Category Archives: Podcasts

Suffering in the Spirit: Death, Adoption, and Groaning

How can Christians have confidence in the truth of the gospel when their present situation is so different than what the Bible says they have been given in Christ? In this sermon we see the connection between the believer’s present suffering and future glory. The Holy Spirit, Paul tells us, connects us with our future resurrection even in our present struggle with sin, the curse, and death.
The text for the sermon is Romans 8:10-27. It was delivered by me at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Cleveland,TN on June 26, 2011. The previous message can be found here.

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Socrates in the City

Socrates in San Francisco is a very good venue that is bringing in some very big names to discuss important life issues that we all need to think about as we continue to learn more about God and to answer the big questions that our life experiences bring to mind. I’ve attached the audio from their first event (from earlier this year) with Dr. Francis S. Collins Speaking on, The Language of God: A Scientist-Believer Looks at the Human Genome.

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Their most recent event was a conversation/debate between Dr. N. T. Wright and Dr. Bart Ehrman on the topic of “A Good God? A Dialogue about the problem of Suffering and evil.” I encourage you to check back soon to see if they have posted the audio for the event. I will post it here as soon as it is available.

Here is what they say they are all about:

The Greek philosopher Socrates famously said that “the unexamined life is not worth living.”

Taking this as a starting point, Socrates in San Francisco sponsors events in which San Franciscans can begin a dialogue on “Life, God, and other small topics.”

Leading thinkers in science, philosophy, literature, religion, and the arts are featured in lectures and onstage conversations about the “big questions.”

J. Gresham Machen’s Response to Modernism

I found this article over at Desiring God recently and thought I would share it. Thankfully, if you don’t have time to read it all, Desiring God is now providing audio recordings of many of their past articles. I encourage you to listen to it in your car or while you work one day. Machen’s work and writings continue to be a strong influence today in the Reformed Protestant tradition and I think you will find this biographical sketch by John Piper a very enjoyable read. Please let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

Here is the audio:

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Here is an exceprt from the article:

Machen’s Response to Modernism and to Fundamentalism

Machen’s years at Princeton were the two decades which are known for the ongoing mondernist-fundamentalist controversy. We will see Machen’s distinctive response to Modernism if we contrast it with what was known most widely as fundamentalism. In the process of defining his response the meaning of Modernism will become clear.

He was seen as an ally by the fundamentalists; and his ecclesiastical opponents like to make him “guilty” by association with them. But he did not accept the term for himself.

In one sense fundamentalists were simply those who “[singled] out certain great facts and doctrines [i.e., Fundamentals] that had come under particular attack, [and] were concerned to emphasize their truth and to defend them” (see note 18). But there was more attached to the term than that. And Machen didn’t like that. He said,

Do you suppose that I do regret my being called by a term that I greatly dislike, a “Fundamentalist”? Most certainly I do. But in the presence of a great common foe, I have little time to be attacking my brethren who stand with me in defense of the Word of God (see note 19).

What he didn’t like was

1) the absence of historical perspective;
2) the lack of appreciation of scholarship;
3) the substitution of brief, skeletal creeds for the historic confessions;
4) the lack of concern with precise formulation of Christian doctrine;
5) the pietistic, perfectionist tendencies (i.e., hang ups with smoking (see note 20), etc.);
6) one-sided other-worldliness (i.e., a lack of effort to transform culture); and
7) a penchant for futuristic chiliasm (or: pre-millenialism).

Machen was on the other side on all these things. And so “he never spoke of himself as a Fundamentalist” (see note 21).

But none of those issues goes to the heart of why he did not see himself as a Fundamentalist. The issue is deeper and broader and gets at the root of how he fought Modernism. The deepest difference goes back to Machen’s profound indebtedness to Benjamin Warfield who died February 16, 1921. Machen wrote to his mother, “With all his glaring faults he was the greatest man I have ever known” (see note 22).

In 1909 at the 400th anniversary of Jon Calvin’s birth Warfield gave an address that stirred Machen to the depths. Warfield made plea that the Reformed Faith—Calvinism—is not a species of Christian theism along side others, but IS Christianity come to full flower.

Calvinism is not a specific variety of theistic thought, religious experience, [or] evangelical faith; but just the perfect manifestation of these things. The difference between it and other forms of theism, religion, [and] evangelicalism is difference not of kind but of degree … it does not take its position then by the side of other types of things; it takes its place over all else that claims to be these things, as embodying all that they ought to be (see note 23).

So he says Lutheranism is “its sister type of Protestantism” and Arminianism is “its own rebellious daughter” (see note 24). Calvinism’s grasp of the supremacy of God in all of life enabled Machen to see that other forms of evangelicalism were all stages of grasping God which are yet in process of coming ot a full and pure appreciation of his total God-centeredness. (Continue Reading)

What Saint Paul Really Said – Podcast

Well, after several months of waiting, the new podcast is actually complete! 🙂

This third podcast is on the topic of What Saint Paul Really Said , a book by N.T. Wright. In the podcast we cover the first chapter of the book where Wright deals with the 5 most influential Pauline scholars of the 20th century. You will certainly learn something new in this podcast, so I encourage you to listen to all of it. Please let me know what you think and if you have any questions about the information I summarized. Next time I hope to push even further into Wright’s book.

What Saint Paul Really Said

The FIRST Podcast!

Well, I’ve thought long and hard about this, and after much thought and finally some productive effort… I’m please to present to you my first, official podcast for In Defense of the Faith Apologetic Ministry!

I hope you find it informative, challenging and enjoyable to listen to. May God bless you as you listen and please do send me your feedback.

The second podcast will be completed soon with some new changes and a little clearer structure to the program. The podcast will typically last 15 minutes and will include 2 to 3 sections. I will reveal that in the second podcast. But please don’t hesitate to offer suggestions.

Also, if you would like to hear me discuss a particular issue, please E-mail me (glenn at indefenseofthefaith dot org) or leave a comment below.

Thanks and enjoy the show!

Introduction and Islam