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All (87) Scripture Commentary (27) Theology (6) Mike Winger (54)
Mike Winger idea 2019-07-17

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.

theodicy apologetics divine judgment
Mike Winger idea 2020-10-02

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 is about sexual immorality in context, not primarily about diet/exercise/tobacco — but the moderation and mastery principles within the passage do apply broadly

Question from Grayson Fuller about whether 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 establishes a biblical basis for maintaining bodily health

1 Corinthians 6:12 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 sexual immorality 1 Corinthians 6:12 body as temple
Mike Winger idea 2020-10-02

Sexual sin is uniquely grave — it is a sin against one's own body in a way other sins are not

Expounding on 1 Corinthians 6:18 within the broader passage study

1 Corinthians 6:18 sexual immorality body as temple fornication
Mike Winger idea 2020-10-17

Voting as a Christian moral obligation in a democracy

Q from Woolpack about whether it is a sin for a Christian not to vote.

Government Voting Civic Responsibility
Mike Winger idea 2020-12-18

1 Corinthians 5:11 — not associating with a so-called 'brother' guilty of ongoing sin — targets life-pattern behavioral sins, not theological disagreement; the context is likely the communion/love-feast meal.

Q: How should 1 Corinthians 5:11 affect relationships with liberal Christian friends with unbiblical beliefs and practices?

1 Corinthians 5:11 1 Corinthians 5:11 Church Discipline Fellowship vs. Outreach Mode
Mike Winger idea 2021-01-15

In a divorce caused by sexual immorality, the offended spouse may remarry immediately; the offending spouse should pursue reconciliation and may only remarry after clear rejection of all reconciliation attempts

Question from Giant Mushroom Tree about whether the offending (sexually immoral) spouse may remarry.

Matthew 5:32 Matthew 19:9 Marriage Divorce and remarriage Matthew 5:32
Mike Winger idea 2018-10-31

Mike addresses the morality of soldiers killing in war, arguing that just war is a real category but that individual soldiers must personally discern whether a given war is just rather than simply following orders.

Follow-up response on killing in the context of military service

Romans 13 Christian ethics just war Romans 13
Mike Winger idea 2018-10-31

Mike argues it is philosophically irrational to charge God with immorality because God’s character is the very grounding of moral goodness, making the question of whether God could do something immoral logically incoherent, analogous to asking if a circle could be a square.

Response to non-believer asking whether there is anything God could do that would lead Mike to consider him immoral

apologetics atheism moral argument
Mike Winger idea 2021-02-19

Sports requiring bikini uniforms have immorality built in; empowerment framing of immodesty is backwards

Mike's stronger statement about institutionalized immodesty in competitive sports and the cultural narrative of empowerment through immodesty.

Christian ethics modesty sexuality and culture
Mike Winger idea 2021-01-22

Religion as social control: a compliment, not a refutation

Summer Monsoon asked how to respond to the claim that religion is just a mechanism for social control and helps people cope with death.

Mormonism Islam resurrection
Mike Winger idea 2021-03-26

Ephesians 5:5 — "impure" (akathartos) refers to moral impurity; the passage warns that a lifestyle of immorality, impurity, or covetousness calls salvation into question.

Nero Manser asks what Paul means by "impure" in Ephesians 5:5.

1 Corinthians Ephesians 5:5 BDAG lexicon 1 Corinthians assurance of salvation
Mike Winger idea 2021-03-26

Christians can and should serve in government; Romans 13 and Romans 12:17 are not contradictory — private morality and governmental justice operate on different principles.

The Brunette Family asks whether a Christian can be a governing authority given Romans 13:1 alongside Romans 12:17 ("repay no one evil for evil").

Romans 13:4 Romans 13:1 Romans 12:17 Romans 13:4 Romans 13:1 Romans 12:17
Mike Winger idea 2021-04-23

Deuteronomy 22:28-29 (man seizes virgin) is best read as maximizing the woman's rights and removing the man's after a sexual violation; it reflects the law making the best of a sinful situation.

Q12 from Tyler: trouble understanding the morality of Deuteronomy 22:28-29; some say it's consensual, but 2 Samuel 13 (Amnon and Tamar) seems to contradict that.

Deuteronomy 22:28-29 2 Samuel 13 (Amnon and Tamar) Deuteronomy 22:28-29 2 Samuel 13 (Amnon and Tamar) sexual ethics (OT law)
Mike Winger idea 2021-03-12

Does God have a sense of humor? Yes — Scripture confirms it, and pleasure/humor are good gifts not inherently sinful

Q4 from Silas Abrahamson: Does God have a sense of humor?

Psalm Matthew 7 God's character asceticism humor
Mike Winger idea 2021-03-12

Praying against "spirits of laziness, offense, depression" — most are human failures not demonic spirits; Jezebel spirit is not a biblical category

Q10 from Arfish: Is it biblical to pray against spirits of offense, laziness, depression, confusion? What is the Jezebel spirit and is it real?

James 4 Revelation 2:20 personal responsibility Jezebel James 4
Mike Winger idea 2021-03-12

Free will does not mean freedom from consequences — the golden calf judgment illustrates this

Q15 from Jill Sworzel-Stix: If God gives us free will to worship him, why did he have Moses command the Levites to kill 3,000 people who chose not to (Exodus 32:28)?

Exodus 32 Moses Aaron covenant
Mike Winger idea 2020-01-08

Drew claims religious people invented doctrines to morally justify killing animals. John turns this around: on Drew's evolutionary morality, survival-promoting beliefs ARE morality — so religion doing this would be moral by his own framework. Also, most non-religious people eat meat too, so religion isn't the explanation.

Response to Q3 — evolutionary morality is self-defeating

animal suffering evolutionary morality
Mike Winger idea 2020-01-08

Christianity would be the worst survival-promoting religion if it were invented for that purpose — it teaches loving enemies, not retaliating, turning the other cheek. Early Christians were pacifists for 300 years. This contradicts the "made up for survival" hypothesis.

Response to Q3 — Christianity is anti-survival by design

1 Peter 2:21-23 evolutionary morality early church pacifism 1 Peter 2:21-23
Mike Winger idea 2020-02-19

The pro-choice movement needs a victim (the pregnant woman) to distract from the real victim (the baby). This is a propaganda tactic seen in every historical atrocity — the oppressors create an alternative victim narrative.

Propaganda tactic: creating a counter-victim

Isaiah 5:20 Isaiah 5:20 Isaiah 5:20 pro-choice propaganda Isaiah 5:20
Mike Winger idea 2020-02-19

Both pro-life and pro-choice movements believe they hold the moral high ground. The pro-choice movement has inverted morality — helping a woman kill her offspring is seen as a moral good. The conversation breaks down because they're talking past each other.

Inverted morality — both sides think they're right

abortion inverted morality
Mike Winger idea 2020-03-04

Q: Nudity in art. Mike opposes it. The argument "it's art so it's okay" fails: if a bad drawing of nudity is wrong, making it skillful doesn't change the morality. Rome and Las Vegas dress sin up beautifully. We honor the human form by covering it due to human sinfulness. Possible exception: medical textbooks.

Q&A — nudity in art

nudity in art
Mike Winger idea 2020-04-15

Sex before marriage: Paul in 1 Corinthians 7:2 — the solution to sexual immorality is marriage, which means sex outside marriage IS sexual immorality. If premarital sex were acceptable, marriage wouldn't be needed to avoid sexual immorality. Marrying outside the faith: 1 Corinthians 7:39 — free to remarry "only in the Lord." 2 Corinthians 6:14 — unequally yoked.

Sex before marriage and interfaith marriage

1 Corinthians 7:2-4 1 Corinthians 7:39 unequally yoked 1 Corinthians 7:2-4 sex before marriage
Mike Winger idea 2020-06-19

Is pornography addiction grounds for divorce? Mike finds this intimidating given modern usage rates. His answer: pornography use IS sexual immorality (porneia), but not every instance should trigger divorce. Factors: scale, pattern, repentance, willingness to get help. A single failure vs an unrepentant lifestyle are very different situations. Mike recommends counseling before divorce in pornography cases.

Pornography as grounds for divorce — nuanced

divorce and remarriage porneia pornography as grounds for divorce
Mike Winger idea 2020-09-15

The "outsider test of faith" (apply your reasons for rejecting Thor to Christianity) backfires for informed Christians because the evidence for Christianity specifically doesn't work for pagan deities.

Responding to the street epistemology version of argument 1

Luke Barnes William Lane Craig biblical prophecy William Lane Craig
Mike Winger idea 2020-09-15

Argument 4 — "Religion is desperation, fear of reality" (Nietzsche) — is circular (assumes atheism is reality) and actually describes Buddhism more than Christianity. Atheism itself denies key realities.

Fourth argument from Nietzsche: religion as escapism

Daniel Dennett circular reasoning atheism Sam Harris
Mike Winger idea 2020-09-15

The problem of evil actually backfires on atheism: evil's existence presupposes objective moral values, which have no grounding on atheism. The problem of evil is itself evidence for God.

How the problem of evil becomes an argument FOR God

atheism problem of evil atheism
Mike Winger idea 2020-11-23

The greatest commandment — love God with ALL your heart, soul, mind, strength — is what everyone gets wrong about morality. Love of GOD comes first, love of neighbor second. Not all sins are equal; violating this foremost command is the most serious.

Mark 12:28-34 verse-by-verse study on the greatest commandment

Mark 12:28-34 Deuteronomy 6:4-5 Leviticus 19:18 Mark 12:28-34 Shema Deuteronomy 6:4-5
Mike Winger idea 2020-11-23

Four common confusions about love that corrupt Christian morality: (1) "love is love" — but loving God comes first; (2) love is not approval of life choices; (3) love is not about sex/romance; (4) love never justifies sin or competes with holiness.

Correcting modern misunderstandings of love

love God first love is not approval
Mike Winger idea 2020-11-23

The world's morality is loving PEOPLE as the whole story. Biblical morality is loving GOD first, with loving people as an expression of that. Both dangers: lowering the standard of holiness, or forgetting grace and living in defeat.

The moral error the world makes and the balanced Christian response

greatest commandment love God first
Mike Winger idea 2021-06-18

Using the Morality Argument: If using the morality argument, how would you respond to an unbeliever that uses the objection that morality is subjective and there is no real objective right or wrong?

Q&A question: Using the Morality Argument

evangelism
Mike Winger idea 2021-07-16

Can Non-Believers Bear Fruit?: Can a non-believer bear the fruit of the Spirit? (Matthew 7:17) How can this be, and is it an argument in favor of secular morality?

Q&A question: Can Non-Believers Bear Fruit?

Matthew Matthew 7 Matthew Matthew 7
Mike Winger idea 2021-09-03

About the Moral Argument: My brother has a very biblical worldview despite being an agnostic (in terms of homosexuality and celibacy, etc.) based on science. How do I prove that morality comes from God?

Q&A question: About the Moral Argument

agnosticism homosexuality
Mike Winger idea 2021-10-08

About Liberal & Conservative Christians: It seems like conservative Christians are biblical with respect to personal morality, to the exclusion of societal justice - and liberal ones vice versa. Why? Is one more important? How do we reconcile the extremes?

Q&A question: About Liberal & Conservative Christians
Mike Winger idea 2022-07-01

Guiding a Wayward Teen: How do I respond to my 17 year old daughter who is persistent in being with her boyfriend who is an unbeliever and has fallen into sexual immorality?

Q&A question: Guiding a Wayward Teen

Persis
Mike Winger idea 2024-04-26

Proper Interpretation of a Common Passage: What are your thoughts on 1 Corinthians 6: 19? I hear people use this Scripture to call anything they don’t like sin (tattoos, drugs, junk food, etc.). But it seems it’s mostly about sexual immorality.

Q&A question: Proper Interpretation of a Common Passage

1 Corinthians 6 1 Corinthians 6
Mike Winger idea 2024-08-16

The Changing Morality of the Bible?: Why does God seem more wrathful in the Old Testament and more forgiving and loving in the New Testament? Does the Bible have changing morals?

Q&A question: The Changing Morality of the Bible?

generosity
Mike Winger idea 2025-01-03

Should Morality be Legislated?: How do I respond to a Christian who thinks things (like abortion and transgenderism) are wrong but that they shouldn’t vote to have the government legislate against it to restrain/correct non-Christians (forcing it on them)?

Q&A question: Should Morality be Legislated?

abortion
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