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The Theology of John Wesley

By Victor Shepherd in Audio, Tyndale Seminary Courses on May 19, 2014.

Is Jesus the Only Way to God?
	*Victor Shepherd* Published by Regent Audio Format: Cassette (1 tape) Product Number: RG3151

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The Theology of Martin Luther Volumes 1 and 2
	*Victor Shepherd* Published by Regent Audio (2001) Format: Cassette (26 Tapes) Product Number: RG3174S
A colossus who bestrides the early-to-mid Sixteenth Century, Luther is the single most formative thinker of the Magisterial Protestant Reformation. His output is prodigious, his Works filling more than fifty large volumes. Best known for his 1520 tract, The Freedom of the Christian, Luther wrote on virtually every topic that touch his understanding of the Christian faith, from how to correct recalcitrant children to the manner of Christ’s presence in the Eucharist. Unquestionably a major expositor of Scripture and a master of doctrinal articulation, he yet knew that amidst all our theological diligence we must ever hear the “voice” of that babe whom no one should confuse with the manger in which he lies (Scripture) yet who can never be found apart from it.

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Luther’s ‘Theologia Crucis’
	*Victor Shepherd* Published by Regent Audio (2003) Format: Compact Disc (1 CD) Product Number: RGCD3335C
Always aware that Word and Spirit are conjoined, this man of the Word lived intensely in the Spirit. Few understood better than he that “we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers.” Assailed from without and from within throughout his turbulent career as a Reformer, Luther was intimately with Anfechtung (assault, temptation, trial). While what he saw contradicted the gospel, his “theology of the cross” left him hearing his Lord’s “voice”. Therein he possessed the comfort of that “caretaker who lies in a cradle and rests on a virgin’s bosom, yet nevertheless sits at the right hand of God, the Father almighty.”

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Spirituality of Luther
	*Victor Shepherd* Published by Regent Audio Format: Compact Disc (4 CD’s) Product Number: RGCD3166S
A discussion of Luther’s ‘Theologia Crucis’ (Theology of the Cross). In the image of the cross, the world perceives shame, weakness, folly, condemnation, sin and death. Victor Shepherd contrasts the world’s perceptions of the cross with the truth revealed as the consumate event of God’s glory, strength, wisdom, acquittal, righteousness and life. He distinguishes ‘theologia crucis’ from a ‘theologia gloriae’, and elaborates the implications of a theologia crucis.

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Hans Urs von Balthasar’s “Prayer” A Theological Investigation
	*Victor Shepherd* Published by Regent Audio Format: Cassette (4 tapes) Product Number: RG3154S
Balthasar’s “Prayer” is a theological investigation that approaches the topic from several angles: the doctrine of the Trinity, liturgy, the “encounter” understanding of Martin Buber, the place of mysticism and the role of reason. Protestants may be surprised at the Word-orientation of his discussion. All Christians are indebted to this thinker who exemplified expertise in liturgy, philosophy and theology, yet was most “at home” on his knees in adoration of his Lord.

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Why Should A Christian Study Philosophy?
	*Victor Shepherd* Published by Regent Audio Format: Cassette (2 tapes) Product Number: RG3041A

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Philosophy for Understanding Theology
	*Victor Shepherd* Regent Audio Order compact disc from Regent Bookstore ISBN: RG3041S
This series is an exploration of the vital and dynamic relationship between the study of philosophy and the study of theology. The course begins with a well-argued defense of the Christian study of philosophy. Yet, the balance of the material is devoted to a survey of the more significant interactions between philosophy and theology down through the centuries.

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Theology of John Wesley
	*Victor Shepherd* Regent Audio order from Regent Bookstore ISBN: RG3053S
Victor Shepherd challenges the misconception that the Wesleyan tradition is theologically indifferent or fuzzy. Beginning with a description of how the Wesleyan tradition thinks theologically, Shepherd then considers John Wesley’s own spiritual and theological development. The majority of the course explores various Wesleyan theological themes including: salvation by grace, money & the danger of riches, the arrears of sin in believers, and the final deliverance of believers.

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The Theology of John Calvin
	*Victor Shepherd* Regent Audio 24 tapes ISBN: RG3054S
John Calvin was first of all a preacher and pastor, then an exegete (the best of the Reformation), then a theologian, and finally a civic leader and city administrator. The Institutes, however, remains his single largest work and that by which he is commonly identified. He wrote it both as a primer for students of theology as well as reassurance for the French king that Protestants were not seditious. This series seeks to acquaint the listener with the major aspects of Calvin’s theology as organized in the final edition of his Institutes of the Christian Religion (1559).

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Calvin and Predestination
	*Victor Shepherd* Published by Regent Audio (2001) Format: Compact Disc (2 CD’s) Product Number: RGCD3054J
Pilloried and praised in equal measure for his doctrine of predestination, Calvin knew how the doctrine was supposed to function: it brings unspeakable comfort to those assailed by persecution from without and by sin from within. Tirelessly he insisted, “Predestination, rightly understood, brings no shaking of faith but rather its best confirmation.” (Institutes 3.24.9). Yet when he came to discuss the doctrine itself, Calvin appeared to contradict himself in such crucial areas as Trinity, Christology and Pneumatology. Did he understand the doctrine rightly? Are the doctrinal contradictions merely apparent? Shepherds lectures articulate both an appreciation of the ethos of the doctrine in Reformed churchmanship and a criticism of its problematic logic.

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The Spirituality of Wesley
	*Victor Shepherd* Published by Regent Audio (2001) Format: Compact Disc (4 CD’s) order from Regent Bookstore Product Number: RGCD3171S
“God can do something with sin beyond forgiving it,” the earliest followers of John Wesley reminded each other; “God can deliver us from its power over us.” Forgiveness is relief of sin’s guilt; sanctification or holiness, release from sin’s grip. While not undervaluing justification by faith (this truth marked the “Aldersgate” turning point in his life), Wesley highlighted holiness of heart and life as characterizing the Methodist ethos. A pretended holiness of heart alone would be more sentimental indulgence; of life alone, mere legalistic exertion. Justification gives us the right to heaven, Wesley always insisted, while holiness renders us fit to “see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14), the destiny of God’s people that Wesley constantly kept before them.