The Christ the Center panel once again had the privilege of meeting with Dr. Stephen Nichols, Research Professor of Christianity and Culture at Lancaster Bible College and Graduate School, this time discussing his book Jesus: Made in America. Dr. Nichols gave us a summary of the book and the panelists interacted with him about the prevalent American Evangelical temptation to make Jesus over in our own image or into the image of some ideal far removed from his Biblical context. The group looked at how Jesus was understood by the Puritans in New England as well as the manly Jesus of Jacksonian America and the gentle Jesus meek and mild of the Victorian era. Closer to the present time the panelists discussed Fosdick and Van Dyke and their views of Jesus in contradistinction to the orthodoxy of J. Gresham Machen. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the American-made Jesus was the consideration of the roots of contemporary Christian music (CCM). The group enjoyed the discussion and you will too.
Panel
- Stephen J. Nichols
- Jeff Waddington
- James Dolezal
- Nick Batzig
- Camden Bucey
Links
- Jeff Waddington’s series on the atonement at Reformation 21
Bibliography
Clark, R. Scott. Recovering the Reformed confession : our theology, piety, and practice. Phillipsburg, N.J.: P&R Pub., 2008.
Duncan, J. Ligon. The Westminster Confession into the 21st Century: essays in remembrance of the 350th anniversary of the Westminster Assembly. Fearn: Mentor, 2003.
Fosdick, Harry Emerson. Shall the Fundamentalists Win? : A Sermon Preached at the First Presbyterian Church, New York, May 21, 1922. New York, 1922.
—. The Man from Nazareth as his contemporaries saw Him. 1st ed. New York: Harper, 1949.
Genderen, J. van., and W. H. Velema. Concise Reformed dogmatics. Phillipsburg, N.J.: P&R Pub., 2008.
Hansen, Collin. Young, Restless, Reformed : A Journalist’s Journey with the New Calvinists. Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 2008.
Horton, Michael Scott. Christless Christianity : the alternative gospel of the American church. Grand Rapids, Mich.: BakerBooks, 2008.
Nichols, Stephen J. An Absolute Sort of Certainty: The Holy Spirit and the Apologetics of Jonathan Edwards. Phillipsburg, N.J.: P.&R Pub., 2003.
—. For us and for our salvation : the doctrine of Christ in the early church. Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 2007.
—. Getting the blues : what blues music teaches us about suffering and salvation. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Brazos Press, 2008.
—. Jesus Made in America: Cultural History from the Puritans to the Passion of the Christ. Downers Grove Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 2008.
—. Pages from church history : guided tour of Christian classics. Phillipsburg N.J.: P&R Pub., 2006.
—. The Reformation : how a monk and a mallet changed the world. Wheaton Ill.: Crossway Books, 2007.
Nichols, Stephen J., and Eric T. Brandt. Ancient Word, changing worlds : the doctrine of Scripture in a modern age. Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 2009.
Pelikan, Jaroslav. The illustrated Jesus through the centuries. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1997.
Participants: Camden Bucey, James Dolezal, Jeff Waddington, Nick Batzig, Stephen J. Nichols
Christ the Center focuses on Reformed Christian theology. In each episode a group of informed panelists discusses important issues in order to encourage critical thinking and a better understanding of Reformed doctrine with a view toward godly living. Browse more episodes from this program or subscribe to the podcast feed.
