den Dulk Lectures

THE ROBERT G. AND NELLIE B. DEN DULK LECTURES ON PASTORAL MINISTRY

The Pastor as Apologist, Theologian, & Bible Scholar

How What You Learn in Seminary Can Inform Your Preaching

with REV. DR. KIM RIDDLEBARGER

LECTURE SERIES:

Preaching and Apologetics

Preaching and Systematic Theology

Preaching and Biblical Theology

Audio and video from the 2021 den Dulk Lectures are available online on the WSC website or Youtube page. I n 1993, Westminster Seminary California established the Robert G. and Nellie B. den Dulk Lectures on Pastoral Ministry in honor of Dr. den Dulk and his wife, who both were instrumental in the founding of the seminary. The annual lecture series brings an experienced pastor to campus each year to address current and future ministers in order to encourage them and offer wise counsel regarding the rigors and joys of shepherding Christ’s flock. The seminary established the lectures in appreciation for the den Dulks’ years of service to WSC and in recognition of their passion for the preparation of pastors to preach the Word of God faithfully and powerfully. Over nearly three decades, the “den Dulk Lectures” have become one of the highlights of the academic calendar for the seminary community.

The 2020 den Dulk Lectures were scheduled to be held last spring with special guest Rev. Dr. Kim Riddlebarger. Sadly, the seminary had to cancel the lectures due to the pandemic. Thankfully, Rev. Riddlebarger agreed to deliver the 2021 den Dulk Lectures on the theme, “The Pastor as Apologist, Theologian, and Bible Scholar: How What You Learn in Seminary Can Inform Your Preaching.” Currently serving as Visiting Professor of Systematic Theology at WSC, Rev. Riddlebarger served as senior pastor of Christ Reformed Church (URC) in Anaheim, California, from 1995 until his retirement in December 2020. He also served as co-host of popular radio/internet talk show “The White Horse Inn” alongside WSC professor Michael Horton. Rev. Riddlebarger is an alumnus of WSC. He later earned his Ph.D. from Fuller Theological Seminary, where he worked under Richard Muller.

Spanning April 6-8, 2021, Rev. Riddlebarger delivered three lectures to students, titled “Preaching and Apologetics,” “Preaching and Systematic Theology,” and “Preaching and Biblical Theology.” The seminary community was thrilled that local regulations allowed students, faculty, staff, and local friends of WSC to attend the lectures in person, though people around the world were able to view them live online. After the final lecture, Rev. Riddlebarger spent time with students in order to field their questions and share his wisdom on pastoral ministry. Such interaction between the guest speaker and WSC students is a hallmark of the annual den Dulk Lectures and a highlight of the week for students.

CARL TRUEMAN TEACHING SUMMER COURSE

Westminster Seminary California is pleased to announce that Dr. Carl Trueman will teach a summer course on the topic of his recent book, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to Sexual Revolution (Crossway). The big questions of our day are questions of identity, particularly sexual identity. Yet to address these questions in an appropriate manner, we need to understand how the various intuitions and ideas that shape our thinking on identity have come to take the forms they have. In this course, Trueman will lead students in exploring the origins and development of modern identity politics and reflecting on how this affects the church, as well as how Christians should respond. This course will take WSC students behind the veil of the cultural context into which they will enter the ministry.

Trueman’s The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self has received widespread acclaim and publicity, including winning The Gospel Coalition’s 2020 award as the best book in the “Public Theology and Current Events” category. Rod Dreher, senior editor at The American Conservative and author of The Benedict Option, contributed the foreward. The book examines modern culture’s increasing obsession with identity. Sexual identity has dominated public discourse and cultural trends, especially since the landmark Obergefell v. Hodges U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2015. Yet the modern understanding of the self has far deeper historical and ideological roots. Trueman’s book traces these roots from Augustine to Marx and beyond. Trueman argues that the sexual revolution is a symptom of the search for identity, not the cause. His book brings clarity to the present by surveying the past and offers a remedy for the future from a biblical perspective.

“This volume will richly reward readers who don’t mind thinking hard about important (though sometimes unpleasant) topics.”

DAVID VANDRUNEN

In addition to serving as Visiting Professor of Church History at WSC, Trueman also serves as Professor of Biblical and Religious Studies at Grove City College. Previously, he was the William E. Simon Fellow in Religion and Public Life at Princeton University. The course will take place August 10-13, 2021, on the WSC campus. Also scheduled for this summer at WSC, David VanDrunen will teach a course based on his recent award-winning book, Politics after Christendom: Political Theology in a Fractured World (Zondervan Academic).

SEMINARY

for a DAY

VISIT. MEET.

LEARN. EXPLORE.

This is a free, campus-wide event that is all about prospective student visitors and offers a unique opportunity to experience seminary life. Join us at one of our upcoming events! SEP. 17, 2021 | OCT. 29, 2021 JAN. 14, 2022 | MARCH 11, 2022