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Winger identifies the translation's agenda as tied to the NAR/signs-and-wonders theological ecosystem.

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Winger searched Bible Hub to count how often specific terms appear in the PT versus ESV, NKJV, NIV, NASB.

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Winger notes the inconsistency of this addition as evidence of agenda-driven translation.

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Winger's overarching critique: Simmons preaches from his own translation, using the text he altered as proof.

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Winger notes anyone can confirm this without knowing Greek by checking multiple English translations.

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Consistency in translating the same word the same way is presented as a basic, non-negotiable translation standard.

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Winger questions whether the title 'Dr.' is meaningful in the context of Simmons's translation claims.

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Winger's response to a viewer asking whether it is proper to call the PT a Bible.

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Winger draws a rough parallel to frame the PT's departure from faithful translation.

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Winger distinguishes the NLT as a legitimate paraphrase-style translation in contrast to the PT.

Sexual sin is categorically worse than non-sexual sins according to 1 Corinthians 6, and comparing homosexuality to gluttony as though they are equivalent misuses the 'all sin is the same' argument.

Mike addresses a common rhetorical move in contemporary Christian discourse where sexual ethics are deflected by invoking other common sins.

Q&A: Advice to someone leaving the Catholic Church — seek a Bible-teaching, verse-by-verse church

Viewer named Alana asks where to go after leaving Catholicism

The one invalid way to use the Bible to prove itself is simple circularity: 'The Bible says it's God's Word, therefore it is.' This same logic could be applied to the Book of Mormon or the Quran, and Winger agrees with skeptics that this form of reasoning is illegitimate.

Winger cites Book of Moses 1:40-41 as an example of a text prophesying about itself (claiming Joseph Smith would restore corrupted scripture) when in fact Joseph Smith wrote that very text himself — making it a case of backdated, self-fulfilling prophecy rather than genuine authentication.

Surah 61:6 has Muhammad claim that Jesus predicted a messenger named 'Ahmad' (part of Muhammad's own name, which was not his birth name), placing a self-serving prophecy on Jesus' lips with no ancient corroboration. Winger presents this as an example of fabricated validation.

Claims from the biblical text can be tested against external archaeological evidence. Confirming one claim does not prove everything, but verification increases the text's historical credibility. When archaeology confirms a claim, it lends 'historicity' to the surrounding narrative.

Skeptical German scholarship (1700s) argued King David was a Jewish invention. The 1993-95 Tel Dan excavations uncovered a stele written by an Aramean king (~841 BC) referencing 'the house of David,' providing non-Jewish confirmation that the Davidic dynasty was real, refuting the invention hypothesis.

Some skeptics claimed Pontius Pilate was a Gospel fiction. The Pilate Stone (discovered 1961, dated AD 26-36) is a 2x3 foot inscription naming 'Pontius Pilate, Prefect of Judea,' providing secular confirmation of a key Gospel figure during the exact period of Jesus' ministry and crucifixion.

Beyond David and Pilate, archaeological and historical sources have confirmed the existence of Gallio, Erastus, Caiaphas, Annas, James the brother of Jesus, Peter, and Jesus himself — showing the NT was not fabricating characters wholesale.

Winger notes that skeptical scholars frequently assume biblical characters or events are fabricated while treating other ancient sources as valid by default. He characterizes this as an unjustified bias rather than sound historical methodology.

Textual criticism — comparing thousands of manuscript copies, locating them geographically, and dating them — has demonstrated that every New Testament book was written within the first century, much earlier than 19th-century skeptics claimed (~200s AD). It also shows the biblical text has been transmitted with remarkable fidelity.

The Bible is supported by thousands of manuscripts. Comparing them reveals only minor variations — spelling differences, word order — not substantive theological changes. A reader can trust modern John 1 reflects what was originally written.

Winger argues Ehrman's book creates a false impression of radical biblical change by using technically true statements in a misleading way. When pressed in an interview, Ehrman himself admitted the Gospels 'pretty much say exactly what they say in your Bible now,' undermining the impression his book creates.

Winger's favorite counter to 'the Bible has been changed' claims: ask the person what specific doctrine or belief should be different based on their view of how the text has been altered. He says no one ever answers because the manuscript tradition is so stable that no theology would change.

Around 650 AD, Caliph Uthman collected competing Quran versions, created a single authorized text, and destroyed all variant manuscripts. This means the Quran — a later document than the Bible — has a worse manuscript tradition because independent confirmation of the original text was deliberately eliminated.

The Bible is 66 books by 40+ authors spanning over 1,500 years in multiple languages. This provides the kind of multiple independent attestation historians look for when establishing historical reliability. Historians prize multiple witnesses close in time to events — criteria the New Testament's 27 first-century documents meet.

Earlier 20th-century scholarship (especially the Jesus Seminar) treated the Gospels as myths, but current scholarly consensus has shifted. Graham Stanton (King's College London) and David Aune (Notre Dame) both argue the Gospels fit the genre of Greco-Roman biography (bios), which aimed to faithfully record historical fact even with theological purpose.

Aune's quote is cited to make the point that ancient biographers had obvious biases (encomium) yet were still 'firmly rooted in historical fact rather than literary fiction.' The Gospel writers' theological agenda does not disqualify them as historical sources; their choice of biographical conventions shows concern for what actually happened.