Episode 452: I continue to read from John Owen’s classic work Communion with God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Only minimal comments along the way so that Owen can be heard. I make it to chapter 6 of part 2. Tune in and be blessed by my favorite Puritan.
Author Archives: npulpit
Communion with God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost by John Owen, pt. 1
Episode 451: John Owen is considered the weightiest of the Puritan writers. I recently finished reading Communion with God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost by John Owen. Beginning in this episode, I read excerpts I underlined throughout the book. I get as far as the second digression in part 2. Tune in and be blessed by my favorite Puritan.
Dr. Laura Sanger on Blurry Creatures
Episode 450: A friend recently turned me on to the podcast “Blurry Creatures,” a podcast which started to talk about bigfoot but that has expanded its explorations into other paranormal creatures and activities. On episode 147, Dr. Laura Sanger joined the show to discuss the Hitler Project. Whether the Hitler Project is legit or not I will leave to you; in this episode I takedown Dr. Laura Sanger’s reading of the Genesis account, specifically 6.9 and 10.8. I show that while she can use a lexicon, her exegesis of the text leave much to be desired and are suspect at best.
Moses E. Lard on Romans 8.28-30
Episode 449: The quest for resources within the Restoration Movement which do justice to Romans 8.28-30 continues! This time I grab Moses E. Lard’s Commentary on Romans off the book shelf and take a look inside to see what he says. I interact with his exposition linguistically, lexically, theologically, and anthropologically. Tune in & nerd out with me.
The Perspicuity of Scripture & Meme Theology
Episode 448: I’ve seen a certain meme floating around social media and felt compelled to respond to it. Actually, Francis Turretin responded to it centuries ago. We dive into Turretin’s Institutes of Elenctic Theology (2.17) to evaluate the meme, bolster our understanding of the clarity and plainness of Scripture, and rightly think about the parts of Scripture which may be “obscure.” Then, just a brief word about translation and interpretation of difficult phrases.
My article on the meme (with the meme included)
Evaluating Brents on Ephesians 1.3ff
Episode 447: I continue to work my way through Bro. T. W. Brents book The Gospel Plan of Salvation, which would be better named Polemics Against Calvinism. In this episode, I look at Brents explanation (eisegesis!) of Ephesians 1.3ff and his pained attempt to force the personal pronouns “us” and “we” mean other than the immediate requires. It is a display of opposition “exegesis,” i.e., when you interpret Scripture in any other way than your opponent does.
Calvin, the Canons of Dort, & T. W. Brents on Romans 8.29-30
Episode 447: Trey Fisher from the Parish Reformed and Aaron Gallagher from the Gospel Broadcasting Network had a debate a couple months. During the debate, Gallagher flubbed by claiming that the French reformer John Calvin wrote the Canons of Dort, a 17th century Dutch production in response to the Arminians. I briefly discuss this. Then, I examine a church of Christ work from yesteryear, The Gospel Plan of Salvation by T. W. Brents. However, as I demonstrate, this is mostly polemics against Calvinism. And unfortunately, the alleged “strong, lucid exegesis” that has been attributed to Brents is shown to be faulty at best.
Read Brents here: The Gospel Plan of Salvation
Operation of the Holy Spirit, pt.2
Episode 446: I continue my take down of the late brother Cotham’s article “The New Birth #3” from this month’s issue of “Seeking the Old Paths.” We also show how Cotham revives an illustration used by Alexander Campbell in his debate with Nathan Rice and how Rice improved and answered the illustration with his own. Finally, an answer to the objection that ought implies can.
Deconstruction with Brian Zahnd & Joe Smith
Episode 445: Deconstruction aims to question fundamental assumptions about truth (and other things). A couple examples popped up this week of deconstruction. First, Brian Zahnd took to Twitter/X to have an imaginary conversation about sin which I breakdown. Then, worked through a TikTok clip from a pastor of a church in Florida, Joe Smith, and exposed his assault on the inerrancy of Scripture. Finally, a call to repentance in overtime.
Operation of the Holy Spirit, pt.1
Episode 444: The latest issue of “Seeking the Old Paths” hit my mailbox earlier this week. The cover article, “The New Birth #3,” caught my eye. Tune in as I take down this article’s deficient understanding of the role of the Holy Spirit in conversion or regeneration.
Live from the Pulpit 