On April 24, 2008, Dr. Doug Sweeney and Collin Hansen discussed Hansen’s Young, Restless, Reformed: A Journalist’s Journey with the New Calvinists (Wheaton: Crossway, 2008). An MP3 of this discussion, sponsored by the Henry Center, is now available from the Henry Center’s media archive (MP3 | video).
I reviewed Hansen’s book in March for the forthcoming issue of Themelios (more on that later). Highly recommended!
The Pulpit Magazine Blog has posted a very readable (i.e., non-technical) eight-part series by Phil Johnson entitled “Why I Am a Calvinist . . . and Why Every Christian Is a Calvinist of Sorts.” The series begins with this explanation: “This post is adapted from a transcript of a seminar from the 2007 Shepherds’ Conference, titled ‘Closet Calvinists.’” Check it out: parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.
On our honeymoon in July 2004, I brought along a small pile of books (which I didn’t finish until after we returned home!). I did, however, manage to work through a good chunk of this one:
- This excellent work is bound like a typewritten dissertation and is a compilation of handouts that Daniel used to accompany a series of messages delivered from 1987-1989.
- The 75 lectures are available for free downloading here. (My wife listened to all 75 of them on her MP3 player!)
- Daniel is an expert in Calvinism as evidenced by his Ph.D. dissertation on John Gill, which is some 900 pages long (University of Edinburgh, 1983).
- He divides his work on Calvinism into seventy-four chapters, which are handouts he used for lecturing on the topic.
- My first impression of the book was poor: (1) the format is unpleasant to the eye with tight line-spacing and a font resembling an old typewriter, and (2) Daniel does not formally cite his sources in footnotes.
- My impression changed, however, as I read the book from cover to cover. The first twenty-four chapters (pp. 1-172, 36% of the book) are the most enlightening. It covers the history of Calvinism in an irenic, informative way and includes chapters on Augustine; the Reformation; Calvin; Puritans; Westminster Assembly; Covenant Theology; High Calvinism; Amyraldism; Hyper-Calvinism; Jonathan Edwards’s Calvinism; Princeton Theology; Calvinistic Baptists; and Dutch Calvinism. Each chapter ends with a select bibliography.
- I recently learned from Phil Johnson that this is available for free as a Word doc! (I bought my hard copy for $30.) [Update: It is also available for free as a 574-page PDF!]
This week I’ve had the opportunity to listen to the following MP3s while grading some tests and quizzes:
Steve Lawson on Romans 11:36:
Parts 1 and 2 available here.
Riveting. Refreshing.
Thomas Schreiner on TULIP from a conference in March 2006:
- Radical depravity
- Sovereign election
- Particular/single/definite redemption
- Overcoming grace
- Perseverance of the saints
I’ve enjoyed reading Schreiner’s works (e.g., commentary on Romans, Pauline theology), but this was my first time hearing him speak. These MP3s are well worth your time, especially if you disagree with his conclusions. He is a reliable representative for this aspect of Calvinism. (11 other MP3s by Schreiner available here.)
John Piper’s most recent MP3 from his annual biographical messages: William Tyndale. Moving. Convicting. (as usual)
