Fred Sanders on the Holy Spirit and the Trinity in Salvation (Repost)

This episode is a repost of a conversation with Dr. Fred Sanders of Biola University. We discuss the names for the Holy Spirit in Scripture (2:16), the seeming “silence” of the Spirit in major moments in the biblical narrative (5:17), the Spirit in the OT (15:40), the Trinity in salvation (20:34), theological retrieval (24:30), the Trinity and theological education (31:30), and more. Buy Fred’s books.

Church Grammar is presented by B&H Academic and the Christian Standard Bible. Intro music: Purple Dinosaur by nobigdyl. Producer: Katie Larson.

Brandon D. Smith is Assistant Professor of Theology & New Testament at Cedarville University, Editorial Director for the Center for Baptist Renewal, and writes things. You can follow him on Twitter at @brandon_d_smith.

*** This podcast is designed to discuss all sorts of topics from various points of view. Therefore, guests’ views do not always reflect the views of the host, his church, or his institution.

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Thomas Weinandy on Christology in the Gospels and the Mystery of the Incarnation

This episode is a conversation with Fr. Thomas Weinandy. We discuss the making of the Jesus Becoming Jesus series (1:50), the Synoptic Gospels’ contribution to Christology and Trinitarian theology (11:14), Christology and Trinitarian theology in John’s Gospel (22:49), immutability and impassibility in the incarnation (42:50), and more. Read Thomas’s books.

Check out Brandon’s new book: The Trinity in the Book of Revelation: Seeing Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in John’s Apocalypse (IVP Academic, 2022).

Church Grammar is presented by the Christian Standard Bible and Cedarville University’s Graduate School. Intro music: Purple Dinosaur by nobigdyl. Producer: Katie Larson.

Brandon D. Smith is Assistant Professor of Theology & New Testament at Cedarville University, a co-founder of the Center for Baptist Renewal, and writes things. You can follow him on Twitter at @brandon_d_smith.

*** This podcast is designed to discuss all sorts of topics from various points of view. Therefore, guests’ views do not always reflect the views of the host, his church, or his institution.

Ephraim Radner on Figural Reading, Time and History, and Suffering

This episode is a conversation with Dr. Ephraim Radner of Wycliffe College. We discuss a figural reading of Scripture (2:20), the relationship between Scripture and time/history (9:06), examples of figural readings in church history and modern practice (12:38), how to think about figural reading in preaching and teaching (31:52), human suffering (38:35), and more. Buy Ephraim’s books.

This episode is brought you by the Text & Canon Institute of Phoenix Seminary. Check out the new and improved textandcanon.org.

Church Grammar is presented by the Christian Standard Bible. Intro music: Purple Dinosaur by nobigdyl. Producer: Katie Larson.

Brandon D. Smith is Assistant Professor of Theology & New Testament at Cedarville University, Editorial Director for the Center for Baptist Renewal, and writes things. You can follow him on Twitter at @brandon_d_smith.

*** This podcast is designed to discuss all sorts of topics from various points of view. Therefore, guests’ views do not always reflect the views of the host, his church, or his institution.

Listener Q&A with Madison Pierce

This episode is a conversation with Dr. Madison Pierce of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Today is a listener Q&A with a wide range of questions on theology, biblical interpretation, and more. Buy Madison’s books.

Church Grammar is presented by the Christian Standard Bible. Intro music: Purple Dinosaur by nobigdyl. Producer: Katie Larson.

Brandon D. Smith is Assistant Professor of Theology & New Testament at Cedarville University, on the Board of Directors for the Center for Baptist Renewal, and writes things. You can follow him on Twitter at @brandon_d_smith.

*** This podcast is designed to discuss all sorts of topics from various points of view. Therefore, guests’ views do not always reflect the views of the host, his church, or his institution.

Michael Bird on the Apostolic Fathers and Tips for Bible Reading

This episode is a conversation with Dr. Michael Bird of Ridley College. We discuss the Apostolic Fathers and early Christianity (2:28), problems in biblical interpretation (26:40), the origins of the biblical canon and its authority (29:23), tips for reading (33:30), and more. Buy Mike’s books.

Church Grammar is presented by B&H Academic and the Christian Standard Bible. Intro music: Purple Dinosaur by nobigdyl. Producer: Katie Larson.

Brandon D. Smith is Assistant Professor of Theology & New Testament at Cedarville University, Editorial Director for the Center for Baptist Renewal, and writes things. You can follow him on Twitter at @brandon_d_smith.

*** This podcast is designed to discuss all sorts of topics from various points of view. Therefore, guests’ views do not always reflect the views of the host, his church, or his institution.

Theological Interpretation (Part 2): Ched Spellman on Theology, Canon, and Hermeneutics

This episode is a conversation with Dr. Ched Spellman of Cedarville University. As a follow up to our conversation with Madison Pierce about TIS and the Wycliffe Colloquium, we discuss the relationship between TIS, biblical theology, and canon studies. Buy Ched’s books. Watch the Wycliffe Colloquium here.

Church Grammar is presented by B&H Academic and the Christian Standard Bible. Intro music: Purple Dinosaur by nobigdyl. Producer: Katie Larson.

Brandon D. Smith is Assistant Professor of Theology & New Testament at Cedarville University, Editorial Director for the Center for Baptist Renewal, and writes things. You can follow him on Twitter at @brandon_d_smith.

*** This podcast is designed to discuss all sorts of topics from various points of view. Therefore, guests’ views do not always reflect the views of the host, his church, or his institution.

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Fred Sanders on the Holy Spirit, the Trinity in Salvation, and Retrieval

This episode is a conversation with Dr. Fred Sanders of Biola University. We discuss the names for the Holy Spirit in Scripture (2:16), the seeming “silence” of the Spirit in major moments in the biblical narrative (5:17), the Spirit in the OT (15:40), the Trinity in salvation (20:34), theological retrieval (24:30), the Trinity and theological education (31:30), and more. Buy Fred’s books.

Church Grammar is presented by B&H Academic and the Christian Standard Bible. Intro music: Purple Dinosaur by nobigdyl. Producer: Katie Larson.

Brandon D. Smith is Assistant Professor of Theology & New Testament at Cedarville University, Editorial Director for the Center for Baptist Renewal, and writes things. You can follow him on Twitter at @brandon_d_smith.

*** This podcast is designed to discuss all sorts of topics from various points of view. Therefore, guests’ views do not always reflect the views of the host, his church, or his institution.

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Andrew Abernethy and Joshua Jipp on Messianic Theology

This episode is a conversation with Dr. Andrew Abernethy (Wheaton College) and Dr. Joshua Jipp (Trinity Evangelical Divinity School). We discuss the Messiah in the OT and NT in general (4:00), divine and human expectations for the Messiah (16:30), modeling the NT authors’ hermeneutics (51:00), and more. Buy Andy’s and Josh’s books.

Church Grammar is presented by B&H Academic and the Christian Standard Bible. Intro music: Purple Dinosaur by nobigdyl. Producer: Katie Larson. Episode sponsor: Lexham Press.

Brandon D. Smith is Assistant Professor of Theology & New Testament at Cedarville University, Editorial Director for the Center for Baptist Renewal, and writes things. You can follow him on Twitter at @brandon_d_smith.

*** This podcast is designed to discuss all sorts of topics from various points of view. Therefore, guests’ views do not always reflect the views of the host, his church, or his institution.

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My 5 Favorite Books of 2020

It’s become an annual tradition for me and many others to write a post like this. There are a few reasons why I continue to compile this list. First, I love reading and I love to share what I’m reading. Second, I’m also always encouraged by others’ thoughts and their lists often help me pick out a few last books for my Christmas wish list. Third, I get a lot of books from publishers, and while I don’t review or share books I don’t end up liking, I’m always willing to recommend a good book if it is, in fact, good. Fourth, I’m regularly asked by folks what books I’m reading or “what’s a good book to read for X topic?”

Anyway, in no particular order, here are my five favorite books that I read in 2020. Check out my 2015 and 2016 lists at my old Patheos blog, and my 2017, 2018, and 2019 lists posted here at Biblical Reasoning.

God in Himself by Steven Duby

The doctrine of divine simplicity is one of the most crucial doctrines in Christian theology, but also one of the more overlooked and misunderstood. Duby does a fantastic job of explaining the doctrine theologically, biblically, and even devotionally. You can also check out my Church Grammar conversation with Steven to hear more about the book.

Figural Reading and the Old Testament by Don Collett

Collett’s book is perhaps the clearest argument for the importance of the figural (see also: typological, allegorical, etc.) sense of Scripture. In sum, he asserts that we don’t have to choose between “literal” or figural. Come for the argument for the necessity of figural reading, stay for the excellent historical survey of the issues and the examples he gives from Job, Proverbs, et al.

The Soul of Basketball by Ian Thomsen

If I were to quit ministry and take up another career, it’d be a sports writer and podcaster. That was essentially my dream as a kid. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve particularly been drawn to the NBA and its history. This book in particular is a well-written narrative of how the NBA got to where it is today. Also Dirk.

The Culture of Theology by John Webster (ed. Ivor Davidson and Alden McCray)

The late John Webster was a real gift to the church. Of the many books and articles I’ve read, this collection of lectures might be my favorite overall. In this book, Webster lays out the nature and purpose of theology, and what it means to be a theologian in light of it.

Divine Discourse in the Epistle to the Hebrews by Madison Pierce

Prosopological exegesis — identifying the speakers in the biblical text where their identities might be unclear, particularly as it relates to divine speech and the NT’s use of OT texts — is an old reading strategy for the early church with a renewed interest from modern scholars. It seems that there is a lot of work still to be done before we see PE’s full potential, but this book is the most helpful and sustained example on offer. You can also check out my Church Grammar conversation with Madison to hear more about the book.

Madison Pierce on New Testament Theology and 100 Other Topics

This episode is a conversation with Dr. Madison Pierce of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. She returns to discuss first jobs (3:20), a “slow round” on books that shaped our scholarship, missing Texas, and favorite movies (12:00), Madison’s ETS paper on the Trinity in Hebrews (25:55), interpreting Revelation (33:40), a second “slow round” on what other areas of scholarship we would like to study, the authorship of Hebrews and Johannine literature, and favorite sports teams (46:50), frustrations with the PhD process (59:50), and more. Buy Madison’s books.

Church Grammar is presented by B&H Academic and the Christian Standard Bible. Intro music: Purple Dinosaur by nobigdyl. Producer: Katie Larson. Episode sponsor: Lexham Press.

Brandon D. Smith is Assistant Professor of Theology & New Testament at Cedarville University, Editorial Director for the Center for Baptist Renewal, and writes things. You can follow him on Twitter at @brandon_d_smith.

*** This podcast is designed to discuss all sorts of topics from various points of view. Therefore, guests’ views do not always reflect the views of the host, his church, or his institution.

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