The McKrakenCast
Episodes
Thursday Apr 01, 2021
Part 3 - Scots Confession, History & Theology
Thursday Apr 01, 2021
Thursday Apr 01, 2021
This is Part 3 in a series of adult education (Sunday School) classes that I taught at St. Charles Presbyterian Church (USA) in the early months of 2020. It provides a fairly thorough discussion of the Scots Confession's history and theology targeted (hopefully, effectively so) at the generally educated churchgoer. Part 3 continues exploring the background of the Scots Confession. It deals with John Calvin and the Swiss Reformation, including Calvin's teachings on the knowledge of God, as well as providing a very brief overview of the English Reformation. It also explores chapters 11 - 15 in the confession itself, addressing topics like Christ's intercession at the right hand of the Father, the afterlife, faith, "total depravity," "good" works and merit, and the Christian's ongoing struggle against sin.
This is Part 3 in a 5-part series. You can find the series index here. Click here for the blog post corresponding to this episode, and click here to access this content on YouTube.
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I write books. I run a blog. I have a YouTube channel. I teach.
Tuesday Jan 26, 2021
Barth's "Göttingen Dogmatics" - §4: Man and His Question
Tuesday Jan 26, 2021
Tuesday Jan 26, 2021
The androcentric nature of Barth's language notwithstanding, in this section he addresses the human condition and the "contradiction" at the heart of our existence, as well as reflecting on how it can be that God encounters us in the midst of that contradiction as "the answer to our question" (Diktatsatz).
This is part 5 of a multi-part series. You can find the series index here. Click here for the blog post corresponding to this episode, and click here to access this content on YouTube.
I begin the audio recordings by reading Barth’s Diktatsatz, so I will begin reproducing that here as well. The bold is mine and indicates where I find emphasis:
God's revelation, which is the basis of Christian preaching, is the answer to our question how we can overcome the contradiction in our existence, which we have to view not as our destiny but as our responsible act, and which we know that we cannot overcome. But we know ourselves in this regard only as God makes himself known to us. We would not ask about God had God not already answered us. Because of this, we can neither evade the question about God nor settle it in any sense.
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I write books. I run a blog. I have a YouTube channel. I teach.
Monday Jun 17, 2019
My Top 5 books of 2018
Monday Jun 17, 2019
Monday Jun 17, 2019
I read a lot of books in 2018. Here are my top 5.
The original tweet:
https://twitter.com/WTravisMcMaken/status/1079844334571347970
Also on Youtube: https://youtu.be/JnJypQXwqEc
Featured books:
Taylor, “From BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation” – DET post: http://derevth.blogspot.com/2018/03/what-am-i-reading-keeanga-yamahtta.html
Cone, “Martin & Malcolm & America” – DET post: http://derevth.blogspot.com/2018/05/brief-book-note-james-cones-martin.html
Niebuhr, “Moral Man and Immoral Society” - https://www.amazon.com/Reinhold-Niebuhr-Immoral-Society-Politics/dp/B00HTK2CQ4/
Brown, “Ransom of the Soul” – DET post: http://derevth.blogspot.com/2019/01/brief-book-note-peter-browns-ransom-of.html
Pedersen, “The Eternal Covenant” – DET post: http://derevth.blogspot.com/2019/03/brief-book-note-pedersens-eternal.html
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I write books! Check them out here:
https://www.amazon.com/W.-Travis-McMaken/e/B00CHN7FWE/
I run a blog! Check it out here:
http://derevth.blogspot.com/
I teach! Check me out here:
https://www.lindenwood.edu/about/directories/faculty-staff-directory/details/WTMcMaken/
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Music credit:
Sliabh - Cathal by Aislinn is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License.
Wednesday Apr 24, 2019
John Calvin and the Natural Knowledge of God (How I Read John Calvin, part 2)
Wednesday Apr 24, 2019
Wednesday Apr 24, 2019
This is part two in a three-part series on How I Read John Calvin. It tackles the issue of whether it is possible - within the context of Calvin's theology - to know God on the basis of human rationality and observation of the world. Truth in advertising: Karl Barth makes an appearance.