Conversations in Theology

In the past few years, I've taken part in a few conversations in theology on Puritanboard. At some point, I had thought I might edit each conversation to be more readable as a blog post. Life, my thoughts, and reading habits tend to move too rapidly for that to happen, though, so any polish I plan to add to those conversations will have to wait until and unless I synthesize them in a future book. Instead, I'll simply link to several of them - some of which also have further links I will leave to the reader to decide if they are worth the time - and provide a brief synopsis of some content covered. I also group multiple threads under similar topics:

Is Studying EO Worth It? If So, How? - when is it worth investing time in studying EO? How should one go about it if it is worth it?

Person/Nature Distinction - what is the distinction, and why is it useful to know?

What is Nestorianism? - and who is one?

Van Til and "Common Ground" - what "common ground" did Van Til think there was between believers and unbelievers? Mathison's posts are worth reading.

The Authority of Scripture - what does this entail? Does the Bible legitimate exercise of authority that is not explicitly found in the Bible (like when I tell my son to go to bed)?

Chalcedonian Christology - a question on enhypostasis and immutability

Ignatius - how should a Protestant understand references to an episcopate?

Deification - what is the Eastern Orthodox understanding of deification (theosis); how does it differ from sanctification in Reformed theology; a discussion of the Eastern Orthodox conception of the essence-energies distinction and apophaticism; a comparison of Eastern Orthodoxy and Reformed theology on the doctrine of God.

Narrative Apologetics - what is narrative apologetics; archetypal and ectypal storytelling (and storytellers); the meaning of the "word" of God.

Charles Hodge - the ground of the imputation of righteousness for which we are justified is union with Christ; debate with Matthew Winzer.

Original Sin and Apologetics - initial focus is on Eastern Orthodoxy and original sin; what to keep in mind when doing apologetics against Eastern Orthodoxy, with an emphasis on the early church; discussion pivots to a defense of the Reformed-realist view of original sin; debate with Matthew Winzer (cf. link and link for more conversations and debates on the realist view).

The Historical, Reformed View of Original Sin - what did the Reformers believe about original sin; reatus poena vs. reatus culpa; my defense of John Murray as correctly depicting the Reformed view against Charles Hodge; debate with Matthew Winzer (I expanded on this and the preceding link in a separate blog post).

Gordon Clark - an exposition of Clark's thought (with reference to unpublished material); critique of Clark as well as his 1940s interlocutors on alethiology and metaphysics; discussion of natural theology, univocal knowledge, Creator-creature distinction, a two-fold theory of truth, theology proper, and the historicity and [ir]relevance of certain theological terms to the 1940s debate; clarification of Clark's view and debate with various posters and interaction with Reformed authors who disagree with Clark; brief excuses on the realist view of original sin.

Presuppositionalism - the meaning of presuppositions and foundations; the scope of human understanding; apologetics.

Divine Simplicity - what is divine simplicity (cf. link); historical models allowable within Reformed theology; critique of Dolezal and Thomistic models (cf. link); tentative acceptance of Scotist model (formally distinct divine attributes).

Epistemology, Apologetics, and Full Assurance - varieties of presuppositionalism (cf. link); articulation and argumentation (cf. link for a conversation with more detail on epistemology and link for a recommendation to keep real-world apologetics concrete).

Images of God - symbols of the Trinity, words, and the 10 commandments.

The Covenant of Works - counter-factual reasoning, speculation, and underdetermination; eschatology; denial of felix culpa.

Imputation and Atonement - why pecuniary atonement and imputation of sin to Christ are wrong (cf. link); the nature of faith and infant salvation; the difference in meaning between the intent, application, and nature of Christ's sacrifice (cf. link and link). 

Aimee Byrd - a caution for when and how to properly engage and label heretics.

Free will - definitions (cf. link); Gordon Clark's view.

Emotions - prelapsarianism; morality; Gordon Clark's view.

Reformed voluntarism - problems with the extremities of absolute divine voluntarism and necessitarianism.

Dyothelitism - subjects and natures; minds and wills; Christology.

Seminaries and Church Oversight - why aren't seminaries under church oversight if they serve an ecclesiastic function; practical vs. a priori reasoning.

Textual criticism - its relation to epistemology, apologetics, and assurance (cf. link).

Creation - [scientific] assumptions of effect-to-cause reasoning; analogies to other miracles; discussion on alethiology.

Imputation - this includes discussion of the nature, intent, and application of the atonement (cf. link, link).