The Speakers Ready to Confess or Die
Carl Trueman
What kind of man is Carl Trueman? He's the departmental chair of Church History at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia but he's also a relentless blogger. In one post recently on reformation21.org Carl made some more startling admissions about how he is regarded by the more extreme poles of the Christian community. He confessed “I am the hapless lackey of right-wing Christian America ... a communist apologist for Islamic terrorism, a fundamentalist, a liar, a liberal (political and theological), an inveterate street fighter, a spineless girlyman, and a symptom of the crisis in American higher education...”
In short, Carl is controversial. His thought leadership—through the academic journal Themelios, and through books such as the Wages of Spin—has made Carl one of the genuine brains behind the rise of New Calvinism in the United States. A native of Birmingham in the UK, he now lives in Oreland, a suburb of Philadelphia, with his wife and two sons.
John McClean
John was born into a tradition that clung to the historic confessions like limpets: the Presbyterian Church of Eastern Australia (the “Free Church”). Having graduated with honours from Moore Theological College he pastored the Cowra Presbyterian Church for many years.
Today he lectures in Systematic Theology at Presbyterian Theological Centre in Burwood. He is married to Elizabeth and lives in the Blue Mountains with their two children. He is currently working on a PhD in theology and is Book Reviews Editor of the online journal Crucible. John also teaches in the areas of Christian Thought, Systematic Theology, Philosophy, Christian Worldview, Ethics and Biblical Theology of Mission. In this time he's come to the view that the more robust the confession of faith, the less Christians will bicker, and the more they'll get on with the job.
Mark Thompson
Since Mark joined the faculty at Moore Theological College in 1991, the doctrinal basis of global Anglicanism has come under closer scrutiny with each passing year. His main teaching field has become systematic theology and he's also the Academic Dean at the college.
His recent book Clear and Present Word: The Clarity of Scripture has become a talking point amongst many missional thinkers including Tim Keller. He believes that reaffirming the historic doctrines of Scripture will lead to fresh confidence for evangelists and pastors. Mark's work on Luther and his doctrine of Scripture in Oxford earned him his PhD. Today he lives in the inner city suburb of Newtown along with his wife and four children.
Geoff Tacon
Geoff Tacon became a Christian while studying at university. Since then, he's been involved in evangelising students and training emerging leaders with the Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students. He is married to Jayne, has three daughters, and spends his days reading the Scriptures with university students at Griffith University on the Gold Coast in Queensland. His goal is that students might become wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. He and his family are proud members of Arundel Presbyterian Church.
He's convinced that “Christians are built up by listening to God's Word and putting it into practice.” As a signatory to the AFES statement of faith, he also believes that a robust statement of Christian doctrine is the backbone of any healthy ministry.
Chris Balzer
Chris is a Minister of the Presbyterian Church of Australia, and has been since 1975. He has served in 3 parishes, 15 years in the longest of those and 13 years teaching full-time at the Presbyterian Theological Centre, Sydney, primarily Systematic and Historical Theology. He has a keen interest in seeing Presbyterians engage both in local and global mission, having served in mission himself in Vanuatu through Australian Presbyterian World Mission for 2 years. He is now enjoying retirement. He's also very interested in leveraging the great Westminster Confession to see Christians grow in their faith more confidently. For one of his two Master's degrees the thesis topic was: “Australian Presbyterians And The Westminster Confession Of Faith 1823–1901”.