Search — Theology Explorer

Philippians 3:13-14 calling Paul discouragement

The feeling of "not being there yet" in Christian growth is healthy when it motivates pressing on rather than giving up

Question from Derry Draws about how to grow spiritually when the fire feels gone

Christian liberty conscience civil government

Christians are not free to disobey government laws simply because they seem pointless — but there is a threshold of oppression where resistance becomes legitimate

Question from Jared's Story about UK COVID laws and Christian obligation to comply

Baptizing children should not be delayed based purely on age — genuine faith at any age is sufficient

Question from April B about baptizing her 8-year-old who has made a genuine profession of faith

baptism salvation faith

2 Corinthians 2 baptism grace re-baptism

Re-baptism is not prescribed in Scripture but can be appropriate when the original baptism lacked genuine understanding

Question from Andrew Green about whether re-baptisms are biblical

Leviticus 25:44-46 Anachronism in biblical interpretation Leviticus 25:44-46 Slavery in the Old Testament

Leviticus 25:44-46 must be read within a full survey of Old Testament slave laws — anachronism of projecting chattel slavery onto the text is the core hermeneutical error

Question from James W. about Leviticus 25:44-46 and whether the Bible endorses slavery.

Leviticus 25:44-46 Deuteronomy slavery laws Exodus redemption as theological grounding for humane treatment Leviticus 25:44-46 Slavery in the Old Testament Deuteronomy slavery laws

Old Testament slavery laws contained extensive humanitarian protections radically superior to surrounding cultures and incompatible with chattel slavery

Continued answer on Leviticus 25 and slavery.

Exodus redemption narrative Leviticus 25:42 Slavery in the Old Testament Exodus redemption narrative Leviticus 25:42

The theological basis for freeing fellow Israelites: God redeemed Israel from Egypt, so they cannot hold one another in permanent slavery

Explaining the theological rationale behind Israelite-specific slave laws.

2 Timothy 1:7 Prayer Spiritual warfare 2 Timothy 1:7

Modifying prayer practices out of fear of Satan is itself a spiritual defeat — Christians pray to God in the victory of Christ

Practical application of the Satan/prayer question.

Mike Winger idea 2021-01-29

Discipleship readiness: everyone can encourage immediately; formal leadership is about raising others up, not establishing authority

Second part of Bree Herb's question: how do you know when you are ready to disciple others?

discipleship spiritual leadership mentoring

Mike Winger idea 2021-01-29

Advice for online youth pastor: engage real youth in person; use apologetics and comparative theology to reach skeptical students

Final question from Dragon Fist 900, a biblical studies major pursuing online youth ministry.

youth ministry evangelism apologetics

Mike Winger idea 2018-10-31

Mike comments on Jeff Durbin of Apologia Radio, praising him for having a solid gospel and effective outreach to cults but disagreeing with his strong Calvinism; he also notes controversy around a debate Durbin and James White did against a Mormon.

Response to viewer question about Jeff Durbin

James White Mormonism theodicy James White

Mike Winger idea 2021-02-05

Church discipline for a professed believer in a gay marriage: the local body should practice separation/excommunication; individual relationship may continue with pastoral intent.

Question from JTro Man about what biblical separation looks like with a professed believer in a gay marriage.

1 Corinthians 5 1 Corinthians 5 Lifestyle sin Church discipline

Gospels demonic activity first-century context

Why far more demonic activity in the NT than OT — quantity and intentionality

Even granting OT demonic activity, the sheer volume of exorcisms in the Gospels and Acts is historically anomalous and must be explained theologically.

church leadership pastoral ethics pastoral compensation

Wise rule: pastor should live roughly at the level of his congregation

Mike's practical guideline for appropriate pastoral compensation.

Matthew 23 apologetics Catholicism Pharisees

Warning against making theological decisions based on aesthetics — beauty of Catholic churches and liturgy is irrelevant to truth

People in doctrinal confusion sometimes drift toward Catholic practice for aesthetic or experiential reasons rather than theological ones.

John 8:30-38 John 1:11 perseverance of the saints John 8:30-38 belief in John

Interpretive options for belief in John 8:30 — salvific vs. surface belief; audience complexity

The theological puzzle: was this salvific belief that was then lost, or was it never salvific to begin with?

Revelation Luke 16 millennium eschatology Revelation

Question: What is the difference between Hades and Hell — do people go directly to hell at death?

Viewer Henry Avery's Gravery asks Mike to elaborate on his view that people do not go directly to hell when they die.

Mike Winger idea 2020-12-04

Matthew 5:42 ('give to him who asks') must be applied with wisdom — naive application would mean giving to every fraudster.

Continued discussion of Matthew 5:42 on generosity.

Matthew 5:42 Kenneth Copeland Prosperity gospel Matthew 5:42

Genesis 1 Job 40-41 Genesis 1 young earth creationism age of the earth

Dinosaurs and the age of the earth: three intra-Christian views summarized

Madison Torres asked how dinosaur fossils fit with Adam and Eve and the biblical timeline.

1 Timothy 3 Galatians 3:28 Matthew 23:8-12 servant leadership overseer episkopos

Ministry titles and the clergy-laity distinction: what Jesus really forbade in Matthew 23

Chris Horn asked whether Matthew 23:8-12 prohibits using ministry titles like pastor or elder.

Hebrews 7:7 spiritual authority Levitical priesthood Abraham

Pronouncing a blessing on others: Hebrews 7:7 and mutual blessing in the body of Christ

Andrej asked whether saying "I bless you" to someone implies a hierarchical superiority that is inappropriate between equals.

Galatians 1:8-9 2 Corinthians 11:4 Jude 3 sola scriptura Galatians 1:8-9 Kenneth Copeland

Another Jesus (2 Corinthians 11:4): prioritizing doctrine over teachers

Chip Ludick asked why Paul warned the Corinthians about "another Jesus" in 2 Corinthians 11:4 and how it applies today in light of John 17:3.

1 Samuel 28 Leviticus 19:31 Deuteronomy 18:11 Samuel Catholicism afterlife

Ghosts, the witch of Endor, and demonic impersonation of the dead

Lindsay Kelso asked whether the Bible supports ghosts, and whether those who claim to see them are actually encountering demons.

Mike Winger idea 2021-02-26

Burial symbolism matters even though cremation is permissible

Mike affirms cremation is acceptable but argues for the value of burial symbolism and honoring the dead.

Luke 23 Leviticus Luke 23 Leviticus burial

Mike Winger idea 2021-03-05

Apologetics resources: use general resources (Got Questions) to start, then targeted in-depth resources (books) for specific issues

Recommending starting points for apologetics study

Richard Bauckham apologetics William Lane Craig

Mike Winger idea 2021-03-26

Mark 7:14-19 — Jesus declares all foods clean by distinguishing ceremonial uncleanness from moral defilement; the Levitical purity laws were pedagogical, not moral.

Tabitha Littman asks why Jesus seems appalled that Jews believed touching/eating certain things made them unclean given God instituted those laws in Leviticus.

Acts 15 Leviticus 11 Mark 7:14-19 Acts 15 Pharisees Leviticus 11

Mike Winger idea 2021-03-26

2 Samuel 12:8 does not endorse polygamy; the phrase "I would have given you more" is a figure of speech for God's provision, not a promise of additional wives; God explicitly forbids polygamy for kings in Deuteronomy 17:17.

Joshua Bambrick asks whether 2 Samuel 12:8 refutes the claim that God does not affirm polygamy.

Deuteronomy 17:17 2 Samuel 12:8 David Nathan marriage

Mike Winger idea 2021-03-26

Birth control and vasectomy: contraception that prevents conception is morally permissible for Christians; abortifacient contraception is morally equivalent to killing a human life.

Lucas Eileen asks for a biblical perspective on birth control and vasectomy, mentioning Genesis 38 and Psalm 139.

Psalm 139 Genesis 38 (Onan) hermeneutics abortifacient Psalm 139

Mike Winger idea 2021-04-23

Levitical and Aaronic priesthoods explained: Levites served in the tabernacle/temple; Aaron's descendants held the most important priestly roles as a sub-class.

Q3 from Ronald Fish: explain the difference between the Aaronic, Levitical, and Melchizedek priesthoods.

Moses typology Aaron

Mike Winger idea 2021-04-23

Melchizedek is a historical figure who typologically prefigures Christ as king-priest; the Melchizedekian order is non-genealogical and superior to the Levitical system.

Continued Q3 on the Melchizedekian priesthood.

Psalm 110 Genesis (Melchizedek passage) Hebrews (Melchizedek) typology Abraham Psalm 110

Mike Winger idea 2021-03-12

Free will does not mean freedom from consequences — the golden calf judgment illustrates this

Q15 from Jill Sworzel-Stix: If God gives us free will to worship him, why did he have Moses command the Levites to kill 3,000 people who chose not to (Exodus 32:28)?

Exodus 32 Moses Aaron covenant

Mike Winger idea 2021-03-12

Textual variants and extra verses in modern translations do not undermine inerrancy or preservation — they represent more, not less

Q18 from Chris Levy: How do we reconcile inerrancy and preservation when modern translations say verses have been added (e.g., ending of Mark, Acts 8:37)?

Mark 16 ending Acts 8:37 translation methodology textual criticism inerrancy

Mike Winger idea 2021-03-12

Levitical purity laws: ritual uncleanness restricted temple access and contact — many laws have pragmatic sanitary value

Q20 from Bluegreen: What happens to people who become ritually unclean in Leviticus — is the whole day negative or just can't enter the temple?

Leviticus Leviticus Levitical purity laws ritual uncleanness

Mike Winger idea 2021-03-19

Praying for healing for a child with a birth defect — contentment vs. miracle prayer

Listener Maria says her unborn baby has a serious birth defect; many friends are praying for a miracle but she isn't sure she can/should.

Romans 8:26 Kenneth Copeland Word of Faith Healing prayer

Mike Winger idea 2021-04-30

Modern (rabbinic) Judaism differs fundamentally from biblical Judaism; good works now replace the sacrificial system.

Question 9 from Meg Smiley about how Jews obtain forgiveness without the Temple.

Hebrews Romans 10:1-4 Hebrews works-righteousness Day of Atonement

Mike Winger idea 2020-02-12

Objection: the multiverse avoids the need for God. Response: everything said about our universe needing a cause applies equally to the multiverse — you're just kicking the can back.

Objection — multiverse

Matt Dillahunty Kalam cosmological argument Carl Sagan

Mike Winger idea 2020-02-12

Objection: the argument doesn't mention God, so it's irrelevant. Response: the Kalam is always the beginning of a case, not the end — it forces you into the conceptual analysis that points to God.

Objection — God not mentioned in the argument

Kalam cosmological argument Kalam cosmological argument conceptual analysis

Mike Winger idea 2020-01-08

Drew's Question 3: Why did God create animals with pain receptors? John McCrae responds: (1) animals don't experience pain "exactly the same" as humans — they lack equivalent emotional/psychological pain; (2) pain is necessary for survival; (3) "psychological trauma" in animals is overstated (sloth bear eating its own cubs, chimps killing young).

Response to Q3 — animal pain

John McCrae John McCrae anthropomorphism animal suffering

Mike Winger idea 2020-02-19

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

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

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

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 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