Podcast appearances and mentions of Matthew Barrett

In this episode of Credo podcast, Matthew Barrett and Rev. Greg Peters continue their conversation about Anglican distinctives, captured in Greg’s new book, Anglican Spirituality: An Introduction. Barrett and Peters… Download Audio

In episode 465 of The Reformed Brotherhood, hosts Tony Arsenal and Jesse Schwamb explore Jesus's parable of the wheat and tares (weeds) from Matthew 13. This thought-provoking discussion examines Christ's startling teaching that good and evil will always coexist within the visible church until the end of time. The brothers carefully unpack the theological implications of Jesus's command not to separate wheat from weeds prematurely, challenging our natural tendency to judge others while offering wisdom about God's sovereign plan for final judgment. This episode wrestles with difficult questions about church purity, assurance of salvation, and how believers should approach the reality of false professors within Christ's church—providing biblical guidance for faithfully enduring in a mixed communion. Key Takeaways The Coexistence of True and False Believers: Jesus teaches that the visible church will always contain a mixture of genuine believers and false professors until the final judgment. The Danger of Premature Judgment: Christ explicitly warns against attempting to completely purify the church before the harvest (end of age) because doing so would damage the wheat (true believers). Proper Biblical Interpretation: Unlike some parables, Jesus provides a detailed allegorical explanation of this parable—the sower is Christ, the field is the world, the good seed represents believers, and the weeds are the sons of the evil one. The Challenge of Discernment: One of the most difficult theological pills to swallow is that it's often impossible to perfectly distinguish between true and false believers. Final Judgment as God's Prerogative: The separation of wheat from weeds is reserved for the angels at the end of the age, not for current church leaders or members. The Reality of False Assurance: Some professing Christians may have false assurance of salvation while genuinely believing they are saved. The Importance of Theological Integrity: Public theologians and pastors have a moral responsibility to be transparent about their theological convictions and changes in their beliefs. Deeper Explanations The Difficult Reality of a Mixed Church Jesus's teaching in the parable of the wheat and weeds directly challenges our natural desire for a perfectly pure church. By instructing the servants not to pull up the weeds lest they damage the wheat, Christ is establishing an important ecclesiological principle that will hold true until His return. This means that no matter how rigorously we apply church discipline or how carefully we examine profession of faith, we will never achieve a perfectly pure communion this side of eternity. The visible church—which can be understood as those who profess faith and are baptized—will always include both true and false believers. This reality should cultivate humility in how we approach church membership and discipline. Jesus isn't suggesting that all attempts at church purity are wrong (as other Scripture passages clearly call for church discipline), but rather that perfect purification is impossible and attempts at achieving it will inevitably damage true believers. This teaching directly refutes movements throughout church history (like Donatism) that have sought absolute purity in the visible church. The Problem of Discernment and Assurance One of the most challenging aspects of this parable is Christ's implicit teaching that true and false professors can appear nearly identical, especially in their early development. Like tares growing alongside wheat, false believers can profess orthodox doctrine, participate in church life, and exhibit what appears to be spiritual fruit. This creates profound implications for how we understand assurance of salvation. As Tony notes, while "assurance is the proper and rightful possession and inheritance of every Christian," there's also the sobering reality of false assurance. Some may sincerely believe they are saved when they are not, raising difficult questions about self-examination and spiritual discernment. This doesn't mean believers should live in perpetual doubt, but rather that we should approach assurance with both confidence in God's promises and healthy self-examination. True assurance must be grounded in the finished work of Christ rather than merely in our experiences or behaviors, while false assurance often lacks this proper foundation. The brothers wisely note that final judgment belongs to God alone, who perfectly knows who belongs to Him. Memorable Quotes "The visible church is set before us as a mixed body. Maybe everybody else's churches, but certainly not my church, like the one that I actually go to on the Lord's day. So it seems like there might be this shocking statement possibly that he has for us, whether you're Episcopalian or Presbyterian or independent or Baptist or Christian life assembly, whatever it is, that no matter what we do to purify the church, our churches, we're never gonna succeed in obtaining a perfectly pure communion." - Jesse Schwamb "I think that's what I find shocking. It is like a massive statement of reality that is at equal points totally sensible. And other times we would think, 'well, surely not in the church Lord, like of all the places, like aren't we talking about a kind of purity of your people?' ...and what I think he's striking at, which I do find a little bit wild, is that Jesus is essentially saying, at least to my ear, anything we try to do, even the purest preaching of the gospel, is not gonna prevent this in every age of the church." - Jesse Schwamb "I'm affirming that assurance is the proper and rightful possession and inheritance of every Christian." - Tony Arsenal Full Transcript Jesse Schwamb: Welcome to episode 465 of The Reformed Brotherhood. I am Jesse. Tony Arsenal: And I'm Tony. And this is the podcast with ears to hear. Hey brother. Jesse Schwamb: Hey brother. Guess what? It looks like you and I are taking another trip back to the farm on this episode. Tony Arsenal: Yes. For a couple episodes. Jesse Schwamb: For a couple episodes. Yeah. [00:01:01] Exploring Jesus' Parables in Matthew 13 Jesse Schwamb: Because what, Jesus will not stop leading us there. We're looking at his teachings, specifically the parables, and we're gonna be looking in Matthew chapter 13, where it seems like, is it possible that Jesus, once again has something very shocking for us to hear? That is for all the ages. 'cause it seems like he might actually be saying, Tony, that good and evil will always be found together in the professing church until the end of the world. Like in other words, that the visible church is set before a mixed body. I mean. Maybe everybody else chose churches, but certainly not my church, like the one that I actually go to on the Lord's day. So it seems like there might be this shocking statement possibly that he has for us, whether you're Episcopalian or Presbyterian or independent or Baptist or Christian life assembly, whatever it is, that no matter what we do to purify the church, our churches, we're never gonna succeed in obtaining a perfectly pure communion. Could that possibly be what Jesus is saying to us? I don't know what we're gonna find out. Tony Arsenal: We are. We are gonna find out. Jesse Schwamb: It's gonna be definitive. And if now that makes sense. If you don't even know why we're looking at Jesus' teachings, you could do us a favor even before you go any further. And that is just head on over in your favor, interwebs browser to or reform brotherhood.com, and you can find out all of the other episodes, all 464 that are living out there. There's all kinds of good stuff, at least we think so, or at least entertaining stuff for you to listen to. And when you're done with all of that in a year or two, then we'll pick it up right back here where we're about to go with some affirmations or some denials. [00:02:39] Affirmations and Denials Jesse Schwamb: So Tony, before we figure out what Jesus has for us in Matthew 13, in the parable of the weeds, or the tears, or the tears in the weed, what gets all of that? Are you affirming with, are you denying against, Tony Arsenal: I am denying. First of all, I'm denying whatever this thing is that's going on with my throat. Sorry for the rest of the episode, everyone. Um, I'm denying something that I, I think it is. How do I want to phrase this? Um, maybe I'll call it theological integrity, and maybe that's too strong of a word, but maybe not. So the listener who's been with us for a little while will remember that a while back. Um, you know, we've, we've talked about Matthew Barrett and he was a Baptist, uh, who's heavily involved in sort of the theology, proper controversies. He wrote Simply Trinity, which is just a fantastic book. He was a teacher or a professor at Midwestern, um, Baptist Theological Seminary. And he recently, um, uh, converted is not the right word. I hate calling it a conversion when you go from one faithful Bible tradition to another. But he recently, um, changed his perspective and joined the Anglican Church. And at the time I kind of, you know, I kind of talked about it as like, it's a little bit disappointing, like the reasons he cited. [00:03:57] Theological Integrity and Public Disclosure Tony Arsenal: Where I'm bringing this into a matter of sort of theological integrity. And it's not, it's not just Matthew Barrett. Um, there's other elements of things going on that I'll, I'll point to too is it's often the case when someone who is in some form of professional theological work or professional vocational ministry, that as they start to change perspectives, um, there comes to be like an inflection point where they should notify whoever it is that they are accountable to in that job or vocation, uh, uh, and then do the right thing and step down. Right? And so with Matthew Barrett, um. He continued to teach systematic theology at a Baptist Theological Seminary, which has a faith statement which he was obligated to affirm and hold in good faith. He continued to teach there for quite some time, if, you know, when he, when he published the timeline and he's the one that put all the timelines out there. So it's not like people had to go digging for this. Um, he continued to teach under contract and under that, that faith statement, um, for quite some time after his positions changed. I remember in college, um, sim very similar situation, one of my professors, um, and I went to a Baptist college. It was a General Baptist college. Um, one of my professors became Roman Catholic and for quite some time he continued to teach without telling anyone that he had converted to Roman Catholicism. Um. And I think that there's a, there's a, a level of integrity that public theologians need to have. Um, and it, it really makes it difficult when something like this happens to be able to say that this is not a moral failing or some sort of failure. Um, you know, James White has jumped on the bandwagon very quickly to say, of course we told you that this was the way it was gonna lead. That if you affirm the great tradition, you know, he was very quick to say like, this is the road to Rome. And I think in his mind, um, Canterbury is just sort of one, one stop on that trip. Um, it becomes very hard after the fact to not have this color and tarnish all of your work before. 'cause it starts to be questions like, well, when, when did you start to hold these views? Were you writing, were you, were you publicizing Baptist theology when you no longer believed it to be the truth? Were you teaching theology students that this is what the Bible teaches when you no longer thought that to be true? Um. Were you secretly attending Anglican services and even teaching and, and helping deliver the service when you were, you know, still outwardly affirming a Baptist faith statement. And the reason I, I'll point out one other thing, 'cause I don't want this to be entirely about Matthew Barrett, but there's a big, uh, hub glue going on in the PCA right now. Um, a guy named Michael Foster, who some of our audience will probably be familiar with, um, he and I have had our desktops in the past, but I think he and I have come to a little bit of a, of a uneasy truce on certain things. He, uh, went to work compiling a, a list and there's some problems with the data, like it's, it's not clean data, so take it for what it's worth. But he compiled a list of. Every publicly available church website in the PCA. So something like 1800 websites or something like that. Huge numbers. And he went and looked at all of the staff and leadership directories, and he cataloged all the churches that had some sort of office or some sort of position that appeared to have a, a woman leading in a way that the Bible restricts. And that more importantly, and starting to say it this way, but more importantly, that the PCA itself restricts. So we're not talking about him going to random church websites and making assessments of their polity. We're talking about a, a denomination that has stated standards for who can bear office and it's not women. Um. So he compiled this and people in the PCA are coming out of the woodwork to basically defend the practice of having shepherdess and deacons. There was one that he cataloged where, um, the website actually said, uh, that was the pastor's wife and the title was Pastor of Women. Um, and then as soon as it became public that this was the case, they very quickly went in and changed the title to Shepherd of Women or Shepherdess of Women or something like that. So it's, it's really the same phenomena, not commenting, you know, I think we've been clear where we stand on the ordination of female officers and things like that, but not that all that withstanding, um, when you are going to be a part of a body that has a stated perspective on something and then just decide not to follow it, the right thing to do the, the upstanding morally. Uh, in full of integrity move would be to simply go to another denomination where your views align more closely. PCA churches, it's not super easy, but it's not impossible to leave the PCA as an entire congregation and then go somewhere like the EPC, which is the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, which still on the spectrum of things is still relatively conservative, but is in general is in favor of, uh, female officers, elders, and diegans. So I, I think, you know, and you see this with podcasters, there was the big, there was a big fu and Les became a Presbyterian, and then when Tanner became a Presbyterian on the pub, I think it is, um, incumbent on people who do any form of public theology and that that would include me and Jesse when our views change. There comes a point where we need to disclose that, be honest about it, um, and not try to pretend that we continue to hold a view that we don't be just because it's convenient or because it might be super inconvenient to make a change. I don't even want to pretend to imagine the pressures, uh, that someone like Matthew Barrett would face. I mean, you're talking about losing your entire livelihood. I, I understand that from an intellectual perspective, how difficult that must be, but in some ways, like that kind of comes with the territory. Same thing with a pastor. You have a Baptist pastor or a Presbyterian pastor. It can go both ways, I think. I'm more familiar with Baptist becoming Presbyterians. I don't, I don't see as many going the other direction. But you have a, a Baptist pastor who comes to pay to Baptist convictions and then continues to minister in their church for, I've, I've seen cases where they continue to minister for years, um, because they don't, they don't have the ability to now just go get a job in a Presbyterian context because there's all sorts of, um, training and certification and ordination process that needs to happen. Um, so they just continue ministering where they are, even though they no longer believe the church's state of, you know, state of faith statement. So that's a lot to say. Like, let your yes be yes and your no be no, and when we really all boil it down. So I think that's enough of that. It, it just sort of got in my craw this week and I couldn't really stop thinking about it. 'cause it's been very frustrating. And now there are stories coming out of. Doctoral students that, um, that Barrett was teaching who have now also become Anglican. Um, so, you know, there starts to be questions of like, was he actively pros? I mean, this is like Jacob Arminius did this stuff and, and like the reform tradition would look down on it, where he was in secret in like sort of small group private settings. He was teaching convictions very different than the uni. I'm talking about Arminius now. Not necessarily Barrett. He was teaching convictions very different than the, the stated theology of the university he taught for, and then in public he was sort of towing the line. You have to ask the question and it is just a question. There's been no confirmation that I'm aware of, but you have to ask the question if that was what was going on with Barrett, was he teaching Baptist theology publicly and then meeting with, with PhD students privately and, and sort of convincing them of Anglican theology. I don't know. I'm not speculating on that, but I think it, the situation definitely right, brings that question to mind. It forces us to ask it. Um, and had he. Been transparent about his theological shifts sooner than that may not be a, a question we have to ask. Um, the situation may not be all that different, but we wouldn't have to ask the question. Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, that's totally fair. I mean, disclosure is important in lots of places in life and we shouldn't think that theological dis disclosure, especially like you're saying among our teachers, among our pastors, it is a critical thing. It's helpful for people to know when perspectives have changed, especially when they're looking to their leaders who are exhibiting trust and care over their discipleship or their education to express that difference. If there's been a mark, change it. It's worth it. Disclose, I'm guessing you don't have to over disclose, but that we're talking about a critical, we're talking about like subversive anglicanism, allegedly. Yeah. Then. It would be more than helpful to know that that is now shaping not just perspective, but of course like major doctrine, major understanding. Yeah. And then of course by necessary conviction and extension, everything that's being promulgated or proclamation in the public sphere from that person is likely now been permeated by that. And we'd expect so. Right. If convictions change, and especially like you're talking about, we're just talking about moving from, especially among like Bible believing traditions, just raise the hand and say loved ones, uh, this is my firm conviction now. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. I think if someone walks up to you and says, do you think that we should baptize babies? And you're like, yeah, I think so. Then you probably shouldn't be teaching at a Baptist seminary anymore. Like, seems like a reasonable standard. And that seems to be what happened, at least for some period of time. Um, you know, and, and it, that's not to say like, I think, I think there are instances where the church, a given church or um, or a university or seminary or, or whatever the situation might be, can be gracious and recognize like, yeah, people's perspectives change and maybe we can find a way for you to continue to finish out the semester or, you know, we can bridge you for a little while until you can find a new, a new job. Um, you know, we'll, we'll only have you teach certain courses or we'll have a guest lecturer come in when you have to cover this subject that is at variance and like, we'll make sure we're all clear about it, but it doesn't seem like any of that happened. And that's, um, that's no bueno. So anyway, Jesse. What are you affirming and or denying Tonight? [00:13:43] Music Recommendations Jesse Schwamb: I'm just gonna go with something brief. I suppose this is an affirmation of me. I'm saying that like somewhat tongue in cheek, but maybe it's, wait, I'll rephrase. It's because this will be more humble. I'm affirming getting it right, even more than I thought. So I'm just gonna come back to the well and dip it into something that I mentioned on the last episode. So the keen listener, the up-to-date listener might remember. And if you're not up to date, uh, just let this be fresh for you. It'll, and I, it's gonna be correct because now I have posts, you know, I'm on the other side of it. I've clear hindsight. I am affirming with the album Keep It Quiet by Gray Haven, which I affirmed last week, but it came out on the same day that the episode released. And since you and I don't really like record in real time and release it like exactly as it's happening, I only did that with some, a little bit of reservation because I only heard they only released three songs in the album. And I thought I was overwhelmed that they were, they were so good that I was ready to jump in and loved ones. Oh, it, it turns out. I was so correct and it was, it's even better than I thought. So go check it out. It's Grey, GRE, YH, and they are, this is the warning, just because I have to give it out there and then I'll balance it with something else for something for everybody here today. So, gr Haven is music that's post hardcore and metal core. You're getting two cores for the price of one, if that is your jam. It has strong maleic sensibilities. It's very emotional, it's very experimental. But this new album, which is called, um, again, keep It Quiet, is like just a work of arts. It real like the guitar work is intricate haunting, lovely, and it's bold, like very intentional in its structure and very el loose in its construction. It's got hook driven melodies and it's got both heart and soft. It really is truly a work of art. So if you're trying to, to put it in your minds, like what other bands are like this? I would compare them to bands like, every Time I Die, Norma Jean, let Live Hail the Sun. If you just heard those as combinations of words that don't mean anything to you, that's also okay. No worries. But if you're looking for something different, if you're looking for something that's maybe gonna challenge your ear a little bit, but is like orchestral and has all of these metal core post hardcore, melodic, textured movements, there's no wasted notes in this album. It's really tremendous. If that's not your thing. I get, that's not everybody's thing. Here's something else I think would be equally challenging to the ear in a different way. And that is, I'm going back to one other album to balance things out here, and that's an album that was released in 2019 by Mark Barlow, who I think is like just. So underrated. For some reason, like people have slept on Mike Barlow. I have no idea why he put together an album with Isla Vista Worship called Soul Hymns, and it's like a distinct soul and r and b album of praise with like these really lovely like falsetto, harmonies. It's got these minimalistic instrumentation, warm keys, groove oriented percussion, like again, like these false soul driven melodies. It's contemplative. It's got a groove to it. This is also equally a beautiful album for a totally different reason. So I think I've given two very book-ended, very different affirmations, but I think there's something for everybody. So my challenge to your loved ones is you gotta pick one or the other. Actually, you could do both, but either go to Gray Havens, keep it quiet, or go to Mike Bellow's Soul hymns. I do not think you will be disappointed. There's something for everybody on this one. Tony Arsenal: Yeah, I, it was funny because as you were saying the names of those bands, I literally was thinking like Jesse could be speaking Swahili and I wouldn't know the difference. And then you, you, you know me well, yeah. Uh, I haven't listened to Gray Haven. Uh, I probably will give it a couple minutes 'cause that's how it usually goes with songs that meet that description. Uh, I can always tell that the music that Jesse recommends is good from a technical perspective, but I never really, I never really vibe with it. So that's okay. But I mean, lots of people who listen to our show do so check that out. If, if you ever. Want a good recommendation for music. Jesse is the pers so much so that he can recommend amazing music before it's even available and be a hundred percent correct, apparently. That's right. So Jesse Schwamb: affirm with me everybody, because turns out I was right. Uh, it was easy to be correct when of course I had all of that fair sightedness by being able to listen to those. Yeah, those couple of songs, it, this is a kind of album. Both of these, both of these albums. When I heard them, I reacted audibly out loud. There are parts of both of 'em where I actually said, oh wow. Or yeah, like there's just good stuff in there. And the older you get, if you're a music fan, even if you're not, if you don't listen to a lot of music, you know when that hook gets you. You know when that turn of melody or phrase really like hits you just, right. Everybody has that. Where the beat drops in a way. You're just like, yes, gimme, you make a face like you get into it. I definitely had that experience with both of these albums and because. I've listened to a lot of music because I love listening to music. It's increasingly rare where I get surprised where, you know, like sometimes stuff is just like popular music is popular for a reason and it's good because it's popular and it follows generally some kind of like well established roots. But with these albums, it's always so nice when somebody does something that is totally unexpected. And in these, I heard things that I did not expect at all. And it's so good to be surprised in a way that's like, why have I never heard that before? That is amazing. And both of these bands did it for me, so I know I'm like really hyping them up, but they're worth it. They're, they're totally worth it. Good music is always worth it. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. I, uh, I think that is a good recommendation. I will check those out because, you know, you're a good brother. I usually do, and I trust your judgment even though it, you'll like the second one. Yes. Hopefully. Yeah. Yeah. Jesse Schwamb: You'll like the second one. Second one is like, just filled with praise and worship. And like, if, if you're trying to think, like say, here's how I'd couch the proper atmosphere for Mark Barlow's soul hymns you're having, you know, it's, it's a cold and chilly. A tal evening, the wind is blowing outside. You can hear the crisp leaves moving around on the pavement and the sun has gone down. The kids are in bed, the dinner dishes are piled up in the sink. But you think to yourselves, not tonight. I don't think so, and you just want that toneage to put on. You want that music as you dim the lights and you sit there to just hang out with each other and take a breath. You don't just want some kind of nice r and b moving music. You don't want just relaxing vibes. You want worshipful spirit filled vibes that propel your conversation and your intimacy, not just into the marital realm, but into worship and harmony with the triune God. If you're looking for that album, because that situation is before you, then sol hymns is the music you're looking for. Tony Arsenal: See, I'm gonna get the, I'm gonna get the recommendations backwards and I'm gonna sit down with my wife with a nice like evening cup of decaf tea and I'm gonna turn the music on. Yes, it's gonna be like, yes. That was me screaming into the microphone. That was not good for my voice. Well, the good news is it's gonna, it's gonna wake the kids up. That's, I'm gonna sleep on the couch. That's, it's gonna be bad. That's, Jesse Schwamb: honestly, that's also a good evening. It's just a different kind of evening. It's true. So it's just keep it separated again, uh, by way of your denial slash affirmation. Tony disclosure, I'm just giving you proper disclosure. Everybody know your music KYM, so that way when you have the setting that you want, you can match it with the music that you need. So it's true. Speaking of things that are always worth it. [00:21:30] Parable of the Weeds Jesse Schwamb: I think the Bible's gotta be one of those things. Tony Arsenal: It's true. Jesse Schwamb: And this is like the loosest of all segues because it's like the Sunday school segue into any topic that involves the scriptures. We're gonna be in Matthew 13, and how about we do this? So this is one of these parables and in my lovely ESV translation of the scriptures, the, we're just gonna go with the heading, which says the parable of the weeds. You may have something different and I wanna speak to that just briefly, but how do we do this, Tony? I'll hit us up with the parable and then it just so happens that this is one of the parables in the scripture that comes with an interpretation from our savior. It's true. How about you hit us up with the interpretation, which is in the same chapter if you're tracking with us, it's just a couple verses way. Does that sound good? Tony Arsenal: Let's do it. Jesse Schwamb: Okay. Here is the parable of the weeds. Jesus puts another parable before them saying The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sewed good seed in his field. But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sewed weeds among the weeds and went away. So when the plants came up and bork rain, then the weeds also appeared, and the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds? He said to them, an enemy has done this. So the servant said to him, then, do you want us to go and gather them? Then he said, no. Lest in gathering the weeds, you root up the wheat along with them, but let them grow together until the harvest and at harvest time, I will tell the reapers, gather the weeds first, and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn. Tony Arsenal: Alright, so then jumping down. To verse 36. We're still in Matthew 13, he says, then he left the crowds and went into the house and his disciples came to him saying, explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field. He answered, the one who sows the good seed is the son of man. The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angel. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age, the son of man will send his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom, all that, all causes of sin in all lawbreakers and throw them into the fiery furnace. It is that in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father. He who has ears let him hear. Jesse Schwamb: So let me start with just like a little bit of language here, which I've always loved in this passage because where else in like the contemporary context, do you get the word tear? Yeah. Aside if you're like using a scale, and that's a totally different definition. I like this. I like the word tear. It force, it forces to understand that what's common to our ear, why that's being used, it often is translated weed. Here's just like my, my little like linguistic addition to the front end of our discussion and is the reason I like it is because here does have a specific definition. If like you were to look this up in almost any dictionary, what you're gonna find is it's like a particular type of weed. It's actually like an injurious weed that is indistinguishable in its infant form from the outgrowing of green. So I like that because of course that is exactly why. Then there's all this explanation of why then to not touch anything in the beginning because one, it causes damage to it looks like everybody else. I just thought I'd put that out there as we begin our discussion. Tony Arsenal: Yeah, yeah. You know, I, um, I am a homeowner and I don't own the land that I'm on, but I'm responsible for the land that I'm on. And we have this really gnarly weed problem. There's this, uh, sort of floor growing, uh, carpeting weed called, uh, I think it's called like a carpeting knob, head weed or something like that. Some really descriptive thing. And I went out there the other day and there's really nothing you can do about this other than to rip it up. But I went out there the other day to start to pull some of it up and it totally wrecks the yard. Like it totally pulls up the grass, it destroys the sod. And when you're done, this is why it's kind of nice that I don't have, I'm not responsible for the land as I'm not gonna have to pay to resod the land. But when you're done pulling up this weed, you have to resod the whole place. You have to regrow all the grass because it, first, it takes over for the grass, and then when you rip it up, it rips the roots of the grass up as well. And so this parable, um, on one level is immediately obvious, like what the problem is, right? The situation is such. That the good, uh, the good sower, right? He's a good sower. He knows what he's doing. He understands that simply ripping up the weeds. Even if you could distinguish them right, there's this element that like at an early stage, they would be very difficult, if not impossible to distinguish from, uh, from wheat. Even if you could distinguish them, you still wouldn't be able to pull up the weeds and not do damage to the grain. And so we, we have this sort of like, um, conflict if you wanna follow like literary standards, right? We have this conflict and as we come to sort of the climax of this, of this plot is when all of a sudden we see that, that the problem needs a resolution and there is a resolution, but it's not necessarily what we would think it would be. Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, I think that's what I find shocking. It is like a massive statement of reality that is that like equal points or equal times totally sensible. And other times we would think, well why surely not in the church Lord, like of all the places, like aren't we talking about a kind of purity of your people, the very people that you're assembling together, the chief of which is Christ and the apostles being the building stones and Christ of course being the cornerstone. And I, I think that's what I find and I wonder the people hearing this, if they thought like, well, surely Lord, that not be the case like you are bringing in and ushering in this new kingdom. Isn't this new kingdom gonna be one of absolute purity? And, and what I think he's striking at, which I do find a little bit wild, is that Jesus essentially saying, at least to my ear, anything we try to do, even like the purest preaching of the gospel, is not gonna prevent this in every age of the church. The same state of the things that's existed in that is in the time of the early fathers. In the first century, and the church as it stands right now in the land and the time of the reformers, and of course with the best ministers at this hour right now and on your next Lord's day, and everyone after that, there is always and ever will be a visible church or a religious assembly in which the members are not all wheat. Yeah. And then I like what you're saying. It's this idea that. There's a great harm that's gonna come about if you try to lift them up because you cannot tell. So, and this is what's hard, I think this does influence like how we interact with people online. Certainly how we interact with people in our own congregations, but we are going to have no clear convicted proofs. We might only have like probable symptoms if we're really trying to judge and weigh out to discern the weeds from the weeds, which at most can only give us some kind of conjectural knowledge of another state. And that is gonna sometimes preemptively judge cause us to judge others in a way that basically there's a warning against here. It, it's, it's not the right time. And ba I think mainly from the outside where I find like this parable coming together, if there's like maybe a weird Venn diagram of the way Christians read this and the way unbelievers hear this, the overlap between them is for me, often this idea of like hypocrisy and you know. When people tell me that the church is full of hypocrites, either like Christian or non-Christian, but typically that's a, a, you know, statement that comes from the non-Christian tongue. When people say that the church is full of hypocrites, I do with a little bit of snark, say it's definitely not full of hypocrites. There are always room for more in the church and, and there's like a distinction of course between the fact that there is hypocrisy in the Christian or whether the Christian is in fact or that person is a hypocrite. So like when I look through the scriptures, we see like Pharaoh confessing, we see Herod practicing, we see Judas preaching Christ Alexander venturing his life for Paul. Yeah, we see David condemning in another, what he himself practiced and like hezeki glorifying and riches Peter. Doing all kinds of peter stuff that he does, and even all the disciples forsaken Christ, an hour of trouble and danger. So all that to say, it goes back to this like lack of clear, convicted proofs that I think Jesus is bringing forward here, but only probable symptoms. And I'm still processing, of course, like the practicality of what you're saying, Tony, that in some ways it seems like abundantly clear and sensible that you should, you're, you're gonna have a problem distinguishing. But our human nature wants to go toward distinguishing and then toward uprooting sometimes. And the warning here is do not uproot at the improper time. And in fact, it's not even yours to uproot because God will send in the laborers to do that at the time of, of harvest. And so there will be weeds found among the wheat. It's just like full stop statement. And at the same time it's warning, do not go after them now. Tony Arsenal: Yeah, I, I'm sure this, um, I, I'm sure this will spill over into a second conversation, but we, I think we have to talk a little bit about the interpretation here before we, before we even like talk more about the parable itself, because if you're not careful, um, and, and. I need to do a little bit more study on this, but it, it's interesting because Matthew almost seems to want you to sort of blend these parables together a little bit. Jesse Schwamb: Yes. Tony Arsenal: Right. These, these, there's three, um, there's three, maybe four if you count the parable of the treasure in the field. But there's three agricultural parables that have to do with sowing seed of one, of, one way or another. And in each one the seed is something different. And I, it almost seems to me. And then on top of that, the parables are like interwoven within each other. So like right smack in the middle of this, we have the parable. Uh, is given. Then the next parable of the mustard seed, which we're gonna talk about in a future episode, is given, and then the explanation of this parable of the tears is given. Um, and so we have to talk a little bit about it and sort of establish what the seed is, because we just spent three weeks talking about the seed in the par of the sower. Um, or the parable of the, of the soils. And in that parable, the seed was the word of God in this parable. And this is where I think sometimes, um, and again, this is like the doctrine of election in parable form, right? Yes. I think sometimes we read this and we, we misstep because the seed is not, uh, is not the word of God in this. The seed is the believers. Jesse Schwamb: Yes. Tony Arsenal: Right. So the good seed is sewn into, uh, into the field, which, you know, I think maybe there'll be some, we, we can save this for, for next week. But a little sneak peek is, it's not always clear exactly what the field is. Right. And I think we often, we often talk about the field as though it's the church that doesn't necessarily align a hundred percent with how Christ explains the parable. So we'll have to, we'll have to talk through that a little bit. I affirm that it is the church in, in a, a broad sense. Um, but, but the, the way that Christ explains it slightly different, but the, the seed is sewn into the world. The sons of the kingdom of heaven are sowed into the, into the world. And then the seed of the enemy, the bad seed, is the sons of the devil that's also sewn into the world. And so these two seeds grow up next to each other. If we think about the seed here as though it's the word of God, rather than the, the actual believers and unbelievers that elect in the ate, we're gonna make some missteps on how we understand this because we're not talking about, um, the, the seed being, you know, doctrine being sewn into the world. And some of it grows up good and some of it grows up bad or good doctrine and bad doctrine. We're talking about the believers themselves. Sorry, Jesse is mocking my rapid attempt to mute before I cough, which I, I did. That was pretty good. Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, that was, that was pretty good. Listen, this is real. Podcasting is how it goes. Yeah, I'm with you. Thank you for pulling out that distinction. 'cause it is critical. We, we have some overlap of course, with Jesus being really ascribed as the farmer, the son of man, right. He's sowing this good seed, but not the word. It's believers or the sons of the kingdom. And it is into his field, which is the world. Part of that world of course, is necessarily the church, right? But while everybody's sleeping, this enemy, the devil, he comes, he sows weeds or unbelievers, the sons of the evil one among this weed, they grow, go up together. And of course, like if I were servants in this household, I'd ask the same thing, which was like, should we get the gloves out? Yeah. Just pull those bad boys out. Like and, and so again, that's why I find it very so somewhat shocking that. It's not just, you could see like Jesus saying something like, don't worry about it now because listen, at the end of all time when the harvest comes, uh, I'm gonna take care of it. Like it's just not worth it to go out now. Right. That's not entirely The reason he gives, the reason is lest they uproot the wheat by mistake. So this is showing that the servants who are coming before Jesus in the parable, in this teaching here to really volitionally and with great fidelity and good obedience to him to want to please him to do his will. He there, he's basically saying, you are not qualified to undertake this kind of horticulture because you're just not either skilled enough or discerning enough to be able to do it right. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. And you know, I think, um. Maybe just a word of meth methodology too. Um, this parable also flies in the face of all of the, like, parables are not allegories, kind of kind of people. Um, and this is, we talked about this in our introductory episode. You have to take each parable for what it's worth, this parable very much is explained like a traditional allegory, right? Right. [00:35:39] Understanding the Parable's Symbols Tony Arsenal: It's got, it's got several different elements and Christ goes through and the first thing he does is tell you what each element represents, right? The sower is the son of man, the field is the word. The good seed is the sons of the kingdom of the weed. It's like, he's like clicking down all of the symbols and then he explains how all of it works together and like a good, all like a good allegory. Once you understand what each element and each symbol is, the rest of it actually is very self-explanatory, right? When you understand who's what in the parable. The outcome and the sort of the punchline writes itself as it were. And I think this is one of those parables that we would do. [00:36:18] Challenging Our Sensibilities Tony Arsenal: I think we would do well to sort of let marinate a little bit because it does challenge a lot of our sensibilities of what, um, what is real in the world, what is real in terms of our interaction with the world, right? What's real in terms of the role of unbelievers in the life of a Christian, um, whether we can identify who is or isn't an unbeliever. Um, I think we, you know, I, I'm not one of those people that's like, we should assume everyone's a Christian. And I'm certainly not one of those people who's like, we should assume nobody is a Christian. But I think there are a lot of times where we have figures either in public or people in our lives. Like personal acquaintances that have some sort of outward appearance. And, and that's like the key here that that distinction between weeds is a, is not a great translation as you said. Right. Because right. That distinction between wheat and weeds, to go to my analogy, like it's very clear what is grass and what is this like carpeting, knob weed. Like there's no, there's no doubt in my mind, which is the weed and which is the grass. Um, that's not what we're talking about here. And so it does, it does say here, I mean, it implies here that it's not going to be easy to distinguish the difference between exactly. The, a son of the kingdom and a son of the evil one. And I think that's a, that's a. A theological pill that is very difficult to swallow. Yes. [00:37:43] Personal Reflections on Identifying Christians Tony Arsenal: Because a lot of us, um, and this goes back to like what I, what we were saying in the last, the last parable, A lot of us were reared in our Christian faith on sort of this idea that like, you can check your fruit or you can check other people's fruits and you can determine, you can easily identify who's a Christian and who's not. I remember when I was in high school, you know, I got, I was converted when, when I was 15 and, um, I got to high school and it felt very easy to me to be able to identify the people who were play acting Christianity and the people who were real Christians. That felt like the most natural thing in the world to me. Um, it, it's an interesting story, but one of the people that I was absolutely sure was not a Christian. That he was just doing kinda civic Christianity. He was in confirmation 'cause his parents wanted him to. Um, and I had good reason to believe that at the time he was very worldly. He, he, um, did not seem to be serious about his faith at all. There was good reason to make the assessment that I did. And then I ran into him on Facebook like 15 years later and he's a pastor at the Lutheran Church and he's, you know, he loves the Lord Jesus Christ. And he would not explain it as though he had a later conversion story. It's not as though he would say like, well yeah, in high school I pretended to be a Christian. And then, you know, I got through college and uh, I really became like I got converted. He would, would grow this, or he would explain this as slow, steady growth from an immature state that knew the facts of the gospel and in a certain sense trusted that Jesus was his savior and didn't fully understand the ramifications of that. I mean, who did at 15 years old? Mm-hmm. Um. And, and that it was a slow, steady growth to the place that he's in now. [00:39:21] The Difficulty of Distinguishing Believers Tony Arsenal: So I, I think we should take seriously, and maybe this is the takeaway for this week at least, and we can, we can talk about it more, is we should take seriously the fact that the Sons of the Kingdom and the Sons of the evil one in this parable are not only inseparable without doing damage, but in many ways they are not easily distinguishable. Jesse Schwamb: Right. On. Tony Arsenal: Um, and that, that's a baked into the parable. And I think we do spend a fair amount of time and I, I'll. I'll throw myself on on this. You know, this, we, I'm not just saying we, um, we as a genuine statement, like I have participated in this. I'm sure that I still do participate in this sometimes intentionally. Other times, uh, subconsciously we spend a fair amount of time probably in our Christian lives trying to figure out who is a Christian who's not. And it's not as though that is entirely illegitimate, right? The, the, as much as we kind of poke at the, the, um, workers in this who sort of are kind of chumps, right? They're sort of like the idiots in this. They, they don't seem to know how this happened. They propose a course of action that then the master's like, no, no, that's not, that's not gonna work. They can tell the difference, right? They can see that some are weeds and some are are weeds, and they're asking, well, what do we do about it? But at the same time he is saying like, you're not really competent to tell the difference, Jesse Schwamb: right? On Tony Arsenal: a good, uh, a good. Competent farmer could probably go out and take all the weeds out. Just like a really good, I dunno, landscape technician, I'm not sure what you would call it. I'm sure someone could come into my yard and if I paid them enough money they could probably fix this knobby grass, weed, whatever it is. Um, infestation. They could probably fix it without damaging the lawn. Like there are probably people that could do it. I am not that competent person and the workers in this are not that competent person. And I would say by and large in our Christian life, we are not that competent person to be able to identify who is and who isn't, um, a Christian who is or isn't a son of the kingdom versus a son of the devil. Jesse Schwamb: And there's sometimes like we just get history reprised, or it's like, again, the same thing microwaved over and served to you three or four times as leftovers. So it's also gonna remember like any as extension that like any attempt to like purify the church perfectly, and this has happened like donatism in the fourth century I think, or even like now, certain sectarian movements are completely misguided. Yeah. And Jesus already puts that out ahead of us here. It's almost like, do not worry what God is doing because God again is, is doing all the verbs. So here's a question I think we should discuss as we, we move toward like the top of the hour. And I think this is interesting. I don't know if you'll think it's interesting. I, I kind of have an answer, but I, I'll post it here first. [00:42:01] Visible vs. Invisible Church Jesse Schwamb: So the setup like you've just given us is two things. One, we got the visible church, we talk about the visible church. I think a lot across our conversations. Yeah. And we might summarize it, saying it's like the community of all who profess faith, maybe even the community of all who are baptized. Right. Possibly. Yeah. And it's going to include then necessarily as Jesus describes it here, true and false believers. So that's one group. Then we've got this invisible church, which as you said is the elect. Those who are known perfectly to God. So the good seed is those elect true believers. The weeds, then the weeds to me, or the tears, even better, they sound a lot like that. Second and third soils that we talked about previously to some, to some degree. I'm not, I'm not gonna lump them all in because we talked about receiving the word and it taking root, all that stuff, but to some degree, and also probably like a soil one. But here's, here's the way I would define them up and against or in contradistinction to the elector believers. They're the reprobate. They're false professors or they're children of the evil one. Now here's the question, Doni, Alex, I, I think this is very interesting. I'm trying to build this up for like more dramatic effect. 'cause now I'm worried it's not that good. The question is, I'm going to presume that this good seed, the elect, true to believers, the confidence of perseverance of the saints, the justification in sanctification of God's children is in fact though we at some points have our own doubts, it is made fully aware and known to the good seed. That is, we should have, as you and I have talked about before, the confidence that God has in fact saved his elect. So the question that on the other side is for the ta, do the tears always know that they are the tears? Tony Arsenal: Yeah, I mean, you know, I think, um, I've said this before and I, I mean it, and I think it takes probably more. More discussion than we have time for tonight. And and that's fine because we can do as many episodes on this as we want to. 'cause this is our show and you can't stop us actually. Jesse Schwamb: Correct. [00:43:56] Assurance of Faith and False Assurance Tony Arsenal: Um, I've said before that assurance is the proper and rightful possession and inheritance of every Christian. Jesse Schwamb: Amen. Tony Arsenal: Right. So I, I am not one to say that the technical terminology is that assurance is not of the essence of faith. Um, I think we have to be really careful when we say that it's not, but we have to be equally careful when we say that it is. Because if we say that assurance is of the essence of faith, then what that means is someone who doesn't have assurance, doesn't have faith. Um, the reason I say that we can say that is because there's a sense that that's true, right? If you don't believe you're saved, then you don't believe you're saved and you don't trust that you're saved. But that doesn't mean that you always have full awareness of that confidence. And, you know, I think, um, I think. I think you're, you're right that, um, it may not always be, let me put it this way. I, I think that we have to consider the entire life of a Christian when we're, when we're making that analysis. And in a certain sense, like, I'm not even sure we should be making that analysis. That's kind of the point of the, the, um, the parable here, or at least one of the points. But, um, when that analysis is made, we'll, we'll channel a little bit of RC sprawl. It's not as funny when he's actually, uh, gone. I don't really mean channel RC sprawl. We will, uh, speak in the tradition of RC sprawl, um, in the final analysis, whatever that means. Whenever that is. You have to consider the whole life of a Christian, the whole life of a believer. And so there may be times in the life of a believer where they don't possess that full assurance of faith or that that full assurance is weak or that it seems to be absent. But when we look at the entire life of a believer, um, is it a life that overall is marked by a confident trust, that they are in fact children of God? Um, that a confident, uh, a confident embracing of what the spirit testifies to their spirit, to, to borrow language from Romans, I think in, in the life of a true elect Christian, um, that with the perseverance of the saints, uh, with the persistence of the saints and the preservation of the saints, um, I think that yes, those who are finally saved, those who are saved unto salvation, if you wanna phrase it that way. They finish the race, they claim the prize. Um, that assurance will be their possession in their life as a Christian. Jesse Schwamb: Right on. Tony Arsenal: All of that to say, I think there are, are, there's a good case to be made for the fact that there is also people who have false assurance, right? And this is where it takes a lot more, you know, finagling and jockeying and theological explanation of how can we know we have true assurance versus false assurance. You know, it's kinda like that question, like, does an insane person know they're insane? Well, does a false, does someone with false assurance know that their assurance is false? I don't think, I don't think so. Otherwise, it wouldn't be false assurance. Um, if they knew it wasn't real assurance, then they wouldn't have any kind of assurance. So I, I think I agree with you at least where, where I think you're going is that we do have to, we do have to make some judgements. We have to look at our own life, right? Um, there is an element of fruitfulness in this parable, right? We'll talk about that. I, I think we'll get into that next week. But it's not as though this is entirely disconnected from the parable of the soils. Both of them have a very similar kind of. End point. [00:47:20] Final Judgment and Eschatology Tony Arsenal: At the end of all things, at the end of the harvest, when the end of the age comes, and the reapers, the angels are sent, what they're gathering up are fruitful Christians, right in the parable, he sends out the, it's funny be, I love my dispensational brothers and sisters, but in this parable, like the rapture is the rapture of the unbelievers, right? The angels go out and reap the unbelievers first. The, the weeds are bundled up and thrown into the fire, and then the, the fruitful wheat is gathered into the barns. Um, there is this delineation between the fruitless weeds and the fruitful wheat or the, the grain that has borne, you know, borne fruit. That is part of what the, the outward. Elements of this parable are, so we should talk about that more, of what is this trying to get at in terms of not just the difference between weeds and wheat and how that maps up to those who are in Christ versus those who are not in Christ, but also like what is this telling us about the, the end of the age eschatology. All of that's baked in here and we haven't even scratched the surface of that Jesse Schwamb: yet. Yeah, we, we, I, and we just can't, even on this episode, probably, you're right, we're gonna have to go to two so that, I guess it's like a teaser for the next one. I'm told they're with you. It's interesting. I've been thinking about that, that question a lot. And I do like what you're saying. You know, at the end here, it's almost as if Christ is saying at the time of harvest, things become more plain, more evident In the beginning. The chutes are gonna look really, really similar, and you're gonna go in and you're gonna think you're guessing properly or using your best judgment, and you're gonna get it wrong in the end when he sends out those who are harvesting. I liken this passage here in the explanation as you read to us starting in verse 36, how there's this comparison of heat and light. And so there is the heat and light of the fiery furnace into which, as you said, all of those who are the children of the enemy will be gathered up and burned. And then there's that contrast with in verse 43, then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father. So there is like a reward that comes from the bearing of the fruit and that made evidence by a different type of heat and light. So I do struggle with this question because. It's easy to answer in some ways if we're defining the weeds in pirate or the tears in pirates as false professors typically. Let's say false professors of a nefarious kind, then it seems pretty plain that somebody, right, that the enemy has implanted certain people to stir up trouble with the intention to stir up trouble that is in fact their jam. Or they know that even if they're putting on heirs, that they're in fact play acting that the hypocrisy is purposeful and that it is part of like the missional efforts that they're doing to disrupt what God is doing in the world. So I might think of somebody like when we go, when we're looking in, um, Exodus, and we find that at least to some degree, all of Pharaoh's magicians can replicate everything that Moses is doing. Moses doing that by the power of God. But the magicians are so good and whatever means they're using, but they know, I presume they know they're not, they're not using Yahweh, they're not drawing their power or their influence from Yahweh. Tony Arsenal: Right? Jesse Schwamb: But it's so convincing to the people that Pharaoh is like, eh. Obviously I've seen that before because we just, we just did that here. Come back with your next trick until God flexes his mighty muscles in a really profound way, which cannot be replicated. And at some point there's a harvest that happens there. There's a separation between the two, those who are truly professing, the power that comes from God, the one true God, and those that are just replicating the cheap copy, the one that's just pure trickery and smoke and mirrors. So. That's an easy category. I'm with you. And I'm not saying that this is an invitation to bring the kind of judgment here that we've just spoken against. I'm not condoning this. What I do find interesting though is if the enemy is crafty, is it possible that they're always going to be forms of terror in the world that do feel that they have very strong conviction and belief about biblical things? Maybe there's, there's strong hobby horses or there are misguided directions here that pull us apart, that become distractions. Or maybe it's just even attitudes, uh, things that can be divisive, disruptive, derogatory that again, pull us away. For making the plain things, the main things and the main things, the plain things, which in some ways draws us back to like the whole purpose of you and I talking every week, which is we wanna get back to what the scripture teaches. We wanna follow the our Lord Jesus Christ very, very closely. I'm gonna clinging to the hymn of his rob as we walk through life so that we do not fall to those kind of false convictions. So I'm not, please hear me, loved ones. I'm not trying to call into question your faith as Tony just said. I am saying that there, this is kind of scary, just like we talked about. There are elements of the parables of the, of the soil that were equally scary. And so it's just in some ways to say, we gotta keep our heads not theological, swivel. We, we gotta be about the Lord's business, and we gotta be about understanding through prayer and study and communion with him, what it is that he wants to teach us in the purest way, knowing that the church itself and the world, of course, is never going to be entirely pure. At the same time, it is our responsibility to, as you already said, test for ourselves to understand what is that true gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because some tears are going to be maybe easy to identify and with without, you know, throwing too much shade or. I was gonna say spilling the TI don't think that works here, but I'm not young anymore, so I'm trying to use or or put on blast. Yeah. I'm looking at you Mormons or Jehovah's witnesses. Like it's, it's easier there to be like, yeah, right, this is wrong. It is a false profession, but we've just gotta be careful even in our own hobby, horses not deviates into ground. I think that doesn't preclude us from being children of the light and children of the kingdom, but can still be disruptive or uh, you know, just distracting. But either way, yeah. I think what's scary to me about this is exactly what you said, Tony, is, is could it be that there are people that are very sincere about the Christian faith, but are sincerely wrong? Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Jesse Schwamb: And what does that mean for God's elected purpose? What does that mean for our understanding of how to interact in our churches in the world? Does that make sense? Tony Arsenal: It does. And I'm not sure whether you were trying to set up the, what might be the first genuine reformed brotherhood cliffhanger, but you did. Because we're on minute 54 of a 60 minute podcast, and, uh, there's no way we're gonna get into that and not go for another 60 minutes. So, Jesse, I, I'm, I'm glad that we are taking our time. Um, I know that sometimes it's easy when you put out a schedule or you put out a sort of projected content calendar to feel like you have to stick to it. But I wanna give these parables, the time they deserve and the effort and the, uh, the, uh, study and the discussion that they deserve. And I think the questions you're posing here at the end of this episode are really, really important. And they are questions that this parable forces us to ask. Right, right. It's not as though we're just using this as a launching pad. Um. If the workers can't tell the difference between the, the seed and the, or the, the weeds and the weeds, it's reasonable to think that the weeds themselves may not be able to tell the difference. Right? The sons of the evil one, um, are probably not in this parable, are probably not the people like in the back, like doing fake devil horns, right? And like, you know, like there's, there's probably more going on that we need to unpack and, and we'll do that next week. Jesse Schwamb: I love it. So we've got some good stuff coming then, because we've gotta, this is like, do you ever remember when you were in, uh, you know, doing your undergraduate postgraduate work, you'd get like a topic or an assignment or a paper and you'd be super stoked about it and you start reaching it, be like, okay, researching it. And you'd be like, all right, I've got some good topics here. And then you get into it, you're like, oh, but I'm gonna have to talk about this. And Oh, like before I could talk, I'm gonna have to explain this. Sometimes when we get into these, as you and I have been talking, that's what it feels li

What happens when a Baptist theologian is confronted with the beauty of Anglicanism? Matthew Barrett, with this episode’s guest Greg Peters, discusses his recent move from the SBC to Anglicanism… Download Audio

Cleave to Antiquity and Matthew Barrett have recently left Reformed theology for more Apostolic expressions of Christianity. Joe explores why this isn’t a new phenomenon. Transcript: Joe: Welcome back to Shameless Popery. I’m Joe Heschmeyer and I want to explore two maybe seemingly unrelated conversions today, neither of which interestingly are to Catholicism, but I think you’ll see why I’m still excited about both of them, why I think they might be directionally correct and why I think they have some really important things to say about the future of a movement within ...

This episode was recorded live during the Wednesday Night Bible Study at FBC Hendersonville, NC, on September 17, 2025.

In this episode of Mere Fidelity, Derek Rishmawy, Alastair Roberts, Brad East, and James Wood engage in a deep conversation about the complexities of inhabiting and leaving religious traditions. They explore the implications of a recent theological shift by Matthew Barrett from Baptist to Anglican, discussing the personal and theological dimensions of such transitions. The conversation delves into the nature of tradition, the challenges of maintaining ecclesial identity, and the virtues of leaving a tradition with grace and gratitude. The hosts emphasize the importance of honoring those who have shaped their faith journeys while navigating the intricacies of theological retrieval and the fragility of denominational identities in contemporary Christianity.   Chapters   00:00 Ecclesial Location 03:09 The Dynamics of Leaving a Tradition 05:31 Retrieval 10:18 Conscious & Unconscious Choice 17:32 The Nature of Tradition and Confessions 22:03 Engaging Outside One's Tradition 24:13 Different Levels of Accountability 27:07 The Fragilization of Denominational Identities 32:30 Tradition or "Vibes"? 35:00 Stronger Ecumenism 42:49 You Keep Using That Word... 49:35 Leaving a Tradition Gracefully

Jon discusses the news of the week including Brent Leatherwood's resignation from the ERLC, Matthew Barrett's conversion to Anglicanism, Sidney Sweeney's Jeans, the Roy's Reports handling of LGBT, Current Abortion Politics, the Return to the Land community project, and more. Order Against the Waves: Againstthewavesbook.comCheck out Jon's Music: jonharristunes.comTo Support the Podcast: https://www.worldviewconversation.com/support/Become a Patronhttps://www.patreon.com/jonharrispodcastFollow Jon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jonharris1989Follow Jon on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jonharris1989/The American Churchman: The American Churchman exists to encourage men to fulfill their God-given duties with gentleness and courage. Go to https://theamericanchurchman.com for more.Our Sponsors:* Check out Express VPN: https://expressvpn.com/CONVERSATIONS* Check out TruDiagnostic and use my code HARRIS for a great deal: https://www.trudiagnostic.comSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/conversations-that-matter8971/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

This episode is more about Barrett than I wanted it to be, but we do discuss his departure from Baptist theology to Anglicanism. And then we discuss living in the kingdom of Christ as a Christian.

A new MP3 sermon from Alpha and Omega Ministries is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: On Matthew Barrett's Conversion to Anglicanism Subtitle: The Dividing Line 2025 Speaker: Dr. James White Broadcaster: Alpha and Omega Ministries Event: Podcast Date: 7/24/2025 Length: 92 min.

Dr. Matthew Barrett recently announced that he is leaving the Southern Baptist Convention and joining the Anglican tradition, citing his shift to paedobaptism as a major factor. In his announcement, he references Acts 2:39—“For the promise is for you and for your children…”—as part of the biblical basis for this change.In this video, we take a closer look at that verse. Does Acts 2:39 actually support the practice of infant baptism? Is it a strong argument against believer's baptism as held by Baptists?Let's explore five key reasons why this verse does not teach paedobaptism—and why the broader context actually reinforces the Baptist view of baptism as a response of personal faith.Support the showGET THE NEWSLETTEREach edition of the Reasonable Theology newsletter contains my latest article or podcast episode PLUS: A Theological Word or Phrase Explained Quickly and Clearly A Painting Depicting a Scene from Scripture or Church History Audio of a Hymn or other Musical Selection to Enjoy A Recommended Book or Resource to Expand Your Library SUBSCRIBE HERE

So I received word last week that Midwestern had not extended Barrett's contract, so he was leaving. Then it came out he was taking a position at an Anglican seminary, and finally, his own article explaining his reasons for converting to Anglicanism. So today we walked through the article in light of the fact that we have spoken often of the impact of the "Great Traditionists" and the fact that promoting such a perspective at a Baptist institution is inherently self-contradictory (and Barrett's conversion is actually proof of the correctness of our assertion).

Scott Swain, Matthew Barrett, Fred Sanders, and JV Fesko team up in this second episode of the Credo Alliance to answer whether Natural Theology is consistent with the gospel. When… Download Audio

Scott Swain, Matthew Barrett, Fred Sanders, and JV Fesko team up in this episode of the Credo Alliance to explain why Natural Theology matters, contrary to caricatures. In the last… Download Audio

ABOUT THE EPISODEListen in as David Schrock and Stephen Wellum interview Kyle Claunch on his Christ Over All essay: "God the Father: Namesake of all Fatherhood" Timestamps00:26 – Intro03:45 – Dr. Wellum's Highlights of Travel to the UK and Ireland05:56 – Kyle Claunch's Forthcoming Book07:48 – Where are the Challenges of Feminist Language for God Coming From?17:41 – Analogical, Univocal, and Equivocal Language20:34 – What Does Amy Peeler Argue about God?26:17 – Is there Ever a Non-Metaphorical Language that is Used for God?31:59 – Does EFS Theology Drive Amy Peeler's View of the Trinity and Metaphorical Language?35:42 – Proper and Figurative Language42:13 – The Value of Being Precise in Our Language Towards God47:31 – The Essential and Personal Nature of God the Father54:57 – How Do These Things Help Us Begin to Reflect the Fatherhood of God?57:49 – Final Thoughts from Dr. Wellum59:41 – Outro Resources to Click“God the Father: Namesake of All Fatherhood”– Kyle Claunch“Theological Language and the Fatherhood of God: An Exegetical and Dogmatic Account” – Kyle Claunch“On the Improper Use of Proper Speech: A Response to Ronald W. Pierce and Erin M. Heim, ‘Biblical Images of God as Moter and Spiritual Formation'” – Kyle ClaunchTheme of the Month: The Paterfamilias: Making Fatherhood Great AgainGive to Support the WorkBooks to Read Post Reformation Reformed Dogmatics – Richard MullerTheoretical Practical Divinity, Vol. 2: Faith in the Triune God – Petrus Van MastrichtReformed Dogmatics, Vol. 2: God and Creation – Herman BavinckSumma Theologiae Book 1 – Thomas Aquinas“Baptists, Sola Scriptura, and the Place of Christian Tradition,” in Baptists and the Christian Tradition – ed. Matthew Emerson, Christopher Morgan & R. Lucas StampsJohn Gill's Commentary of the First Letter of John – John GillShe Who Is: The Mystery of God in Feminist Theological Discourse – Elizabeth A. JohnsonWomen and the Gender of God – Amy PeelerDiscovering Biblical Equality: Biblical, Theological, Cultural, and Practical Perspectives – eds. Ronald W. Pierce, Cynthia Long Westfall, et. alThe Father and the Feminine: Exploring the Grammar of God and Gender – Spencer Miles BoersmaThe Same God Who Works All Things: Inseparable Operations in Trinitarian Theology – Adonis ViduOn Classical Trinitarianism: Retrieving the Nicene Doctrine of the Triune God – eds. Matthew Barrett and Todd Billings

There’s been a drastic shift in the understanding of the self over the last 200 years. We now tend to think of ourselves as unencumbered, expressive individuals who are most… Download Audio

Thank you for listening to the LifeHouse Church Podcast. We pray that Ps. Matthew Barrett's message 'The Amazing Grace' blesses you.For more details about LifeHouse Church visit www.Lifehouse.global or download the LifeHouse Church app.

Students in Rigolet find their musical groove writing a new song with members of Labrador's Silver Wolf Band... and a new CBC documentary throws light on life in the community. We speak with Silver Wolf Band's vocalist/pianist and the principal of Northern Lights Academy in Rigolet. (Krissy Holmes with Matthew Barrett and Chelsea Flowers)

Oftentimes, theologians will approach the doctrine of Christology in an isolated way, rarely bringing the doctrine of the Trinity into the discussion. As a result, we have succumbed to many… Download Audio

Resources mentioned in this episode:Pocket History of The Church by D. Jeffrey BinghamThe Reformation as Renewal by Matthew Barrett

The ECMAs just wrapped in St. John's... but things are only getting started for Labrador's Silver Wolf Band. Two of the members join us in the On The Go studio to share a new single and talk about their upcoming tour. (Guest-host Jamie Fitzpatrick with Jamie Jackman and Matthew Barrett)

In this episode of the Credo podcast, Dr. Matthew Barrett talks with D. A. Carson, emeritus professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and cofounder of The Gospel… Download Audio

The truth about Judge Matthew Barrett is finally emerging. Tina Peters isn't the only one Matthew Barrett has persecuted; there are many others. Erin Pressler faced unfair bias and what can only be described as a witch hunt by Matthew Barrett while he served as Chief Deputy DA. Today on Untamed, we are sharing her story.  

In this episode, Caleb is joined by Thomas Weinandy (PhD, King's College London) to discuss the doctrine of divine impassibility. Together, they speak to how God does not experience emotional change in any way, nor does God suffer, and how this is good news for us.ResourcesDoes God Suffer? by Thomas WeinandyGod without Passions: A Primer by Samuel RenihanNone Greater: The Undomesticated Attributes of God by Matthew Barrett

About the Guest(s): Robert Kolb: Robert Kolb is a distinguished professor at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, with a career spanning over decades. Despite retiring 15 years ago, he remains actively engaged in teaching. Kolb is an esteemed author specializing in Reformation theology, having penned numerous books on Martin Luther, the Augsburg Confession, and contributed to the anthology "Reformation Theology" by Matthew Barrett. His academic journey included work with post-Soviet churches across Eastern Europe, profoundly shaping his theological perspective.Episode Summary:In this enlightening episode of RenewalCast, hosts Colt Robinson and Jay Wipf engage with Robert Kolb, a prominent Lutheran scholar, as they delve into Martin Luther's profound theological thought. The discussion navigates through Luther's approach to theology, his dynamic personality, and his grounding reality framed through face-to-face relationships with God, the world, and others. Highlighting Kolb's work, "Face to Face with Luther," the conversation unpacks how Luther's views were shaped amidst the sociopolitical upheavals of his time. Robert Kolb provides a comprehensive examination of Luther's theological landscape, focusing on the themes of God's Word, human vocation, and spiritual warfare. Key topics include Luther's interpretation of the law-gospel distinction and his concepts of vocation and divine communication. Kolb elucidates how these foundational ideas translate into practical discipleship and societal engagement, offering insight into their continued relevance today. Packed with historical context and scholarly insights, this episode serves as an essential exploration for anyone interested in Reformation thought and its contemporary implications.Key Takeaways:Martin Luther's theology centers on the distinction between law and gospel, emphasizing God's communication through Scripture.Luther's concept of face-to-face interactions is pivotal in understanding his perspective on theology and everyday Christian life.The interplay between personal faith and societal roles is crucial in Luther's teaching on vocation and calling.The presence of evil, seen through Luther's increased references to the devil post-1521, enriches understanding of spiritual struggles.Kolb underscores the assurance found in Christ's work, which liberates believers to serve others meaningfully.Notable Quotes:"Luther said there's no place where the Holy Spirit is more present than in the pages of Scripture.""Being face to face with [the devil] was a key part of Luther's sense of how to bring comfort and consolation to believers.""God's in constant communication. He's in our face.""Luther said that when we try to take the law influencing God with our performance, we're always going to be turned in on ourselves.""I think there's a very practical aspect to knowing that Christ is the one who died and rose for me and that he makes a difference for me in daily life."Resources:Face to Face with Luther by Robert Kolb (referenced book)Reformation Theology edited by Matthew Barrett (contribution reference)Encouraging listeners to dive into this detailed discussion, this episode offers deep insights into Martin Luther's theological views and their significance today. Stay connected for more thought-provoking content on RenewalCast, where biblical and theological discussions come alive.

In this episode of the M&A Guy podcast, Brian Franco and Matthew Barrett discuss the evolving landscape of mergers and acquisitions, focusing on the importance of quality of earnings reports, the exit process for business owners, and the collaboration among various service providers in the M&A ecosystem. They also explore the current economic outlook and the increasing activity in the middle market, emphasizing the need for business owners to prepare for exits and the role of advisory firms in facilitating successful transactions. Continue the conversation with Jacob Franco: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jacob's Calendar⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about Brian Franco by visiting: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Email Me⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Connect with Matthew: (5) Matthew Barrett | LinkedIn

In this episode of Small Biz Florida, host Tom Kindred broadcasts from the 2024 FLAGGL Conference, focusing on government-guaranteed lending, particularly SBA loans. Featuring guests Matthew Barrett, Business Executive at Withum, and Brian McIntyre, Partner at Withum (Forensic & Valuation Services), the discussion covers the importance of business valuations and strategies for increasing business value. They emphasize the integral role of professional accountants in small business success. Listeners will gain insights into how precise financial reporting and clean business operations can facilitate smoother SBA loan processes and improve overall business value. This podcast episode was recorded live at the Florida Association of Government Guaranteed Lenders annual conference hosted at the JW Marriott in Orlando. This podcast is made possible by the Florida SBDC Network and sponsored by Florida First Capital. Connect with Our Guests: Withum

In this episode of the Credo Podcast, Sam Parkison joins with Matthew Barrett (Professor of Christian Theology at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary), Ronni Kurtz (Assistant Professor of Theology at Cedarville… Download Audio

In this episode, Caleb is joined by Joseph Lanier (PhD, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary) pastor for discipleship and administration at Fairview Baptist Church in North Carolina to discuss his recent book, Proclaiming the Triune God: The Doctrine of the Trinity in the Life of the Church which he coauthored with Matthew Barrett, Sam Parkison, and Ronni Kurtz. Together, they cover things like: the centrality of the Trinity for doing Christian theology, divine simplicity, inseparable operations, eternal relations of origin, and why they matter in the life and teaching ministry of the church. Resources:  Proclaiming the Triune God: The Doctrine of the Trinity in the Life of the Church by Matthew Barrett, Ronni Kurtz, Samuel G. Parkison, and Joseph Lanier  The Trinity: An Introduction by Scott Swain  Trinity, Revelation, and Reading: A Theological Introduction To The Bible And Its Interpretation by Scott Swain The Biblical Trinity: Encountering the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in Scripture by Brandon Smith On God and Christ: The Five Theological Orations and Two Letters to Cledonius by Gregory  of Nazianzus Friendship with God: A Path to Deeper Fellowship with the Father, Son, and Spirit by Mike McKinley Beholding the Triune God: The Inseparable Work of Father, Son, and Spirit Brandon Smith and Matthew Emerson

Colin and Russ pick up where they left off in Ep. 124 and continue discussing the criminal charges against P. Diddy.  They talk about attorney Tony Buzbee, who claims to represent 120 of P. Diddy's victims, and also discuss the prospects of Diddy making bail.  Also, Colin and Russ discuss the sentencing of Tina Peters.  As always, a new Is This Legal and a Georgia DCOTW.  Listen here!

In this episode of the Credo Podcast, Dr. Ronni Kurtz and Dr. Sam Parkison interview Dr. Matthew Barrett about the Systematic Theology book he is currently working on. While they… Download Audio

Welcome back to the Credo Colloquy, where leading theologians delve into the pressing issues of theology in today's church. In this ongoing series, Credo Editor-in-Chief Matthew Barrett sits down with with Dr. Robert W. Yarbrough, exploring the vital relationship between biblical interpretation and theology. In their conversation, Barrett and Yarbrough discuss the essential need for… Download Audio

Happy Valley Goose Bay's Silver Wolf Band are in town working on a new album. They'll also be play a handful of shows while they're here on the island. Jamie Jackman and Matthew Barrett joined us in studio for a chat.

In this episode Pat and Mike are joined by Steve Meister to talk about the doctrine of God. Steve Meister is the Pastor at Immanuel Baptist Church in Sacramento, CA.  Immanuel Baptist Church will be hosting the Sacramento Gospel Conference on September 20-21, 2024 with guest speaker James Dolezal. You can find more information and register here. Resources mentioned in this episode: - All That Is In God by James Dolezal - Deity and Decree by Sam Renihan - The Trinity: An Introduction by Scott Swain - None Greater by Matthew Barrett - Simply Trinity by Matthew Barrett

Dr. Matthew Barrett and Dr. Michael S. Okun discuss the caution and deliberation needed in understanding Parkinson disease biomarkers. Show reference: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaneurology/article-abstract/2820441 

Dr. Matthew Barrett talks with Dr. Michael S. Okun about the caution and deliberation needed in understanding Parkinson disease biomarkers. Read the related viewpoint piece in JAMA Neurology. Disclosures can be found at Neurology.org.

Many of us have benefitted from evangelicalism and had our faith formed by it. However, evangelicalism these days is in a crisis mode. It has fallen prey to the constant lust for power and dominion, both politically and culturally. Evangelicalism's emphasis on conversion and winning souls has turned into an enterprise focused more on getting… Download Audio

We are living in a day when the Christian church faces challenges both inward and outward. Outwardly, we see Islam advancing as a world religion. Inwardly, we are experiencing a divisive period in our church regarding doctrine of orthodoxy like the Trinity. In this episode, Matthew Barrett and David and Jennifer McNutt, the authors of… Download Audio

The Protestant Reformation swept throughout Europe in a way no other movement had before. There was great energy as people rediscovered the gospel - the good news of what Christ has done for sinners. How did the Roman Catholic Church respond? Find out the answer to this question with Emma, Grace, and Christian as they interview Dr Matthew Barrett, author of The Reformation as Renewal. Thanks to the generosity of our friends at Reformation Heritage Books, we are pleased to offer a copy of Simonetta Carr's award-winning book, Church History, to our listeners. Click here to enter.  Show Notes: “Triumph of Religion Over Heresy” by Pierre Legros the Younger “The Triumph of Faith Over Idolatry” by Jean-Baptiste Theodon The Reformation as Renewal, by Matthew Barrett: https://zondervanacademic.com/reformation-as-renewal The Nicene Creed: https://rts.edu/historical-creeds-of-faith/the-nicene-creed/  

What is the analogy of being and why is it so essential to the Creator-creature distinction? In Part 2 of this Credo Colloquy, James Dolezal and Matthew Barrett continue their conversation on the importance of Thomas Aquinas but this time talk about why our language for God is analogical rather than univocal. As it turns… Download Audio

Why do my favorite Puritans seem to with some frequency go back to Aquinas?” James Dolezal came to know Aquinas through the works of Reformed Scholastics (from Stephen Charnock to John Owen) who were appealing to Aquinas and commentators on Aquinas in their works. Once you read Aquinas and understand how he contemplates God and… Download Audio

Dr. Matthew Barrett is professor of Christian Theology at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. His passion is teaching the Great Tradition of the Church. He is the author of Simply Trinity and the Reformation of Renewal. He is the host of the Credo podcast and Director of the Center for Classical Theology. He is currently writing a Systematic Theology (Baker Academic) for seminary students. The Fifth Sunday of Eastertide John 14:15–21 Almighty God, whom truly to know is everlasting life: Grant us so perfectly to know your Son Jesus Christ to be the way, the truth, and the life, that we may steadfastly follow his steps in the way that leads to eternal glory; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

What is the meaning of intellectual life? In modern education, educators and students alike are often disillusioned by the attitude prevalent in educational institutions that emphasizes usefulness and practicality rather than contemplating the meaning and purpose of life. Zena Hitz shares her own disillusionment and frustrations as an educator, and how she found the true… Download Audio

Isn’t being dogmatic a bad thing? On the contrary, dogmatics is the lifeblood of the church. In this episode, Matthew Barrett is joined by Reformed theologian Michael Allen as they unravel the task of sacred theology. Together, they explore the intricacies involved in writing theology, discussing the significance dogmatics plays in shaping our understanding of… Download Audio

Isn’t being dogmatic a bad thing? On the contrary, dogmatics is the lifeblood of the church. In this episode, Matthew Barrett is joined by Reformed theologian Michael Allen as they unravel the task of sacred theology. Together, they explore the intricacies involved in writing theology, discussing the significance dogmatics plays in shaping our understanding of… Download Audio

Kyle Worley is joined by Matthew Barrett to answer the question, do I really need systematic theology to be a disciple of Jesus?Questions Covered in This Episode:Is systematic theology necessary for discipleship?How would you encourage someone who is looking to do this but is intimidated by the bigger books?Guest Bio:Dr. Matthew Barrett is Associate Professor of Christian Theology at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is also the founder and executive editor of Credo Magazine. He is the author of numerous books including: Simply Trinity: The Unmanipulated Father, Son, and Spirit, None Greater: The Undomesticated Attributes of God, and God's Word Alone: The Authority of Scripture.Resources Mentioned in this Episode:1 John“On the Incarnation” by Saint Athanasius“The Consolation of Philosophy” by Ancius Boethius Follow Us:Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | WebsiteOur Sister Podcasts:The Family Discipleship Podcast | Confronting Christianity | Starting Place | Tiny TheologiansSupport Training the Church and Become a Patron:patreon.com/trainingthechurch Interested in starting seminary and our new 100% tuition For the Church Cohorts? Learn more about what it means to study #ForTheChurch at Midwestern Seminary and apply for free with code KNOWINGFAITH at mbts.edu/apply.Sponsors:To learn more about our sponsors please visit our website.

In this episode of the Credo Alliance, Credo Fellows John Fesko, Fred Sanders, and Scott Swain join Matthew Barrett to discuss the Holy Spirit and the  eternal spiration of the Holy Spirit. They explore the historical and theological background of the Nicene Creed, and the implications of the Holy Spirit’s procession from the Father and… Download Audio

*This episode was originally recorded on 9/3/18. This week on Preaching and Preachers, Dr. Matthew Barrett joins me in a discussion on the pastor and systematic theology. Dr. Barrett is The post Preaching and Preachers, Episode 101: The Pastor and Systematic Theology appeared first on Preaching and Preachers Institute.

Why is Classical theology so important for the life and soul of the local church? This special episode of the Credo Podcast is from the 2023 Center for Classical Theology Panel Discussion moderated by Timothy Gatewood and featuring Carl Trueman, Kevin DeYoung, James Dolezal, and Matthew Barrett. The conversation revolves around the future of classical… Download Audio

Jen Wilkin, JT English, and Kyle Worley are joined by Jared C. Wilson and Dr. Matthew Barrett during The Gospel Coalition Conference to record a live episode!Questions Covered in This Episode:Why this interest in Exodus?What are we learning together about Exodus?Why is the theme of exile important?Jen, why did you write a book of the ten commandments?What is the significance of Mt. Sinai in Israel's story?Is there a new covenant here at Sinai or are we seeing a further unfolding of the existing covenant with Abraham?Is the law irrelevant to Christians today? Are we expected to keep the law?Is part of discipleship moral change?Which member of the trinity was with Moses?How do you study to teach a narrative text?How do we teach the law faithfully to our children?Guest Bio:Jared C. Wilson serves as Assistant Professor of Pastoral Ministry, Author in Residence, and General Editor, For the Church. He is the author of a number of books including but not limited to Gospel Wakefulness, The Prodigal Church, The Pastor's Justification, and Supernatural Power for Everyday People. He also serves as an elder at Liberty Baptist Church. He and Becky have been married for twenty-three years, and they have two daughters: Macy and Grace.Dr. Matthew Barrett is Associate Professor of Christian Theology at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is also the founder and executive editor of Credo Magazine. He is the author of numerous books including: Simply Trinity: The Unmanipulated Father, Son, and Spirit, None Greater: The Undomesticated Attributes of God and God's Word Alone: The Authority of Scripture.Resources Mentioned in this Episode:Exodus, Genesis 3, Hebrews 12, 2 Corinthians 3MBTS.edu/cohorts“Ten Words to Live By” by Jen Wilkin“Reformation as Renewal” by Matthew Barrett“Friendship with the Friend of Sinners” by Jared C WilsonSponsors:Interested in free theological training? Midwestern Seminary recently released three new classes through their For the Church Institute. Study for free and at your own pace through FTCI today! Learn more and sign up at ftcinstitute.comTo learn more about our sponsors please visit our website. Follow Us:Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | WebsiteOur Sister Podcasts:The Family Discipleship Podcast | Confronting Christianity | Starting Place | Tiny TheologiansSupport Training the Church and Become a Patron:patreon.com/trainingthechurch

Kyle Worley discuss is joined by Matthew Barrett to answer the question, what is the value for non-catholics in learning and reading from ancient catholic theologians?Questions Covered in This Episode:What is the value for non-catholics in learning and reading from ancient catholic theologians?What catholic theologian from the early church would you point someone to?Resources Mentioned in this EpisodeMatthew 16:18“On the Incarnation” by Saint AthanasiusGuest Bio:Matthew Barrett is Professor of Christian Theology at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is also the founder and executive editor of Credo Magazine and the host of the Credo podcast. He is the author of numerous books, such as Simply Trinity: The Unmanipulated Father, Son, and Spirit, None Greater: The Undomesticated Attributes of God, God's Word Alone: The Authority of Scripture, and Canon, Covenant, and Christology: Rethinking Jesus and the Scriptures of Israel.He is originally from California, receiving his BA from Biola University. He received his MDiv and PhD in systematic theology from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is married to Elizabeth and they have four children. Dr. Barrett is an elder at Emmaus Church in north Kansas City. Sponsors:Interested in starting seminary? Learn more about what it means to study #ForTheChurch at Midwestern Seminary and apply for free with code KNOWINGFAITH at mbts.edu/apply.To learn more about our sponsors please visit our website.Follow Us:Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | WebsiteOur Sister Podcasts:The Family Discipleship Podcast | Confronting Christianity | Starting Place | Tiny TheologiansSupport Training the Church and Become a Patron:patreon.com/trainingthechurch