The Bibliofile Podcast Intro

Introduction

Thank you for tuning in to the introduction episode of the Bibliofile Podcast with Corey Ramsey

I am your host Corey Ramsey and in the first episode we will be going over things concerning the nature of this podcast.

Such as what will this podcast be about

Why did I choose the name that I did

How often I plan to release episodes

Who am I and why did I even decide to make a podcast

and finally the first book that we will be going through.

I am very glad that you have decided to join me for the beginning of hopefully a long journey into the depths of Reformed Theology and I hope that you are blessed through this program as I am sure I will be in making it.

Without further ado, lets get started!

What will this Podcast be about?

Seeing the logo and reading the name of the Podcast, you are probably wondering what to expect from this program.

The Bibleofile Podcast will be a program that goes through Reformed Theology books chapter by chapter or section by section such as:

Systematic Theologies

Biblical Theologies

The Puritans

Works of the Reformers

and different books that may gain interest in the Reformed Theology tradition

This podcast will be something like a book club,

You have the option of following along with us as we read through and enjoy these great books of the reformed tradition or..

If you just want to tune in and hear a discussion on theology, that will be cool as well.

If you are not reading along in the book, this podcast will be just as beneficial for you as the person reading the book.

The Bibleofile Podcast

Now that you know what the podcast will be about, I think its a good idea to explain the name I chose for it.

What is a bibliophile?

A bibliophile spelled b.i.b.l.i.o.p.h.i.l.e is someone that loves reading books or collecting books.

Since I have been saved, I have really found that I enjoy reading theology books and have been working to build a collection.

Since the books I like to read are the Bible and Bible related books, I changed the spelling of the world bibliophile to incorperate the world Bible in it.

You will also notice that I changed the end of the word from phile and file.

A file has multiple meanings

It dictionary defines it as a crafty or artful person or..

A collection of papers or materials kept in a convenient order.

Long story short, I am a crafty and artful person who loves reading The Bible and the many different published materials relating to it.

This is how I came up with the name for the Bibleofile Podcast.

How often I plan to release episodes?

I plan to release episodes for this podcast once a week every Wednesday

The episodes that I will be releasing will be between a half an hour to an hour and will be going through the topic or chapter that was scheduled to be read for that current week.

For those following along with the reading, the topic or chapter that will be read next will be mentioned a week before it is discussed on the show.

These episodes will be available on your favorite podcast networks such as Spotify, Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts, and more.

Who am I and why did I decide to make this Podcast?

My name is Corey Ramsey and I have been saved for over 6 years now

I met my amazing wife in the first real church that I joined and we have been married for three lovely years now

We also have one daughter who we count as a wonderful blessing from God

I don’t know exactly the moment I was saved, but about 6 years ago a friend of mine had recommended that I watch a Paul Washer sermon on YouTube

This Paul Washer sermon was the first time I really heard the gospel presented in such a serious and important way and I realized that apart from Christ, I had no hope

Around this time, my life changed dramatically and it was apparent to everyone that knew me

I became obsessed with understanding the Bible and wanted to serve God in anyway that I could

I joined the only church that I had remembered from my past life, and as a new Christian, I must say the reasons I joined it were carnal

They had a nice big clean building and the music was extremely professional and top of the line

I instantly started serving in the Youth ministry where God used the person in charge to help me grow in love and devotion in the faith

It didn’t take long before I realized the church was not going to work for me

The sermons were very shallow, no mention of the gospel, barely any exposition of the Scriptures

I recall listening to a sermon where I don’t think the name of Jesus was mentioned even once.

This led to a spiritual draught and my answer was to go to school for Biblical Studies and Theology at Liberty University

It was here that I learned what the church should be like and after a short period in study, I decided it was time to find another church

I looked around, showed up at a church of Christ which I didn’t relate to very well

At this moment in time, I was very unsure of any kinds of doctrine or what any denomination necessarily believed, otherwise I would not have showed up at a church of Christ

That Sunday, I didn’t care too much for that church and thought I still have time to make it to the church up the street for their service to see what its like

The moment I walked in the door, I saw the woman who would be my future wife singing on the stage

I sat down and heard a gospel sermon preached in person for the first time

I liked what I heard and decided to come back where the next few times I came, I heard the gospel preached and Christ highly exalted

This was exactly what I had been looking for

I decided to learn more about the church and this is where the term “Calvinist” was mentioned to me

I had heard the term before but wasn’t too sure what it meant

I decided to look into it and it was here where I instantly had my mind blown by the sovereignty of God in salvation where I felt like I was born again, again

This led to me a strong fascination in Reformed Theology in which this podcast is a fruit of

Since my entry into Reformed Theology, I have found that the 1689 London Baptist of Confession of faith most accurately describes where I stand theologically

More recently, I have done some preaching at homeless shelters and still continue to teach the youth from time to time

I had also created a YouTube channel in which you can find by searching my name Corey A. Ramsey

I decided to start with creating little videos explaining Calvinism in which so far I have only made it through Limited Atonement because I am not a fan of the whole video recording and editing process

One of my first videos on Total Depravity was found by a strong opponent of Calvinism, Leighton Flowers in which he did a video about an hour long critiquing my video

This led me to believe that the online thing worked for me but I wanted to find another way to produce content being I am not fond of making videos

This led me to The Bibleofile Podcast, which I believe will be a lot more manageable than the YouTube channel

As a means of a final disclaimer before we move any further.

I am not a Doctor in Biblical Studies nor even a Master of Divinity for that matter.

I am not excellent in the Biblical Languages although I do have some experience and know what I am looking at for the most part when it comes to them

The highest level of education I have is my Bachelors degree in Biblical Studies and Theology from Liberty and I also have taken a few classes at Southern Seminary for my Mdiv before realizing that working a full-time job and also being a husband and father didn’t give me the time I needed to continue

With this being said, my studies have not stopped and I plan to continue reading and learning as if I were still in school

I am still a fallible human being capable of error but committed to aligning with what the Bible teaches on any given topic and maintaining biblical orthodoxy

I believe that many of you who tune into this podcast will share in my passion for knowing God regardless of what level of education you have

The first book for this show

Now that you know what the podcast will be about, how I got the name, when I will release the episodes, and who in the world is Corey Ramsey, now its time to talk about the first book that we will be going through.

The Wonderful Works of God: Instruction in the Christian Religion according to the Reformed Confession by Herman Bavinck will be first on the order of business for multiple reasons.

First of all, when the book was released in 2019, all of the Facebook groups were going crazy over this book talking about how great it was which initially sparked my interest.

Next, it appears that Herman Bavinck seems to be one of the most liked theologians amongst the theologians today

Since his works have been translated from Dutch into English, it appears that it was become a popular book used by different seminaries

I am sure there are more reasons but the main reason I chose this book is because it is supposed to be geared towards the lay reader and very easy to understand.

I figured it would be good to start with something of this nature before working into more complex books in the future.

You can find this book for the best price on Reformation Heritage Books where I found it on sale for 28.00 versus like 50 on amazon

If you are following along with us, we will begin with Chapter 1 in the book titled “Mans Highest Good.”

Feel free to read the introduction and preface on your own as I don’t plan to spend a whole episode on those parts

Conclusion

This concludes the first episode by means of a short introduction

As I have mentioned earlier, you can expect the future episodes to be around a half an hour to an hour depending on the topic

Before I go, I want to invite you to check out the website at www.thebibleofile.com where you can find more information about the podcast, purchase merchandise, as well as links to where you can follow us on social media

Also on the website is a link to The Bibleofile Podcast Facebook group that you can join and discuss the show as well as topics mentioned in the show

We will end with this passage of Scripture from Revelation 1:5-6

Revelation 1:5–6 ESV

and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.