Search — Theology Explorer

David Hume Christopher Hitchens Miracles

David Hume's confirmation bias: he used the prior improbability of miracles to refuse even examining the evidence

Mike connects Hume's philosophical approach to the confirmation bias critique (Problem 3).

David Hume Christopher Hitchens Miracles

Hume's anti-evidential stance is the philosophical ancestor of New Atheist ridicule tactics

Mike traces the intellectual lineage from Hume to modern internet skepticism.

Existence of God Prior probability New Testament reliability

Adding corroborating evidence: reasons to believe God exists and Scripture is reliable further overcome any prior improbability

Mike adds to the cumulative case by connecting evidence for God and Scripture to the prior probability question.

Resurrection of Jesus Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence Epistemology

Mike's positive replacement for the slogan: evidence makes a claim believable when data is better explained by the hypothesis being true

Mike offers a rigorous epistemological alternative to the slogan.

Apologetics Evangelism Limits of apologetics

Apologetics is useful and important but should not be overstated — it works differently for different people

Mike's pastoral qualification on the limits of apologetics.

Capturing Christianity Tim McGrew Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence

Recommendation: Tim McGrew discussion on Capturing Christianity channel for deeper philosophical analysis of the slogan

Mike directs viewers to further study.

Youth ministry Discipleship Pastoral ministry

Q&A: Tips for young first-time pastor doing outreach to youth/college-age in a congregation of older saints

Pastoral question from a viewer.

Greg Koukl Evangelism Tactics (book)

Q&A: Tips for evangelizing to peers before military training — Greg Koukl's Tactics recommended

Viewer heading to military training asks about evangelism strategies.

Isaiah 53 Psalm 22 William Lane Craig Isaiah 53 Psalm 22

Q&A: How to deal with coworkers who want proof of God's existence — resources recommended

Viewer (law enforcement officer) asks how to engage atheist coworkers.

Luke 10:23-24 Hardened heart Apologetics and spiritual condition Luke 10:23-24

Q&A: Is a particular heart condition needed to see the reliability of evidence? — Luke 10:23-24 discussed

Viewer asks about the relationship between spiritual state and ability to assess evidence.

Evangelism Apologetics and spiritual condition Conversion

Former atheists: some came to faith through argumentation, others through experiential transformation first

Part of the answer about heart condition and evidence.

Bart Ehrman Biblical manuscripts Textual criticism

Bart Ehrman acknowledges we probably have what the originals said, despite popularizing text-critical skepticism

Mike's nuanced engagement with a prominent skeptical scholar on textual transmission.

hermeneutics Scripture authority biblical worldview

Biblical worldview should transcend culture wars rather than being shaped by either conservative or liberal culture

Opening monologue before Q&A begins

Scripture authority spiritual discernment near-death experiences

Near-death experience books should be tested against Scripture and not used to supplement or replace it; the danger is NDE narrators becoming gurus with insider knowledge

Response to a question about the theological accuracy of books like 23 Minutes in Hell and 90 Minutes in Heaven

Ezekiel apologetics Ezekiel Tyre

Ezekiel's prophecy about the destruction of Tyre is a favorite apologetic prophecy, confirmed by non-Jewish and non-Christian historical sources

Response to question about compelling prophecies that might impress atheists

Isaiah 53 apologetics Isaiah 53 messianic prophecy

Isaiah 53 is a powerful messianic prophecy whose parallels to Jesus are so strong that people often do not realize it predates the New Testament

Continuation of response about compelling prophecies for skeptics

evangelism apologetics human responsibility

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

apologetics William Lane Craig Big Bang

The Kalam Cosmological Argument leads from two premises to the conclusion that the universe has a cause with properties matching classical theism; William Lane Craig has defended it extensively

Response to question about atheist objections to the Kalam

apologetics William Lane Craig Kalam Cosmological Argument

Many internet objections to the Kalam are so philosophically poor that William Lane Craig addressed them in a YouTube video rather than a scholarly paper

Continuation of Kalam discussion

Luke apostolic authority apostolos Barnabas

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

1 John 4:2 Incarnation Scripture authority Messiah

1 John 4:2 — testing spirits by confession that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh carries the full theological weight of Messiah, incarnation, and OT fulfillment, not merely a verbal formula

Response to question about whether 1 John 4:2 is a sufficient test for false spirits

God's character divine judgment OT vs NT

Comparing OT and NT severity of divine judgment is a category error: the OT covers thousands of years of history while the NT covers only a brief first-century window

First counter-argument in response to whether God's punishment lessons in intensity over time

1 Peter Revelation 1 Thessalonians 1 Peter Revelation 1 Thessalonians

NT judgment is actually more extreme than OT judgment: Revelation's eternal punishment exceeds anything in the OT; love, mercy, and wrath are all escalated in the NT

Second counter-argument on whether God's judgment lessens over time

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

Romans 2 1 John 3:4 Hebrew Roots movement Romans 2 sin

The word 'law' in 1 John 3:4 does not specifically mean the Mosaic law but any law or command God has revealed; Gentiles had moral law before Moses

Response to question about whether Christians must keep the Mosaic Sabbath since sin is the transgression of the law

Hebrews 6 Hebrews 10 eternal security Hebrews 6 Hebrews 10

Hebrews 6 is best read as a corporate statement about Israel rather than individuals losing their salvation; Hebrews 10 is easier to reconcile with eternal security

Brief response to question about eternal security and Hebrews 6 and 10

N.T. Wright Pauline theology New Perspective on Paul

N.T. Wright's New Perspective on Paul: Winger is mildly opposed but has not read enough Wright to engage substantively

Response to question about N.T. Wright's view on Paul's epistles

1 Corinthians 10:13 temptation 1 Corinthians 10:13 suicide

1 Corinthians 10:13 refutes the idea that any temptation including suicidal impulse is unavoidably overpowering; God always provides a way of escape; the sense of enslavement is often a lie believed about oneself

Response to question about Christianity and suicide and whether God ever gives more than one can bear

Matthew 26:39 atonement Matthew 26:39 Gethsemane

The necessity of Christ's atonement is biblically defensible; Jesus's Gethsemane prayer implies there was no other way to redeem fallen humanity

Response to question about whether God needed Christ's sacrifice in order to cleanse us for indwelling by the Holy Spirit

John 16 Calvinism soteriology free will

Winger rejects irresistible grace: God's Spirit convicts all people universally but some freely reject him; Winger believes he personally would likely not believe without the Spirit's work

Response to question about whether Winger would believe in the Resurrection without God's testimony

Romans 14 Romans 6 1 Corinthians 10:13 Romans 14 temptation sanctification

Multi-step biblical strategy for overcoming lust: believe 1 Cor 10:13, make no provision for the flesh, remove high-value stumbling blocks, and fight temptation at its earliest stage not its peak

Response to question about being enslaved to the sin of lust

Matthew Hebrew Roots movement Matthew Law of Moses

Central question: Does Jesus want Gentile Christians to obey the Law of Moses today?

Opening framing of the video

Hebrew Roots movement Sabbath Torah observance

Hebrew Roots movement defined: a scattered, loosely organized group seeking to practice the Law of Moses

Background on the movement being critiqued

Hebrew Roots movement sola fide grace alone

119 Ministries praised for affirming grace-alone salvation while still holding Torah-observant views

Winger acknowledges 119 Ministries responded to his previous video

Acts 15 Matthew 5 Matthew 28 Acts 15 Hebrew Roots movement Matthew 5

Series structure announced: Matthew teachings today, then Acts, then Epistles

Winger lays out his multi-part teaching plan

Matthew 28:18-20 Matthew 5:17 Great Commission Matthew 28:18-20 119 Ministries

The Hebrew Roots argument: Matthew 5 + Matthew 28 = all nations must obey the Law of Moses

Winger presents the 119 Ministries interpretive framework before critiquing it

Matthew 10:5 Matthew 28:18-20 Matthew 5:17 hermeneutics Matthew 10:5 Matthew 28:18-20

Matthew 5 and Matthew 28 are from entirely different contexts and cannot be simply combined

First critique of the Hebrew Roots interpretive move

Deuteronomy 5:2 Genesis 26:5 Abraham 119 Ministries Deuteronomy 5:2

Genesis 26:5 does not prove Abraham kept the Law of Moses

Response to a Hebrew Roots proof text about Abraham

Exodus 12:49 Hebrew Roots movement Gentiles and the Law Exodus 12:49

Exodus 12:49 does not teach that all Gentiles were under the Mosaic Law—it refers to resident aliens within Israel

Response to a Hebrew Roots proof text about Gentiles and the Law

Amos Amos 1-2 Jonah Amos Gentiles and the Law Amos 1-2

OT prophets (Amos, Jonah) judged Gentile nations on moral grounds, not Mosaic Law violations

Additional evidence that Gentiles were never under the Mosaic Law

Jeremiah 31:31-34 Hebrews 8:13 New Covenant Jeremiah 31:31-34 Hebrews 8:13

Big picture point 3: The Law was always heading toward replacement—Jeremiah 31 predicts a New Covenant unlike the old

Third foundational contextual claim: the Law had a built-in expiration point

Hebrews 9:9-10 dietary laws Hebrews 9:9-10 Levitical law

Hebrews 9:9-10 describes Mosaic regulations as a placeholder "until the time of reformation"

Further development of the Law's built-in temporality

Matthew 5:17 hermeneutics Sermon on the Mount Matthew 5:17

Matthew 5:17 must be read pre-New Covenant: Jesus is speaking to Jews before the cross

Key hermeneutical frame for interpreting the Sermon on the Mount

Matthew 5:17 Matthew 5:17 abolish vs. fulfill pleroo

The word "fulfill" (pleroo) in Matthew 5:17 does not mean "confirm and continue"—it means "accomplish" or "achieve its intended end"

Exegesis of the key term in Matthew 5:17

Matthew 5:17 Matthew 5:17 pleroo prophetic fulfillment

After Jesus fulfills a prophecy, we do not continue to await its fulfillment—completion changes the expectation

Logical implication of fulfillment language

Matthew 5:18 Pharisees Matthew 5:18 iota and tittle

Matthew 5:18 (not a jot or tittle will pass) is about how the Law will not be stripped piecemeal, not about its perpetual applicability

Exegesis of Matthew 5:18 against the Hebrew Roots reading

Matthew 5:17 typology Matthew 5:17 Levitical law

The Law in Matthew is not merely instructive but predictive—even ritual laws point to who Jesus is

A key interpretive insight about the nature of the Law

John the Baptist Matthew 11:13 John the Baptist Matthew 11:13 Law and prophets prophesied

Matthew 11:13 — "All the prophets and the law prophesied until John" — indicates a new era beginning with Jesus

Additional scriptural support for the transitional nature of the Law

Galatians 3:19 Galatians 3:24-25 Galatians 3:19 Galatians 3:24-25 paidagogos

Galatians 3:19, 24-25 — the Law was a temporary guardian "until the offspring [Christ] should come"

Pauline support for the Law's transitional termination at the first coming