The Westminster Podcast

What does it actually mean to fight a spiritual war? In the second installment of Dissecting the Heart, Pierce Taylor Hibbs and Alfred Poirier explore David Powlison’s approach to spiritual warfare, and why both secular psychology and deliverance ministries can miss the deepest battleground: the human heart. Rather than looking for demons to cast out or psychological explanations that remove human agency, Powlison returns to Scripture’s ordinary but powerful pattern of spiritual warfare: repent, believe, and resist.

Along the way, they discuss Satan as a “God mimic,” the absence of spiritual neutrality, the surprising hope found in calling sin what it is, and why sound theology must actually transform the way Christians live. The result is a vision of spiritual warfare that is less sensational than we might expect, but far more pervasive: a daily battle to turn from sin, trust the promises of Christ, and live by faith in the midst of a fallen world.

You can preorder ⁠Dissecting the Heart here⁠.

If you enjoy this episode, you can access tons of content just like this at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wm.wts.edu⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. If you would like to join us in our mission to train specialists in the Bible for Christ and His global church, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wts.edu/donate⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

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What difference should Reformed theology actually make in the counseling room? In this archival lecture, Jay Adams argues that biblical counseling must begin with the sovereignty of God and the sufficiency of his Word. Working through the five points of Calvinism, Adams explores how doctrines such as total depravity, election, particular redemption, effectual calling, and perseverance shape the Christian counselor’s understanding of human nature, genuine change, and the hope of sanctification.

If you enjoy this episode, you can access tons of content just like this at wm.wts.edu. If you would like to join us in our mission to train specialists in the bible to proclaim the whole counsel of God for Christ and his global church, visit wts.edu/donate.

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Modern culture is saturated with the language of psychology. Words like identity, trauma, boundaries, self-esteem, and triggers shape how many people understand themselves, their relationships, and even their suffering. But what happens when those categories begin to replace the Bible's own understanding of the human heart?

In the first episode of this three-part series on Dissecting the Heart, a posthumous volume from David Powlison, Pierce Taylor Hibbs sits down with Dr. Alfred Poirier to explore what Powlison called our "psychologized culture." Together they discuss how modern psychology has reshaped the church's assumptions about counseling, why pastors have increasingly ceded soul care to mental health professionals, and how the gospel offers resources that no secular therapeutic model can provide. Along the way, they reflect on Powlison's extraordinary ministry, the recovery of biblical counseling at Westminster, and the church's calling to once again become a place where wounded people find genuine hope in Christ.

You can preorder Dissecting the Heart here.

If you enjoy this episode, you can access tons of content just like this at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wm.wts.edu⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. If you would like to join us in our mission to train specialists in the Bible for Christ and His global church, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wts.edu/donate⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

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What does it mean to preach the whole Bible as Christian Scripture? In this lecture, former Westminster president Edmund P. Clowney turns to Jesus’ description of the scribe of the kingdom who brings from his treasure “things new and old” to explore the task of Christian preaching. For Clowney, the preacher announces something genuinely new—the arrival of God’s kingdom and the renewal of all things in Christ—while proclaiming the fulfillment of promises God has been unfolding from the beginning.

Clowney warns against reducing the Old Testament to moral lessons or examples to imitate. Instead, he calls preachers to locate every passage within the history of redemption, showing how the judges, sacrifices, prophets, kings, and promises prepare for Jesus Christ. And that movement works in both directions: we preach the Old Testament in light of the New and understand the New Testament in light of the Old, as both testify to the one unfolding work of God in Christ.

If you enjoy this episode, you can access tons of content just like this at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wm.wts.edu⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. If you would like to join us in our mission to train specialists in the bible to proclaim the whole counsel of God for Christ and his global church, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wts.edu/donate⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

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What does apologetics have to do with preaching?

In this episode of the Westminster Podcast, Nate Shannon talks with Dr. Rob Edwards about his new book, Pulpit Apologetics: A Christ-Centered Apologetic for Gospel Proclamation. Drawing on the apologetic tradition of Cornelius Van Til and his own years of pastoral ministry, Edwards argues that preaching and apologetics belong together more closely than we often assume.

Their conversation explores the apologetic character of the Apostle Paul’s preaching, the relationship between God’s Word and the world he created, and why apologetics should not be reduced to a specialized discipline for experts. Instead, the proclamation of Christ itself creates apologetic encounters, calling believers and unbelievers alike to reckon with the truth of God’s Word.

Edwards also considers what this means practically for the pulpit: how pastors can engage contemporary unbelief without allowing the culture to set the terms of the conversation, why biblical preaching must aim deeper than merely being “relevant,” and how the preacher can press the claims of Christ upon both the mind and the conscience.

Ultimately, apologetics is not simply about winning arguments. It is about bearing witness to Jesus Christ. A truly Christian apologetic therefore shares the goal of Christian preaching: to proclaim Christ and call sinners to repentance, faith, and reconciliation with God through him.

Get a copy of Pulpit Apologetics: A Christ-Centered Apologetic for Gospel Proclamation here.

If you enjoy this episode, you can access tons of content just like this at wm.wts.edu. If you would like to join us in our mission to train specialists in the bible to proclaim the whole counsel of God for Christ and his global church, visit wts.edu/donate.

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