How can God be one and three? How can Jesus be God and yet not another God? And what about the Spirit, where does he fit in? In the last episode of Thinking Theology, we saw that God promised in the Old Testament that a day would arrive when he would come in person to save his people and be with them. But astonishingly, that happened in the coming of the man Jesus. Jesus did all the things that only God himself does like creating the world, miracles and forgiving sins. Jesus showed himself to be...
Aug 24, 2023•19 min•Season 2Ep. 14
Who is Jesus? The identity of Jesus lies at the very heart of Christianity. But what is it about Jesus that’s so important? In the last episode we looked at the problem of sin. God made the world good. He made a world without death and decay. He made a world in which humanity could dwell with him in love and fellowship, ruling over and developing God’s world under him. But the world is not like that anymore. It’s broken. And the reason it’s broken is because human beings have sought to rule them...
Jun 22, 2023•19 min•Season 2Ep. 13
What is sin? Where did it come from? How has it affected us as human beings? How has it effected the world in which we live? In the last episodes of Thinking Theology we saw that God created human beings. He created human beings to reflect him, to rule over the world under him. He made us to relate to him. But things are no longer as they were created to be. Our world is broken and we are broken. But what happened to get us from there to here? That’s what we’re thinking about in this episode of ...
May 19, 2023•15 min•Season 2Ep. 12
In the last episode of Thinking Theology we thought about what it means to be human. Who has God made us to be? In this bonus episode I sit down with Rob Smith, one of my colleagues at SMBC. Rob teaches theology, ethics as well as music ministry. Rob has just completed his PhD on what the Bible has to say about gender. He's written a short book on that topic too. But in this episode I'm talking with Rob about what it means to be embodied. What does that Bible have to say about human bodies....
May 04, 2023•34 min•Season 2Ep. 11
What does it mean to be human? Are we different or special? Or are we just another animal? And what do we do with ourselves? Do we have a purpose? In the last episodes of Thinking Theology we saw that God created the world, that he upholds the world every moment, that he is in control of everything that happens, but in such a way that our actions are still meaningful. Now we’re moving on to think in more detail about who God has created us to be as human beings.
Apr 21, 2023•16 min•Season 2Ep. 10
If God is in control of everything that happens in the universe, where does that leave us as human beings? Do we have a say? Do we have any meaningful choice? Are we just robots? And if we make meaningful choices, where does that leave God and his sovereignty over the world? In the last episode of Thinking Theology we saw how God upholds the world at every moment. God is in control of everything. He’s in control of the natural world, human events, individual life, human decisions, including fait...
Mar 23, 2023•14 min•Season 2Ep. 9
Episode Intro What does God do? In the last few episodes of Thinking Theology we’ve been thinking about what God is like: what is his nature, what is his character and what he does. Last time we looked at God’s work in creation. But God not only created the world, he also sustains it, upholding it at every moment. In theology, that’s called providence. But what does it mean that God is upholding the world? What does he control? Is there anything outside his control? That’s what we’re thinking ab...
Feb 23, 2023•12 min•Season 2Ep. 8
Thinking Theology is starting again and alongside the normal 15–20 minute episodes looking at key theological topics will be interviews with others that build out some of those topics. As a bit of taster of what’s to come, here’s the first interview with my colleague Dr Ian Maddock. Ian’s an expert on John Wesley and George Whitefield, two towering figures in the history of evangelical Christianity. But they’re also two figures who disagreed over the doctrine of election—whether God chooses peop...
Jan 26, 2023•57 min•Season 2Ep. 7
In that last episode of Thinking Theology we began to look at the actions of God, and we began with God’s act of creation. God created everything that is, on his own, without help from anyone else. He made the world for his own sake and purpose. He made it by speaking. He made it good. It’s separate from him but it depends completely on him for its continued existence. God’s creation of the world also establishes his authority over us and our obligation to him. But what we didn’t get to consider...
Nov 18, 2021•23 min•Season 2Ep. 6
Links Two Ways to Live Episode Intro What does God do? In the last few episodes of Thinking Theology we’ve been thinking about what God is like: what is his nature and what is his character. But in this and the next few episodes we’re moving on to think about what God has done and what he continues to do. In this episode we’re thinking about what God has done in creating the world. What does the Bible tell us about creation and, importantly, how does that shape our life? That’s what we’re thinki...
Jun 16, 2021•23 min•Season 2Ep. 5
Episode Intro Over the last couple of episodes we’ve thought about the nature of God or what we’ve called the non-moral attributes of God. That is, we’ve focussed on his being. God is present everywhere, he knows everything, and so on. But in this episode we’re beginning to think about the character of God. What God is like to relate to? What is he like in personal terms? That’s what we’re thinking about in this episode of Thinking Theology. Podcast Intro Hi. My name is Karl Deenick. I’m a pasto...
May 17, 2021•16 min•Season 2Ep. 4
(the following transcript may contain errors) Episode Intro What is God like? What does he know? What does he control? Where is he? What is his relationship to time? Those are the kinds of questions we began looking at in the last episode of Thinking Theology. In the last episode we began looking at what are often called the attributes of God. We looked at some of the non-moral attributes: God’s self-existence, his eternity, omnipresence, omnipotence and sovereignty. In this episode we’re thinki...
Apr 08, 2021•29 min•Season 2Ep. 3
Transcript (the following transcript may contain errors) Episode Intro You and I know what it’s like to be a human being. We know that we can only ever be in one place at the one time. We know that one day we’re born without us even having any say in it. And then another day we’ll die. But what about God? What’s he like? That’s what we’re thinking about in this episode of Thinking Theology. Last time we began looking at the doctrine of God. In this episode we’re beginning to think about the natu...
Feb 17, 2021•24 min•Season 2Ep. 2
Transcript (the following transcript may contain errors) Episode Intro What is the most important question of theology? Surely, it’s the question, who is God? Who is the God who has revealed himself in the Bible and in Jesus? Who is he? What is he like? What has he done and what is he doing? Those are the questions of what is often called theology proper. The part of theology that looks at the person of God. Knowing God is the most important thing that we can ever do. Knowing God is not arbitrar...
Jan 26, 2021•21 min•Season 2Ep. 1
Links You can find out more about Vaccines and the use of fetal cells here: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/the-faqs-fetal-cells-covid-19-vaccines-treatments/ Or about my guest Elissa Deenick here: https://www.garvan.org.au/people/elidee https://med.unsw.edu.au/our-people/elissa-deenick Transcript (the following transcript was automatically generated from a transcription service and may contain errors) Karl Deenick (00:00): Living as faithful Christians in the world means not only und...
Dec 02, 2020•44 min•Season 1Ep. 18
Episode Intro “God told me that he wants you to a missionary.” “God has put it on my heart to pray for you.” What do we do with statements like that? In the last few episodes of Thinking Theology we’ve been looking at God’s words in the Bible. The Bible is God’s words written for his people, by his Spirit, about his Son. The Bible is God’s authoritative word and we need to listen. The Bible is God’s powerful word. But does God still speak? And does he speak to us outside the Bible? That’s what w...
Nov 25, 2020•23 min•Season 1Ep. 17
What’s the most important thing you can say about the Bible? The Bible scholar and pastor, Peter Adam in his book, Written for Us, points out that there are lots of the topics that feature in theology courses on the Bible. Topics like the inerrancy of the Bible. That is, that the original manuscripts of the Bible are without error. And while topics like that are important and crucial, we don’t always do well at reflecting the things that the Bible says about itself. And one of the characteristic...
Nov 04, 2020•15 min•Season 1Ep. 16
Is the Bible clear? For some people, the answer to that question will be a resounding “no”. But should it be. Should we think of the Bible as unclear and hard to understand? In this episode of Thinking Theology we’re thinking about the clarity of the Bible. Is the Bible clear? Can the Bible be understood? If God is speaking to us in the Bible can we be sure that we understand him correctly? Can an infinite God communicate meaningfully so that finite human beings can understand? How can the Bible...
Oct 21, 2020•22 min•Season 1Ep. 15
What does it mean to say that the Bible is authoritative? If I say to my friends, “Let’s go fishing,” they may or may not listen to me. But if I a policeman says to me, “Show me your license”, I need to pay attention. Which kind of authority does the Bible have? That’s what we’re thinking about in this episode of thinking theology. What kind of authority does the Bible have? Should we listen to it? Should we listen to all of it or only some parts? And what kind of authority does it have compared...
Oct 07, 2020•17 min•Season 1Ep. 14
What is the Bible? Over the last few episodes we’ve been dealing with some of the introductory issues of the Bible. Where did the Bible come from? Who wrote it? And is it reliable? And yet while that’s important it still doesn’t tell us a whole lot about what the Bible really is. What is the Bible about? What it’s trying to achieve? What is its character? In this episode we're beginning to look at what the Bible says about what the Bible is. For further reading, see Peter Adam's book, Written fo...
Sep 16, 2020•20 min•Season 1Ep. 13
How do we know that the Bible is reliable? How do we know whether the words we have in our Bibles are the words that were written and how do we know that the words that we have describe real historical events? In this episode of Thinking Theology, we’re thinking about the question of the historical reliability of the New Testament. How do we know whether the events in the New Testament really happened? (Also available now is the Thinking Theology Daily Bible podcast. You can find it at: thinking...
Aug 26, 2020•18 min•Season 1Ep. 11
How do we know that the Bible is reliable? How do we know whether the words we have in our Bibles are the words that were written? In this episode of Thinking Theology we’re thinking about whether the manuscripts of the New Testament are a reliable record of what was first written or have they been changed over the centuries? For more info, check out: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justin-taylor/an-interview-with-daniel-b-wallace-on-the-new-testament-manuscripts/ https://www.thegospelc...
Aug 12, 2020•20 min•Season 1Ep. 10
Some people love it and some people hate it, but since starting the Thinking Theology podcast there’s one question that has come up over and over again. What is with that music? What is the music? Who wrote it? And why one earth is it so dramatic? For more of Mozart's Requiem, check out: https://open.spotify.com/album/62TBuvIWwGvb1Y9P7NShjd https://tidal.com/browse/album/4322228...
Aug 07, 2020•6 min•Season 1Ep. 9
How do we know that the Bible is reliable? How do we know whether the words we have in our Bibles are the words that were written and how do we know that the words that we have describe real historical events? In this episode of Thinking Theology we’re thinking about the reliability of the Old Testament both in terms of the manuscripts that we have and the external archaeological evidence that gives us confidence in the historical events described in those manuscripts.
Jul 29, 2020•14 min•Season 1Ep. 8
The Bible is not simply one book but 66 smaller books from all different times, places, cultures and languages all with one message. But where did they all come from? Who wrote them? And how did we end up with those 66 books? Over the last two episodes we’ve been thinking about those questions. We’ve thought about the Old Testament, who wrote it and how it was collected together, and then about who wrote the New Testament and when. In this episode we’re thinking about how the books in the New Te...
Jul 16, 2020•19 min•Season 1Ep. 7
The Bible is often thought of as one book, but it’s actually 66 little books of all different types and kinds. But where did they all come from, who wrote them, and how did we end up with those 66 books? Last episode we looked at the 39 books that make up the Old Testament. In this episode we’re focussing on the New Testament; where those 27 books came from and who wrote them.
Jun 24, 2020•18 min•Season 1Ep. 6
The Bible is often thought of as one book, but it’s actually 66 little books of all different types and kinds. But where did they all come from, who wrote them, and how did we end up with those 66 books? In this episode and next episode, we’re thinking about the composition of the Bible or what is often called the Canon—the collection of books that are accepted as being genuine and inspired by God. In this episode we’re focussing on the Old Testament; we’re those 39 books came from, who wrote th...
Jun 11, 2020•21 min•Season 1Ep. 5
The Bible Alone: It was one of the key ideas of the 16th-century Christian Reformation. But was does that mean? We saw in episode 1 that theology ought to be biblical. But what about the Holy Spirit? What’s his role in revealing God’s truth to us? And what about the church? Does the church have authority to make statements about what is true or false? What do we make of creeds, confessions and the decisions of church councils?In this episode of Thinking Theology we’re looking at what the Bible s...
May 27, 2020•20 min•Season 1Ep. 4
Baptism, election and predestination, the role of women in church, how the return of Jesus will take place, homosexuality, the virgin birth, the bodily resurrection of Jesus, even the divinity of Jesus—all those are issues that people who claim to be Christians disagree on. But someone must be right. Yet does it really matter? Can’t we just all agree to get along? Can’t we just agree to disagree? Do we have to draw lines? And if so, where do we draw them and how? In this episode of Thinking Theo...
May 13, 2020•18 min•Season 1Ep. 3
The second episode of Thinking Theology looks at how to do theology. It looks at exegetical, biblical, systematic, historical and practical theology, what they are and how we use them to understand God, the world and ourselves better. Another great resource to look at this article by Don Carson: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/the-bible-and-theology-don-carson-nivzsb/
Apr 29, 2020•18 min•Season 1Ep. 2
