Search — Theology Explorer

preterism full preterism partial preterism

Preterism as one response to the 'failed prophet' problem

Mike introduces preterism as the main alternative to his own futurist interpretation, with no intent to attack preterists.

times of the Gentiles Temple Mount Israel 1948

Temple Mount still controlled by non-Jewish Arabs — possible ongoing 'trampling by Gentiles'

Mike applies the 'times of the Gentiles' concept to the contemporary geopolitical situation.

Acts 1:6-8 no one knows the day or hour Acts 1:6-8 Hebrew wedding tradition

Q&A: Hebrew wedding tradition and 'only the Father knows the day' — Mike is curious but wants historical verification

Viewer William Williams asks about the Hebrew wedding tradition parallel to the Son not knowing the day.

Daniel 11 Daniel 12 Daniel 11 Daniel 12 rebuilt temple

Q&A: Does the abomination of desolation require a rebuilt temple? Yes — based on Daniel 11-12

Viewer Martin Gradwell argues the temple is our bodies and thus no physical rebuild is required.

Mike Winger idea 2018-08-22

Kim builds straw men to argue against — e.g., fabricating the objection that Saturday worship is cultish, then refuting it, to avoid real criticism of his actual false teachings

Kim's apologetics section in the Sabbath chapter, around page 47.

Joo-Cheol Kim Sabbath straw man argument

Mike Winger idea 2018-08-16

Winger holds that faith is not a work (the Bible says so), but is a choice to trust; Sye argues the Bible's statement that faith is not a work does not resolve the logical problem if faith is something you do

Core soteriological exchange

Ephesians 2:8-9 Romans 4 Ephesians 2:8-9 faith Romans 4

Mike Winger idea 2018-10-17

Two errors bracket this topic: claiming all sin is the same (minimizes serious sin) and believing some sins are so minor they are barely wicked at all (hardens the conscience).

Mike summarizes the two ditches on either side of the correct biblical position.

conscience sin Christian living

Mike Winger idea 2018-10-17

Infants and young children who die are saved — Mike holds this as a personal conviction based on David's hope of reunion with his deceased infant son.

Q&A section: a viewer asks whether their 8-month-old sister who died will be in heaven.

2 Samuel heaven Q&A infant salvation

Mike Winger idea 2018-10-24

Side 3b: Modern Halloween also includes genuine occult and pagan rituals — Wiccan, Satanist, and Day of the Dead practices

Continuation of Side 3 — the darker end of the Halloween spectrum

Halloween Wicca Satanism

Mike Winger idea 2018-10-24

Q&A: Hell houses — theatrical depictions of hell for evangelism — are questionable but effectiveness is unknown

Viewer asks Mike's view on church-run 'hell houses' around Halloween

Halloween Evangelism Hell houses

Mike Winger idea 2018-12-01

Refutation of Jim's Gospel dating: scholars date Mark to the 50s–70s AD, and John to the 60s or 90s AD — not 170 AD; P52 papyrus (100–150 AD) proves John predates Jim's claim by decades

Mike systematically dismantles the 170 AD date for John

textual criticism Gospel dating apologetics

Mike Winger idea 2018-12-01

Historical evidence that Herod the Great was extremely paranoid and murderous — he killed three of his own sons and executed hundreds on suspicion alone, making the Massacre of the Innocents entirely consistent with his character

Mike builds a positive case that Herod killing children in Bethlehem is historically plausible

Matthew 2 apologetics historicity Herod the Great

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 2018-12-17

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

Jeremiah 10:10-15: The climax of the passage — idols vs. the living God

The passage reaches its theological conclusion

Jeremiah 10:10-15 Idolatry Jeremiah 10:10-15 Living God vs. false gods

Mike Winger idea 2019-01-16

Thomas's demand to see the nail marks refutes Jehovah's Witness teaching that Jesus rose in a different body

Side point made while explaining the Thomas narrative.

John 20:24-27 Jehovah's Witnesses resurrection body Thomas

Mike Winger idea 2019-01-23

Abortifacient birth control — if it kills a conceived zygote, it is abortion not contraception

Q&A — follow-up question about abortifacient forms of birth control

abortion zygote contraception

Mike Winger idea 2019-01-30

Torah-observant Christians who hold sola fide — Mike's gracious but firm assessment

Q&A question: what about Torah-observant believers who genuinely hold that salvation is by grace through faith alone?

Torah observance Gentile believers Sola fide

Mike Winger idea 2019-01-30

Dispensationalism: Mike rejects the label but holds a modified view — national Israel has a distinct future in God's plan; he rejects full replacement theology

Q&A: questioner asks about dispensationalism and kingdom of heaven vs. kingdom of God.

Romans (series) Kingdom of God Dispensationalism Replacement theology

Mike Winger idea 2019-02-13

Once saved always saved: Mike withholds judgment due to genuine biblical tension

Viewer asking about eternal security / once saved always saved

Ephesians 1-3 Hebrews 6 perseverance of the saints eternal security once saved always saved

Mike Winger idea 2019-02-13

Authority over evil spirits and sickness comes from Christ's authority, not the believer's own

Viewer asking about Christians' authority over evil spirits and sickness

healing spiritual warfare authority of Christ

Mike Winger idea 2019-02-20

Q&A: Salvation of severely mentally handicapped people — accountability proportional to awareness

Q&A segment begins; first question about soteriological edge cases.

Matthew 11:21-24 salvation mental disability and accountability Matthew 11:21-24

Mike Winger idea 2019-02-20

Q&A: The ending of Mark 16 — short vs. long ending; not a threat to Gospel reliability

Q&A from an atheist about the ending of Mark and supposed Gospel contradictions.

Mark 16:8 Mark 16:9-20 textual criticism biblical inerrancy Mark 16:8

Mike Winger idea 2019-03-13

Rapture and the Third Temple: Mike believes in a future Third Temple but sees no necessary connection to pre-trib rapture timing.

Christian Lubin asks about the connection between the rapture and the building of the Third Temple.

Pre-tribulation rapture Eschatology Third Temple

Mike Winger idea 2019-03-13

Head coverings for women: Mike holds tentatively that they are not necessary today, but acknowledges he wants to study the passage more.

Riatoon asks whether Christian head coverings are biblical.

1 Corinthians 11 1 Corinthians 11 Head coverings Women in worship

Mike Winger idea 2019-03-27

Q&A: What about those who cannot understand the gospel due to severe mental illness? God holds people accountable for what they can know

Audience question about severely mentally ill people and salvation

Salvation Age of accountability Mental illness and salvation

Mike Winger idea 2019-04-03

John 15:18-20 — Jesus warns disciples the world will hate them as it hated him, anticipating they will suffer as he suffered (including death)

Additional biblical attestation of anticipated persecution

John 15:18-20 early Christian persecution Jesus' predictions John 15:18-20

apologetics truth discipleship

Holistic discipleship: the false dichotomy between relationships and truth must be rejected

McDowell and Mike discuss the thesis of the book

evangelism apologetics Generation Z

Mike's rationale for being on YouTube: putting apologetics answers where people are already looking

Mike explains his YouTube ministry philosophy

sexuality nature vs. nurture LGBTQ

Q&A: Has McDowell's strategy on LGBTQ issues changed since "A New Kind of Apologist" (2016)?

Audience question about McDowell's evolution on LGBTQ apologetics

Romans 7 biblical interpretation apologetics methodology fact-checking

Q&A: Handling unreliable sources and fact-checking in a Wikipedia age — do your diligence, own mistakes, and nuance statements to match the strength of evidence

Final audience question about fact-checking and epistemic responsibility

Mike Winger idea 2019-05-08

It is not the Christian's job to change minds; our responsibility is to present truth and build a case, while God holds unbelievers accountable for their own response

Sidebar comment after discussing apologetic prophecies

evangelism apologetics human responsibility

Mike Winger idea 2019-05-08

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

soul dualism body-soul distinction

Mike Winger idea 2019-05-30

Definition of limited atonement: Jesus's death only paid for the sins of the elect

Winger defines limited atonement as the doctrine that God only provided payment for the sins of certain people (the elect), not for all humanity.

Calvinism limited atonement TULIP

Mike Winger idea 2019-05-30

Three aspects of the atonement framework: intent, extent, and application

Winger introduces a three-part analytical framework for the atonement, crediting Dr. David Allen for helping him prepare.

atonement intent of atonement extent of atonement

Mike Winger idea 2019-05-30

Q&A: How to respond to someone who believes all religions are true (omnism) — expose internal contradictions, reconstruct their actual theology

Viewer Q&A: how to engage someone who holds that all religions are equally true.

Islam apologetics Christianity

Mike Winger idea 2019-06-13

The Christian message holds two truths together: all have sin AND God loves and saves

Proper gospel balance

gospel God's love universal sinfulness

Lee Strobel Mike Licona University of Pretoria

Guest introduction: Dr. Mike Licona, historical Jesus scholar with PhD from University of Pretoria

Guest credentials and background

John F. Kennedy Abraham Lincoln Jesus mythicism Barack Obama

Analogy: Compositing Lincoln, JFK, and fictional David Palmer to "prove" Obama is a myth illustrates the fallacy of the mythicist composite method

Illustrating the logical fallacy in compositing pagan parallels

scholarly consensus Bart Ehrman historicity of Jesus

Bart Ehrman is in a small minority who deny Jesus was known as a miracle worker during his lifetime; most scholars disagree

Noting limits and minority positions within the broader consensus

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

scholarly consensus Richard Carrier Jesus mythicism

Only a handful of bona fide scholars deny Jesus's existence — Carrier said there were seven including himself, none widely respected in their disciplines

Quantifying the scholarly minority who deny Jesus's historical existence

cessationism continuationism spiritual gifts

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.

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.

John Piper John Piper cessationism continuationism

Cessationism is more common in Reformed theology but not universal; John Piper and Paul Washer are examples of Reformed non-cessationists.

Q&A response on whether cessationism is tied to Reformed or dispensationalist theology.