Search — Theology Explorer

Judges 6 Gideon signs Judges 6

Putting out a fleece (asking God for a sign) is not inherently wrong but carries dangers of presumption and heart projection.

Question 5 from AZF Stories about whether Christians should ask for signs like Gideon's fleece.

Genesis 1 Genesis 1 creation ex nihilo Big Bang

Christians can hold various views on Genesis 1 and the Big Bang; the Big Bang is actually strong evidence for God.

Question 11 from J James about whether the Big Bang is biblical.

Mark 14:36 Trinity apologetics deity of Christ

Mark 14:36 refutes Oneness Pentecostal modalism by demonstrating distinct wills between Father and Son.

Question 12 from Our Fish about witnessing to a husband raised in Oneness Pentecostalism regarding the Trinity.

Acts 17 Paul Acts 17 evangelism

The gospel presentation should be adapted to the individual; the content stays constant but the approach changes.

Question 13 from Steph T about how to summarize the gospel with strangers or those from different religions.

Ezekiel 13 Holy Spirit discernment wisdom

The Holy Spirit speaks through fruit, track record, and confirmation from other believers; not every decision requires supernatural direction.

Question 14 from Gel Stapper (Netherlands) about how the Holy Spirit speaks personally, after leaving a hyper-charismatic church.

John 3:16 atonement Incarnation righteousness of God

God chose to redeem through the cross to display his love, patience, righteousness, and desire for relationship simultaneously.

Question 15 from Daniel James about why God chose death and resurrection as the method of redemption.

1 Peter Genesis 50 priesthood of all believers Mormonism 1 Peter

Joseph Smith was a demonstrably false prophet; modern Mormonism is a victim of his fraud.

Question 19 from Evelyn Ellsworth (a Latter-day Saint) about the priesthood of all believers and Mike's denial of fellowship to Mormons.

Kalam cosmological argument Braxton Hunter Kalam cosmological argument

Guest Braxton Hunter (president of Trinity Seminary, PhD) introduces the Kalam cosmological argument and explains its ultimate payoff: reasoning toward what the cause of the universe must be like.

Introduction to the Kalam — what it gets you

conceptual analysis causation timelessness

The cause of the universe must be timeless, spaceless, and non-material, because the universe itself consists of time, space, and matter — the cause cannot be made of the things it created.

Conceptual analysis of the cause of the universe

Kalam cosmological argument Kalam cosmological argument conceptual analysis

The Kalam conclusion (the universe has a cause) doesn't mention God explicitly, but the conceptual analysis that always follows leads to theistic conclusions about the nature of that cause.

Relationship between the formal argument and conceptual analysis

Kalam cosmological argument Cosmic Skeptic Kalam cosmological argument

Objection to Premise 1: the composition fallacy — just because every part of the universe has a cause doesn't mean the whole does. Response: this misunderstands the argument; it's about a CLASS of things (things that begin to exist), not parts composing a whole.

Objection — composition fallacy (Cosmic Skeptic)

Lawrence Krauss Lawrence Krauss nothing vs not anything

Isaac Asimov memorial panel discussion: Lawrence Krauss and Neil deGrasse Tyson debated "what is nothing" for two hours. The philosopher on the panel was visibly frustrated, saying nothing means NOT ANYTHING.

Anecdote — philosophers vs. physicists on "nothing"

evidence for God evidence for God God of the gaps

Objection: this is just a God-of-the-gaps argument. Response: the Kalam provides POSITIVE evidence for what the cause is, not merely an appeal to ignorance.

Objection — God of the gaps

determinism determinism causal powers

Why the cause must be PERSONAL: (1) a mind uniquely fits spaceless/timeless/immaterial yet has causal powers, (2) state-event causation from timelessness requires a decision to act, (3) absence of determinism in nothingness requires libertarian free will.

Why the cause is a personal agent

design argument fine-tuning argument

A fourth reason the cause is personal: the universe began in a way that permits life, suggesting planning and intent — connecting the Kalam to the fine-tuning argument.

Design argument supplement

moral argument design argument Kalam cosmological argument

Classical apologetics typically combines the Kalam with design arguments and a moral argument (showing God has moral principles and loves people), building a cumulative case before presenting Christ.

Cumulative case approach

Revelation 21:1-2 Revelation 22:1-2 new heaven and new earth William Lane Craig physical resurrection

Q&A: Revelation 21:1-2 and time in heaven. Heaven will involve time — months, sequential experiences — in physical resurrected bodies in the new creation. "Time will be no more" is poetic for everlasting, not literal timelessness.

Q&A — time in heaven (Revelation 21-22)

John McCrae apologetics apologetics Cameron Bertuzzi

Mike Winger introduces a panel response to Genetically Modified Skeptic's video "4 Questions That Could Make You an Atheist," joined by Braxton Hunter, Cameron Bertuzzi, and John McCrae.

Introduction — response to Genetically Modified Skeptic

Pascals wager decision theory Michael Rota

Mike responds with three problems: (1) Drew misrepresents Pascal's wager as "believe whatever promises the most" — Pascal actually included evidential evaluation; (2) modern proponents like Michael Rota and Liz Jackson pair evidence with the wager; (3) Pascal's wager is decision theory, not blind gambling.

Response to Q2 — Pascal's wager is misrepresented

false dichotomy Pascals wager

Drew's false dichotomy objection fails because Pascal's wager can be constructed to meet people where they are. If someone is between Christianity and atheism specifically, it's not a false dichotomy — it's their actual situation. Drew also inadvertently grants theism when proposing alternative gods.

Response to Q2 — false dichotomy and evidential grounding

evidence for God evidence for God Pascals wager

Drew's arbitrary cruel God is defeated by evidence: Christianity has historical verification, prophecy, testimony, and wasn't made up on the spot. A maximally cruel God would send everyone to hell with no heaven, giving no reason to worship. This is the "Pascal's mugger" objection, already addressed in literature.

Response to Q2 — arbitrary claims vs evidenced claims

abortion bodily autonomy pro-choice propaganda

The pro-choice movement systematically avoids mentioning the baby — the elephant in the room. "Bodily autonomy" framing ignores that there's another body involved. A firefighter has bodily autonomy but can't drop someone into a fire.

The elephant in the room — ignoring the baby

Bernard Nathanson NARAL when life begins

Scientific consensus: 95% of 5,502 biologists from 1,050 institutions affirm human life begins at fertilization, including pro-choice and atheist biologists. Bernard Nathanson (co-founder of NARAL) confirmed the early embryo is indisputably a human being.

When does human life begin — scientific consensus

Psalm 139 Psalm 139 when life begins IVF ethics

Q&A: The argument that life only begins "in the womb" (to justify destroying IVF embryos) fails — it's a location argument. If location determines life, a baby outside the womb would be less alive, which is absurd.

Q&A — IVF and location argument

Ezekiel (sins of the father) abortion rape and incest Ezekiel (sins of the father)

Q&A: Rape/incest don't justify abortion. Ezekiel teaches the child won't die for the father's sin. If a one-month-old baby were discovered to be a product of rape and incest, no one would say it's okay to kill it — so what's different about the same baby six months earlier?

Q&A — abortion in cases of rape and incest

abortion pro-choice to pro-life conversion

Mike gathered Twitter responses from people who switched from pro-choice to pro-life, asking what changed their minds. He presents 8 specific stories.

Introduction — 8 pro-choice to pro-life conversions

ultrasound pro-choice to pro-life conversion

Reason 1 (Sherry): Her 8-week ultrasound. She didn't see a clump of cells — she saw her child. "My choice was to keep her alive or kill her." Ultrasound compilation shows parents instinctively calling the image "he" or "she," never "the fetus."

Reason 1 — ultrasound revelation

imago Dei when life begins scientific consensus on life

Reason 2 (Teaser Money): Learning that scientific consensus (95% of biologists) affirms human life begins at conception. Since he already believed humans are made in God's image, the biological confirmation made the moral conclusion obvious.

Reason 2 — scientific consensus + imago Dei

Genesis 9:5-6 imago Dei abortion human rights

Reason 3 (Josh): He naturally leaned pro-choice but realized there's no good reason for it from a Christian moral standpoint if human life is sacred. Genesis 9:5-6 establishes that murder requires a reckoning because humans are made in God's image — a universal command to all mankind, not just Israel.

Reason 3 — human life is sacred (Genesis 9:5-6)

Genesis 9:5-6 abortion when life begins Genesis 9:5-6

Objection: Genesis 9 mentions "blood" — does that mean life only begins when blood forms? No — blood represents life (used in Levitical sacrifices, "cleansed by the blood of Christ"). But even if you took it literally, blood forms at day 21, making virtually all known-pregnancy abortions murder.

Objection — blood and the beginning of life

dehumanization abortion pro-choice propaganda

Reason 4 (Sirius Supernova): Realizing "all the choice is decided by one person when in reality there are two people involved." Pro-choice propaganda systematically hides the second individual through euphemisms: "terminate" instead of "kill," "remove a pregnancy" instead of acknowledging a living child.

Reason 4 — two people, not one

Anthony Levatino Live Action D&E procedure

Reason 5 (Dominic Kalana): Reading a description of partial-birth abortion. Mike shows three Live Action videos from Dr. Anthony Levatino (who performed 1,200+ abortions before becoming pro-life) describing third-trimester, second-trimester (D&E), and first-trimester medical abortion procedures in clinical detail.

Reason 5 — learning what abortion actually is

abortion Planned Parenthood Live Action

Reason 6 (The Seeker): Discovering there's a market for dead fetuses — people make millions from abortions. Live Action video debunks Planned Parenthood's "3% of services" claim: 1 in 8 patients gets an abortion, PP does 30.6% of the nation's abortions but only 1.8% of breast exams.

Reason 6 — the abortion industry and Planned Parenthood

abortion double homicide maternal instinct

Reason 7 (The Real Hope): Becoming pregnant and experiencing the maternal drive to keep the baby alive — it was intuitive, not theological. Mike shares a story of standing outside an abortion clinic when a car accident happened nearby involving a pregnant woman, and the irony of everyone caring about that baby while babies were being killed across the street.

Reason 7 — maternal instinct and the car accident irony

abortion human rights human rights

Reason 8 (Logos Apologetics): Realizing all pro-choice arguments apply equally to a one-year-old. The SLED test: Size, Level of development, Environment, Degree of dependency — none of these justify killing a baby in the womb without also justifying killing a one-year-old.

Reason 8 — SLED test destroys pro-choice arguments

John Walton Genesis interpretation Inspiring Philosophy John Walton Inspiring Philosophy

Q&A: On theistic evolution and Inspiring Philosophy (Michael Jones) — he's a brother in Christ doing his best to interpret Genesis. Mike is personally on the fence about Genesis interpretation, distinguishing the text question (what does Genesis say?) from the science question. John Walton's functional creation view isn't convincing to Mike but it's an in-house Christian debate.

Q&A — Genesis interpretation and theistic evolution

Hebrews 9:27 Hebrews 9:27 forgiveness after death

Q: Why can't we be forgiven after death? God's mercy is forever, but the question is whether you've received it through Christ. Hebrews: "it is appointed for man to die once, then judgment" — implies permanence of decisions upon death. No biblical reason to think post-mortem opportunities exist.

Q&A — forgiveness after death

Romans 5 (peace with God) faith alone works as evidence faith alone

Q: Does "saved by faith alone" mean you can sin and still be saved? In one sense yes — salvation is grounded on grace, not works (Romans 5: "having been justified by grace, we have peace with God"). But genuine salvation produces the Holy Spirit, which works out into good works. Works are evidence of salvation, not the means of maintaining it. A person living in reckless sin may never have been saved.

Q&A — faith alone and ongoing sin

Q: Why can an atheist be a "better person" than a Christian? Because humans have free will. But our standard for "good person" is skewed — we judge by how someone treats us, ignoring whether they love God. Rejecting the Creator is a massive moral failure regardless of philanthropy. We evaluate select pockets while ignoring what matters most to God.

Q&A — atheists being "better" than Christians

free will free will

1 Corinthians 14 1 Corinthians 14 1 Corinthians 14 speaking in tongues 1 Corinthians 14

Q: Is speaking in tongues real today? Yes, probably, but it's easily faked. Churches practicing it should follow 1 Corinthians 14's restrictions. Three categories: (1) biblical understanding of tongues, (2) personal experience, (3) discerning others' practice — #3 isn't really your job unless it violates 1 Cor 14.

Q&A — speaking in tongues today

Lee Strobel William Lane Craig William Lane Craig

Q: Good apologetics books? On Guard by William Lane Craig (accessible) or Reasonable Faith (scholarly). The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel for overall Christianity evidence — the first apologetics book Mike ever read.

Q&A — apologetics book recommendations

apostolic martyrdom sincerity of testimony

Q: Could Christians have made up martyrdom claims? Unreasonable for Peter, James, and John — first-century evidence of their martyrdom is strong. Some later apostle martyrdom stories may have been embellished, but the core eyewitnesses clearly suffered for their resurrection claims. Martyrdom proves sincerity, not necessarily truth — but combined with ruling out hallucination, the case is strong.

Q&A — historicity of apostolic martyrdom

Q: New church member sharing New Age content. Options: approach the person gently, or approach leadership. Example: Doreen Virtue (former New Age guru) became Christian but retained New Age practices — no Christians helped correct her, they just condemned her. New believers need patient discipleship, not condemnation.

Q&A — New Age content in church

New Age Doreen Virtue

2 Corinthians 3:17 Trinity Trinity 2 Corinthians 3:17

Q: 2 Corinthians 3:17 ("the Lord is the Spirit") — does it teach Jesus is the Holy Spirit? It affirms oneness in God but not Oneness Pentecostal theology. The Spirit is sometimes called the Spirit of Jesus; the Holy Spirit is Christ's presence with us. But the full NT also affirms distinct persons of the Trinity.

Q&A — 2 Corinthians 3:17 and the Trinity