Filter results by source database — Scripture Commentary, Theology, Mike Winger, or Pulpit. Click a tab to narrow to one database.

...more
All (2139) Mike Winger (2139)
Mike Winger idea 2018-11-07

Winger explicitly frames his approach as a cumulative case: archaeology, textual criticism, multiple attestation, historical reconstruction, prophecy, unity/meta-narrative, and experiential evidence are each like different tests on a $100 bill — no single test is definitive, but together they build a compelling case for the Bible's authenticity and divine inspiration.

cumulative case apologetics Bible reliability
Mike Winger idea 2018-11-07

Whether it is 'reasonable' to think some biblical claims are false depends entirely on one's prior conclusion about inspiration. If the Bible is demonstrated to be inspired by God, then assuming it contains errors becomes unreasonable, because God is reliable and dependable by nature.

apologetics Bible reliability epistemology
Mike Winger idea 2018-11-07

Winger warns against approaching Scripture selectively — taking what fits existing preferences and discarding the rest. Authentic Christian discipleship requires approaching the Bible as authoritative, remaining willing to change beliefs and behavior when the text challenges them, rather than making oneself the final arbiter.

hermeneutics biblical authority discipleship
Mike Winger idea 2018-11-07

Winger addresses the claim that Paul's 'not with words of eloquent wisdom' (1 Cor 1:17) condemns the use of apologetics. He argues this is a misreading: Paul is saying his persuasion was not merely rhetorical — the gospel itself had power in Corinth. Acts shows Paul regularly reasoning and persuading. Apologetics serves as a 'crowbar' to open doors, but the gospel message itself is what saves.

1 Corinthians 1 hermeneutics evangelism gospel
Mike Winger idea 2018-11-07

Winger's illustration: apologetics is like the jaws of life — it opens the door for someone to receive help, but it is not the thing that actually saves. Salvation comes through the gospel (Christ crucified, sin resolved through Christ). This keeps apologetics in its proper place without dismissing it.

evangelism salvation gospel
Mike Winger idea 2018-11-14

Anger is defined as an internal 'girling' feeling — a changed inner state that drives thoughts and actions.

Mike attempts a working definition of anger as the emotional/internal experience.

anger definition emotion
Mike Winger idea 2018-11-14

Romans 12:17-21 — do not repay evil for evil; leave vengeance to God; overcome evil with good, even toward enemies.

New Testament passage on retaliation and the theological grounding for non-retaliation.

Romans 12:17-21 anger Romans 12:17-21 repay evil
Mike Winger idea 2018-11-14

Wrath (Colossians 3:8) is the outward expression of anger — the outburst; James 1:19 commands slow speech as the antidote.

Distinction between anger (the feeling) and wrath (the expression); applied to marriage and conflict.

Colossians 3:8 James 1:19 marriage self-control Colossians 3:8
Mike Winger idea 2018-11-14

Slander and obscene talk (Colossians 3:8) are what anger does to the tongue — attacking character and saying hateful things; Colossians 3:8 is a complete map of what to put off.

Final two elements of the Colossians 3:8 list; synthesis of the whole passage.

Colossians 3:8 sanctification anger Colossians 3:8
Mike Winger idea 2018-11-14

Q&A: Malice toward God means you've gotten something wrong — Job's model is to acknowledge speaking without knowledge and pray for your own heart.

Q&A on feeling bitterness toward God.

Job prayer faith Q&A
Mike Winger idea 2018-11-14

Q&A: Dealing with malice toward someone who has died — pray for your own heart every time the feeling arises; direction toward good matters more than immediate resolution.

Q&A on unresolved bitterness toward a deceased person.

prayer forgiveness Q&A
Mike Winger idea 2018-11-14

Q&A: 2 John 1:9-11 — disconnect from the false teacher's church and teaching, but distinguish that from family relationship; the two separations are not identical.

Final Q&A on whether to disconnect from a family member teaching false doctrine.

2 John 1:9-11 1 Peter false teaching church discipline family
Mike Winger idea 2018-12-01

Jim issued a fact-check challenge to his audience; Mike takes up that challenge, emphasizing that Jim is sincere but simply misinformed — not deliberately lying

Mike establishes the spirit of the response before diving into specifics

intellectual honesty methodology apologetics
Mike Winger idea 2018-12-01

Atheists can be gullible too: skeptics sometimes have a low bar for accepting anti-Christian claims, just as Christians can have a low bar for confirming their own beliefs

Key thematic statement of the video

intellectual honesty critical thinking apologetics
Mike Winger idea 2018-12-01

Jim's claim about Koine Greek: the New Testament was written in a prestige dialect used only by wealthy, educated elites — not a common language

Third major claim Mike refutes

apologetics New Testament Koine Greek
Mike Winger idea 2018-12-01

Refutation: Koine Greek is literally the 'common language' — the word koine means 'common' — it was a simplified lingua franca spread through Alexander the Great's empire, the exact opposite of an elite dialect

Mike corrects the Koine Greek claim with a university linguistics source

apologetics New Testament Koine Greek
Mike Winger idea 2018-12-01

Jim's own closing statement admits his audience should not simply believe him but verify for themselves — Mike takes this as evidence of Jim's sincerity, not dishonesty, and uses it to encourage skeptics to investigate Christian claims more seriously

Mike wraps up the refutation portion

intellectual honesty evangelism apologetics
Mike Winger idea 2018-12-01

Q&A: How do you witness to nominal or hypocritical Christians who are not bearing fruit? Mike notes that those who don't love the Lord are ironically less worried about their spiritual state than genuine believers

Question from Nick Kinsman

fruit of the Spirit assurance of salvation pastoral
Mike Winger idea 2018-12-01

Q&A: Mike has not yet settled his position on pre-trib, mid-trib, or post-trib rapture — he was raised in Calvary Chapel's strong pre-trib culture but feels his ability to defend pre-trib is thin and wants to do thorough homework before teaching publicly on it

Question from Bradley Wilcox about tribulation timing

methodology rapture eschatology
Mike Winger idea 2018-12-01

Q&A: Diversity in Christianity is not the same as division — unity is a calling, but believers can disagree on secondary issues while remaining unified in primary ones through love

Question from Fred Baek about how to reconcile Christian diversity with the biblical call for unity

Christian unity love ecclesiology
Mike Winger idea 2018-12-01

Closing challenge to skeptics: be critical of your own criticisms — if you laugh at Christians, make sure you have good reason to; you may have adopted the dogma of your own worldview uncritically

Mike's closing remarks to both Christian and skeptic viewers

intellectual honesty evangelism critical thinking
Mike Winger idea 2018-12-12

Zahnd's three-step method for dismantling orthodox Christianity and replacing it with his own version

Winger maps out the structural argument Zahnd uses in his book 'Sinners in the Hands of a Loving God.'

discernment apologetics false-teaching
Mike Winger idea 2018-12-12

Zahnd deliberately misrepresents Exodus 21 on slavery to children at a youth camp in order to discredit the Bible

Winger plays and responds to a video clip of Zahnd describing how he used Exodus 21:20–21 at a youth camp to provoke students into rejecting the Bible's moral authority.

Exodus-21 hermeneutics discernment apologetics
Mike Winger idea 2018-12-12

Zahnd's idol: a universalist Jesus who saves devout Muslims regardless of belief, contradicting Christ's own words

Winger reads Zahnd's 'Becky and Belkis' thought experiment from page 142 of the book, in which a devout Muslim woman is contrasted with a mean American Christian woman.

John-14-6 Luke-13-3 discernment salvation apologetics
Mike Winger idea 2018-12-12

Zahnd claims the Bible contradicts itself and that the Psalms/Prophets argue against the Torah — both claims are false

Winger examines Zahnd's step three: neutralizing the Bible's authority by claiming it is not univocal and contains internal theological debates.

Psalm-40 Hosea-6-6 Hebrews-10 hermeneutics apologetics false-teaching
Mike Winger idea 2018-12-12

Zahnd claims Jesus 'edited' Isaiah 61 in Luke 4 — but Jesus stopped reading mid-sentence, he did not delete text

Winger examines Zahnd's most prominent proof-text for the 'Jesus edits the Bible' thesis: Jesus reading from Isaiah in the Nazareth synagogue (Luke 4:16–21).

Luke-4 Isaiah-61 hermeneutics discernment apologetics
Mike Winger idea 2018-12-12

Zahnd consciously uses the 'vilify a common enemy' technique to generate emotional unity — and then does exactly that to his critics

Winger closes by exposing Zahnd's rhetorical self-awareness and the hypocrisy in his closing pages.

discernment hell apologetics
Mike Winger idea 2018-12-05

Two reasons answering the homosexuality question feels hard: consequences and confusion

Winger identifies the two root causes that make Christians hesitate to state a biblical position on homosexuality.

persecution Christian witness consequences
Mike Winger idea 2018-12-05

Analyzing Lauren Daigle's three non-answers: shame, tact, or genuine confusion?

Winger dissects the phrases Daigle used — 'I can't honestly answer,' 'I don't know,' 'I can't say one way or the other' — and evaluates whether they represent honest uncertainty or evasion.

accountability Christian witness shame
Mike Winger idea 2018-12-05

How to reach someone struggling with homosexuality: one-on-one honesty with genuine love

Q&A question about practical outreach to someone in a homosexual lifestyle.

evangelism pastoral care homosexuality
Mike Winger idea 2018-12-17

Jeremiah 10:6-9: The passage continues with explicit idol language, not tree language

Reading further in the passage to confirm the subject

Jeremiah 10:6-9 Idolatry Jeremiah 10:6-9 Pagan religion
Mike Winger idea 2018-12-17

Isaiah 60:13 shows God using trees to beautify his sanctuary — trees are not inherently pagan symbols

Addressing the secondary worry: is having trees in a home spiritually problematic in any form?

Isaiah 60:13 Isaiah 60:13 Trees and sanctuary Pagan symbols
Mike Winger idea 2018-12-17

Christians are not obligated either to have or to avoid Christmas trees — liberty of conscience

Applying the correct conclusion from the exegesis

Christmas trees Liberty of conscience Judging fellow believers
Mike Winger idea 2018-12-17

Online 'Christmas is pagan' content relies on unverifiable sources — zeal without knowledge

Addressing the broader ecosystem of anti-Christmas teaching online

Romans 10:2 Zeal without knowledge Judging fellow believers Romans 10:2
Mike Winger idea 2018-12-17

What makes something a pagan custom vs. a neutral one: the test is whether it is meaningfully tied to worship of a false god

Q&A: viewer asks how to distinguish pagan customs from neutral ones

Idolatry Liberty of conscience Judging fellow believers
Mike Winger idea 2019-03-20

Epistles are not biographies — they don't need to quote Jesus extensively

Before diving into scripture, Mike explains why Paul's letters don't contain extensive biography of Jesus and why that doesn't undermine their historical value.

Paul the Apostle epistles genre of epistles vs. gospels
Mike Winger idea 2019-03-20

Craig Blomberg cited: Epistles of John contain no quotations of Jesus despite being written after the Gospel of John

Mike uses this scholarly observation as evidence that the absence of Jesus-quotations in epistles is normal and expected, not a red flag.

Craig Blomberg Gospel of John genre of epistles vs. gospels
Mike Winger idea 2019-03-20

Paul's letters predate the Gospels — his knowledge of Jesus is independent from them

Key methodological point: Paul's testimony cannot be derived from the Gospels since he wrote earlier.

Paul the Apostle historical reliability independent attestation
Mike Winger idea 2019-03-20

1 Corinthians 11:23-25 — Paul 'received from the Lord' the Last Supper tradition, predating the Gospels

Paul's detailed knowledge of the Last Supper is one of the strongest demonstrations that he knew specific events from Jesus's life.

1 Corinthians 11:23-25 Passover Last Supper 1 Corinthians 11:23-25
Mike Winger idea 2019-03-20

Romans 13:7 echoes the 'Render to Caesar' teaching of Jesus (Mark 12:14-17)

Paul's instruction to pay taxes parallels Jesus's teaching about taxes to Caesar, which was a highly contested political/religious issue.

Romans 13:7 Mark 12:14-17 Paul echoing Jesus's teaching Romans 13:7 Mark 12:14-17
Mike Winger idea 2019-03-20

Matthew 10:23 — 'Son of Man comes' refers to Jesus's first coming during the disciples' mission trip, not the Second Coming

Q&A: question about a verse that appears to predict Jesus would return before the disciples finished preaching in Israel.

Matthew 10:23 Acts 1:8 Second Coming eschatology Matthew 10:23
Mike Winger idea 2019-03-20

Repentance restores relationship with God, not salvific status; analogy of marriage reconciliation

Q&A: question about whether believers must live sinlessly or must continually repent.

salvation repentance sanctification
Mike Winger idea 2019-03-20

Empty tomb: majority scholarly agreement exists, but Mike doesn't know a compelling argument against it

Q&A: question about why the empty tomb is only majority (not unanimous) scholarly agreement.

empty tomb resurrection of Jesus historical reliability
Mike Winger idea 2019-03-20

Acts 21:17-26 — Paul participates in a Nazirite vow to demonstrate continued Torah observance as a Jewish believer

Q&A: question about Paul's behavior in Acts 21 and what it tells us about his relationship to Torah.

Romans 14 James (brother of Jesus) Acts 21:17-26 circumcision Nazirite vow Romans 14
Mike Winger idea 2018-12-19

Introduction: Ben Shapiro asks Bishop Robert Barron whether he will go to heaven

Mike introduces the premise — an Orthodox Jew asks a Catholic bishop about his eternal destiny

salvation Orthodox Judaism Ben Shapiro
Mike Winger idea 2018-12-19

Implication of Barron's answer: evangelism of Jews becomes unnecessary if law-keeping + sincerity suffices

Mike draws out the logical consequence of Barron's position

evangelism salvation missions
Mike Winger idea 2018-12-19

Vatican II text: Lumen Gentium chapter 16 — what it actually says about Jewish people, Muslims, and the unevangelized

Mike goes to the primary source Barron cited to evaluate his claim that Vatican II is 'very clear'

conscience Vatican II Lumen Gentium
Mike Winger idea 2018-12-19

Vatican II on the unevangelized: saved if they 'sincerely seek God' and follow their conscience

Continuing the Lumen Gentium 16 reading

conscience works Vatican II
Mike Winger idea 2018-12-19

Vatican II includes a category of atheists of 'goodwill' who may be saved

Continuing Vatican II analysis

salvation atheism Vatican II
Mike Winger idea 2018-12-19

John 3:1-3 — Jesus tells Nicodemus (a devout Pharisee) he must be 'born again'

Mike turns to Jesus's own words to a religious Jew as the direct scriptural answer

John 3:1-3 kingdom of God Pharisee John 3:1-3