Search — Theology Explorer

Genesis 2 1 Corinthians 11:8-9 1 Timothy 2:12-13 creation order Genesis 2 male headship

Pillar 1: Male headship and female submission in marriage — pre-fall creational realities

Mike details the first pillar with five pre-fall evidences from Genesis 2.

1 Corinthians 14 Titus 1:6 1 Corinthians 14 apostleship Titus 1:6

Additional evidence: Titus 1:6, male-only apostles, biblical rules about NT prophecy

Mike stacks additional scriptural evidence for Pillar 2.

Romans 16:1 Phoebe diakonos Romans 16:1

Women can be deacons — Phoebe in Romans 16:1 as evidence

Mike argues for women deacons with Phoebe as the primary example.

1 Timothy 3:11 1 Timothy 3:8-13 1 Timothy 3:11 1 Timothy 3:8-13 deaconess

1 Timothy 3:11 shows female counterparts to deacons — not female elders

Mike argues 1 Timothy 3:11 supports women in deacon-type roles.

1 Corinthians 11 Luke 2 Acts 21 Deborah 1 Corinthians 11 women prophesying

Women prophesying congregationally in the Bible — some speech to mixed groups is permitted

Mike uses biblical prophecy as evidence women can speak in congregational settings.

Ephesus Richard Kroeger Catherine Kroeger

Examining claims about a feminist Ephesus and Artemis cult female superiority

Mike evaluates whether Ephesus was actually a 'hyper-feminist' city dominated by female authority through the Artemis cult.

authenteo Philip Payne Richard Kroeger

Critique of the Kroegers' 'I Suffer Not a Woman'

Mike provides detailed scholarly critique of the Kroegers' influential but problematic book.

Ephesus Artemis cult feminist Ephesus claim

S.M. Baugh's research on women in Ephesus

Mike presents Baugh's historical work demonstrating that Ephesus was not a feminist city.

1 Timothy 2:9-10 1 Peter 3:3-4 Ephesus Artemis cult Gary Hoag

Gary Hoag and Sandra Glahn's updated Artemis arguments

Mike addresses more recent egalitarian attempts to revive the Artemis cult argument with updated evidence.

authenteo Koine Greek Classical Greek

Koine Greek vs. Classical/Attic Greek distinction and its relevance to authenteo

Mike explains the critical linguistic distinction between Classical Greek and the Koine Greek of the NT period.

authenteo Al Wolters Koine Greek

The Atticist movement and its impact on word study

Mike explains the Atticist literary movement and why it complicates the study of authenteo.

authenteo BGU 1208 papyrus evidence

BGU 1208: the key papyrus document for authenteo

Mike examines the famous papyrus letter BGU 1208, one of the most important extra-biblical uses of authenteo.

authority meaning authenteo Dorotheus of Sidon

Astrological texts: Dorotheus of Sidon and Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos

Mike examines uses of authenteo in ancient astrological texts.

1 Timothy 2:12 1 Timothy 2:12 authenteo Al Wolters

Al Wolters' definitive analysis of authenteo evidence

Mike presents Wolters' careful filtering of the evidence for authenteo's meaning.

authenteo Tom Schreiner Henry Scott Baldwin

Henry Scott Baldwin's survey of authenteo usage

Mike discusses Baldwin's comprehensive survey, published in the Kostenberger/Schreiner volume.

Chrysostom Irenaeus authenteo

Church fathers' understanding of authenteo as 'authority'

Mike surveys how early church fathers understood and used the word authenteo.

1 Timothy 2:12 1 Timothy 2:12 authenteo church fathers

Additional church fathers and their testimony on 1 Tim 2:12

Mike provides further patristic evidence for how authenteo was understood in the early church.

authenteo Coptic translation Gothic translation

Ancient translations of 1 Tim 2:12: how authenteo was rendered

Mike examines how the earliest Bible translations rendered authenteo, providing important evidence for its meaning.

1 Timothy 2:12 1 Timothy 2:12 authenteo have authority translation

Application of authenteo conclusion: 'have authority' is the correct translation

Mike summarizes the full case for translating authenteo as 'have authority.'

1 Timothy 2:13 creation order 1 Timothy 2:13 Artemis cult

Egalitarian responses to the creation order argument

Mike presents and evaluates egalitarian attempts to neutralize the creation order appeal.

1 Timothy 5:14 1 Timothy 2:15 1 Timothy 5:10 1 Timothy 5:14 Douglas Moo Tom Schreiner

View 4: Saved through proper female roles (Douglas Moo's preferred view)

Mike presents Moo's view that childbearing represents the broader female role, and salvation attends faithful role-fulfillment.

1 Timothy 2:15 1 Timothy 2:15 Messianic interpretation definite article

The definite article before 'childbearing' as soft evidence for the Messianic view

Mike notes that the Greek has 'the childbearing' (tes teknogonias), not just 'childbearing.'

1 Timothy 2:15 Tom Schreiner 1 Timothy 2:15 definite article

Schreiner's objection 3: the definite article is not strong evidence

Mike addresses the third objection regarding the article before 'childbearing.'

Genesis 3:15 1 Timothy 2:4-6 Galatians 4 converging evidence Messianic interpretation Genesis 3:15

Summary of positive evidence for the Messianic view

Mike lists the accumulated arguments in favor of his preferred interpretation.

Galatians 4:4 Incarnation Galatians 4:4 born of a woman

Paul's emphasis on the humanity/birth of Jesus supports a childbearing reference

Mike shows that Paul does emphasize the Incarnation and birth of Christ in his theology.

1 Timothy 2:12 1 Timothy 2:12 authenteo have authority translation

Conclusion 8: 'Have authority' is the correct translation of authenteo

Mike restates the translation conclusion.

Jehovah's Witnesses Second Coming 1914 invisible return doctrine

Introduction and livestream setup

Janet asks Mike to analyze a JW article on Christ's second coming

Matthew 25:31-33 Matthew 25:31-33 Judgment of the nations Throne of glory

JW article's core claim about Matthew 25:31-33

The JW article cites Matthew 25:31-33 as evidence for Christ's second coming

John 2:19-21 John 2:19-21 Temple metaphor Bodily continuity

Proof text #1: John 2:19-21 and the destroyed temple

Evidence for bodily continuity across resurrection

Matthew 28:6 Matthew 28:6 Empty tomb Bodily resurrection

Proof text #2: Matthew 28:6 and the empty tomb

Evidence that the tomb was genuinely empty

Mike Winger idea 2018-02-14

John 5:19 refutes Johnson's teaching that God responds to human declarations — Jesus only did what He saw the Father doing, not the reverse

Mike cites a specific text to challenge one of Johnson's specific claims about how God responds to human proclamation

John 5:19 prayer Bill Johnson healing theology

Joseph Smith Book of Abraham 1835

Smith's diary entries document ongoing 'translation' work on Egyptian alphabet and grammar in late 1835

Documentary evidence from Smith's own journals

Joseph Smith Pearl of Great Price Egyptology

The original papyri were thought lost in the Great Chicago Fire; facsimile copies in Smith's own hand survive

The preservation history of the papyri evidence

Joseph Smith Book of Abraham Brigham Young University

LDS professor at BYU commented that the rediscovery of the papyri was 'a far more' significant test of LDS claims

Internal LDS academic recognition of the significance of the papyri rediscovery

translation comparison Joseph Smith testability of religious claims

Unlike the Book of Mormon (golden plates taken away), the Book of Abraham papyri CAN be tested — this is unique

The Book of Abraham as a uniquely testable LDS truth claim

Holy Spirit apologetics LDS Church

LDS Church's official position: understand the Book of Abraham through 'careful study of its teachings and by the witness of the Holy Spirit'

The LDS Church's final response to the historical and Egyptological evidence

Mike Winger Mormonism personal testimony

Personal testimony: Mike was raised as a Mormon; this evidence would have been world-shattering to him

Mike's personal background and emotional investment in the argument

Mormonism prophetic authority false prophet

Central apologetic argument: if Smith lied about one thing as a prophet, he is a false prophet — and the evidence proves he lied

The logical conclusion of the Book of Abraham argument

Joseph Smith Book of Abraham Egyptology

LDS apologist argument #4: we don't know enough about Egyptology yet — future discoveries might vindicate Smith

Fourth main LDS apologetic response

Mormonism apologetics subjective religious experience

Strategy for engaging Mormons: move them from feeling-based certainty to evidence-based testing

Practical apologetic methodology for talking to Mormons

Mike Winger idea 2018-02-21

Luke 6: Jesus endorses David eating the bread of the Presence as evidence that preserving life can override ritual law.

Mike cites a second Sabbath/law-violation precedent from Jesus to reinforce the greater-good principle.

Luke 6 1 Samuel 21 greater good principle Jesus Luke 6

discernment healing fraud psychological manipulation

The child's facial reaction after the supposed healing reveals discomfort and distress, not joy — suggesting he knew nothing had changed.

Analyzing the aftermath of the first healing video.

Todd White healing fraud confirmation bias

Scoliosis diagnosis via back-twisting is medically invalid — a 'pop' is not confirmation of healing, and Todd White has cultivated a deliberately low threshold for confirming healings.

Medical and methodological critique of the scoliosis healing video.

Todd White healing fraud leg lengthening

Across 9-11 examples of Todd White's leg-lengthening healings, the 'too-long' leg is almost always on Todd's left — suggesting habitual muscle memory technique rather than random presentation of patients with left-leg discrepancy.

Statistical/pattern observation about Todd White's leg-lengthening practice.