Search — Theology Explorer

Paul Jesus mythicism historicity of Jesus

Argument: Paul's conversion is inexplicable if Jesus were fictional — he was in Jerusalem at the same time as the crucifixion

Using Paul's personal proximity to events to argue against mythicism

John the son of Zebedee Peter Gospel of John Gospel of Mark

The Gospels (especially Mark and John) contain eyewitness testimony, serving as evidence for a historical Jesus

The Gospels as historical sources

Romans 1:3 Paul Richard Carrier Davidic descent

Romans 1:3 refutes the "outer space Jesus" claim — Paul explicitly places Jesus as a historical descendant of David born in the flesh

Exegetical refutation of Carrier's cosmic Jesus interpretation

James Crossley John Dominic Crossan scholarly consensus Bart Ehrman historicity of Jesus

Objection that scholars affirm historicity only because they signed faith statements is refuted by citing atheist/agnostic scholars who agree

Responding to the claim that Christian bias explains scholarly consensus on historicity

Acts Hebrews Paul Peter Acts

Audience Q: Why doesn't anyone reference Tacitus on Christian persecution until the 4th century? — Multiple 1st-century sources confirm early persecution of Christians

Audience question from "Godless Engineer" about Christian persecution attestation

Acts 9 Paul resurrection appearances hallucination hypothesis

Did Paul hallucinate seeing Jesus? Hallucinations are private, not group experiences — Paul's companions also saw the light and heard the voice (Acts 9)

Audience Q about whether Paul hallucinated his encounter with the risen Jesus

Paul bodily resurrection resurrection appearances

Summary: Paul taught physical/bodily resurrection; hallucination theory fails; Paul was not grieving Jesus's death — he was glad Jesus was dead before his conversion

Concluding the section on Paul's resurrection belief

historicity of Jesus dying and rising gods pagan mythology

Audience Q on mimesis: pagan parallels fail for the same reasons, plus early Christians were Torah-observant Jews who would not borrow from pagan myths

Audience question about mimesis / pagan parallel arguments

Plutarch Mike Licona historical methodology

Licona's book Why Are There Differences in the Gospels? required classicist review to avoid errors in Plutarch material — illustrating disciplinary boundaries

Personal example of the importance of disciplinary specialization

1 Corinthians 13:12 James 1:4 James 1:17 cessationism face to face with God 1 Corinthians 13:12

Rebuttal of Interpretation 1: teleios is a broad word with many non-Scripture referents, and the mirror image in James functions differently than in 1 Cor 13.

Winger raises two problems with equating "the perfect" with the completed Bible.

1 Corinthians 13:9-10 apostolic authority prophecy inscripturation

Verse-by-verse: vv. 9-10 — Paul includes himself in "we know in part," undermining the inscripturation reading; even apostolic knowledge is partial, not completable by writing.

Key exegetical point: the first-person plural "we" in v. 9 includes Paul and the other apostles, not just ordinary charismatics.

Matthew 18 Matthew 18 Bethel Church Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry

Critique of Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry: prophetic activation exercises using Uno cards reduce prophecy to social engineering and fabrication.

Winger pivots to critique hyper-charismatic practice, using Bethel's published school curriculum as a concrete example.

continuationism spiritual gifts prophecy

Personal testimony: Winger reports a small number of personal experiences he believes were genuine prophetic insights that subsequently proved true.

Winger offers experiential (not dogmatic) support for remaining open to the gifts.

continuationism church order spiritual gifts

Winger's church practice: open to Spirit-prompted words but does not structure services around spiritual gifts; anti-normative posture.

Q&A response about how gifts function in his church.

Craig Keener spiritual gifts healing

Resource recommendation for documented modern miracles: Craig Keener's two-volume work "Miracles" provides medical/testimonial evidence catalogued by a respected scholar.

Q&A — viewer asks for visible evidence that gifts of healing are active today.

Romans 8 Romans 8 spiritual gifts tongues

Can a person speak in tongues without having the gift of tongues? Possibly — but Romans 8 groaning is distinct: it is heart-pouring to God, not a spiritual gift requiring impartation.

Q&A — question about whether tongues-speaking requires the specific gift.

cessationism continuationism church history

Historical question: sign gifts did not begin at Azusa Street; early church fathers (Justin Martyr, later Augustine) attest to prophecy and miracles continuing post-apostolically.

Q&A — viewer claims modern tongues/gifts stem from the 1906 Azusa Street revival. Winger corrects the historical record.

Isaiah 41:23 Lamentations 3:38-39 divine judgment ra calamity vs moral evil

Isaiah 41:23 and Lamentations 3:38-39 corroborate that God bringing evil/bad = calamity, not moral evil

Supporting passages examined to reinforce the interpretation of Isaiah 45:7

Greg Koukl moral evil evil as privation

Evil is not a created substance — analogy of donut hole and shadow

Mike transitions to the broader philosophical question: where did evil come from?

Job John 9:1-3 spiritual warfare Job problem of evil

Three biblical causes of natural evil: divine judgment, spiritual warfare, and the greater good

Mike surveys biblical reasons for calamitous suffering

theodicy free will evil as privation

Summary conclusion: God is source of goodness; evil is real by contrast but need not be created; God allows and will solve evil

Mike wraps up the theological teaching before Q&A

online ministry BibleThinker ministry transparency

Introduction: Ministry update overview and video structure

Mike Winger opens a Tuesday livestream with an agenda covering ministry changes, church status, goals, and Q&A.

Romans 9 Leighton Flowers BibleThinker Romans 9

Ministry impact testimonies: Global reach and unexpected pastor influence

Winger shares concrete examples of ministry impact by late 2017 when he had ~9,000 subscribers.

marketplace of ideas evangelism Paul the Apostle online ministry

Analogy: Paul would be doing online ministry today

Winger reflects on the scale and nature of online ministry as a modern equivalent to reaching the marketplace of ideas.

hermeneutics Bible study interpretation

Q&A: Hermeneutics — advice for a new Bible student afraid of misinterpretation

Question from a student who has taken hermeneutics courses but feels intimidated to start studying.

evangelism gospel death and dying

Q&A: How to share the gospel with a dying family member who may not be saved

Question from someone whose family member appears to be unsaved and is likely dying soon.

1 Corinthians 14:29-32 Philip's daughters testing prophecy prophecy

Q&A: Distinguishing personal prophecy from adding to Scripture (1 Corinthians 14:30)

Question about how to tell the difference between someone claiming new revelation above the Bible versus a 1 Corinthians 14-style prophecy.

exegesis Bible study devotional reading

Q&A: Recommendation for exegetical devotional plan

Question from a listener looking for a devotional Bible study plan that is both engaging and exegetically sound.

repentance perseverance faithfulness

Closing exhortation: Be the tortoise, not the hare

Winger closes with a personal reflection and encouragement about long-term faithfulness.

1 John 2:2 John Owen limited atonement 1 John 2:2 Trinitarian harmony in the atonement

Overview of five Calvinist objections to be addressed

Mike previews the full agenda for the video before working through each objection.

Trinity election limited atonement

Objection 1 stated: Trinitarian harmony in the atonement

Mike explains the Calvinist argument that Trinitarian harmony requires limited atonement.

atonement limited atonement failure of the Son

Objection 2 stated: the failure of the Son

If Jesus died for all people and some go to hell, then Jesus failed at his task.

Calvinism theological method Scripture authority

Scripture should trump philosophical reasoning; most limited atonement arguments are not exegetical

Mike's meta-level argument about the structure of Calvinist argumentation for limited atonement.

Trinity election limited atonement

Response to Trinitarian harmony #1: it assumes a single, limited intention for each person of the Trinity without scriptural proof

First of Mike's in-principle objections to the Trinitarian harmony argument.

Trinity faith unlimited atonement

Response to Trinitarian harmony #2: the Father can have complexity in his desires — saving all who believe

Mike offers a positive alternative to the Calvinist Trinitarian harmony construct.

1 Timothy 2:1-6 hermeneutics Calvinism unlimited atonement

Calvinist interpretation of 1 Tim 2:1-6 refuted: "all kinds of people" reading fails

Mike engages and then rejects the standard Calvinist re-reading of 1 Timothy 2.

Matthew 22:14 Mark 16:15 Great Commission gospel proclamation limited atonement

Many are called but few are chosen; preaching the gospel to all implies a genuine offer for all

Mike uses the Great Commission and related teaching to argue against limited atonement's pastoral coherence.

1 John 2:2 David Allen 1 John 2:2 unlimited atonement

Trinitarian harmony argument can be reversed: if Scripture says Christ died for all, the Father must have intended it

Mike turns the Trinitarian harmony argument back on the Calvinist position.

John 3:16 unlimited atonement failure of the Son extent vs. application

Objection 2 answered: Jesus did not fail — his goal was to die for all so that whoever believes is saved

Mike rebuts the "failure of the Son" argument.

divine justice unlimited atonement double jeopardy / double payment

Legal pardon analogy: a rejected pardon does not eliminate the sentence

Mike uses a legal illustration to support his double payment response.

James White 1 John 2:2 election James White limited atonement

James White misrepresented Mike's position on "world" in 1 John 2:2

Mike clarifies what he actually argued about the word kosmos in 1 John 2:2.

James White 1 John 2:2 James White Jews and Gentiles limited atonement

Calvinist "Jews and Gentiles" default reading of kosmos does not rescue limited atonement

Mike engages White's proposal about the default meaning of kosmos in the New Testament.

God's wrath righteous anger moral intuition

Righteous anger exists in human experience as evidence for divine wrath

Mike uses human moral intuition to establish the category of righteous anger.

James 1:20 Ephesians 4:26 God's wrath righteous anger James 1:20

Distinguishing human wrath from God's wrath: selfishness vs. holiness

Mike contrasts man's anger with God's anger, using personal anecdote and Scripture.

God's wrath human sin divine perspective

God is angry at the wickedness of sin, not merely at how sin inconveniences us

Mike develops the nature and target of God's wrath.

repentance God's love God's wrath

God's wrath and love can both be directed at the same person simultaneously

Mike addresses personal anxiety about being the object of God's wrath.

God's love God's wrath the cross

Consequence 5 of denying wrath: paradoxically diminishes God's love

Mike argues that wrath and love are mutually reinforcing, not competing.

sin God's wrath theological error

Consequence 6 of denying wrath: trivializes sin and produces narcissism

Mike draws on his counseling experience to illustrate the practical danger of removing wrath.

God's love divine judgment God's wrath

Critique of depersonalizing wrath: 'God hates sin but not sinners' is biblically insufficient

Mike critiques a popular pastoral slogan often used to soften the doctrine of wrath.