Tag Archives: Interviews

Christless Christianity: An interview with Michael Horton

Thought

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Has the Church become captive to the spirit of the age? Many believe that Martin Luther’s fears, which led him to write The Babylonian Captivity of the Church, certainly apply to the modern Protestant church. Michael Horton, professor of systematic theology and apologetics at Westminster Theological Seminary in California, believes that the church has been taken captive by American culture and its ideals of consumerism, pragmatism, self-sufficiency, individualism and positive thinking. He claims that while the church still invokes the name of Christ, we have precious little reason to believe that we need him. Hence we are moving towards a state that he describes as ‘Christless Christianity’.

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Naked God

Review

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Naked God--cover

Martin Ayers has recently published his first book, Naked God (AUS | US). Paul Grimmond caught up with him recently to talk about what motivated the book and what it’s like to be an author for the first time.

Paul Grimmond: What’s it been like to write your first book? (more…)

The life and lessons of J Gresham Machen: Carl Trueman talks to Peter Hastie

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Dr Carl Trueman is Dean of the Faculty at Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, and teaches as a professor of historical theology and church history. He is married to Catriona, who is originally from the island of Lewis, off the west coast of Scotland. They have two sons, John and Peter, aged 11 and 13. Carl was brought up in a very supportive but non-religious home, and was converted to Christ at a Billy Graham rally at the age of 17.

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Countercultural rebellion

Life, Thought

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Carl Trueman is the Academic Dean and Professor of Historical Theology and Church History at Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, as well as a Consulting Editor for Themelios. Paul Grimmond caught up with Carl when he was in Australia in 2009.

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The challenge of culture: Bruce Winter talks to Peter Hastie

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Dr Bruce Winter is the Principal of Queensland Theological College at the University of Queensland in St Lucia, Brisbane. He has held this position since 2006 when he left Tyndale House, Cambridge, where he had served as Warden since 1987 and as Director of the Institute for Early Christianity in the Graeco-Roman World.

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Laying the foundations at Church by the Bridge

Pastoral Ministry

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On the 6th February 2005, a small group of 42 people from St Thomas’s North Sydney met for the first time in the little church building on the main street of Kirribilli. According to their pastor, Paul Dale, the focus was to try and be a local church in the community, living out the gospel and trying to reach people in Kirribilli with the good news of Jesus. Just over four years later, Church by the Bridge has five congregations meeting in the building and about 400 people who are part of the church. Paul Grimmond spoke recently with Paul Dale about his role as pastor of this church plant and the place of one-to-one ministry in his busy life.

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Straight talk on John Calvin: Paul Helm talks to Peter Hastie

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Professor Paul Helm held the JI Packer Chair in Theology and Philosophy at Regent College, Vancouver, Canada from 2001-2004. Before that, Professor Helm was Professor of the History and Philosophy of Religion at King’s College in the University of London. Before joining King’s College in 1993, he was Reader in Philosophy at the University of Liverpool. Educated in Worcester College, Oxford, Professor Helm has written many articles and books, mainly focusing on the philosophy of religion and Christian doctrine in the Reformed tradition. He is married and has five children. Among his many books are The Providence of God, Eternal God, Faith with Reason, Faith and Understanding, Calvin and the Calvinists, The Beginnings, The Callings, The Last Things and his most recent major work, John Calvin’s Ideas (Oxford University Press 2004). Peter Hastie spoke to Professor Helm in Vancouver.

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The power of God’s word – Interview with Robert Cole

Everyday Ministry

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Imagine not having access to a Bible. Imagine being unable to read it in your own language. Unfortunately these are realities for many Christians around the world. Tony Payne speaks to Robert W Cole, President of Bible League, about the extent of the need and what we can do about it. (more…)

Carson on culture

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All authors dream of writing the book that is not only popular and valuable, but which becomes the reference point—the standard work—the book that sets the terms of the discussion, such that all subsequent books have to take account of it. H Richard Niebuhr managed to do that with his 1951 book Christ and Culture.
In it, he put forward a five-fold framework or typology for how Christians in history have interacted with culture. Niebuhr’s typology has framed the options ever since. His five models for Christians relating to culture were (very briefly):
1. Christ against culture—in which the demands of Christ are so opposed to the norms of culture that the two must be fundamentally opposed. In the Bible, we see this in the powerful imagery of Revelation (where the world is an evil opposing force to God’s kingdom), or in passages that urge us not to “love the world or the things in the world” (1 John 2:15).
2. The Christ of culture—in which Christ represents, exemplifies and perfects all that is best in human culture. This is the vision of Enlightenment-style Liberalism, where there is no opposition between Christ and culture, but where Christian doctrine is molded to reflect and endorse what we already regard as the best and highest aspects of our civilization.
3. Christ above culture—in which the demands of Christ and culture are in some tension, but a tension that can be resolved by putting the two together (with Christ in the higher place). This approach is typified by Thomas Aquinas, who argued that the church stands over the world and helps the world achieve peace, stability and fulfillment.
4. Christ and culture in paradox—which also sees Christ and culture in tension (neither entirely separating, nor accom¬modating), but says that this tension will never be resolved in this age. This approach is exemplified in Luther’s doctrine of the ‘two kingdoms’, in which the Christian belongs at the same time to Christ’s eternal kingdom, and to the temporal kingdoms of this world. There is a high degree of pessimism in this option about improving or transforming the culture: it will remain sinful and flawed until it is redeemed in the new creation.
5. Christ transforming culture—which accepts the tension of option 4, but is more optimistic about the effect that Christ’s gospel will have in renovating the world now. Niebuhr anchors this in Augustine and Calvin (although with some difficulty), but is a little vague about how much transformation is possible. (more…)

A hitchhiker’s guide to the underworld

Thought, Sola Panel

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What is the underworld? What are evil spirits and demons? Should we fear death and the devil, and does Jesus really make a difference with these things? Tony Payne talks to Peter Bolt, author of Living with the Underworld, to get some answers.

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