Search — Theology Explorer

Filter results by source database — Scripture Commentary, Theology, Mike Winger, or Pulpit. Click a tab to narrow to one database.

...more

All (3332) Scripture Commentary (1369) Theology (160) Mike Winger (1791) Pulpit (12)

Mike Winger idea 2019-08-07

Q&A: Does God hate the sinner? Psalm 11:5 and the complexity of divine attitude

Viewer question on whether God's attitude toward the wicked is hatred.

Romans 9 Psalm 11:5 election God's love Romans 9

Mike Winger idea 2019-08-07

Q&A: Jehovah's Witnesses and Hebrews 1:8 — 'Your throne, O God' vs. 'God is your throne'

Viewer asks about the JW response to the key Christological text in Hebrews 1:8.

Hebrews 1:8 Psalm 45:6 Jehovah's Witnesses New World Translation Christology

Mike Winger idea 2019-08-07

Q&A: Pastors held to higher accountability — James 3:1

Viewer asks why saved pastors who lead people astray face greater judgment.

James 3:1 divine judgment James 3:1 pastoral accountability

Mike Winger idea 2019-08-07

Q&A: Did Jesus perform miracles as God or purely as a human in right relationship with God?

Viewer raises a Christological claim used to support charismatic miracle theology.

Bill Johnson miracles Christology

Mike Winger idea 2019-08-07

Q&A: When a pastor refuses reconciliation after theological disagreement

Viewer seeks pastoral counsel on a broken relationship with a church leader.

Romans 12:18 Romans 12:18 reconciliation pastoral counsel

Mike Winger idea 2019-08-07

Positional 'in Christ' removes believers from the domain of God's wrath

Mike clarifies how believers relate to divine wrath in light of the question about prosperity gospel preachers.

Ephesians 1-3 in Christ salvation Ephesians 1-3

Mike Winger idea 2019-08-07

Q&A: Severity of the Oneness doctrine — compromises the very nature of God

Viewer asks about the theological severity of the Oneness Pentecostal position.

Trinity Christology theological error

Mike Winger idea 2019-09-04

Alexamenos Graffito: earliest known artwork depicting Christ on a cross shows a T-shaped cross

The Alexamenos Graffito is a piece of graffiti mocking a Christian named Alexamenos, dated between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD (possibly as early as 80 AD). It shows a person with a donkey's head on a T-shaped cross, and a man worshiping below.

crucifixion cross early church history

Mike Winger idea 2019-09-04

Early NT manuscripts (P75, P66) abbreviate stauros with Tau-Rho symbol depicting a cross with crossbeam

In some of the earliest New Testament manuscripts, the Greek word stauros is abbreviated using the letters Tau (T) and Rho (P-shape), superimposed on each other to form a visual symbol. This combination appears to depict a man on a cross with a crossbeam.

crucifixion cross early church history

Mike Winger idea 2019-09-04

Christians worship God, not the cross symbol; cross use is a reminder, not icon worship

Winger clarifies that Christians do not worship the cross as an object. It serves as a reminder of what Christ accomplished. The pagan origin argument for the cross is irrelevant — pagans used Greek before the NT was written in Greek; usage context determines meaning.

atonement idolatry worship

Mike Winger idea 2019-09-04

Q&A: Head coverings in 1 Corinthians 11 — literal or metaphorical?

A viewer asks about 1 Corinthians 11 and head coverings. Winger gives his current tentative view without claiming certainty.

1 Corinthians 11 head coverings 1 Corinthians 11 authority

Mike Winger idea 2019-09-04

Upcoming content: critique of The Physics of Heaven (Bethel/Bill Johnson-connected book)

Winger previews his next Tuesday topic: a critique of The Physics of Heaven, a book promoted by Bethel Church, Bill Johnson, and Jesus Culture. He has read it without advance reviews and found the content disturbing.

Q&A: Does God hate the sinner? Psalm 11:5 and the complexity of divine attitude

Q&A: Jehovah's Witnesses and Hebrews 1:8 — 'Your throne, O God' vs. 'God is your throne'

Q&A: Pastors held to higher accountability — James 3:1

Q&A: Did Jesus perform miracles as God or purely as a human in right relationship with God?

Q&A: When a pastor refuses reconciliation after theological disagreement

Positional 'in Christ' removes believers from the domain of God's wrath

Q&A: Severity of the Oneness doctrine — compromises the very nature of God

Alexamenos Graffito: earliest known artwork depicting Christ on a cross shows a T-shaped cross

Early NT manuscripts (P75, P66) abbreviate stauros with Tau-Rho symbol depicting a cross with crossbeam

Christians worship God, not the cross symbol; cross use is a reminder, not icon worship

Q&A: Head coverings in 1 Corinthians 11 — literal or metaphorical?

Upcoming content: critique of The Physics of Heaven (Bethel/Bill Johnson-connected book)

The emotional appeal of pluralist slogans: kindness, avoiding anger, hope, tolerance

9/11 terrorists and suicide bombers: sincerity and sacrifice do not validate a belief system

Pluralism is insulting to actual religions: each has a different destination and goal

Parachute analogy: three men jumping from a plane with a spacesuit, super suit, and parachute

Second meaning of pluralism: no religion works, but everyone ends up with God anyway — hidden personal religion

Christian worldview distinctives: personal God, imago Dei, sin, grace, salvation by faith

Buddhism's fundamental claims contradict Christianity: impersonal reality, illusion, no enduring self, cessation as goal

Islam's fundamental claims: closer to Christianity but built as a rejection of it — different God, no grace, no cross

Fire alarm analogy: even if the messenger is a jerk, truth remains truth — cultural taboo vs. actual wrong

Slogan 6: "God knows our hearts and good people will be okay" — people are not actually good

Jesus raises the moral standard inward: lust as adultery, hatred as murder — God judges the inner person

Q&A: Is the God of Islam the same as the God of Christianity?

Q&A: Are people who deny the Trinity but believe in salvation by grace through faith saved?

Q&A: Does God have divine hatred? — Yes, Scripture affirms it, alongside God's love

Q&A: Relativism — "there is no truth" is self-refuting; "no one can know truth" is also self-refuting

Q&A: If someone prayed to receive Christ but later turns away from Christianity, do they go to hell?

Q&A: Is it wise to tell someone their deceased Catholic loved one is in heaven?

Q&A: Marcus Borg as an example of a scholarly universalist with weak arguments

Matthew 28:18-20 — baptism follows discipleship/belief, not precedes it

Three additional passages show "household" belief language does not imply infants: John 4:53, Acts 18:8, Philippians 4:22

Part 3: The circumcision-baptism parallel argument for infant baptism introduced

Part 4: Luke 18:15-16 — "Let the children come" has nothing to do with baptism

Q&A: Age of accountability is not a fixed age but individualized — God knows each person's capacity

Q&A: Minimum age for baptism is not fixed — the NT criterion is belief, which varies by individual

Q&A: Counsel for an adult believer who does not fully understand baptism — connect with a pastor and do it

Q&A: False conversion followed by genuine salvation — should the person be re-baptized?

Background: Winger recently debated Pastor Emilio Ramos on apologetic methodology at Living Waters

Christians have confident, warranted belief in Christianity apart from evidence through the Holy Spirit

Knowing vs. showing: two distinct epistemic tasks

The inner witness of the Holy Spirit gives Christians warrant regardless of external evidence

When the Holy Spirit's witness conflicts with external evidence, Christians are warranted in trusting God over evidence

1 John 5:9-10: the witness of God is greater than the witness of men; believers have it in themselves

Nearly all human knowledge rests on testimony from credible witnesses, not direct personal observation

God's witness is categorically greater than human testimony because God has all knowledge and cannot lie

It is epistemically wrong to require Christians to answer every argument or question before their faith is valid

The Mormon burning-in-the-bosom claim does not undermine the Christian's witness of the Spirit

Elijah on Mount Carmel: biblical example of knowing vs. showing — he knew God was real, he showed others through evidence

Classical, evidential, and cumulative case apologetics are all valid; tailor them to the individual

Bible Link Settings