Search — Theology Explorer

Apologetics methodology Evangelism Pantheism

How to evangelize pantheists: demonstrate Christianity is true rather than directly refuting pantheism.

Michael Gilbert asks how to evangelize to pantheists and polytheists and prove their views false.

Apologetics methodology Evangelism Hinduism

Evangelizing Hindus: ask why they believe, listen to their evidence/reasons, then compare with the reasons for Christianity.

Continuing the evangelism methodology for polytheism/Hinduism.

Baptism of the Holy Spirit Indwelling of the Holy Spirit Pneumatology

Baptism of the Holy Spirit: Mike believes it can happen both at salvation and after; distinct from the indwelling.

Zach Bradley asks whether the baptism of the Holy Spirit happens at salvation or after.

John 20:17 Trinity John 20:17 Jesus as mediator

John 20:17 — Jesus says "my Father and your Father, my God and your God": Jesus as mediator connects believers to the Father.

Rodriguez asks why Jesus refers to the Father as "my God" in John 20:17.

1 Timothy 2:5 John 20:17 1 Timothy 2:5 John 20:17 Jesus as mediator

1 Timothy 2:5 mediator concept underlies John 20:17 — Jesus is the one mediator between God and man.

Continuing the John 20:17 discussion.

Hermeneutics Eschatology Preterism

Preterism: all/most Bible prophecy fulfilled by 70 AD — initially appealing but breaks down under scrutiny.

Lindy Z asks about preterism.

Second Coming Eschatology Full preterism

Full preterism vs. partial preterism: full preterism claims the second coming already happened and leads to heresy.

Distinguishing varieties of preterism.

1 Corinthians 11 1 Corinthians 11 Head coverings Women in worship

Head coverings for women: Mike holds tentatively that they are not necessary today, but acknowledges he wants to study the passage more.

Riatoon asks whether Christian head coverings are biblical.

Matt Dillahunty Resurrection of Jesus Apologetics debates

Upcoming debate with Matt Dillahunty on April 11 on the resurrection of Jesus.

Mike announces the upcoming debate as a prayer request.

John McCrae Capturing Christianity Cameron Bertuzzi John McCrae

Collaboration project: 20 videos with Cameron Bertuzzi (Capturing Christianity) and John McCrae (What Do You Meme) releasing daily.

Mike announces a collaborative YouTube project.

Empty tomb Historicity Multiple attestation

Multiple attestation of empty tomb across 4 Gospels plus Acts sermons

Establishing historicity of the empty tomb through independent sources

Mark's Gospel Early attestation Mark's Gospel

Early attestation - all NT documents are 1st century with sources within 7 years

Arguing for early date of empty tomb testimony

Rudolf Pesch Caiaphas Dating methodology

Rudolf Pesch's argument on Mark's omission of Caiaphas's name

Dating Mark's source material by historical details

Mark's Gospel Mark's Gospel Aramaic Source criticism

Mark's Aramaic phrasing 'first day of the week' vs 'third day' formula

Evidence of pre-Gospel source material

Gospel of Peter Literary analysis

Mark's unadorned narrative vs legendary Gospel of Peter's elaborate details

Contrasting early and late accounts of the resurrection

1 Corinthians 15 1 Corinthians 15 Gary Habermas Jerome Murphy-O'Connor

1 Corinthians 15 creed - pre-Pauline formula dated within 5 years of crucifixion

Earliest written testimony to resurrection appearances

Galatians 1:18 historeo Galatians 1:18 Eyewitness testimony

Greek term 'historeo' - Paul's formal eyewitness inquiry in Jerusalem

Galatians 1:18 - Paul's investigative visit to Peter

Matthew 28 Tertullian Matthew 28 Justin Martyr

Enemy attestation - Matthew 28, Justin Martyr, Tertullian acknowledge the empty tomb

Even opponents of Christianity conceded the empty tomb as historical fact

Competing traditions Silence as evidence

No competing Jewish or pagan tradition claiming the tomb was occupied

Absence of alternative explanations in ancient sources

Bart Ehrman Women witnesses Criterion of embarrassment

Women as witnesses - criterion of embarrassment in male-centered culture

Why early Christians would not invent women as the first witnesses

Mike Licona Jewish burial customs

Jewish practice of marking and remembering spiritual leaders' burial sites

Why Jesus's grave would be noted and remembered

Acrosolia tomb type - archaeologically confirmed matches Gospel descriptions

Physical archaeology of 1st century Jerusalem tombs

Acrosolia Archaeology

Preparation day Sabbath Internal consistency

Burial on day of preparation before Sabbath - corroborated across Gospels

Internal consistency of burial timeline

Joseph Blinzler Women observers

Women observing the burial - multiply attested detail

Additional corroboration of historical memory

Josephus Roman burial practices

Roman crucifixion burial practice rebutted by Josephus and archaeological evidence

Addressing main historical objection to empty tomb

Criterion of embarrassment Joseph of Arimathea

Joseph of Arimathea - multiply attested, named, testable, criterion of embarrassment

Joseph as historical figure validating burial account

Apollonius of Tyana Geography as evidence

Jerusalem location - worst place to fabricate the empty tomb legend

Why the location itself argues for historicity

Q&A: Shroud of Turin and evidence issues

Discussion of physical evidence claims

Shroud of Turin

Gary Habermas Resurrection appearances

Habermas's 2005 scholarly consensus paper on resurrection appearances

Academic consensus on resurrection appearances

Swoon theory Naturalistic explanations

Rebuttal of swoon theory - physical evidence against resuscitation

Addressing alternative naturalistic explanations

Stolen body theory Hallucination theory

Stolen body theory problems - requires all disciples to unanimously fabricate

Addressing 'hallucination' and conspiracy objections

Historicity Comparative religion

Christianity's historical uniqueness in resurrection claims

Comparative religion - why Christianity's claims stand out

John McCrae Capturing Christianity Cameron Bertuzzi John McCrae

Introduction: Mike Winger hosts a collaborative livestream with Cameron Bertuzzi and John McCrae examining the YouTube landscape for Christians vs. atheists

Opening segment establishing the premise of the livestream and introducing co-hosts

Christian apologetics Hemant Mehta atheist objections to Christianity

20-video collaborative series answering Hemant Mehta's atheist objections, one video per day

Mike describes the structure and goals of the joint project

Capturing Christianity Christian apologetics Cameron Bertuzzi

Cameron Bertuzzi's background: photographer turned apologist after brother became an atheist; runs Capturing Christianity blog and YouTube channel

Cameron introduces himself to Mike's audience

Christian unity essentials vs non-essentials in doctrine ecumenical cooperation

Principle of Christian unity: partnering across doctrinal differences on non-essentials while agreeing on essentials

Mike articulates the philosophy behind the collaboration

Cameron Bertuzzi argument from contingency theism

Cameron presents the "mansion analogy" for building a cumulative case for Christianity: theism first, then Christianity

Discussion of best arguments for Christianity

Cameron Bertuzzi argument from contingency necessary being

Argument from contingency explained: every contingent thing has an explanation; the collection of all contingent things requires a non-contingent (necessary) being as explanation

Cameron explains his favored philosophical argument for God's existence

apologetics theism philosophy and theism

Mike's claim: philosophy rightly done points toward God and ultimately toward Christ

Mike's reflection on the relationship between philosophy and theism

philosophy etymology of philosophy

Etymology of "philosophy": love of wisdom; Christians need not fear it

Cameron's brief note on philosophy

John McCrae Trinity John McCrae argument from contingency

John McCrae's favored arguments: contingency, Kalam, J.P. Moreland's argument from consciousness; also finds psychological features of the Bible's content persuasive

John introduces himself and shares his apologetic focus

John McCrae John McCrae J.P. Moreland argument from consciousness

Argument from consciousness: mind and matter are ontologically distinct; consciousness is irreducible to physical processes (the hard problem of consciousness)

John explains the argument from consciousness more fully

resurrection of Jesus Tim McGrew Lydia McGrew

Tim McGrew and Lydia McGrew's paper on miracles and the resurrection as a sophisticated cumulative case for Christianity

Cameron recommends a freely available academic paper

resurrection of Jesus Tim McGrew apologetics accessibility

The level of philosophical sophistication available for defending the resurrection surprises many skeptics and Christians alike

Mike and Cameron reflect on accessibility and depth of resurrection arguments

problem of evil Cameron Bertuzzi logical problem of evil

Problem of evil as the strongest argument for atheism: suffering and evil as evidence (not logical disproof) against God's existence

Discussion of atheist arguments

problem of evil moral argument for God Cameron Bertuzzi

Argument from morality as a compelling Christian argument: moral facts (e.g., torturing children for fun is wrong) require a grounding explanation

Cameron presents the moral argument as interesting for its emotional grip, parallel to the problem of evil

problem of evil emotional vs. logical reasoning philosophical method

Emotional vs. logical reasoning: the importance of separating emotional response from logical analysis of arguments

Cameron's methodological point about evaluating arguments

problem of evil moral realism nihilism

Mike's response to the problem of evil: if evil disproves God, then the moral framework that makes evil "evil" also collapses, creating a self-defeating argument

Mike shares his own perspective on the problem of evil

John McCrae problem of evil John McCrae SIDS / sudden infant death

Personal account: two friends experienced SIDS (crib death/sudden infant death) and responded differently — one drew closer to God, one turned away

John shares a personal story illustrating different responses to suffering