Search — Theology Explorer

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

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

Mike Winger idea 2019-05-15

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

Christian living modesty New Testament ethics

Mike Winger idea 2019-05-16

Earliest Jewish polemic presupposes the empty tomb — Matthew 28

McLatchie points to the earliest Jewish counter-argument to the resurrection as presupposing the tomb was empty.

Matthew 28 empty tomb resurrection of Jesus Matthew 28

Mike Winger idea 2019-05-22

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

Torah observance Jewish believers early church

Mike Winger idea 2019-05-30

Q&A: God does not share his glory with anyone — how does receiving a glorified body fit? — Different senses of glory

Viewer asks how receiving a glorified resurrection body is consistent with God not sharing his glory.

resurrection God's glory glorified body

Mike Winger idea 2019-06-19

The consensus extends well beyond a minimal "one man named Jesus died by crucifixion" — substantial historical data about Jesus is agreed upon

Qualifying the extent of the historical consensus on Jesus

scholarly consensus historicity of Jesus

Mike Winger idea 2019-06-19

Paul quotes Psalm 16:10 in Acts 13, arguing Jesus's body did not decay — therefore the resurrection was physical and bodily, not merely visionary

Paul's bodily resurrection theology inferred from Acts 13

Acts 13 Psalm 16:10 David Paul resurrection

Mike Winger idea 2019-09-04

Q&A: Sinless perfection — not achievable in this life; a new body required

A viewer asks about sinless perfection. Winger holds that sinless perfection is a future reality (resurrection/glorification), not a present one.

pride glorification resurrection

Mike Winger idea 2019-07-31

Practical pastoral counsel: baptized as infant → get believers' baptism; already baptized your child → let them choose later

Winger offers pastoral guidance for common situations arising from the infant baptism debate.

baptism infant baptism believers baptism

Mike Winger idea 2020-09-18

Timing argument: blessings purchased at the cross are not all present realities — healing is partially now, fully later

Disagreement with hyper-charismatic "claim healing now" theology, despite agreeing healing is in the atonement.

healing eschatology Holy Spirit

Mike Winger idea 2020-09-18

Avoiding heresy-tracking burnout — know your realm of responsibility in the body of Christ

Question from Judah Matthews about discernment without anxiety over every false teaching.

false teaching heresy discernment

Acts 2 Acts 2 new covenant gifts of the Spirit

Acts 2 — the inauguration of the Holy Spirit: all present spoke in tongues

First of three Acts passages cited by tongues-required proponents

1 Corinthians 12:30 1 Corinthians 12:27-29 gifts of the Spirit tongues and salvation 1 Corinthians 12:30

1 Corinthians 12:30 — rhetorical questions imply not all speak in tongues

Second and final Corinthians passage used to refute tongues-salvation requirement

spiritual gifts vocation gifts of the Spirit

Spiritual gifts are discerned by what you are good at, not merely what excites you

Second part of Faded Princess's question about how to identify one's gifts

spiritual gifts vocation body of Christ

Discovering gifts requires doing everything first and then observing where you excel

Practical application of gift discernment

1 Thessalonians 5:23 anthropology 1 Thessalonians 5:23 trichotomy

1 Thessalonians 5:23 — Paul mentions spirit, soul, and body as distinct aspects of the human person

Q&A from Noah Bramble about the trichotomy of human nature

1 Thessalonians 5:23 anthropology 1 Thessalonians 5:23 trichotomy

In Scripture spirit and soul are sometimes used interchangeably but retain some distinction

Attempting to differentiate spirit and soul

Matthew 13 church history visible vs invisible church Parable of the Wheat and Tares

Parable of the Wheat and Tares explains the presence of ungodly people within the visible church

Second biblical resource for answering the bloody-church-history objection

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

eschatology intermediate state bodily resurrection

Future bodily resurrection is distinct from the question of immediate post-death state

Framing the soul sleep question by distinguishing it from end-times resurrection

2 Corinthians 5 soul sleep intermediate state 2 Corinthians 5

2 Corinthians 5 — "absent from the body, present with the Lord" is a summary, not a direct quote

Mike addresses the commonly misquoted phrase from 2 Corinthians 5

2 Corinthians 5:6-8 intermediate state 2 Corinthians 5:6-8 walking by faith

2 Corinthians 5:6-8 — walking by faith not by sight, preferring to be with the Lord

Reading and applying 2 Corinthians 5 to the soul sleep question