Cassidy investigates the ontological assumptions which led Karl Barth to reject the doctrine of the covenant of works. He considers how Barth’s doctrine of God, with its actualistic ontology, is the ground for his rejection of the historic doctrine of classical federal theology. In the process of showing how his novel construction of the doctrine of God leads to his critique, Barth sets up—albeit unwittingly—how own kind of covenant of works whereby man today can ascend into “God’s time for us” to gain the knowledge of God.

Chapters

00:00:00 Introduction
00:03:28 “This Is a Myth”: Barth’s Rejection of the Covenant of Works
01:00:41 Conclusion

Participants: Camden Bucey, Jim Cassidy

The conference theme was, “The Promise of Life: God’s Plan for His People in the Covenant of Works.” In contrast to Roman Catholic, modernist, and evangelical approaches, we explored a thoroughly Reformed understanding of God’s relationship to Adam as he was created. We learned how Jesus Christ ultimately brings us to the glorious future which God originally offered to Adam in the garden of Eden.

Danny Olinger is General Secretary for the Committee on Christian Education of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. He is the author of Geerhardus Vos: Reformed Biblical Theologian, Confessional Presbyterian and the editor of A Geerhardus Vos Anthology: Biblical and Theological Insights Alphabetically Arranged.

Chapters

00:00:00 Introduction
00:04:46 Geerhardus Vos and the Covenant of Works
00:10:49 Summary in The Eschatology of the Psalter
00:16:20 Adam and Christ in Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians 15
00:26:06 The Promise of Life in the Covenant of Works
00:41:28 The Nature and Destiny of Man
00:48:43 Reformed and Roman Catholic Theology
00:59:15 Theology from Genesis 2:16–17
01:02:22 The Sabbath Day
01:12:25 Conclusion

Participants: Camden Bucey, Danny Olinger

If you have listened much to our podcasts or courses at Reformed Forum, you likely have heard us discuss “the deeper Protestant conception.” This is a phrase first used by Geerhardus Vos in his Reformed Dogmatics. It involves the notion that man originally was created good yet with an eschatological purpose. Even before the fall into sin, Adam was intended to advance to a higher, more glorious, eschatological life with God in heavenly places. Elsewhere, this is captured in the phrase, “eschatology precedes soteriology.”

Yet developments in Roman Catholic theology throughout the end of the nineteenth century and into the twentieth century gave rise to a movement that also advocates for eschatology preceding soteriology and a dismantling of the traditional dualistic separation of nature and grace.

In this address, Camden Bucey traces the historical developments of Roman Catholic theology in the twentieth century. In so doing, we may deepen our understanding of the already deeper Protestant conception while improving our ability to represent the diversity of Catholic thought leading up to and following the Second Vatican Council.

This address was delivered at our 2021 Theology Conference held at Providence OPC in Pflugerville, Texas.

Chapter Markers

00:00:00 Introduction
00:05:22 Nature, Grace, and Covenant
00:11:01 Basic Features of the Covenant of Works
00:18:42 The Deeper Protestant Conception
00:31:43 Twentieth-Century Developments in Catholicism
00:40:03 Henri de Lubac’s Proposal
00:45:57 Karl Rahner’s Response
00:50:22 Understanding Merit in Relation to Nature, Grace, and Covenant
00:57:40 Twentieth-Century Catholicism and the Reformed Tradition
01:10:55 Conclusion

Participants: Camden Bucey

Dr. Lane G. Tipton teaches on the Foundations of Covenant Theology, summarizing the basic points of his course available now. This lesson was delivered at Hope Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Grayslake, Illinois during the adult Sunday school hour over the course of the 2019 Reformed Forum theology conference.

Participants: Lane G. Tipton

Dr. Camden M. Bucey explores Paul’s enigmatic phrase in Romans 7:14 by using Galatians 3 as an interpretive context for Romans 7–8.

This address concluded the main sessions of the 2019 Reformed Forum Theology Conference held at Hope OPC in Grayslake, Illinois.

Participants: Camden Bucey

Dr. Lane G. Tipton delivers his second plenary address at the 2019 Reformed Forum Theology Conference held at Hope OPC in Grayslake, Illinois. In this address, he discusses Paul’s Christological interpretation of the new beginning in 1 Corinthians 15:45–49.

Participants: Lane G. Tipton

Jeff Waddington, Lane Tipton, Glen Clary, Jim Cassidy, and Camden Bucey answer questions at the Reformed Forum Theology Conference held at Hope OPC in Grayslake, Illinois on October 12, 2019.

Participants: Camden Bucey, Glen Clary, Jeff Waddington, Jim Cassidy, Lane G. Tipton

Dr. Jeffrey C. Waddington delivers a plenary address at the 2019 Reformed Forum Theology Conference held at Hope OPC in Grayslake, Illinois.

Participants: Jeff Waddington

Camden Bucey speaks at our 2019 Theology Conference held at Hope OPC in Grayslake, Illinois. The theme of the conference is “The Law Is Spiritual,” which is a phrase that comes from Romans 7:14. This is a verse that has been a perennial challenge for interpreters. What does it mean for the law to be “spiritual”? In this opening lecture, Dr. Bucey offers several exegetical, hermeneutical, and biblical-theological suggestions for approaching this difficult verse and its immediate context, namely Romans 7. This is a sketch of what could be developed in due course.

There is a typological and eschatological difference post-Pentecost. This is a fundamental point of Paul’s epistle to the Galatians. There is deep congruence between Galatians’ structure and that of Romans. It is interesting to compare the flow of Paul’s argument in Galatians with that of Romans. If that is true, you should be able to look to one letter for assistance when the other is particularly difficult to understand. Romans 7 is one of those chapters, particularly with regard to the so-called “schizophrenic I.”[1] When Paul uses the first-person singular pronoun, what does he mean?

The ancient church held the view that Paul was referring to himself when he was an unbeliever. The Augustinian and Reformational tradition viewed it as the struggle of a believer battling with indwelling sin in this age. Others have argued for a redemptive-historical view that Paul describes life under the Old Covenant.

We will consider consider the hypothesis that Romans 7:14a is explained in part by Galatians 3:19 and Galatians 3:22–24 sheds light on Romans 7:14b. The struggle of Romans 7 is that of the earthly/dust (χοϊκός) man (1 Corinthians 15:47–48). The law originates from heaven and guides us as a pedagogue unto the precipice just as Moses brought the people to the Jordan. But to cross over into the promised land, we need the man of heaven, the life-giving Spirit. Once there, we can offer the obedience of faith (Romans 1:5), which was the goal of the law in the first place (Romans 8:4).

[1] See Dennis Johnson’s chapter in Resurrection and Eschatology: Essays in Honor of Richard B. Gaffin, Jr.

Participants: Camden Bucey

Participants: Danny Olinger

Participants: Glen Clary

Participants: Jim Cassidy

Participants: Jeff Waddington

Participants: Camden Bucey

Reformed orthodoxy demands a deeper conception.

Our conference theme may sound esoteric, but these are critically important matters facing the Church today as an age-old theological controversy is rising once again. We seek to present a clear thesis that Vos offers the biblical way forward between two forms of divine-human univocism. These are represented by consistent Thomism and modernist Barthianism. Ostensibly, these systems are diametrically opposed to one another, yet Vos’s insights will help demonstrate how Thomism and Barthianism eventually converge in what Cornelius Van Til termed the “Aristotle-Christ-Kant Synthesis.” Through the biblical doctrines of divine immutability, covenant, and the image of God, Vos demonstrates how God enters into a glorious communion bond with his people without deifying them or becoming a creature himself. We plan to devote several episodes of Christ the Center to this subject leading up to the conference and develop a pre-conference reading list for those who want to get the most out of their experience. We look forward to seeing you in October. Register Now

Participants: Jeff Waddington

Participants: Camden Bucey

Participants: Lane G. Tipton

Participants: K. Scott Oliphint

Participants: K. Scott Oliphint

Participants: Jeff Waddington

Participants: Camden Bucey

Participants: Lane G. Tipton

Participants: Jeff Waddington

Participants: Glen Clary

Participants: Jim Cassidy

Participants: Lane G. Tipton

Participants: Camden Bucey, Glen Clary, Jeff Waddington, Jim Cassidy, Lane G. Tipton

• Lane Tipton, “Covenant and Nature: Paul’s Eschatology of the Natural in 1 Corinthians 15:45”
• Panel Discussion with Lane Tipton, Glen Clary, Jim Cassidy, and Camden Bucey (Christ the Center, episode 436), “Nature and the Means of Grace”
• Camden Bucey, “Nature, Grace, and the Eschatology of Salvation”
• Jim Cassidy, “Creation and Covenant: Why Karl Barth Didn’t Go Far Enough in His Rejection of Natural Theology”