What would you write to your adult children about the good life? Would it strike the modern notes of making the most of yourself and your abilities, seizing every opportunity, making a difference in the world? Or would it focus on the beauty and goodness of our created and providentially given limits, personally and relationally? This is the questi…

In our day, while biblical and theological studies certainly continue to abound, questions about the traditional Christian understanding of the atonement are not primarily focused on the question is it biblical. Nor are they focused on whether it is theologically coherent. Instead, they are driven by a concern that it may be violent, and whether th…

What if preaching is not only to be carried out with humility, but is also itself a humble form of the Word of God in power? Augustine is known mostly for his large and profound theological treatises, but how can this most influential of theologians also teach us about the urgency of humility as a mode of preaching to humble people? In today's Grey…

What might it look like to refuse generalizations about faithful pastoral ministry and allow the people and context of actual ministerial labor to inform the measure of faithfulness? At Greystone, we make much of the ordinary sources of wisdom in God’s Word and ways. But by “ordinary” we don’t mean something less valuable or less important. In fact…

Today’s Greystone Conversations episode is taken from Greystone’s upcoming Summer module, Domestic Violence in Theology & Pastoral Ministry—a module which, in many respects, might be among the most unexpected for a theology institute dedicated to the advancement of Reformed theology in the mode of Reformed catholicity. The unexpected topic of this …

How might a thematic analysis of Jeremiah, particularly the theme of the faithless bride, help pastors better serve their churches? What can Christians learn about the futility and dangers of sin by studying the Book of Jeremiah, and how might this theme of the faithless bride lead us to a deeper appreciation of Jesus Christ? Jeremiah’s confrontati…

To an extent which must be amusing to some, surprising to others, and perhaps even a bit unsettling to still others, all year long Greystone seems to be asking the question, what time is it? Is this a question the Scriptures themselves invite us to ask? From Genesis forward, including the long history of the Church since Pentecost, the people of Go…

In today’s episode of Greystone Conversations, we conclude to our conversation regarding craftsmanship and workmanship, and consider what might account for the resurgence of interest in craftmanship and the trades. This is the final episode in our five part series. For today’s Greystone Conversations episode, Dr. Mark A. Garcia is joined by Mr. Mic…

In today’s episode of Greystone Conversations, we return to our conversation regarding craftsmanship and workmanship, and consider the ethics of workmanship in skill, perception, and habit. This is the forth episode in our five part series. For today’s Greystone Conversations episode, Dr. Mark A. Garcia is joined by Mr. Michael Sacasas and Mr. Josh…

In today’s episode of Greystone Conversations, we return to our conversation regarding craftsmanship and workmanship, and consider today the ends in view of such a theory of workmanship we have endeavored to express. This is the third episode in our five part series. For today’s Greystone Conversations episode, Dr. Mark A. Garcia is joined by Mr. M…

In today’s episode of Greystone Conversations, we return to our conversation regarding craftsmanship and workmanship, and consider today the special significance of David Pye to our overall interest in this series. This is the second episode in our five part series, and today we want to consider the very definition of craftsmanship and the larger d…

Welcome to Greystone Conversations and the first episode in this special series focused on explaining and commending an exciting new initiative at Greystone Theological Institute, which in one way is rather unique and in other ways is deeply traditional. And as you have perhaps come to expect, or at least we hope you have come to expect, the combin…

It is trendy these days to be disruptive. Though it is a word that may seem to refer to a negative reality, “disruptive” is a word used in business, academic, and in many other contexts to refer to an upset that is needed and salutary. Is there a sense in which the concept and language of disruption may help the Church capture something important a…

The form of the Word belongs to the meaning of the Word, and this includes its providentially ordered literary presentation. How do the Church’s ways of dividing up the Scriptures inform the way the Church has heard and read the Scriptures? We at Greystone were very pleased to speak recently with Prof. Charles (Chuck) Hill, Professor Emeritus of Ne…

Today we reflect on death, courage, and eschatology. Death and eschatology are often connected, of course, but courage takes its shape in relation to both of them. The questions that may elucidate the relationship could be put this way: How do my occasional experiences of great loss or of major life changes help prepare me for my death? Where is co…

What is the form and dynamic of faithful ministry and theology in a contested time? And in what ways might those with Reformed Anglican sympathies appreciate and capitalize upon the very best of that tradition without falling for Anglo-catholicism? Perhaps surprisingly, both of these questions come together in one figure: the famous Archbishop of A…

How should we understand the psalmists who teach that God tests the kidneys and the heart? Who make much of our eyes, ears, and more, in an overtly spiritual and theological way? What is the anatomy of the soul according to the Psalms, which, it has been said, provides an organ recital of the ways of God’s relationship with people? Today’s episode …

There is a beautiful mystery in the fact that we often think of certain novels and poems in terms of our experiences at the time we first read them. This is both appropriate and fascinating, especially when second and third readings of the same literature yield further layers of our experiences with them. We are reminded, then, that we are biograph…

One way in which the biblical-theological work of Geerhardus Vos in the late 19th and early 20th century differed from what then and since has been called biblical theology was Vos’s commitment to the vertical dimension of history and revelation in relationship: by the vertical we mean that revelation is not limited to, exhausted by, or even primar…

Is there a Christian reading of Proverbs, and of Proverbs 31 in particular, that is both determined by Christ and also materially relevant, even constitutive, for personal, familial, communal, and ecclesial wisdom? Is that reading coherent with Scripture as a whole in such a way as to be prompted by it? The Book of Proverbs has notoriously suffered…

What do Reformed Christians mean today when they refer to limited atonement or particular redemption? Is it the same idea that has prevailed in the Reformed tradition historically and confessionally? Are there different Reformed ways of understanding and affirming the truth that God in Christ saves his people by his obedience and sacrifice? It is a…

A perhaps surprising amount of Holy Scripture is presented in terms of a dialogue where the identification of the different speakers is important to proper interpretation. And yet, biblical text does not provide us the modern printing conventions we are used to for dialogues, such as naming the speaker before the speech and clearly breaking up the …

Scripture regularly deploys the imagery of agriculture and farming to describe the nature and dynamics of human faithfulness--or the lack thereof. While many might be inclined to explain away the agrarian assumptions of biblical teaching on vocation and human meaning as mere metaphors, others might be equally tempted to confuse the biblical directi…

If the God confessed by the Church is real, then it is not merely ill advised but an act of rebellion against that God to attempt to approach Holy Scripture in order to demonstrate that He is and has revealed himself, rather than because He is and because he has revealed himself. In other words, as Christians approaching Holy Scripture, we do not m…

Does God sometimes unravel the ordinary recognizable form of the Church in times of great suffering, weakness, or judgment in order to re-weave her strands into a new form? Is this because the Church derives her form from the Lord Jesus Christ--the Christ of history, that is, of suffering to glory, humiliation to exaltation, obedience to life? What…

Alongside the important place of training, encouragement, and counsel or advice, is there also a need, not only for pastors but for all thoughtful Christians, for being pastored intellectually and theologically? Much is said in our day of the great need for church planting and for evangelism, and rightly so. We do need more faithful churches throug…

Last time, we suggested that to recover our humanity in an increasingly inhuman world, we must recover what Ivan Illich called the tools of conviviality. But this requires, at least in part, that we recognize the difference between cultural tools and modes of life which deskill and those which, increasingly, simply cultivate greater dependence. The…

To recover our humanity in an increasingly inhuman world, we must recover tools of conviviality. So what makes a tool convivial. For Ivan Illich, tools foster conviviality to the extent to which they can be easily used by anybody as often or as seldom as desired for the accomplishment of a purpose chosen by the user. That is, convivial technologies…

Is there an order to reality and does Holy Scripture commend that reality to us to believe now or does it only record the way the ancients saw things? From time to time in Greystone Conversations, we feature selections from full-course modules, micro-courses, and other events that we run in the Greystone context. Today we are pleased to make availa…

Is the doctrine of the eternal generation of the Son of God evidence of the Church's departure from the simplicity and straight-forwardness of the Scriptures? Does it confirm a penchant for arid, confusing, and unhelpful metaphysical and speculative argument? Can we speak of the doctrine of eternal generation as truly biblical and, even if we may, …

If the Church is facing a multifaceted and complex challenge in theology, hermeneutics, and liturgy, what does this challenge look like on the ground in the context of actual and continuing Church ministry? Not long ago Greystone Conversations hosted a series of conversations with Drs Mark Garcia, Garry Williams, and Robert Letham about the concern…

I am who I am largely because of my biography, that is, the way people, places, and things have shaped me. I am not an idea but a storied creature with flesh and blood and history. But who am I if I lose my memory of others--and even myself--as a consequence of dementia? Can I still be who I am at all if I do? If so, how? For today’s episode of Gre…

What do we mean--or what should we mean--by the term "biblical theology"? Is it the same as the New Testament use of the Old Testament? Is it more biblical than systematic theology? And is there a reading of Holy Scripture that is demanded by and provoked by its very nature as Scripture rather than just a book of books? In our last two episodes, Dr…

In our last Greystone Conversations episode, we asked the question of how long can the Christian Faith survive in recognizable form in a Church context where the work of theology is held in suspicion and the priority of divine authorship of Holy Scripture plays little to no role in biblical interpretation? We asked if there is not a true sense in w…

How long can the Christian Faith survive in recognizable form in a Church context where the work of theology is held in suspicion and the priority of divine authorship of Holy Scripture plays little to no role in biblical interpretation? Is there not a true sense in which the frontlines of the Church's spiritual warfare today is in the library? The…

The Church's faith is held, confessed, and lived invariably in a friction-full relationship to the world. What then can we learn about Christian identity and faithfulness now by considering such faithfulness in an older era? We may find it difficult to name many figures or events in the Church of the third century. This is understandable as this is…

Do the particular truths of the Christian faith generate options for the faithful exercise of the Church's mission to the world, and at the same time rule out some missionary efforts, models, and approaches as not in keeping with the Christian faith? Twenty years ago, in his book The Gagging of God, D.A. Carson titled one of his chapters “on drawin…

Why have professional historians of the Reformation and post-Reformation era of Reformed theology and confessionalization argued that "Calvinism" is not only a misleading term but--somewhat provocatively, perhaps--practically useless? And how do distinctions help us not only to separate truth from error, but also enrich our grasp of the truth and a…

What do the Westminster Catechisms mean by speaking of our chief end as glorifying God and enjoying him forever? What difference does it make if we read the word "enjoy" here against the background, not of modern notions of happiness or enjoyment, but of Augustine's famous and deeply influential distinction between "enjoy" and "use"? A distinction …

What do we mean by the conscience, and how have our assumptions about the conscience changed as our perspective of the person and the moral life have changed? Today's episode is the opening material of a full class module called Reformed Casuistry and Moral Theology. Casuistry is a very old word but continues to be a very popular way the Bible is u…

Do Reformed Christians believe in baptismal regeneration? How do Reformed Christians classically relate baptism to the Church and to faith, and is faith required for baptism? Today's Greystone Conversations episode is the last study in a series featured at Greystone Connect called We Distinguish: Scholastic Distinctions in Reformed Theology and Min…

Why should the first steps of a Reformed Mariology begin with the Scriptures rather than tradition? Today's episode of Greystone Conversations is the second study in a series delivered in London called "Rescuing Mary from Rome: The Virgin in Scripture, Theology, and the Church." It is that time of year when many evangelicals and Protestants have Ma…

How should we understand the relationship of the Septuagint to what we traditionally mean by Holy Scripture? What difference does it make to biblical interpretation and the vocabulary of theology if we work with the Septuagint alongside our Hebrew and Greek Testaments? And what does the field of Septuagint studies look like now, and where is it goi…

What difference might it make to our relationship to the Septuagint if we saw it not only as a translation of the Hebrew OT into Greek and as a translation often used in the NT, but also as the first true commentary on the Hebrew Old Testament? How might this approach to the Septuagint illuminate our understanding of biblical hermeneutics and the n…

Imagine that leading Roman Catholic and Protestant theologians sit down at a table to discuss justification by faith. And imagine that those Protestants are not nominal liberals but are among the most celebrated, reliable, trustworthy, and representative theologians in history. Now imagine that this assembled group reaches an agreement on justifica…

What difference might it make to Reformed systematic theology if we were to recover and deploy the fundamental importance of the Trinity, the incarnation, the ascension, and especially the Church, rather than expend all our energy only on the (certainly indispensable) doctrines of justification by faith alone, epistemology and revelation, theologic…

Can we speak properly of the repentance of Jesus Christ, the One whom the Scriptures say knew no sin nor was deceit ever found in his mouth? Can we hope in him as the faithful Israel of God without doing so? According to Deuteronomy 30:1-3, the only way for Israel to return from exile and enjoy renewed fellowship with Yahweh is for them to repent w…

How might the phenomenon of terroir--that feature of wine in which the wine truly communicates place--illuminate the task of theology, and with it the anti-modern core of faithful theological reflection and practice? In the 228 references to wine in Holy Scripture, wine is referred to as, on the one hand, a normal part of human culture, and on the …

Our ethical relationship to technology is not exhausted by the familiar issues of too much screen time, pornography, or the vulnerabilities of social media. Neither is it as simple as using or not using this or that technology. Tech ethics is an implicate of theological anthropology--an aspect and fruit of understanding who we are and what we are f…

What does the Exodus event have to do with contemporary concerns with divorce, domestic violence, biblical law, and the identity of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob--the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ? And are these purely contemporary concerns? Precisely because there is so much heated rhetoric--culturally and ecclesiastically--over t…