reconciliation between God and sinners and reconciliation of all peoples in Christ. Loritts laments the fact that the modern church in America has resisted multi-ethnic unity. In so doing, American Christians have not embodied the radical unity that made the early church such a stunning validation of gospel power. He claims, "multi-ethnic is a symptom of the Gospel being lived out," and calls Evangelical pastors and leaders to embrace the opportunity to affect change and to pursue the kingdom vision of Revelation 7.

Bryan C. Loritts (DMin Liberty University) is the president and founder of the Kainos Movement and the Teaching Pastor at The Summit Church. He is the author of the books The Dad Difference (Moody, 2020), Insider Outsider (Zondervan, 2018), and Saving the Saved (Zondervan, 2016).

The Henry Center for Theological Understanding provides theological resources that help bridge the gap between the academy and the church. It houses a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues—for the good of the church, for the soul of the theological academy, for the sake of the world, and ultimately for the glory of God. The HCTU seeks to ground each of these initiatives in Scripture, and it pursues these goals collaboratively, in order to train a new generation of wise interpreters of the Word—lay persons and scholars alike—for the sake of tomorrow’s church, academy, and world.

Visit the HCTU website: https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/

Subscribe to the HCTU Newsletter: https://bit.ly/326pRL5

Connect with us! https://twitter.com/henry_center https://www.facebook.com/henrycenter/ https://www.instagram.com/thehenrycenter/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/thehenrycenter

Lecture Title - Transformed by the Renewing of the Mind: The Use of Scripture in "Spiritual Formation"

The Apostle Paul tells us to "not be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind" (Rom. 12:2). But how are we to go about renewing our mind? We will explain the role of scripture in the renewing of the mind, and the role of the pastor and the congregation in this process. We will also discuss the ways in which use of scripture fails to renew the mind-as often seems to be the case in our "Bible based" churches. What can be done about that? The larger picture of Christian "spiritual formation" will be discussed. How does it relate to "growth in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ"? Does being saved have anything to do with transformation of character?

Dallas Willard (PhD University of Wisconsin) was Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the University of Southern California. Within his interests were metaphysics, contemporary European philosophy, ethics and the history of ethics. An author of many books, his last one being Living in Christ's Presence: Final Words on Heaven and the Kingdom of God (InterVarsity Press, 2017).

The Henry Center for Theological Understanding provides theological resources that help bridge the gap between the academy and the church. It houses a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues—for the good of the church, for the soul of the theological academy, for the sake of the world, and ultimately for the glory of God. The HCTU seeks to ground each of these initiatives in Scripture, and it pursues these goals collaboratively, in order to train a new generation of wise interpreters of the Word—lay persons and scholars alike—for the sake of tomorrow’s church, academy, and world.

Visit the HCTU website: https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/

Subscribe to the HCTU Newsletter: https://bit.ly/326pRL5

Connect with us! https://twitter.com/henry_center https://www.facebook.com/henrycenter/ https://www.instagram.com/thehenrycenter/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/thehenrycenter

Lecture Title - Transformed by the Renewing of the Mind: The Use of Scripture in "Spiritual Formation"

The Apostle Paul tells us to "not be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind" (Rom. 12:2). But how are we to go about renewing our mind? We will explain the role of scripture in the renewing of the mind, and the role of the pastor and the congregation in this process. We will also discuss the ways in which use of scripture fails to renew the mind-as often seems to be the case in our "Bible based" churches. What can be done about that? The larger picture of Christian "spiritual formation" will be discussed. How does it relate to "growth in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ"? Does being saved have anything to do with transformation of character?

Dallas Willard (PhD University of Wisconsin) was Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the University of Southern California. Within his interests were metaphysics, contemporary European philosophy, ethics and the history of ethics. An author of many books, his last one being Living in Christ's Presence: Final Words on Heaven and the Kingdom of God (InterVarsity Press, 2017).

The Henry Center for Theological Understanding provides theological resources that help bridge the gap between the academy and the church. It houses a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues—for the good of the church, for the soul of the theological academy, for the sake of the world, and ultimately for the glory of God. The HCTU seeks to ground each of these initiatives in Scripture, and it pursues these goals collaboratively, in order to train a new generation of wise interpreters of the Word—lay persons and scholars alike—for the sake of tomorrow’s church, academy, and world.

Visit the HCTU website: https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/

Subscribe to the HCTU Newsletter: https://bit.ly/326pRL5

Connect with us! https://twitter.com/henry_center https://www.facebook.com/henrycenter/ https://www.instagram.com/thehenrycenter/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/thehenrycenter

Sermon Title - Gracing & Disgracing Grace: Forgiveness and Reconciliation

Preaching on Jesus’ famous parable of forgiveness (Matthew 18), Rev. Ralph West warns us against Disgracing Grace, in a manner similar to the Unforgiving Servant. This doesn’t mean that forgiveness is easy. It wasn’t easy for Jesus, and it isn’t easy for us. Whenever evil is put on a face, someone that looks a whole lot like us, we all become nervous. Yet, when our debt in relation to God is put in perspective–following Jesus arithmetic, a difference of $50,000,000 to $34–to not forgive is to disgrace grace. As with the parable, when the role is reversed, and we are not debtors but creditors, how will we respond? Will we grace grace or will we disgrace grace?

Ralph D. West (DMin Beeson Divinity School) is Founder and Senior Pastor of The Church Without Walls and Adjunct Professor of Preaching at the George W. Truett Theological Seminary.

The Henry Center for Theological Understanding provides theological resources that help bridge the gap between the academy and the church. It houses a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues—for the good of the church, for the soul of the theological academy, for the sake of the world, and ultimately for the glory of God. The HCTU seeks to ground each of these initiatives in Scripture, and it pursues these goals collaboratively, in order to train a new generation of wise interpreters of the Word—lay persons and scholars alike—for the sake of tomorrow’s church, academy, and world.

Visit the HCTU website: https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/

Subscribe to the HCTU Newsletter: https://bit.ly/326pRL5

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Sermon Title - The Final Christ

In John 4:7-14 and 6:27-40, Jesus uses the universal symbols of bread and water to draw people to himself, awakening in them a sense of their deeper hunger and thirst. He is the greater Jacob and the greater Moses, offering people the living water and bread of life - eternal life - that will satisfy them forever with himself. Those who eat and drink of Christ will never hunger or thirst again. Applied to our theological work, Christ reverses the wisdom of the world that elevates the pursuit of truth over truth itself and is more enamored with the brilliancy of its presentation than with He who is Wisdom in person. We are tempted by things that can only satisfy for a time, but Christ is the final food and final drink, the one in whom all the fullness of deity is present and in whom we are filled perfectly and entirely so that there is no more hunger and painful thirst.

Henri A. G. Blocher (DD Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary) is Professor Emeritus at Faculte Libre de Theologie Evangelique. He is author of In the Beginning: The Opening Chapters of Genesis (IVP Academic, 1984) and Original Sin: Illuminating the Riddle (IVP Academic, 2000). Blocher was a member of the Lausanne Committee on World Evangelization (1975-1980), served the World Evangelical Fellowship/Alliance in a number of capacities, and taught in schools in Europe, Australia, Africa, Canada, and the US.

The Henry Center for Theological Understanding provides theological resources that help bridge the gap between the academy and the church. It houses a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues—for the good of the church, for the soul of the theological academy, for the sake of the world, and ultimately for the glory of God. The HCTU seeks to ground each of these initiatives in Scripture, and it pursues these goals collaboratively, in order to train a new generation of wise interpreters of the Word—lay persons and scholars alike—for the sake of tomorrow’s church, academy, and world.

Visit the HCTU website: https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/

Subscribe to the HCTU Newsletter: https://bit.ly/326pRL5

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2015 Kantzer Lecture #6 - Possibility and Salvation In the final lecture Blocher concludes by accounting for the place of possibility in God’s response to the intrusion of evil, contending that the truth about evil can only be known through God’s response of salvation. Blocher maintains that in the biblical portrait that evil is an intruder, preceding salvation. Salvation is God’s reply and repair to the damage that has been done by evil. Blocher offers three instances of the relation between salvation and possibility. The first is the real possibility of certain occurrence of God’s working out of election in the created order. Second is a treatment of how Christ created the real possibility of certain occurrence of salvation for future believers by dying on the cross. Third is the real possibility of certain non-occurrence regarding salvation for humankind apart from grace and the real possibility with certain occurrence of their salvation by grace. In concluding his Kantzer lectures, Blocher considers the final state in which there is no real possibility for evil, for the alien intruder will no longer have a place. God’s victory over evil shall be total and definitive—if we cannot answer whence and why, we have this sure hope: God will be all in all. Henri A. G. Blocher (DD Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary) is Professor Emeritus at Faculte Libre de Theologie Evangelique. He is author of In the Beginning: The Opening Chapters of Genesis (IVP Academic, 1984) and Original Sin: Illuminating the Riddle (IVP Academic, 2000). Blocher was a member of the Lausanne Committee on World Evangelization (1975-1980), served the World Evangelical Fellowship/Alliance in a number of capacities, and taught in schools in Europe, Australia, Africa, Canada, and the US.

The Henry Center for Theological Understanding provides theological resources that help bridge the gap between the academy and the church. It houses a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues—for the good of the church, for the soul of the theological academy, for the sake of the world, and ultimately for the glory of God. The HCTU seeks to ground each of these initiatives in Scripture, and it pursues these goals collaboratively, in order to train a new generation of wise interpreters of the Word—lay persons and scholars alike—for the sake of tomorrow’s church, academy, and world.

Visit the HCTU website: https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/

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2015 Kantzer Lecture #5 - Was Evil "Possible" Before it Arose? The fifth lecture explores the question of whether evil was possible before it arose, either ontologically or logically, as related to God and to humanity. Accordingly to Blocher, evil is neither ontologically nor logically possible with God. That God who is sovereign should permit decrees and that his beloved creatures should choose against him to their own destruction remains an opaque mystery. As for humanity, evil is only a logical possibility before the original disobedience. The consequence of partaking of the tree, on the other hand, is a newfound real possibility to sin. Refusing to go beyond the non-impossibility of evil, Blocher declares the whence of evil another opaque mystery. There is no rational explanation. Our natural desire is to order things, but evil is a thorn in the flesh of reason. Our intelligence was made to understand the rationality and beauty of the good. If we yield to the temptation of our intelligence regarding evil, ultimately to sort out the disorderliness of evil, then we deny its proper hiddenness. We must not understand, for this is to deny the essence of evil. In this light, all explanations of evil are disordered accounts of disorder. The only place where evil is preserved in its scandalous character is in Scripture. Henri A. G. Blocher (DD Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary) is Professor Emeritus at Faculte Libre de Theologie Evangelique. He is author of In the Beginning: The Opening Chapters of Genesis (IVP Academic, 1984) and Original Sin: Illuminating the Riddle (IVP Academic, 2000). Blocher was a member of the Lausanne Committee on World Evangelization (1975-1980), served the World Evangelical Fellowship/Alliance in a number of capacities, and taught in schools in Europe, Australia, Africa, Canada, and the US.

The Henry Center for Theological Understanding provides theological resources that help bridge the gap between the academy and the church. It houses a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues—for the good of the church, for the soul of the theological academy, for the sake of the world, and ultimately for the glory of God. The HCTU seeks to ground each of these initiatives in Scripture, and it pursues these goals collaboratively, in order to train a new generation of wise interpreters of the Word—lay persons and scholars alike—for the sake of tomorrow’s church, academy, and world.

Visit the HCTU website: https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/

Subscribe to the HCTU Newsletter: https://bit.ly/326pRL5

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2015 Kantzer Lecture #4 - "Possibility" in Biblical Perspective Blocher’s fourth of six lectures is an attempt to discern through Scripture the contours of possibility. Blocher first analyzes possibility with respect to God. He argues that Scripture associates various notions of possibility with God. For example, things can be possible without actually happening. There is a legitimate notion of divine possibility, but it lies on the grain of God’s relationship to creation, not in God’s own essence. Concerning possibility in God Blocher concludes, “mystery, not mastery, is the object.” Blocher then considers possibility and humanity, submitting that humans have received active power from God, but that this power is limited. The power of human beings is allows for a variety of possibilities. This power, while being completely dependent on God, contains a certain passivity not present in God. However, created possibilities cannot run against God’s plan. Although it may be asked whether human possibilities so surrounded still deserve the name, Blocher contends that self-determination and the use of motives to make decisions demonstrate human involvement in willing. Henri A. G. Blocher (DD Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary) is Professor Emeritus at Faculte Libre de Theologie Evangelique. He is author of In the Beginning: The Opening Chapters of Genesis (IVP Academic, 1984) and Original Sin: Illuminating the Riddle (IVP Academic, 2000). Blocher was a member of the Lausanne Committee on World Evangelization (1975-1980), served the World Evangelical Fellowship/Alliance in a number of capacities, and taught in schools in Europe, Australia, Africa, Canada, and the US.

The Henry Center for Theological Understanding provides theological resources that help bridge the gap between the academy and the church. It houses a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues—for the good of the church, for the soul of the theological academy, for the sake of the world, and ultimately for the glory of God. The HCTU seeks to ground each of these initiatives in Scripture, and it pursues these goals collaboratively, in order to train a new generation of wise interpreters of the Word—lay persons and scholars alike—for the sake of tomorrow’s church, academy, and world.

Visit the HCTU website: https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/

Subscribe to the HCTU Newsletter: https://bit.ly/326pRL5

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https://www.facebook.com/henrycenter/

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015 Kantzer Lecture #3 - Thinkers on "Possibility" Whereas in the first of his Kantzer lectures, Blocher introduced the function of possibility in explanation of evil in the thought of many important theologians and philosophers, in this his third lecture, he considers various philosophers’ concept of possibility itself. After Leibniz, Blocher argues, possibility is such a common concept in human reason that it is difficult to interrogate. He analyzes possibility under the rubric of potentia (“potential”) in ancient Greek philosophy, handed down from Plato to Aristotle and eventually to Plotinus. Blocher continues his typology by arguing that Augustine, Aquinas, and Scotus adopted an increasingly problematic notion of possibility under the rubric of freedom. Scotus culminates this movement when he assigns possibility to God’s very essence. Subsequently, Blocher characterizes the clash of determinism resulting from scientific advances and the possibility inherent in the libertarian accounts of freedom resident within modern philosophy. Henri A. G. Blocher (DD Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary) is Professor Emeritus at Faculte Libre de Theologie Evangelique. He is author of In the Beginning: The Opening Chapters of Genesis (IVP Academic, 1984) and Original Sin: Illuminating the Riddle (IVP Academic, 2000). Blocher was a member of the Lausanne Committee on World Evangelization (1975-1980), served the World Evangelical Fellowship/Alliance in a number of capacities, and taught in schools in Europe, Australia, Africa, Canada, and the US.

The Henry Center for Theological Understanding provides theological resources that help bridge the gap between the academy and the church. It houses a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues—for the good of the church, for the soul of the theological academy, for the sake of the world, and ultimately for the glory of God. The HCTU seeks to ground each of these initiatives in Scripture, and it pursues these goals collaboratively, in order to train a new generation of wise interpreters of the Word—lay persons and scholars alike—for the sake of tomorrow’s church, academy, and world.

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2015 Kantzer Lecture #2 - Exploring the Quasi-Concept and the Area of Evil Continuing his analysis of the idea of evil, lecture two provides some “impressionistic” starting points to the idea of evil, before giving an analysis of Leibniz’s threefold articulation of evil as metaphysical, physical, and moral. We often apply the idea of evil in at least one of four senses: (i) evil is what is not as it ought to be; (ii) evil is the negation or privation of what was previously “good” (e.g. blindness is the negation of the good of sight); (iii) evil is not merely a negation, but also entails some active force in our experience of the world; and finally, (iv) evil is singular in that it is not a constituent feature of the created order. Based on these phenomenon of evil, Blocher concludes that evil is not fundamentally metaphysical or physical, but moral, what Scripture refers to as “sin.” It is an inward act that rejects the order of God’s creation. At bottom evil is rooted in the hatred of God, a rage against him, and the rejection of the order of his creation. Henri A. G. Blocher (DD Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary) is Professor Emeritus at Faculte Libre de Theologie Evangelique. He is author of In the Beginning: The Opening Chapters of Genesis (IVP Academic, 1984) and Original Sin: Illuminating the Riddle (IVP Academic, 2000). Blocher was a member of the Lausanne Committee on World Evangelization (1975-1980), served the World Evangelical Fellowship/Alliance in a number of capacities, and taught in schools in Europe, Australia, Africa, Canada, and the US.

The Henry Center for Theological Understanding provides theological resources that help bridge the gap between the academy and the church. It houses a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues—for the good of the church, for the soul of the theological academy, for the sake of the world, and ultimately for the glory of God. The HCTU seeks to ground each of these initiatives in Scripture, and it pursues these goals collaboratively, in order to train a new generation of wise interpreters of the Word—lay persons and scholars alike—for the sake of tomorrow’s church, academy, and world.

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2015 Kantzer Lecture #1 - Introduction: Evil Possible—A Misleading Facility At the outset of his 2015 Kantzer Lectures, Henri Blocher recognizes three central questions that arise from the fact of evil: Whence does evil come? What is evil? How long, O Lord? Blocher admits there is legitimacy of the human search for a rational explanation of the evil and notes the important role that the idea of “possibility” plays in many theodicies, including, Aristotle, Plotinus, Augustine, Aquinas, Leibniz, Hegel, Kierkegaard, Barth, Maritain, and Ricoeur. Despite the concept’s widespread appeal, Blocher’s overriding concern is that the concept has been insufficiently “interrogated” in these various approaches to account for the whence of evil. In characteristic fashion, Blocher suggests that because reason cannot be deployed without presuppositions, it must be deployed from within the “fiduciary framework” of a biblical worldview, which this lecture series hopes to develop. Henri A. G. Blocher (DD Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary) is Professor Emeritus at Faculte Libre de Theologie Evangelique. He is author of In the Beginning: The Opening Chapters of Genesis (IVP Academic, 1984) and Original Sin: Illuminating the Riddle (IVP Academic, 2000). Blocher was a member of the Lausanne Committee on World Evangelization (1975-1980), served the World Evangelical Fellowship/Alliance in a number of capacities, and taught in schools in Europe, Australia, Africa, Canada, and the US.

The Henry Center for Theological Understanding provides theological resources that help bridge the gap between the academy and the church. It houses a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues—for the good of the church, for the soul of the theological academy, for the sake of the world, and ultimately for the glory of God. The HCTU seeks to ground each of these initiatives in Scripture, and it pursues these goals collaboratively, in order to train a new generation of wise interpreters of the Word—lay persons and scholars alike—for the sake of tomorrow’s church, academy, and world.

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2013 Kantzer Lecture #8 - The Understanding of God Implicit in the Eucharist In the final Kantzer lecture of the series, Nicholas Wolterstorff turns to conclude his exploration by unpacking the theological implications of the Eucharist for his project. Noting that this is not the place to adjudicate between competing understandings of the act, Wolterstorff selects one account—that of John Calvin—and examines the understanding of God implicit in it. Wolterstorff notes that traditional uses treat the “this is my body” and “this is my blood,” whereas Calvin includes “for you,” and this plays a crucial role in his account. He goes on to explore the force of the copula is, and argues that the concepts of partaking and sealing are central to Calvin’s account. Wolterstorff concludes that the understanding of God implicit in the Eucharist is a uniquely intimate compared with the other areas already explored. It is that “The God of unsurpassable excellence not only stoops down to listen, hear, and speak to us: he stoops down to dwell and work within us in the person of Jesus Christ. In listening and speaking, there is a certain distance between the interlocutors: in communion in the Eucharist, this distance is removed.” Nicholas Wolterstorff (PhD Harvard University) is Noah Porter Professor Emeritus of Philosophical Theology at Yale University. He is author of many books, including Reason Within the Bounds of Religion (Eerdmans, 1988), Justice: Rights and Wrongs (Princeton University Press, 2008), and United in Love: Reflections on Justice, Art, and Liturgy (Wipf and Stock, 2021).

The Henry Center for Theological Understanding provides theological resources that help bridge the gap between the academy and the church. It houses a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues—for the good of the church, for the soul of the theological academy, for the sake of the world, and ultimately for the glory of God. The HCTU seeks to ground each of these initiatives in Scripture, and it pursues these goals collaboratively, in order to train a new generation of wise interpreters of the Word—lay persons and scholars alike—for the sake of tomorrow’s church, academy, and world.

Visit the HCTU website: https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/ Subscribe to the HCTU Newsletter: https://bit.ly/326pRL5 Connect with us! https://twitter.com/henry_center https://www.facebook.com/henrycenter/ https://www.instagram.com/thehenrycenter/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/thehenrycenter

2013 Kantzer Lecture #7 - God as One Who Speaks Having completed his exploration of God as one who listens, Wolterstorff now turns to the understanding of God implicit in the belief that God is one who speaks. He begins by pointing out that in a good many of our liturgical acts we are listening to what God says by way of what humans say. Wolterstorff begins his exploration by critiquing Karl Barth’s account of the Word of God, finding it insufficiently grounded in the words actually spoken by Jesus, and too reliant on the concept of revelation, which plays a relatively minor role in Scripture. Also finding Barth’s claim that all of Scripture points to Christ as contestable, Wolterstorff suggests that David Kelsey’s account of three independent but interacting story lines—creation and preservation, redemption, and consummation—to be a more helpful guide. Wolterstorff concludes that God not only presently listens, but also presently speaks to us in the liturgy: it is an act of mutual address. Nicholas Wolterstorff (PhD Harvard University) is Noah Porter Professor Emeritus of Philosophical Theology at Yale University. He is author of many books, including Reason Within the Bounds of Religion (Eerdmans, 1988), Justice: Rights and Wrongs (Princeton University Press, 2008), and United in Love: Reflections on Justice, Art, and Liturgy (Wipf and Stock, 2021).

The Henry Center for Theological Understanding provides theological resources that help bridge the gap between the academy and the church. It houses a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues—for the good of the church, for the soul of the theological academy, for the sake of the world, and ultimately for the glory of God. The HCTU seeks to ground each of these initiatives in Scripture, and it pursues these goals collaboratively, in order to train a new generation of wise interpreters of the Word—lay persons and scholars alike—for the sake of tomorrow’s church, academy, and world.

Visit the HCTU website: https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/ Subscribe to the HCTU Newsletter: https://bit.ly/326pRL5 Connect with us! https://twitter.com/henry_center https://www.facebook.com/henrycenter/ https://www.instagram.com/thehenrycenter/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/thehenrycenter

2013 Kantzer Lecture #6 - God as One Who Hears Favorably Wolterstorff begins his sixth lecture by unpacking the understanding of God implicit in the liturgical act of requesting that God would hear our addresses favorably. What view of God is implied by the participant’s refrain, “Hear our prayer oh Lord”? After surveying the possible moods or stances appropriate for supplication—wishfulness, desperation, confidence—Wolterstorff turns to the Lord’s prayer, which he argues should be paradigmatic for Christian liturgical forms of prayer. He goes on to affirm that the Lord’s prayer is best understood as a declaration that the kingdom is God’s and the prayer for its ever fuller manifestation: when the kingdom is fully manifested, God’s name will be hollowed, his will be done, we will be forgiven as we forgive. Guided by N.T. Wright’s recent work How God Became King, Wolterstorff goes on to explore the content of what it means to pray “thy kingdom come.” He concludes by suggesting that when we ask God to accept our prayers, we’re asking God to accept our concrete longing for the coming of God’s kingdom. Nicholas Wolterstorff (PhD Harvard University) is Noah Porter Professor Emeritus of Philosophical Theology at Yale University. He is author of many books, including Reason Within the Bounds of Religion (Eerdmans, 1988), Justice: Rights and Wrongs (Princeton University Press, 2008), and United in Love: Reflections on Justice, Art, and Liturgy (Wipf and Stock, 2021).

The Henry Center for Theological Understanding provides theological resources that help bridge the gap between the academy and the church. It houses a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues—for the good of the church, for the soul of the theological academy, for the sake of the world, and ultimately for the glory of God. The HCTU seeks to ground each of these initiatives in Scripture, and it pursues these goals collaboratively, in order to train a new generation of wise interpreters of the Word—lay persons and scholars alike—for the sake of tomorrow’s church, academy, and world.

Visit the HCTU website: https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/ Subscribe to the HCTU Newsletter: https://bit.ly/326pRL5 Connect with us! https://twitter.com/henry_center https://www.facebook.com/henrycenter/ https://www.instagram.com/thehenrycenter/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/thehenrycenter

2013 Kantzer Lecture #5 - What Are We Saying When We Say that God Listens? Wolterstorff responds to questions raised by portraying God as the God who listens and speaks. After responding to potential objections that “listening” and “speaking” are anthropomorphisms not properly predicted upon God, he proposes an alternative reading of Thomas Aquinas on the issue. Though normally understood to be affirming the view that if a predicate applied literally to creatures it could not be applied literally to God, Wolterstorff argues that Thomas clearly held that some of his claims were literally true of both God and creatures. He goes on to argue, based in part on Aquinas participatory ontology, that Aquinas’ account of the doctrine of analogy pertains to the act of predicating, not to what is predicated – it pertains to the copula (the is of a statement such as God is wise), not to the predicated (wisdom). Wolterstorff concludes that the Maimonides style critique fails, and therefore we should not shrink from affirming that God is one who listens and speaks. Nicholas Wolterstorff (PhD Harvard University) is Noah Porter Professor Emeritus of Philosophical Theology at Yale University. He is author of many books, including Reason Within the Bounds of Religion (Eerdmans, 1988), Justice: Rights and Wrongs (Princeton University Press, 2008), and United in Love: Reflections on Justice, Art, and Liturgy (Wipf and Stock, 2021).

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Lecture Title - Go Therefore and Make Humans: Discipleship in an Inhumane World

We live in a frenetic age of unrealistic expectations, fostered by unrelenting voices both outside and inside of us. Through subtle and not so subtle forces we are constantly expected to do more and be more. Exhaustion, shame, and anxiety pervade, and all too often they also shape the church’s life. In this context, one of the great gifts Christians can give the world is to rediscover a healthy vision of what it means to be truly human, bringing us back to a more realistic and gracious view of discipleship.

Kelly M. Kapic (PhD King’s College, University of London) is Professor of Theological Studies at Covenant College. He is the author of multiple books, including Embodied Hope: A Theological Meditation on Pain and Suffering (IVP Academic, 2017) and You’re Only Human: How Your Limits Reflect God’s Design and Why That’s Good News (Brazos Press, 2022).

The Henry Center for Theological Understanding provides theological resources that help bridge the gap between the academy and the church. It houses a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues—for the good of the church, for the soul of the theological academy, for the sake of the world, and ultimately for the glory of God. The HCTU seeks to ground each of these initiatives in Scripture, and it pursues these goals collaboratively, in order to train a new generation of wise interpreters of the Word—lay persons and scholars alike—for the sake of tomorrow’s church, academy, and world.

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2013 Kantzer Lecture #4 - God as Listener

Wolterstorff breaks new theological ground by considering the reality that God is a listener. Employing the concepts of speech-act theory and an analogy of social structure, he distills what making such a predicate of God entails. Often people are in alienated relationships, which in some way prevent them from speaking and listening to one another. This raises the question: why would God listen to us? God is high and mighty; we are tiny creatures of the earth. However, the unsurpassably excellent God who created and sustains the astonishingly complex world in which we live humbles himself and simultaneously raises us that we might be linked in a speech-act relationship. This mutual dignity is not unconditional nor without need for particular stipulations. Yet God still invites us to address him as a result of our desire to praise him. When our address to God is an expression of a humble heart, then God listens. This is the beginning of what Wolterstorff believes is entailed by understanding God as a listener. Nicholas Wolterstorff (PhD Harvard University) is Noah Porter Professor Emeritus of Philosophical Theology at Yale University. He is author of many books, including Reason Within the Bounds of Religion (Eerdmans, 1988), Justice: Rights and Wrongs (Princeton University Press, 2008), and United in Love: Reflections on Justice, Art, and Liturgy (Wipf and Stock, 2021).

The Henry Center for Theological Understanding provides theological resources that help bridge the gap between the academy and the church. It houses a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues—for the good of the church, for the soul of the theological academy, for the sake of the world, and ultimately for the glory of God. The HCTU seeks to ground each of these initiatives in Scripture, and it pursues these goals collaboratively, in order to train a new generation of wise interpreters of the Word—lay persons and scholars alike—for the sake of tomorrow’s church, academy, and world.

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2013 Kantzer Lecture #3 - God as One Who Listens and Speaks In his third lecture, Wolterstorff considers the understanding of God implicit in some of the fundamental types of Christian liturgy. He submits that the address of God is the most common type of action that occurs in the enactment of Christian liturgy. In addressing someone. In the act of (strongly) addressing God the participants of Christian worship hope that God can and will attend to, grasp, and respond appropriately to their address. By addressing God directly, the participants and God enter into a “we-Thou” relationship. God as listener is implicitly understood, therefore, as one who is reciprocally oriented to those who have addressed him. He is free to respond favorably, but not bound. The community hopes and prays that he will respond favorably. The other most common type of action in Christian liturgy is being addressed by God through (1) the reading Scripture, (2) prophetic proclamation, (3) and the clerical mode (e.g., pronouncing absolution). That the enactment of liturgy is the place and sight of people speaking and listening to God provides an understanding of God as One who listens and speaks. Nicholas Wolterstorff (PhD Harvard University) is Noah Porter Professor Emeritus of Philosophical Theology at Yale University. He is author of many books, including Reason Within the Bounds of Religion (Eerdmans, 1988), Justice: Rights and Wrongs (Princeton University Press, 2008), and United in Love: Reflections on Justice, Art, and Liturgy (Wipf and Stock, 2021).

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2013 Kantzer Lecture #2 - God as Worthy of Worship In the second lecture, Wolterstorff explicates what he calls the implicit understanding of God within the Christian liturgy as a whole (or as it accords with the convergence of the five traditions he is considering), the third and highest level of implicitness (see lecture 1). The highest level of implicitness is the assumption that God is worthy of worship. This understanding of God, says Wolterstorff, leads us in Christian worship to acknowledge the unsurpassable excellence of God. There is a definitive orientation taken on in worship, which he calls an attitudinal stance. This way of orienting ourselves toward God in Christian worship evokes (at least) awe, reverence and adoration of God. Awe is the proper response to God’s creative and redemptive glory; reverence to God’s holiness as untainted perfection; and adoration to God’s love for humanity. Thus, the implicit understanding of God as unsurpassably excellent and thereby worthy of worship is manifest in our attitudinal stance, or orientation towards God in worship. Nicholas Wolterstorff (PhD Harvard University) is Noah Porter Professor Emeritus of Philosophical Theology at Yale University. He is author of many books, including Reason Within the Bounds of Religion (Eerdmans, 1988), Justice: Rights and Wrongs (Princeton University Press, 2008), and United in Love: Reflections on Justice, Art, and Liturgy (Wipf and Stock, 2021).

The Henry Center for Theological Understanding provides theological resources that help bridge the gap between the academy and the church. It houses a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues—for the good of the church, for the soul of the theological academy, for the sake of the world, and ultimately for the glory of God. The HCTU seeks to ground each of these initiatives in Scripture, and it pursues these goals collaboratively, in order to train a new generation of wise interpreters of the Word—lay persons and scholars alike—for the sake of tomorrow’s church, academy, and world.

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2013 Kantzer Lecture #1 - The God We Worship: A Liturgical Theology In this first Kantzer lecture, Nicholas Wolterstorff provides the overarching structure to his liturgical project. Using as his main interlocutors liturgical theologians Schmemann and von Allmen, and working at the convergence of Orthodox, Episcopal, Catholic, Lutheran, and Reformed traditions, Wolterstorff expounds his ontology of liturgy as dependent on the enactment of a “script,” the complete set of rules that determine what is a correct liturgy. He argues that the nature and purpose of the church become manifest in the correct enactment of the liturgy. Anticipating future lectures, Wolterstorff suggests that the God implicit in the liturgy is discernible at three levels: the understanding of God implicit in (1) the entire liturgy, (2) the various types of liturgical actions, and (3) the particular content of individual liturgical acts. Thus, Wolterstorff will lend his analytic tools to decode and thereby reveal the theological logos of Christian liturgy. Nicholas Wolterstorff (PhD Harvard University) is Noah Porter Professor Emeritus of Philosophical Theology at Yale University. He is author of many books, including Reason Within the Bounds of Religion (Eerdmans, 1988), Justice: Rights and Wrongs (Princeton University Press, 2008), and United in Love: Reflections on Justice, Art, and Liturgy (Wipf and Stock, 2021). The Henry Center for Theological Understanding provides theological resources that help bridge the gap between the academy and the church. It houses a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues—for the good of the church, for the soul of the theological academy, for the sake of the world, and ultimately for the glory of God. The HCTU seeks to ground each of these initiatives in Scripture, and it pursues these goals collaboratively, in order to train a new generation of wise interpreters of the Word—lay persons and scholars alike—for the sake of tomorrow’s church, academy, and world. Visit the HCTU website: https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/ Subscribe to the HCTU Newsletter: https://bit.ly/326pRL5

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Lecture Title: Inadequacy: The Surprising Secret to Being Useful to God

In this lecture, Alistair Begg considers God's pattern of using unlikely and ordinary characters and addresses the possibility that what we regard as a hindrance may be the key to usefulness in God's service.

Alistair Begg (DDiv Westminster Theological Seminary) is Senior Pastor at Parkside Church. He is author of many books, including Name Above all Names (Crossway, 2013), Pathway to Freedom: How God's Laws Guide Our Lives (Moody, 2021), and Brave by Faith: God-Sized Confidence in a Post-Christian World (The Good Book Company, 2021).

The Henry Center for Theological Understanding provides theological resources that help bridge the gap between the academy and the church. It houses a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues—for the good of the church, for the soul of the theological academy, for the sake of the world, and ultimately for the glory of God. The HCTU seeks to ground each of these initiatives in Scripture, and it pursues these goals collaboratively, in order to train a new generation of wise interpreters of the Word—lay persons and scholars alike—for the sake of tomorrow’s church, academy, and world.

Visit the HCTU website: https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/

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2011 Kantzer Lecture #7 - The Being of God as Gift and Grace: On Freedom and Necessity, Aseity and the Divine Attributes In his seventh and final lecture, Professor McCormack concludes with a treatment of God’s being and attributes. Of particular interest is his notion of Freedom. Freedom, he suggests, is not freedom in the face of options. Rather, God’s freedom is the freedom to follow through with the course of action that God has elected from all eternity to do and to be. It is a freedom with which God elects to be our God, elects us to be His people, and it is a freedom with which God does not elect to be himself in any other way. Bruce L. McCormack (PhD Princeton Theological Seminary) is Chair of Modern Theology at the University of Aberdeen. Previously, he was Charles Hodge Professor of Systematic Theology at Princeton Seminary. One of his major publications is Karl Barth’s Critically Realistic Dialectical Theology: Its Genesis and Development, 1909-1936 (Clarendon Press, 1995).

The Henry Center for Theological Understanding provides theological resources that help bridge the gap between the academy and the church. It houses a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues—for the good of the church, for the soul of the theological academy, for the sake of the world, and ultimately for the glory of God. The HCTU seeks to ground each of these initiatives in Scripture, and it pursues these goals collaboratively, in order to train a new generation of wise interpreters of the Word—lay persons and scholars alike—for the sake of tomorrow’s church, academy, and world. Visit the HCTU website: https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/ Subscribe to the HCTU Newsletter: https://bit.ly/326pRL5 Connect with us! https://twitter.com/henry_center https://www.facebook.com/henrycenter/ https://www.instagram.com/thehenrycenter/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/thehenrycenter

2011 Kantzer Lecture #6 - The Processions Contain the Missions: Reconstructing the Doctrine of an Immanent Trinity In this sixth lecture, Professor McCormack develops his doctrine of the immanent trinity by grounding his conclusions in the teaching of the New Testament as expounded in the fourth lecture, and in line with the Christology he constructed in the fifth lecture. The basic contours of his doctrine are essentially those of Karl Barth in Church Dogmatics I/1. As a result, McCormack first lays out and defends Barth’s doctrine of the immanent trinity before reconstructing aspects of Barth’s doctrine as McCormack finds necessitated by Barth’s doctrine of election and his later Christology. Bruce L. McCormack (PhD Princeton Theological Seminary) is Chair of Modern Theology at the University of Aberdeen. Previously, he was Charles Hodge Professor of Systematic Theology at Princeton Seminary. One of his major publications is Karl Barth’s Critically Realistic Dialectical Theology: Its Genesis and Development, 1909-1936 (Clarendon Press, 1995).

The Henry Center for Theological Understanding provides theological resources that help bridge the gap between the academy and the church. It houses a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues—for the good of the church, for the soul of the theological academy, for the sake of the world, and ultimately for the glory of God. The HCTU seeks to ground each of these initiatives in Scripture, and it pursues these goals collaboratively, in order to train a new generation of wise interpreters of the Word—lay persons and scholars alike—for the sake of tomorrow’s church, academy, and world.

Visit the HCTU website: https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/ Subscribe to the HCTU Newsletter: https://bit.ly/326pRL5 Connect with us! https://twitter.com/henry_center https://www.facebook.com/henrycenter/ https://www.instagram.com/thehenrycenter/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/thehenrycenter

2011 Kantzer Lecture #5 - Which Christology? Refining the Economic Basis of the Christian Doctrine of God In this fifth Lecture, Professor McCormack begins the constructive work of his project. His goal is to develop a thoroughly post-metaphysical doctrine of God. For McCormack, this means that everything said about God must be founded on what can be known through the history of His revelation in Jesus Christ. Thus, he begins with Christology. As a Doctrine of God grounded in a theological ontology of God as “being-in-action,” we know God’s being only as it encounters us in His actions toward us in Christ. Bruce L. McCormack (PhD Princeton Theological Seminary) is Chair of Modern Theology at the University of Aberdeen. Previously, he was Charles Hodge Professor of Systematic Theology at Princeton Seminary. One of his major publications is Karl Barth’s Critically Realistic Dialectical Theology: Its Genesis and Development, 1909-1936 (Clarendon Press, 1995).

The Henry Center for Theological Understanding provides theological resources that help bridge the gap between the academy and the church. It houses a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues—for the good of the church, for the soul of the theological academy, for the sake of the world, and ultimately for the glory of God. The HCTU seeks to ground each of these initiatives in Scripture, and it pursues these goals collaboratively, in order to train a new generation of wise interpreters of the Word—lay persons and scholars alike—for the sake of tomorrow’s church, academy, and world. Visit the HCTU website: https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/ Subscribe to the HCTU Newsletter: https://bit.ly/326pRL5 Connect with us! https://twitter.com/henry_center https://www.facebook.com/henrycenter/ https://www.instagram.com/thehenrycenter/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/thehenrycenter

2011 Kantzer Lecture #4 - The God Who Reveals Himself: The Mystery of the Trinity in the New Testament In the fourth lecture, Professor McCormack provides dense exegesis of the relevant biblical material regarding the problem of the trinity in the New Testament. This pertains in particular to the biblical witness to deity of the Son, His relationship to the Father and to the Spirit. Endorsing an apocalyptic-eschatological reading of the New Testament, McCormack argues for a vision of the New Testament in which the theological ontology of God is metaphysically underdetermined. This is the case because the New Testament witness is not concerned with metaphysical and speculative thinking, but with proper worship. Bruce L. McCormack (PhD Princeton Theological Seminary) is Chair of Modern Theology at the University of Aberdeen. Previously, he was Charles Hodge Professor of Systematic Theology at Princeton Seminary. One of his major publications is Karl Barth’s Critically Realistic Dialectical Theology: Its Genesis and Development, 1909-1936 (Clarendon Press, 1995). The Henry Center for Theological Understanding provides theological resources that help bridge the gap between the academy and the church. It houses a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues—for the good of the church, for the soul of the theological academy, for the sake of the world, and ultimately for the glory of God. The HCTU seeks to ground each of these initiatives in Scripture, and it pursues these goals collaboratively, in order to train a new generation of wise interpreters of the Word—lay persons and scholars alike—for the sake of tomorrow’s church, academy, and world. Visit the HCTU website: https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/ Subscribe to the HCTU Newsletter: https://bit.ly/326pRL5 Connect with us! https://twitter.com/henry_center https://www.facebook.com/henrycenter/ https://www.instagram.com/thehenrycenter/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/thehenrycenter