Episode 20 Dr Robert Wall on Reading Scripture as Wesleyans for Deep Tr...

In this episode, I speak with Dr. Robert Wall (Professor of Scripture and Wesleyan Studies at Seattle Pacific University) about the theological interpretation of Scripture. We focus on distinctively Wesleyan approaches to reading the Bible. In particular, we discuss how Scripture invites us to a deeper life of holiness and transformation.

Books by Rob Wall:
Wesley One Volume Commentary (co-editor with Kenneth Collins; Abingdon 2020) https://amzn.to/3alvXg3
The Marks of Scripture: Rethinking the Nature of the Bible (with Daniel Castelo; Baker Academic 2019) https://amzn.to/33Sz2mD
A Compact Guide to the Whole Bible: Learning to Read Scripture's Story (Co-editor with David Nienhuis; Baker Academic, 2015) https://amzn.to/2XYv1t8

1–2 Timothy and Titus (Two Horizons Commentary; 2012) https://amzn.to/33Vx9Wq
Books recommended by Robert Wall

Bonhoeffer, Cost of Discipleship https://amzn.to/2PPHoDh Childs, New Testament as Canon https://amzn.to/2XYQQsk ---------, Biblical Theology in Crisis Hays, Richard. Conversation of the Imagination: Paul as an Interpreter of Israel's Scripture https://amzn.to/30TUOV6 ---------, Moral Vision of the New Testament. https://amzn.to/33VLVfw Sanders, James. From Sacred Story to Sacred Text https://amzn.to/2E0f928
Education: BA, Valparaiso University, 1969; ThM, Dallas Theological Seminary, 1973; ThD, Dallas Theological Seminary, 1979; additional graduate study at Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University. At SPU since 1978.
Bio:
Robert Wall’s books and articles — whether aimed at other scholars or clergy — originate in the ferment of the university classroom and in conversation with his students and colleagues. In both his published research and classroom teaching, Dr. Wall approaches the Bible as a sacred text — a “production of the Holy Spirit” — and in a manner that forms a clearer understanding of God for the people of God.

The Reverend Dr. Wall is a Seattle native, an avid sportsman (CrossFitter, hiker, rower, and grandpa), and a dedicated Seattle sports fan. He is an elder of the Free Methodist Church who enjoys an active ecumenical ministry of preaching and teaching adult Bible studies in congregations of various faith traditions.

Dr. Wall has recently published two important projects. He co-authored Marks of Scripture with his SPU colleague Daniel Castelo and served as co-editor of the Wesley One Volume Commentary (contributing the lead essay “Intro To Wesleyan Biblical Interpretation”.



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Ep 18: The Wesleyan Means of Grace, Transformation, & Christian Perfecti...

Andrew Thompson: Wesley’s Means of Grace, Transformation, and Christian Perfection

Listen in this week as Brian interviews noted Wesley scholar and pastor Dr. Andrew Thompson. Dr. Thompson takes us deep into a Wesleyan understanding and practice of the means of grace. Brian and Andrew end the episode with a powerful conversation about entire sanctification. Andrew offers a compelling modern testimony of what true holiness looks like today.

Books by Andrew Thompson

The Means of Grace: Traditioned Practice in Today’s World (Seedbed, 2015): https://amzn.to/3gzTBHF

Watching from the Walls: Waiting for Jesus with Hope and Expectation (Advent Study) https://amzn.to/2COW7vq 

Sign up for Newsletter from Matthew Johnson on Entire Sancitification:

 http://www.scripturalholiness.com/the-guide-to-holiness/

Books recommended by Andrew Thompson

Kevin Watson and Scott Kisker, The Band Meeting: Rediscovering Relational Discipleship in Transformational Community (Seedbed)  https://amzn.to/2Wd4aZW 

Richard Foster Celebration of Discipline https://amzn.to/33kkY5d

John Wesley. The Sermons of John Wesley: A Collection for the Christian Journey (eds. Collins and Vickers)  https://amzn.to/2L6u4b5  

Thomas a Kempis Imitation of Christ https://amzn.to/30WZo3G 

Jeremy Taylor Rule and Exercises of Holy Living and Dying https://amzn.to/3f8gwbX

www.seedbed.com 

Bio: 

Dr. Andrew C. Thompson is a pastor, teacher, and scholar in the United Methodist Church. He is an award-winning author and frequent speaker, focusing on the thought of John Wesley, the history of Methodism, and contemporary Wesleyan theology. Andrew is an ordained minister and has served pastoral appointments in Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina. He currently serves as the senior pastor of First United Methodist Church in Springdale, Arkansas. Previously he taught for four years on the faculty of Memphis Theological Seminary in Memphis, Tennessee.

Twitter @TheRealAndrew

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Episode 16: Reading Scripture as Wesleyan Christians with Dr David Watson

In Episode 16, Dr. David Watson (Dean and Professor of New Testament at United Theological Seminary) talks about what it means to read Scripture as Wesleyan Christians. He talks about the critical need to read Scripture theologically for the Church. We do a deep dive on the inspiration and illumination of the Scripture by the Holy Spirit, “filters” for reading the Bible, the role of historical creeds, prayer, and holiness.

Books by Dr. Watson:

Scripture and the Life of God (Seedbed 2017) https://amzn.to/2WpXNSG 

Key United Methodist Beliefs (with William Abraham; Abingdon 2013) https://amzn.to/3h10P7B 

Wesley, Wesleyans, and Reading Bible as Scripture (Co-editor with Joel B. Green) https://amzn.to/3fCM4I4 

Honor Among Christians: The Cultural Key to the Messianic Secret, Fortress, 2010. https://amzn.to/2Ok34qb 

Books Mentioned or Recommended by Dr. Watson

Castelo/Wall Marks of Scripture: Rethinking the Nature of the Bible (2019): https://amzn.to/2CC75Uq

Beth Felker Jones Spirit of God: Christian Renewal in the Community of Faith (2015): https://amzn.to/2Cz12jF 

C.S Lewis Anthology https://amzn.to/3h5aj1U 

Wesley’s Sermons:  https://amzn.to/2L6u4b5  

Augustine. Confessions https://amzn.to/2ZtaON9 

Bio:

Dr. Watson teaches New Testament, Greek, courses in church renewal and courses in Bible and disability. His interests include theological (and especially Wesleyan) readings of Scripture and the Bible and disabilities. He participates both in the Society of Biblical Literature and the Wesleyan Theological Society. As Academic Dean, Dr. Watson oversees the academic program of the school and is a member of United’s Executive Staff.

Find Dr. Watson on the Web

Website: www.davidfwatson.com

Twitter: @utsdoc

Plain Truth: A Holy Spirited Podcast plaintruth.libsyn.com

Firebrand: firebrandmag.com 

Links to Amazon are Affiliate links. If you purchase items through these links, Amazon returns a small percentage of the sale to Brian Russell. This supports the podcast and does not increase the price of the items you may choose to buy. Thank you for your support.

Episode 12: Wesleyan Theology Counseling & the Dynamics of Forgiveness with Dr. Virginian Todd "Toddy" Holeman

In this week’s episode, Dr. Virginia Todd Holeman helps us to understand the interplay of Wesleyan theology with the practice of therapy as well as the dynamics of forgiveness and an embodied spirituality. We also talk about common blocks and blind spots to God’s grace. 

Bio: 

• B.S.Ed., Bloomsburg University, 1975

• M.A., Wheaton College, 1979
• M.A., Ashland Theological Seminary, 1986
• Ph.D., Kent State University, 1994

Dr. Virginia Todd Holeman (Toddy) is professor of Counseling. She has taught at Asbury Theological Seminary since 1995.

Dr. Holeman received a Ph.D. at Kent State University. At Asbury Seminary, she has served as associate dean of the School of Theology (1999-2004); acting dean (2004-2005); and is presently the chair of the Counseling and Pastoral Care Department. She was the 2003-2004 recipient of the seminary’s Excellence in Distance Learning Teaching Award. She is a licensed professional clinical counselor and a licensed marriage and family therapist in Kentucky. Dr. Holeman is the past president of the Kentucky Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.

She has published several books, including her most recent, Theology for Better Counseling: Trinitarian Reflections for Healing and Formation(IVP Academic, 2012), which was selected as a CAPS Book (Christian Association for Psychological Studies). Dr. Holeman’s research interests include interpersonal forgiveness, repentance and reconciliation, counselor education and supervision, and integration of psychology and counseling.

Books by Dr. Holeman:

Inside the Leader’s Head: Unravelling Personal Obstacles to Ministry (with Stephen Martyn, 2008): https://amzn.to/3fcCI58

Reconciliable Differences: Hope and Healing for Troubled Marriages (2005)  https://amzn.to/2YlLRl0

Theology for Better Counseling: Trinitarian Reflections for Healing and Formation (2012): https://amzn.to/2MNJoKU

Books Recommend by Dr. Holeman

Tolkien The Hobbit 

 and The Lord of the Rings Trilogy https://amzn.to/2AqQmCT

Miroslav Volf Exclusion and Embrace: Revised and Updated: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation https://amzn.to/3heCxrz

— Free of Charge: Giving and Forgiving in a Culture Stripped of Grace https://amzn.to/2ATkQxl

Episode 11 The Wesleyan Renewal, Holiness, and Transformation with Dr Ryan Danker

In this week’s episode, Dr. Ryan Danker helps us to understand the context of the Wesleyan renewal in 18th century England in ways that will help us think about Gospel ministry in the 21st century. We take a deep dive into true power and optimism of Wesleyan theology by discussing its proclamation of holiness of heart and life. 

Bio:

An active United Methodist, Ryan Danker is a church historian with a passion for evangelical studies, and in particular the early Wesleyan/Methodist movement under John and Charles Wesley. Born in Portland, Oregon, Danker served United Methodist churches in the Western North Carolina Annual Conference. He currently serves as a member of the United Methodist/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Dialogue. He is active in the American Academy of Religion, the Wesleyan Theological Society, and the Charles Wesley Society. Before his appointment at Wesley, Danker served on the faculty at Greensboro College in North Carolina where he was also Special Assistant to the President and a member of the Advisory Board of the Royce and Jane Reynolds Center for Church Leadership. 

Education

• B.A., Northwest Nazarene University, Nampa, ID
• M.Div., The Divinity School, Duke University, Durham, NC
• Th.D., The School of Theology, Boston University, Boston, MA

Twitter: @RyanNDanker

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5F9C_humHnVSZyz4tMy0yw

Books by Dr. Danker

Exploring a Wesleyan Political Theology (editor and contributor; Wesley’s Foundry books, 2019) https://amzn.to/2U5cXvo 

Wesley and the Anglicans: Political Division in Early Evangelicalism (IVP, 2016) https://amzn.to/2MtVUPb 

Books Recommend by Dr. Danker

Geoffrey Wainwright Doxology: The Praise of God in Worship, Doctrine, and life: A Systematic Theology https://amzn.to/2z7DLDT 

Robert Louis Wilken The Spirit of Early Christian Thought: Seeking the Face of God https://amzn.to/2MuiqaW

The Book of Common Prayer 

Introduction to the Book of Deuteronomy

 Deuteronomy offers a vision for God’s people for living out God’s holy love faithfully as a witness to the nations. The book of Deuteronomy serves a dual focus. It uses Israel’s past as a warning against disobedience. But it simultaneously invites the present generation to a life of faithful obedience as the means to enjoying life with God. The LORD liberated God’s people from Egypt as a means of freeing them to serve the LORD as God’s holy people.
 
The name Deuteronomy comes from the Greek translation of 17:18 meaning “second Law.” There is a core section of legal materials (5:6–21 and 12:1–26:19), but the overall shape of Deuteronomy conforms more with the Hebrew name for the book “These are the words.” More than any other part of the Pentateuch, Deuteronomy is primarily speech. Moses the central human character in Genesis–Deuteronomy offers a series of addresses crafted to shape the present generation for God’s mission. The situation imagined in Deuteronomy finds God’s people Israel in Moab on the eastern banks of the Jordan river poised for a movement into the Promised Land. Moses will not accompany God’s people, but he delivers a speech to galvanize God’s people for the mission ahead. The Instruction of Moses will define the character of God’s people and provide authoritative guidance for living the liberated life.

Deuteronomy’s Wesleyan vision of God’s people as a holy people is compelling. 

First, Deuteronomy envisions a dynamic relationship between God and God’s people.  The pattern is this: God acts graciously acts for Israel and God’s people respond by living faithfully. God loves God’s people (7:8). God’s gracious love delivered Israel from Egypt and now stands ready to make good on God’s earlier promises of land to Israel ancestors. Deuteronomy understands the relationship between God and God’s people in covenantal terms. In the Old Testament, covenant is the means of formalizing the relationship. Deuteronomy offers a covenant reaffirmation by God’s people as they prepare to enter into the Promised Land (Deut 30:15–20). 

Second, love serves as the defining center of God’s people’s relationship with the LORD. The Shema or Great Commandment (Deut 6:4–5) calls for a whole person response of love to the reality of the LORD as the unique one and only God for God’s people. 

Third, Deuteronomy helps to shape a Wesleyan understanding of sanctification as having a fully devoted heart toward God. Deuteronomy introduces the phrase “circumcision of the heart” to our vocabulary (10:16, 30:6). This command flows from Deuteronomy’s focus on love as the motivation of God’s people in response to God’s love . Whole hearted devotion is rooted in the commandment against idolatry and articulated positively in Great Commandment. The allegiance to the LORD as the “one and only” involves turning from all other gods or temptations in order to serve and love only the LORD. 
Reading Deuteronomy helps us to recognize that Wesley’s doctrine of Christian perfection involves both our will and the work of God in freeing us from all prior allegiances to live fully as God’s people. 

Fourth, faithfulness in relationship is understood in terms of action. God’s people respond to God’s grace with love, fear, obedience, service, by walking in God’s ways, by clinging to the LORD, and by keeping the commandments (Deut 10:12–13, 20). 

Last, Deuteronomy presents the life of holy love as the good life. God’s people will enjoy secure life in the land by carefully living out the Scriptural revelation given through Moses. The exhortation “Choose life” (30:19) summarizes the choice between faithfulness and unfaithfulness as a decision for good. Likewise it signals God’s good intentions for God’s people as they live as his witnesses in the world.

Outline of the book of Deuteronomy

I. 1:1–4:43 Israel’s Past
A. 1:1–5 These are the Words
B. 1:6–46 Failure to Possess the Land
C.  The LORD’s Recent Victories (2:1–3:29)
D. 4:1–43 Exhortation to Faithfulness

II. 4:44–11:32 The Heart of Faithfulness
A. The Instruction of Moses (4:44–49)
B. The Ten Commandments (5:1–33)
C. Israel’s One True Love (6:1–25)
D. The False Gods of Faithlessness (7:1–
E. Loving Commitment (11:1–32)

III. 12:1–28:68 Core Covenantal Commitments
A. Worship as One Holy People (12:1–28)
B. Organizing God's Holy People (12:29–17:13)
C. Leaders Under the Instruction (17:14–18:22)
D. Practicing Justice as God’s Holy People (19:1–25:19)
E. Celebrating the Land as One Holy People (26:1–19)
F. The Blessings and Curses (27:1–28:68)

IV.  29:1–32:52 Choosing Life through Covenant Faithfulness
A. Warnings Against Disobedience (29:1–29)
B. Agenda for Restoration and Renewal (30:1–14)
C. The Call to Choose Life by Aligning Fully with the LORD (30:15–20)
D. Preparing for Moses’ Departure (31:1–29)
E. The Song of Moses 31:30–32:52

V.  33:1–34:12 Final Blessings and the Death of Moses
A. The Blessing of Moses (33:1–29)
B. The Death of Moses (34:1–12)

Select Bibliography
Brueggemann, Walter. Abingdon Old Testament Commentaries: Deuteronomy. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2001.

McBride, S. Dean, Jr. “Polity of the Covenant People: The Book of Deuteronomy” Interpretation 41 (1987): 229–44.

Miller, Patrick D. Deuteronomy: Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching (Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching & Preaching). Louisville: John Knox Press, 1990.

Moberly, R. W. L. Old Testament Theology: Reading the Hebrew Bible as Christian Scripture. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2013.

Olson, Dennis T. Deuteronomy and the Death of Moses: A Theological Reading. Overtures to Biblical Theology. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1994. (Out of print) Reprinted: Deuteronomy and the Death of Moses: A Theological Reading. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2005.