Search — Theology Explorer

false prophecy repentance Harold Camping

Camping's public repentance: he acknowledged he should never have predicted the end; Mike grants measured respect for this

After October 21 also passed, Camping issued a genuine-sounding retraction.

Second Coming eschatology thief in the night

The Second Coming is by design unexpected; Christians differ from the world not in knowing the date but in being ready

Mike draws the practical theological conclusion from 2 Peter 3.

Revelation Isaiah Jeremiah hermeneutics Old Testament prophecy interpretation

Reason 2: Future prophecy is extremely challenging — Revelation requires knowledge of the whole Old Testament

Second reason people are vulnerable to false predictions.

sola scriptura apologetics authority fallacy

Reason 5: Predictors earn our trust by sounding knowledgeable — authority transferred from person to prediction without scriptural verification

Fifth reason people fall for false predictions.

Mark 13:32 Second Coming no one knows the day or hour Mark 13:32

Q&A: Why does Jesus now know the day/hour when he said he didn't while on earth? — Kenosis and the limitation of incarnation

Question from Marlin Thea. Mike answers cautiously and flags it for next week.

Mike Winger idea 2017-12-27

Church selection advice: evaluate a church by both its statement of faith and whether it actually lives out those beliefs

Q&A response to a viewer in the Bay Area asking how to find a good church.

Calvary Chapel church selection statement of faith

Mike Winger idea 2018-01-24

Mormon hymn 'If You Could Hie to Kolob' (hymn #284) teaches the doctrine of infinite regression of gods.

Mike cites an official Mormon hymn as further evidence for the polytheistic infinite regression doctrine, making it liturgically embedded in the faith.

infinite regression of gods If You Could Hie to Kolob Kolob

Mike Winger idea 2018-01-24

King Follett Sermon quote: Joseph Smith mocks orthodox scholars for teaching creation ex nihilo, claiming special knowledge via the Holy Ghost.

Direct quotation from the King Follett Sermon on creation, where Smith attacks the ex nihilo doctrine and claims superior knowledge.

Joseph Smith King Follett Sermon creation ex nihilo

Mike Winger idea 2018-03-14

Luke 7:29 — tax collectors 'justified God' proves 'justified' can mean vindicated/validated, not salvifically made righteous

Key proof text showing non-theological use of 'justified' in the New Testament without needing Greek knowledge

Luke 7:29 semantic range dikaioo justification

Mike Winger idea 2018-03-14

Q&A: apparitions of the Virgin Mary — Mike is skeptical; Catholic Marian devotion (shrines, altars) seems pagan and non-biblical

Viewer question about Catholic Marian apparitions

Catholicism Virgin Mary Marian apparitions

1 Corinthians 3:13-15 purgatory Catholic apologetics purification

Catholic interpretation of 1 Corinthians 3: fire = purgatorial fire that purifies the believer

Mike fairly summarizes what Catholic apologists say about this passage

sola scriptura purgatory Catholic apologetics

Many respected Catholic theologians openly admit purgatory is not in the Bible — it rests on church authority alone

Acknowledging the honest strand of Catholic scholarship on purgatory

2 Corinthians 5:8 death soul sleep intermediate state

Q&A: Do we 'soul sleep' or go directly to heaven at death?

Viewer question on the state of the dead, related to purgatory discussion

N.T. Wright eschatology New Perspective on Paul

Q&A — N.T. Wright's phrase 'life after life after death': Mike doesn't know it well enough to comment

Question about N.T. Wright's eschatological framing

resurrection historical method post-resurrection appearances

Third fact (I): Independent post-resurrection appearances of Jesus accepted by the vast majority of historians

Third point of the ALIVE acronym

miracles David Hume methodological naturalism

Hume's single exception: he would only accept a miracle if it was the lesser of two competing miracle claims

Further detail on Hume's position from 'An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding'

resurrection Harry Potter comparison category error

Comparing Jesus's resurrection to Harry Potter is intellectually incoherent — a category error that reveals the accuser as a caricature

Response to an atheist who told Mike he should believe in Harry Potter if he believes the Bible

apologetics spiritual blindness unbelief

Why unbelievers reject the resurrection: sin, pride, bias, desires — caution against over-generalizing

Q&A — response to George Cook's question about why unbelievers are 'blind'

Markan priority New Testament Gospel origins Markan priority

Which Gospel was written first — Mike defers to scholarly consensus and warns of the 'house of cards' nature of Gospel dating arguments

Q&A — Cam Spears's question about Gospel authorship dates

Hebrews authorship New Testament Paul the Apostle Pauline authorship

Question from 'Pine Creek Doug': do you accept the scholarly consensus that six of Paul's letters are forgeries? — Mike does not accept this

Q&A — atheist YouTuber Doug from 'Pine Creek' asks about Pauline authorship

Deuteronomy 23:12-13 Bible and science Mosaic law Bible and medicine

Mosaic sanitation laws anticipated modern hygiene knowledge (fecal disposal, contamination)

Continuing the response to Ra's charge that rituals don't cure illness

Messianic prophecy Universal worship of God Mission to the Gentiles

Jesus has influenced the entire world to worship the God of Israel — messianic prophecy fulfilled

Ra's list includes: Messiah must influence the entire world to acknowledge and serve one God

Psalm 22:16 Septuagint Psalm 22:16 Crucifixion prophecy

Psalm 22:16 textual debate: 'like a lion' vs. 'they pierced' — three sources support 'pierced'

Ra claims 'they pierced my hands and feet' in Psalm 22:16 is a mistranslation — the correct Hebrew is 'like a lion they were at my hands and feet'

Apologetics methodology Evangelism Holy Spirit's role in conversion

Q&A: How do you persuade someone who refuses to engage with prophecy evidence?

Viewer asks how to get through to someone who won't listen to fulfilled prophecy arguments

Hosea 11:1 Matthew 2:15 Typology Hosea 11:1 Matthew 2:15

Hosea 11:1 used in Matthew 2:15 — typological fulfillment vs. direct prophecy

Viewer question: how can Hosea 11:1 ('out of Egypt I called my son') be messianic when it is clearly about Israel in context?

James 2 James 2 inspiration tests biblical contradictions

Reason 4 refuted: The psychological power of contradiction lists outweighs their actual evidential force; contradictions would not disprove inspiration anyway

The skeptic links to the Skeptic's Annotated Bible list of hundreds of alleged biblical contradictions.

Ezekiel Matthew 24 fulfilled prophecy Ezekiel Matthew 24

Reason 5 affirmed and answered: Fulfilled prophecy is the correct test for biblical inspiration, and the Bible passes it

The skeptic argues that an inspired Bible would contain specific, verifiable prophecies — but calls biblical prophecies 'feeble in the extreme.'

Genesis 1 Hebrews 11:3 Genesis 1 inspiration tests scientific foreknowledge

Reason 6 addressed: Scientific foreknowledge in the Bible — prophecy is superior to scientific insight as apologetic evidence

The skeptic argues an inspired Bible would contain scientific knowledge humans couldn't have had (e.g., quantum mechanics, germ theory). Mike largely treats this as a restatement of Reason 5.

geographic objection special pleading meme apologetics

The 'God only acts in the Middle East' meme refuted as incoherent special pleading

Between numbered reasons, the article inserts a meme claiming all of God's actions in the Bible occur in a tiny geographic circle around the Middle East, ignoring Europe, the Americas, and Asia.

fulfilled prophecy biblical inspiration inspiration tests

Summary conclusion: Five reasons are false and irrelevant to inspiration; two are legitimate tests the Bible passes

Mike wraps up the main article before taking Q&A.

John 7-8 textual criticism manuscript variants pericope adulterae

Q&A: The pericope adulterae (John 7:53–8:11, woman caught in adultery) was likely not in the original Gospel of John

Viewer asks about the scholarly conclusion that the 'cast the first stone' story is a later addition.

revelation Galatians 1 oral tradition Paul apostolic tradition

Q&A: How did Paul know so much about Jesus if he did not personally follow him?

Viewer question about the source of Paul's detailed knowledge of Jesus's teaching and gospel.

preterism full preterism partial preterism

Preterism as one response to the 'failed prophet' problem

Mike introduces preterism as the main alternative to his own futurist interpretation, with no intent to attack preterists.

Mark 13:32-37 no one knows the day or hour Mark 13:32-37 watchfulness

Mark 13:32-37 — no one knows the day or hour; the command is perpetual alertness

Mike reconciles the specific sign and generation statement with the 'no one knows' declaration.

rapture timing pre-tribulation rapture inherited theology

Q&A: Mike's current position on rapture timing — hasn't yet settled it to his own standard

Viewer question about pre-tribulation rapture.

Daniel 11 Daniel 12 Daniel 11 Daniel 12 rebuilt temple

Q&A: Does the abomination of desolation require a rebuilt temple? Yes — based on Daniel 11-12

Viewer Martin Gradwell argues the temple is our bodies and thus no physical rebuild is required.

Mike Winger idea 2018-08-22

The simplest test for distinguishing true from false teachers is the identity of Jesus (who is he?) and the means of salvation (how am I saved?) — 1 John and Ephesians 2:8-9

Q&A: question from Zipa Duck about how new Christians can identify false vs. true teachers.

1 John Ephesians 2:8-9 1 John Ephesians 2:8-9 Christology

Mike Winger idea 2018-09-05

Why didn't Bible prophecy predict airplanes or the internet? The Bible was meant to be evidence for all generations across history, not optimized for the 21st century.

Ra asks why 'seers' who could foresee the distant future never mentioned modern technology.

apologetics Bible prophecy Aron Ra

Mike Winger idea 2018-09-05

God has a future national plan for Israel, but that does not require uncritical support for every Israeli political action. Christians should be cautious about both Israeli and Palestinian media narratives.

Viewer question about pro-Palestinian Christians who vilify the modern State of Israel.

gospel eschatology Bible prophecy

Calvinism soteriology presuppositional apologetics

Sye acknowledges Winger's critique as kind though erroneous; notes soteriology will be a central difference underlying their apologetic disagreement

Sye's opening statement and introduction

Romans 1 accountability general revelation Romans 1

What does the unbeliever know? Sye argues Romans 1 teaches everyone has sufficient knowledge of the true God for their condemnation — not just 'a god' but the God

Winger's first probing question; Sye's answer

Romans 1 sin general revelation Romans 1

Winger argues Romans 1 teaches that people have been given sufficient information but may not currently believe it, because sin causes suppression and exchange of truth

Winger's counter-reading of Romans 1

1 Kings 18:36-37 knowledge of God Elijah evidential apologetics

Winger reads 1 Kings 18:36-37: Elijah prays 'let it be known this day that you are God in Israel' — explicit language of producing knowledge

Winger continues exegeting 1 Kings 18 in support of evidential apologetics

Romans 1 1 Kings 18 Romans 1 knowledge of God suppression of truth

Both men discuss the aftermath of 1 Kings 18 — the people and prophets respond differently; suppression-to-profession vs. unbelief-to-belief

Continued exegesis and debate over 1 Kings 18

Genesis 3 Genesis 3 sin deception

Winger raises the case of Eve being genuinely deceived in the garden as a counter-example to the claim that everyone always fully knows the truth they suppress

Winger's argument from Genesis 3 against the presup claim about universal conscious knowledge

Genesis 3 1 Timothy 2:14 Genesis 3 1 Timothy 2:14 hermeneutics

Winger accuses Sye of reading his presup philosophy into the Genesis 3 text rather than reading it exegetically; notes Scripture distinguishes Adam (knowing) from Eve (deceived)

Winger's exegetical pushback on Sye's Genesis 3 reading

Romans 1 1 Kings 18 Romans 1 knowledge of God suppression of truth

Sye: evidential apologetics aims to convince people of something they didn't already know — but Scripture says they do know; the purpose of giving evidence should be to expose suppression, not fill ignorance

Sye's summary critique of evidentialism

Romans 2 Romans 2 accountability general revelation

Romans 2 and conscience: Gentiles do by nature what the law requires, showing the work of the law written on their hearts — grounds their accountability in certain knowledge, not probability

Sye's argument from Romans 2 for the certainty of moral knowledge in all people