Search — Theology Explorer

Acts 10 Acts 10 Hebrew Roots movement Gentile inclusion

Hebrew Roots major argument on Acts 10: the vision was about people (Gentiles), not food -- Winger agrees but argues they miss the connection and the implication for dietary laws

Critique of Hebrew Roots interpretation of Acts 10

Acts 15:1-2 Barnabas false gospel Paul the Apostle

Acts 15:1 -- men from Judea teach that circumcision according to Moses is required for salvation, triggering the Jerusalem Council

Survey of Acts 15:1-2, the Judaizers

Acts (book) Torah observance Law of Moses Acts (book)

Final summary of Acts survey: (1) prior law observers continued; (2) non-law observers continued not following it; (3) obedience to law is not required for salvation OR sanctification; (4) the question is what fulfillment means, not abolishment

Concluding summary of the entire Acts survey

Acts 15 Acts 13 Acts 15 Hebrew Roots movement apologetics

Q&A: strategy for reaching those deeply in Hebrew Roots movement -- speak truth in love, handle one issue at a time, use Acts 13-15 in Bible study format

Q&A response about evangelizing Hebrew Roots adherents

Revelation 20-21 eschatology Law of Moses new heavens and new earth

Q&A: Revelation 20-21 as the end of the Mosaic law -- Winger is uncertain; notes a real transition happens in new heavens/new earth but declines to definitively call it the end of the law

Q&A on eschatology and the law

Romans 6:14 119 Ministries law of Christ under the law

119 Ministries' first interpretive move: raising the question of which law Paul means in Romans 6:14

Presenting 119 Ministries' argument before critique

false teaching 119 Ministries charitable interpretation

Are Hebrew Roots teachers false teachers? Winger extends charity, attributing error to wrong assumptions not bad faith

Q&A: question about false teaching

1 Corinthians Colossians Romans 14 1 Corinthians Colossians Romans 14

The Sabbath: Jesus did not abolish it but clarified it; NT passages show Christians are not bound by it

Q&A: question about the Sabbath and lesser commandments

hermeneutics Law of Moses Old Testament application

How do the Ten Commandments relate to Christians? Against the moral/civil/ceremonial law division

Q&A: Susan and Ron's question about the Ten Commandments today

James White 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 James White limited atonement 2 Corinthians 5:14-15

Introduction: topic triggered by viewer question and James White announcing he would listen

Mike Winger opens the Wednesday livestream and explains why he went deeper into limited atonement than originally planned; James White tweeting that he would listen prompted more thorough preparation.

2 Corinthians 5:14-15 limited atonement 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 all have died

2 Corinthians 5:14-15 — the Calvinist logical argument for limited atonement from this text

Winger presents the viewer's question and the Calvinist logical argument drawn from 2 Corinthians 5:14-15.

2 Corinthians 5:14-15 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 extent of atonement application of atonement

Winger's interpretation of 2 Cor 5:14: 'all' means all humanity in both occurrences — extent universal, application not

Winger presents his positive interpretation of the passage, arguing both uses of 'all' refer to all humanity.

universal atonement children

Q&A: Did Christ die and rise for all children? — Yes, universally including children

Viewer Q&A: question about whether Christ's death includes children.

apologetics media discernment

Caution against Christians consuming antagonistic atheist YouTube content without a clear apologetic purpose

Winger advises viewers about atheist YouTube channels after a question about responding to 'Prophet of Zod.'

Mike Winger idea 2019-06-13

Matthew 9:11-13: Jesus eats with tax collectors and sinners — his heart is toward sinners

Jesus's posture of reaching toward sinners rather than destroying them

Matthew 9:11-13 Hosea 6:6 Matthew 9:11-13 tax collectors and sinners compassion over sacrifice

Jesus mythicism Zeitgeist (film) Religulous (film)

The Zeitgeist film and Bill Maher's Religulous cited as catalysts for the modern Jesus myth movement

Identifying pop-culture sources of Jesus mythicism

scholarly consensus Jesus mythicism historicity of Jesus

Scholarly consensus: Jesus mythicism is not a live discussion in academic New Testament studies or history

Mike Licona characterizes the state of scholarly opinion on mythicism

Jesus mythicism historicity of Jesus argument from analogy

Analogy: Entertaining Jesus mythicism is like scientists debating Flat Earth, or historians entertaining Holocaust denial

Illustrating the scholarly view of Jesus mythicism's credibility level

Josephus Origen Antiquities of the Jews

The Testimonium Flavianum (Antiquities 18.63) was interpolated by a Christian, but most scholars think an authentic Josephus reference to Jesus underlies it

Scholarly consensus on the interpolation question in Josephus

John Meier Josephus historicity of Jesus Testimonium Flavianum

Louis Feldman (leading Josephus scholar, Jewish, non-Christian) believed Josephus mentioned Jesus in both passages, estimated 3-to-1 or 5-to-1 ratio of scholars who agree

Expert Josephus scholarly opinion on the authenticity question

scholarly consensus historicity of Jesus Jesus's miracles

Audience question: "Consensus holds Jesus existed but was not the Christ of the Gospels" — Licona: that is not a consensus position

Audience Q&A — addressing the claimed scholarly consensus against Gospel accounts

Acts Hebrews Paul Peter Acts

Audience Q: Why doesn't anyone reference Tacitus on Christian persecution until the 4th century? — Multiple 1st-century sources confirm early persecution of Christians

Audience question from "Godless Engineer" about Christian persecution attestation

historicity of Jesus dying and rising gods pagan mythology

Audience Q on mimesis: pagan parallels fail for the same reasons, plus early Christians were Torah-observant Jews who would not borrow from pagan myths

Audience question about mimesis / pagan parallel arguments

Richard Carrier criteria of authenticity historical methodology

Richard Carrier's claim that all historians have concluded the criteria of authenticity are invalid is false — most historians still embrace the criteria

Audience Q about the methodology of validating historicity of Christ

1 Corinthians 13:10-12 cessationism continuationism spiritual gifts

1 Corinthians 13:10-12 is the primary cessationist proof-text in the cessationism vs. continuationism debate.

Introduction to the episode. Winger frames the central question: does 1 Cor 13:10-12 teach that tongues, prophecy, and knowledge ceased after the apostolic era?

1 Corinthians 14 Romans 8 1 Corinthians 13:1 1 Corinthians 14 Romans 8 spiritual gifts

Q&A: Tongues in 1 Cor 14 are actual languages; tongues always requires genuine linguistic communication; "groaning" in Romans 8 is distinct from the gift of tongues.

Response to viewer question about whether 1 Cor 14 tongues are languages or ecstatic utterances.

biblical authority apologetics discernment

Warning against seeking comfort in progressive or unorthodox theology as a false catharsis; such teachers typically demonize biblical Christianity to wedge in their reinterpretations.

Q&A response about walking with a friend questioning traditional beliefs, specifically mentioning Greg Boyd.

Romans 8 Romans 8 spiritual gifts tongues

Can a person speak in tongues without having the gift of tongues? Possibly — but Romans 8 groaning is distinct: it is heart-pouring to God, not a spiritual gift requiring impartation.

Q&A — question about whether tongues-speaking requires the specific gift.

cessationism continuationism church history

Historical question: sign gifts did not begin at Azusa Street; early church fathers (Justin Martyr, later Augustine) attest to prophecy and miracles continuing post-apostolically.

Q&A — viewer claims modern tongues/gifts stem from the 1906 Azusa Street revival. Winger corrects the historical record.

Isaiah 45:7 Isaiah 45:7 Did God Create Evil moral evil

Introduction: Isaiah 45:7 quoted as evidence God created moral evil

Opening setup of the livestream topic

Isaiah 45:7 Isaiah 45:7 biblical interpretation methodology Hebrew exegesis

Study plan: Hebrew word analysis, context, origin of evil, and other questions

Mike outlines the teaching structure for the session

Greg Koukl moral evil evil as privation

Evil is not a created substance — analogy of donut hole and shadow

Mike transitions to the broader philosophical question: where did evil come from?

1 John 5:16-17 repentance apostasy 1 John 5:16-17

Q&A: Sin unto death in 1 John 5 — physical death (unrepentant sin) or spiritual death (apostasy)

Audience question about 1 John 5:16-17

Q&A: If God gave us a wicked heart, can we blame him? — Shaking fist at God is foolish

Audience question on whether God bears responsibility for human sinfulness

salvation sin free will

Genesis Genesis free will human nature

Q&A: Were Adam and Eve created perfect? Free will is not an imperfection; sin through free will is

Audience question about the nature of Adam and Eve's creation

Proverbs Job Proverbs 16:33 Proverbs free will Job

Q&A: Proverbs 16:33 and divine sovereignty — layered sovereignty model, not hard determinism

Audience question about whether God meticulously controls all things

creation free will evil as privation

Q&A: If God had not created anything, would evil exist? — No, because evil requires free creatures

Audience question about counterfactual non-creation

Psalms Proverbs biblical hermeneutics Psalms Proverbs

Q&A: How to determine what is literal vs. metaphorical in the Bible — genre and context

Audience question about biblical hermeneutics

Hosanna Christian Fellowship church staff volunteer ministry

Church and staff status: Volunteer again, not fired

Winger clarifies his church relationship in response to questions and misconceptions.

theodicy apologetics divine judgment

Q&A: Canaanite genocide — was it genocide, and does God have the right to kill?

Question from Texas Tech asking how to justify God commanding the killing of Canaanites, which skeptics call genocide.

hermeneutics Bible study interpretation

Q&A: Hermeneutics — advice for a new Bible student afraid of misinterpretation

Question from a student who has taken hermeneutics courses but feels intimidated to start studying.

Isaiah 14:12 Revelation 22:16 NIV translation Satan Isaiah 14:12

Q&A: NIV Morningstar — does the NIV call Jesus Satan?

Question about why the NIV uses "Morningstar" for both Isaiah 14:12 (apparently referring to Satan) and Revelation 22:16 (Jesus).

evangelism gospel death and dying

Q&A: How to share the gospel with a dying family member who may not be saved

Question from someone whose family member appears to be unsaved and is likely dying soon.

Psalm 22 Luke 21 eschatology preterism Psalm 22

Q&A: Luke 21 and preterism — is it fulfilled prophecy?

Question from a self-identified preterist asking why Winger does not see Luke 21 as fulfilled prophecy.

1 Corinthians 10:13 2 Corinthians 7:10 repentance sanctification lust

Q&A: 2 Corinthians 7:10 — godly grief vs. worldly grief, applied to lust

Question about the difference between godly and worldly grief and how to repent better from lust.

Revelation 1:4 Revelation 4:5 Revelation 5:6 Revelation 1:4 Revelation 4:5 Revelation 5:6

Q&A: Revelation 1:4 — the seven spirits before the throne

Question from a confused listener asking what the "sevenfold Spirit" in Revelation 1:4 refers to.

women in ministry complementarianism egalitarianism

Q&A: Egalitarianism vs. complementarianism — Winger's position

Question from a listener whose Biola-educated cousin introduced egalitarianism, which conflicts with what the listener has been taught.

miracles cessationism continuationism

Q&A: Why did God stop doing big signs and miracles (burning bush, parting the sea)?

Question from a listener puzzled by the apparent cessation of large-scale miracles after the Old Testament.

1 Corinthians 14:29-32 Philip's daughters testing prophecy prophecy

Q&A: Distinguishing personal prophecy from adding to Scripture (1 Corinthians 14:30)

Question about how to tell the difference between someone claiming new revelation above the Bible versus a 1 Corinthians 14-style prophecy.