Book of Abraham (Pearl of Great Price), chapter 4: creation is described as 'the gods' organizing matter — explicitly polytheistic and not ex nihilo.

Mike reads from official Mormon scripture to demonstrate the polytheistic view of creation embedded in LDS canonical texts.

The LDS church is quietly distancing itself from past presidential statements and Journal of Discourses rather than formally changing doctrine — 'plausible deniability.'

Mike explains the mechanism by which Mormonism is changing: not reforming doctrine but retreating from its sources.

Second passage: 2 Maccabees 12:38-46 — a non-canonical book used by Catholics to support purgatory

Introducing the second Catholic proof-text for purgatory

First problem with 2 Maccabees: the book is not accepted by the Jews, not part of Jesus's or Paul's Bible

Canon-based objection to using 2 Maccabees as proof of purgatory

Psalm 22: David was not a prophet? Mike rebuts and notes Psalm 22 clearly speaks of future events

Ra argues Psalm 22 is not messianic because (1) David was not a prophet, (2) the Psalms are in the 'writings' section not the 'prophets,' and (3) David never experienced anything like what's described

Ra's 'missing books of the Bible' argument is characterized as 'tying knots' — a rhetorical move that throws out confusion rather than offering a coherent argument.

Ra mentions books referenced in the Bible that no longer exist as evidence against biblical reliability.

Modern prophecy is not equivalent to Scripture: not all prophecy becomes canonical; personal/local words from God are not universal obligations on the whole church.

Viewer question about whether modern-day prophecy is as authoritative as Scripture.

Q&A — Does presuppositionalism hinge on Romans 1:18-32 being applicable to everyone? Sye: not exclusively, but yes — God is never presented as a probability in Scripture

Audience question from Ben Thompson

1 Timothy 5:18 quotes Luke 10:7 alongside Deuteronomy 25:4 and calls both 'Scripture'

The author of 1 Timothy introduces two quotations with 'the Scripture says' — one from the OT and one from Luke 10:7 — implying canonical status for Gospel material in the first century.

Paul's apostolic authority confirmed by Peter and James; 2 Peter calls Paul's writings Scripture

Q&A: question about how Paul went from persecutor to authoritative apostle.

Paul's legitimacy as an apostle — Mike answers a claim that Paul was not a true Jew and therefore untrustworthy

Q&A: a viewer's sister and brother-in-law argue that Paul was not a true Jew and deceived his audience; they use this to reject his letters.

1 Corinthians 13 "the perfect" does not refer to the completed canon — cessationism refuted

Q&A question about whether 1 Corinthians 13 latter half refers to the completed canon of Scripture.

Face-to-face with God as the referent of "the perfect" in 1 Corinthians 13

Mike elaborates on why "the perfect" refers to the eternal state, using the internal logic of 1 Corinthians 13.

Books like Job belong in the canon because Jesus accepted the Old Testament, and apostles were commissioned to teach

Viewer asking why books like Job are in the Bible if we don't know the author

Second-century legends (Gospel of Peter) feature absurd embellishments absent from canonical Gospels

Contrast between canonical Gospels and known legendary accounts to illustrate the difference.

Catalog of additional sources for Peter's martyrdom: Apocalypse of Peter, Ascension of Isaiah, Acts of Peter, Apocryphon of James, Dionysius of Corinth, Tertullian, Muratorian Canon

Demonstrating that Peter's martyrdom is attested by multiple independent streams of tradition

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

Cessationism defined: miraculous gifts belonged to the apostolic era only, served a unique founding purpose, and ceased before the canon closed.

Winger reads a definition from Theapedia. He contrasts it with continuationism, which holds the gifts are normative and available today.

Cessationist Interpretation 1: "the perfect" (to teleion) = the completed Bible, supported by a mirror/perfect-law parallel in James 1:23-25.

First of two cessationist readings. Proponents cite the shared vocabulary of "mirror" and "perfect" (teleios) between 1 Cor 13 and James 1 to argue the perfect thing is Scripture.

Rebuttal of Interpretation 1: teleios is a broad word with many non-Scripture referents, and the mirror image in James functions differently than in 1 Cor 13.

Winger raises two problems with equating "the perfect" with the completed Bible.

Cessationist Interpretation 2 (Masters Seminary): prophecy and knowledge = inscripturated revelation; massive time gap between vv. 11 and 12; "the perfect" = the church brought to maturity by the Bible.

Summary of the three key concepts in the Masters Seminary article that underpin its cessationist reading of 1 Cor 13.

Verse-by-verse: v. 11 — the child/adult analogy illustrates that the gifts are a temporary measure, but the maturity in view is eschatological glorification (1 Cor 15), not canonical completion.

Winger grants that v. 11 sounds like it could support the church-maturity cessationist view, but locates its referent in resurrection/glorification.

Verse-by-verse: v. 12 — "face to face" and "know fully even as I am fully known" point to the eschatological vision of God, not completion of Scripture; confirmed by 1 John 3:2 and 1 Cor 8:3.

Winger's positive exegesis of v. 12, identifying "the perfect" with the second coming/resurrection state. He cross-references 1 John 3:2 and 1 Cor 8:3.

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.

Epistle of Barnabas (early 2nd century) depicts the cross as a capital-T shape

The Epistle of Barnabas, written in the early second century (within ~100 years of Jesus's death), represents the cross of Christ using the capital letter T, implying a crossbeam.

1 Corinthians 13:10 does not teach cessationism — the perfect refers to seeing Christ face to face at the second coming, not the completion of Scripture

Response to Brandy Medved asking about 1 Corinthians 13:10 and whether the perfect means the Bible, therefore ending spiritual gifts.

The Book of Enoch is historically interesting but not canonical and was never part of the Jewish or Christian canon

Response to Spider-G asking about the Book of Enoch.

How to start reading the Bible — begin with the Gospels, Acts, Romans, Hebrews; not Genesis-to-Revelation in order

Question from Dallin Byrd about the best starting point for Bible reading.

The Book of 1 Enoch: not Scripture, though it may contain an accurate early portion quoted in Jude

Q&A question from S. M. Hart about the canonical status of 1 Enoch

Jesus affirmed the Hebrew canon (Law, Prophets, Writings) — which excludes 1 Enoch and the Apocrypha

Supporting argument for 1 Enoch's non-canonical status

Genesis 9:1,7 re-issues the fruitful-and-multiply command to Noah and his sons after the flood, emphasizing the command operates in the context of a very low world population.

Canonical survey — the command is repeated in Genesis 9 after the flood.

The canonicity of Jude is not threatened by its quotation of extra-biblical sources like Enoch and the Testament of Moses

Question from Trumdial about whether Jude's citations of Enoch and Testament of Moses indicate it is a Gnostic forgery

Enoch is actually multiple composite works; early Jewish tradition rejected its canonical status

Continued discussion of the Book of Enoch in relation to Jude

The shorter Septuagint Jeremiah vs. the longer Hebrew Masoretic Jeremiah — reasons to trust the longer canonical form

Question from Leor about which version of Jeremiah is correct.

Mike addresses the canonicity of Hebrews despite unknown authorship, arguing that inspiration does not require apostolic pen but apostolic teaching, and that the New Testament canon formed organically as first-century texts with apostolic content were recognized by the early church.

Response to viewer question about how Hebrews can be inspired if we do not know who wrote it

The biblical canon is a human list identifying inspired books; God's inspiration and providence guarantee we have the right books, with the OT ratified by Jesus himself.

Question from Ninja For Hire about whether canonization was itself inspired and whether inspired texts beyond the Bible could exist.

Daniel 11:36-45 — Antiochus IV or the Antichrist?

Listener Stephen (Passenger Ministries) asks whether Daniel 11:36-45 refers to Antiochus IV Epiphanes or the future Antichrist.

Why is Esther in the Bible? Self-defense in Esther 8-9 is not problematic

Listener The Christian Metalhead questions the moral purpose of Esther and finds the final chapters' battle "dangerous."

Names in the gospels match the known name distribution of 1st-century Palestine (research by Tal Ilan, Richard Bauckham). The most common names (Simon, Joseph, Mary) are disambiguated with extra identifiers (Simon Peter, Simon of Cyrene, Simon the Zealot) while less common names (Thomas, Thaddeus) stand alone — exactly as you'd expect from authentic records. Names are the first thing lost in retelling; getting them right indicates early, close-to-source transmission.

Onomastic (name) evidence — statistical match

Did Jesus Consider the OT to be Scripture?: You said in a past Q&A session that Jude references Enoch, and your best explanation is that it's just to make a point, not to say that Enoch is canon or inerrant. But that's also my conclusion about when Jesus refers to the Old Testament. Isn’t it the same for when Jesus refers to the Old Testament?

Q&A question: Did Jesus Consider the OT to be Scripture?

Should we Read Non-Canonical Books?: Would you recommend that current Christians develop an awareness of Scripture that is no longer canon?

Q&A question: Should we Read Non-Canonical Books?

How Should We View Extrabiblical Books?: With extrabiblical books such as Enoch or 1 & 2 Maccabees, how do you discern within these books if they're true accounts, if they don't contradict our canon?

Q&A question: How Should We View Extrabiblical Books?

Is the Canon Closed?: Why can no new books of the Bible be written? Why is the canon closed?

Q&A question: Is the Canon Closed?

Did Augustine Consider the Apocrypha Canon?: How would you respond to those who point out that Augustine considered the Apocrypha as canon?

Q&A question: Did Augustine Consider the Apocrypha Canon?

Debates on the Canon: What do we do with some of the earliest listed Bible canons and church fathers that exclude Esther and include Sirach and Wisdom of Solomon?

Q&A question: Debates on the Canon

Author Unknown = Still Inspired?: Can we be confident that a book of the Bible is truly inspired and belongs in the canon if the author is unknown (like Hebrews)? If we don’t know who wrote it, how can we trust what it contains? How can we know it wasn’t just the written version of a sermon? A pastor may be educated, but they aren’t inerrant.

Q&A question: Author Unknown = Still Inspired?

Canon 24