Search — Theology Explorer

Resurrection of Jesus Epistemology Prior probability

Evidence can overcome even extremely low prior probabilities — the question is "did it happen?" not "what are the odds?"

Mike's positive epistemological alternative to the slogan's approach.

Existence of God Prior probability New Testament reliability

Adding corroborating evidence: reasons to believe God exists and Scripture is reliable further overcome any prior improbability

Mike adds to the cumulative case by connecting evidence for God and Scripture to the prior probability question.

Q&A begins; note on busyness and the importance of deliberate margin in life

Transition to live Q&A.

Christian living

Youth ministry Discipleship Pastoral ministry

Q&A: Tips for young first-time pastor doing outreach to youth/college-age in a congregation of older saints

Pastoral question from a viewer.

Apologetics Atheism Motivation for anti-religion

Q&A: Have you asked atheists why they even care what people believe about God?

Question from Sadie Mayo.

Greg Koukl Evangelism Tactics (book)

Q&A: Tips for evangelizing to peers before military training — Greg Koukl's Tactics recommended

Viewer heading to military training asks about evangelism strategies.

Christian living Church accountability Pastoral correction

Q&A: Is it wrong to approach a pastor who taught something theologically unsound?

Viewer question about church accountability.

Apologetics Evangelism Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence

Closing: five diagnostic questions viewers can use in conversation to expose the slogan as confirmation bias

Mike wraps the livestream with practical application.

discipleship evangelism church mission

The church must maintain evangelism as its primary posture toward unbelievers; community service without gospel proclamation is insufficient

Response to question about churches focusing solely on community service vs. discipleship and evangelism

Scripture authority spiritual discernment near-death experiences

Near-death experience books should be tested against Scripture and not used to supplement or replace it; the danger is NDE narrators becoming gurus with insider knowledge

Response to a question about the theological accuracy of books like 23 Minutes in Hell and 90 Minutes in Heaven

Ezekiel apologetics Ezekiel Tyre

Ezekiel's prophecy about the destruction of Tyre is a favorite apologetic prophecy, confirmed by non-Jewish and non-Christian historical sources

Response to question about compelling prophecies that might impress atheists

soul dualism body-soul distinction

Winger holds a dualist view of the soul: the soul is distinct from the brain and body, uses the body to interact with reality, and persists after bodily death

Response to question about the nature of the soul

apologetics methodology research method primary sources

Footnotes are the most reliable method for tracking primary sources and objective evidence in apologetics research

Response to question about finding primary sources in a sea of biased online content

apologetics William Lane Craig Big Bang

The Kalam Cosmological Argument leads from two premises to the conclusion that the universe has a cause with properties matching classical theism; William Lane Craig has defended it extensively

Response to question about atheist objections to the Kalam

Luke apostolic authority apostolos Barnabas

Modern-day apostles: the original apostles were unique authoritative founders whose authority is now held in the NT canon; the movement claiming ongoing apostolic offices is unbiblical, though the lowercase term can refer to missionaries

Response to question about whether modern-day apostles are biblical

1 John 4:2 Incarnation Scripture authority Messiah

1 John 4:2 — testing spirits by confession that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh carries the full theological weight of Messiah, incarnation, and OT fulfillment, not merely a verbal formula

Response to question about whether 1 John 4:2 is a sufficient test for false spirits

Colossians Romans 14 Colossians Romans 14 Christian freedom

The Sabbath is Saturday; Gentile Christians are free to observe or not observe it; the Sabbath did not move to Sunday; early church gathered on both days for different reasons

Response to question about whether the Sabbath is Saturday or Sunday and whether it matters for Gentiles

John 1:1-14 Trinity Incarnation Christology

Jesus had no pre-existent human body; John 1:14 says the Word 'became' flesh, not that he switched bodies; the Incarnation was a genuine becoming

Response to question about whether Jesus had a human body before the Incarnation

Genesis 1 hermeneutics Genesis 1 demythologization

Biblical cosmology should not be assumed to match ancient Near Eastern flat-earth cosmology just because surrounding cultures believed it; Genesis radically demythologizes creation compared to the Enuma Elish

Response to question about Hebraic cosmology and the flat-earth interpretation

conscience stumbling block worship music

Worship songs with questionable original contexts may be acceptable in personal use but congregational use requires sensitivity to the consciences of all present

Response to question about whether it is okay to sing a song that in its original context is questionable but which people would interpret as worship to God

Romans 2 1 John 3:4 Hebrew Roots movement Romans 2 sin

The word 'law' in 1 John 3:4 does not specifically mean the Mosaic law but any law or command God has revealed; Gentiles had moral law before Moses

Response to question about whether Christians must keep the Mosaic Sabbath since sin is the transgression of the law

Hebrews 6 Hebrews 10 eternal security Hebrews 6 Hebrews 10

Hebrews 6 is best read as a corporate statement about Israel rather than individuals losing their salvation; Hebrews 10 is easier to reconcile with eternal security

Brief response to question about eternal security and Hebrews 6 and 10

John 8 Mary Magdalene textual criticism John 8

John 8 (woman caught in adultery) has significant textual critical issues; there is no good case for identifying her as Mary Magdalene; the absence of the man reflects a real double standard

Response to question about the woman caught in adultery

John 20:17 Mary Magdalene John 20:17 Thomas

John 20:17 — 'Do not cling to me' means do not grasp or hold on, not 'do not touch'; the Greek haptomai connotes holding on, explaining why Jesus also allowed Thomas to touch him later

Response to question about why Jesus would not let Mary touch him but later allowed Thomas to touch him

N.T. Wright Pauline theology New Perspective on Paul

N.T. Wright's New Perspective on Paul: Winger is mildly opposed but has not read enough Wright to engage substantively

Response to question about N.T. Wright's view on Paul's epistles

Matthew 6:14-15 Philippians 2:13 assurance of salvation forgiveness Matthew 6:14-15

Matthew 6:14-15 has a direct and uncomfortable application; persistent unwillingness to forgive may be evidence of not being in Christ, not a cause of losing salvation

Response to question about applying Matthew 6:14-15 to life situations

1 Corinthians 10:13 temptation 1 Corinthians 10:13 suicide

1 Corinthians 10:13 refutes the idea that any temptation including suicidal impulse is unavoidably overpowering; God always provides a way of escape; the sense of enslavement is often a lie believed about oneself

Response to question about Christianity and suicide and whether God ever gives more than one can bear

Matthew 26:39 atonement Matthew 26:39 Gethsemane

The necessity of Christ's atonement is biblically defensible; Jesus's Gethsemane prayer implies there was no other way to redeem fallen humanity

Response to question about whether God needed Christ's sacrifice in order to cleanse us for indwelling by the Holy Spirit

John 16 Calvinism soteriology free will

Winger rejects irresistible grace: God's Spirit convicts all people universally but some freely reject him; Winger believes he personally would likely not believe without the Spirit's work

Response to question about whether Winger would believe in the Resurrection without God's testimony

Romans 14 Romans 6 1 Corinthians 10:13 Romans 14 temptation sanctification

Multi-step biblical strategy for overcoming lust: believe 1 Cor 10:13, make no provision for the flesh, remove high-value stumbling blocks, and fight temptation at its earliest stage not its peak

Response to question about being enslaved to the sin of lust

Matthew Hebrew Roots movement Matthew Law of Moses

Central question: Does Jesus want Gentile Christians to obey the Law of Moses today?

Opening framing of the video

Matthew 5:17 Matthew 5:17 pleroo prophetic fulfillment

After Jesus fulfills a prophecy, we do not continue to await its fulfillment—completion changes the expectation

Logical implication of fulfillment language

Messianic Messianic Judaism completed Jew

Q&A: "Messianic" is a synonym for "Christian"—every believer in Jesus is messianic in the biblical sense

Response to audience question about non-Jews identifying as Messianic

Christian living modesty New Testament ethics

Q&A: Modesty in dress is a New Testament command—not law-keeping—and our culture is distorted about it

Pastoral application question about dress standards

Luke 2:49 incarnation hypostatic union Luke 2:49

Q&A: Jesus likely knew his messianic identity by age 12 (Luke 2 temple incident), but what he knew before that is uncertain

Theological question about the development of Jesus's self-awareness

Leviticus servant laws slavery in the OT Leviticus servant laws corporal punishment

Q&A: Mosaic Law on servants — corporal punishment was permitted; killing or maiming a servant freed them; Winger defends this as reasonable in historical context

Response to a question about slavery and beating in the OT law

Romans 2:12 Hebrew Roots movement Gentiles and the Law Romans 2:12

Q&A: Romans 2:12 undermines the claim that everyone has always been under the Mosaic Law — Winger does not know how Hebrew Roots explains it

Engagement with a counter-question about Hebrew Roots consistency

Matthew 7:14 Matthew 7:14 universalism unevangelized

Q&A: Those who never hear the gospel — Winger says the way is narrow but defers to his dedicated teaching on the topic

Classic theological question about the unevangelized

Hosea 11:1 Proverbs 30:1-4 Hosea 11:1 divine sonship Jonathan McLatchie

Proverbs 30:1-4 — God and his Son in the Hebrew Bible

McLatchie highlights Proverbs 30:1-4 as an often-overlooked text implying the divine sonship within the Hebrew Scriptures.

Islam divine inspiration Quran

Why unity argument doesn't work for Islam — Quran vs. Bible authorship

Cameron Bertuzzi's question: if unity of Scripture argues for divine inspiration, why doesn't it work for the Quran?

undesigned coincidences eyewitness testimony Jonathan McLatchie

Undesigned coincidences — definition and how they demonstrate historicity

Winger asks McLatchie to explain undesigned coincidences as a distinct argument for the historicity of the New Testament.

John Leslie Jonathan McLatchie apologetics objections cosmic fine-tuning

Objection: anthropic principle — we shouldn't be surprised we live in a life-permitting universe

McLatchie addresses the anthropic objection to the fine-tuning argument.

Mormonism polytheism monotheism

Why natural theology arguments point to the God of Christianity, not Hinduism

McLatchie explains why the cosmological and design arguments favor the Abrahamic God over polytheistic conceptions.

Acts 1 James the brother of Jesus John 7:5 Josephus resurrection of Jesus Acts 1

James the brother of Jesus — conversion from skeptic to martyr

McLatchie presents the conversion and martyrdom of James, Jesus's brother, as particularly strong evidence for the resurrection.

hermeneutics Torah observance Jewish believers

Two analytical questions for surveying Acts: (1) Did Jewish Apostles feel compelled to stop obeying the law? (2) Were Gentile converts taught to obey the law?

Analytical framework for the Acts survey

Acts 2:5 Acts 2:9-10 Pentecost Jewish believers Acts 2:5

Acts 2 Pentecost crowd is entirely Jewish or proselytes -- the question of Gentiles obeying the law never arises because all present already observed it

Survey of Acts chapter 2

Acts 3:1 John (Apostle) Hebrews (book) temple worship Jewish believers Peter (Apostle)

Acts 3:1 -- Peter and John regularly attend the temple at the hour of prayer during a sacrifice, showing Jewish believers continued temple participation after believing in Jesus

Survey of Acts chapter 3

Torah observance Jewish believers early church

Church grows to ~5,000 in Acts 3-4, still entirely Jewish or proselyte. The default assumption is: continue doing what you were already doing regarding the law.

Summary observation from Acts 3-4

Acts 7 Stephen Law of Moses Acts 7

Stephen's speech in Acts 7 argues that Israel misunderstood the meaning of the law and temple -- but his argument is about fulfillment and proper understanding, not abolishment

Analysis of Stephen's defense in Acts 7