Search — Theology Explorer

1 Corinthians 11:23-25 Mark 14:22 Matthew 26:26 Last Supper independent attestation 1 Corinthians 11:23-25

Detailed Synoptic comparison of Last Supper: Paul, Mark, Matthew, and Luke all describe the same sequence

Mike does a detailed side-by-side comparison of the Last Supper accounts across Paul and the three Synoptic Gospels.

Gamaliel Paul the Apostle Pharisees

Paul was a Pharisee trained in Jerusalem under Gamaliel and likely encountered Jesus personally

Mike addresses the claim that Paul never met Jesus, arguing circumstantial evidence strongly suggests they crossed paths.

Galatians 1 James (brother of Jesus) 2 Peter Galatians 1 Peter (Cephas) James (brother of Jesus)

Paul's apostolic authority confirmed by Peter and James; 2 Peter calls Paul's writings Scripture

Q&A: question about how Paul went from persecutor to authoritative apostle.

Isaiah 7:14 Isaiah 7-9 Matthew 1 virgin birth Isaiah 7:14 Old Testament fulfillment

Isaiah 7:14 — 'alma' means young maiden; the context of Isaiah 7-9 supports the virgin birth interpretation

Q&A: question about whether Isaiah 7:14 refers to a young woman or a virgin, and whether it was a sign to Ahaz.

Matthew 10:23 Acts 1:8 Second Coming eschatology Matthew 10:23

Matthew 10:23 — 'Son of Man comes' refers to Jesus's first coming during the disciples' mission trip, not the Second Coming

Q&A: question about a verse that appears to predict Jesus would return before the disciples finished preaching in Israel.

Matthew 10 judgment Bethsaida sending of the twelve

Sodom and Gomorrah judgment comparison for towns rejecting Jesus's envoys

Part of the Matthew 10 discussion — Jesus says it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah than for towns that reject the disciples.

Galatians 4:4 Galatians 4:4 Jesus as Jewish born under the law

Galatians 4:4 'born under the law' consistently refers to Jews in Paul's usage

Q&A follow-up: clarification on whether 'born under the law' in Galatians 4:4 implies Jewish identity.

salvation repentance sanctification

Repentance restores relationship with God, not salvific status; analogy of marriage reconciliation

Q&A: question about whether believers must live sinlessly or must continually repent.

empty tomb resurrection of Jesus historical reliability

Empty tomb: majority scholarly agreement exists, but Mike doesn't know a compelling argument against it

Q&A: question about why the empty tomb is only majority (not unanimous) scholarly agreement.

Romans 14 James (brother of Jesus) Acts 21:17-26 circumcision Nazirite vow Romans 14

Acts 21:17-26 — Paul participates in a Nazirite vow to demonstrate continued Torah observance as a Jewish believer

Q&A: question about Paul's behavior in Acts 21 and what it tells us about his relationship to Torah.

Christian ethics sinlessness of Jesus Temple cleansing

Jesus overturning tables in the Temple — anger is not inherently sinful, but it creates temptation to sin

Q&A: question about whether Jesus's table-turning in the Temple constitutes sinful anger.

Acts 26:4-6 Paul salvation sincerity

Paul before his conversion: a counterexample to Barron's 'sincere conscience' argument

Mike uses Paul's pre-conversion biography as a test case

Philippians 3:4-9 Paul righteousness Philippians 3:4-9

Philippians 3:4-9 — Paul counts his pre-conversion Jewish credentials as 'rubbish' compared to knowing Christ

Mike reads Philippians 3 as a direct biblical answer to Ben's argument

Philippians 3:10-11 Paul resurrection Philippians 3:10-11

Philippians 3:10-11 — resurrection is found only through Christ, not through Jewish law-keeping

Continuing the Philippians 3 passage

Galatians 2:15-16 Paul justification works of the law

Galatians 2:15-16 — even Jewish believers know that justification is by faith in Christ, not works of the law

Mike adds Galatians to the scriptural case

Romans 10:1-3 Paul Israel Jewish people

Romans 10:1-3 — Paul's prayer for Israel: they have zeal but not knowledge; seeking own righteousness

Mike quotes Paul's direct pastoral statement about Jewish people who have not received Christ

Romans 10:4 faith righteousness law

Romans 10:4 — Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes

The climax of the Romans 10 argument

Romans 10:9-10 justification by faith gospel resurrection

Romans 10:9-10 — confess Jesus as Lord and believe in the resurrection: the simple formula for salvation

Mike states Paul's positive prescription for Ben

Torah observance Hebrew Roots Movement Salvation by works

Hebrew Roots Movement is not monolithic — four distinct subgroups identified along a spectrum from optional Torah-keeping to rejecting Jesus entirely

Mike breaks down the internal diversity within the movement to caution against a single label.

1 Corinthians Ephesians Colossians 1 Corinthians Ephesians Colossians

119 Ministries chosen as the representative case study for this video because they engage actual scripture

Mike explains his research methodology and why he selected 119 Ministries as his primary dialogue partner.

Hebrew Roots Movement 119 Ministries Pauline Paradox

119 Ministries' Pauline Paradox series analyzed; its pre-Pauline argumentation is the real persuasive engine

Mike explains his analytical approach: the movement's rhetoric and philosophy before getting to Paul is what actually hooks people.

Paul rejection 119 Ministries Rhetorical manipulation

119 Ministries asks "can truth become not-truth?" — Mike identifies this as a misleading question that conflates truthfulness with universal applicability

Mike quotes and critiques a rhetorical question 119 Ministries poses to destabilize the traditional Christian position.

John 1 Hebrews 13:8 Law of Moses 119 Ministries Logos

119 Ministries' core philosophical claim: Jesus is the Word, therefore Jesus is the Bible, therefore obeying Jesus means obeying OT law — Mike calls this irrational

Mike introduces the central pre-Pauline argument of 119 Ministries: equating Jesus (the Logos) with the written Bible.

Hebrews 7:11-12 Psalm 110 Levitical priesthood Aaron Typology

Hebrews 7:11-12 — change of priesthood necessarily entails a change in the law; Mike argues the OT itself predicted this change

Mike goes to Hebrews 7 as a non-Pauline passage to demonstrate that the OT itself contains the seeds of its own supersession.

Torah Paul rejection 119 Ministries

119 Ministries: "you cannot choose which parts of the Messiah you like" — Mike critiques this as circular reasoning that makes Torah-rejection equivalent to rejecting Jesus

Mike plays a clip where 119 Ministries equates partial Torah-rejection with rejecting part of the Messiah himself.

Torah observance Hebrew Roots Movement Paul rejection

The Hebrew Roots Movement tends to involve a progressive radicalization through increasingly extreme positions

Mike describes what he observes as a typical trajectory for people who enter the Hebrew Roots Movement.

1 Corinthians 7 Paul 1 Corinthians 7 Torah observance

Jewish believers and Torah: Paul's principle "let him who is circumcised not seek to be uncircumcised" — Mike gives leeway to Jewish Christians observing Torah

Mike distinguishes between Jewish and Gentile believers in his pastoral response to Torah-observance.

Hebrew Roots Movement Paul rejection Dietary laws

Pastoral counsel for those with family members in the Hebrew Roots Movement — distinguish unnecessary restrictions from the deeper spiritual danger

Q&A: a viewer's mother is deeply in the Hebrew Roots movement; asking if the movement is the way to be close to Jesus.

1 Corinthians 9 Paul Hebrew Roots Movement Pastoral counsel

"To the Jew I became a Jew" (1 Cor 9) — Paul's principle applied to engaging Hebrew Roots family members

Mike gives practical pastoral advice for relating to Hebrew Roots family without endorsing their views.

Acts 13 Paul Peter Paul rejection

Paul's legitimacy as an apostle — Mike answers a claim that Paul was not a true Jew and therefore untrustworthy

Q&A: a viewer's sister and brother-in-law argue that Paul was not a true Jew and deceived his audience; they use this to reject his letters.

Acts 15 Acts 15 Hebrew Roots Movement 119 Ministries

Preview of next week: Acts 15 and Pauline passages; warning to Hebrew Roots adherents to separate from those who deny salvation by grace

Closing remarks and preview of future videos in the series.

Mike Winger idea 2019-02-07

Upcoming debate with Matt Dillahunty on the resurrection

Mike explains why his content schedule will shift to focus on the resurrection before returning to the Law of Moses.

Matt Dillahunty Law of Moses resurrection of Christ

Mike Winger idea 2019-02-07

Husband of one wife (1 Timothy 3) refers to polygamy, not divorce

Q&A on the pastoral qualification "husband of one wife" in the pastoral epistles.

1 Timothy 3 Titus 1 elder bishop 1 Timothy 3

Mike Winger idea 2019-02-13

Planned Gospel of Mark series to cover theology, apologetics, and resurrection debates

Response to viewer question about where the Trinity is in Mark

resurrection Gospel of Mark Trinity in Mark

Mike Winger idea 2019-02-13

Repentance functions in both justification and sanctification

Viewer asking whether repentance is part of justification or sanctification

Revelation 2 2 Corinthians 7 Ephesus repentance justification

1 Timothy 1 Richard Bauckham elders (early church) apostolic appointment

Richard Bauckham's identification of elders vs. disciples and the function of elders in preserving doctrine

Scholarly framework for understanding Papias's use of "elders."

Mark 15:21 Matthew 27:32 Luke 23:26 eyewitness guarantors named individuals in Gospels passion narrative

Simon of Cyrene named with his sons Alexander and Rufus as eyewitness sourcing (Mark 15:21)

Another case study in named eyewitness sourcing from the passion narrative.

1 Timothy 3 Titus 1 1 Timothy 3 husband of one wife Titus 1

Q&A: Titus and 1 Timothy pastoral qualifications — "husband of one wife" and "having children"

Q&A on elder/bishop/pastor qualifications in the Pastoral Epistles.

1 Corinthians 7:14 hermeneutics sanctification 1 Corinthians 7:14

Q&A: 1 Corinthians 7:14 — "sanctified" is a dictionary term, not a theological one; no automatic salvation for unbelieving spouse

Q&A on the meaning of sanctification language in Paul's marriage instruction.

Mike Winger idea 2019-03-13

Tongues in the New Testament: multiple types — tongues with interpretation (public) and tongues without interpretation (private).

Tanya Baltzer asks about tongues — actual languages vs. unknown languages.

1 Corinthians 14 Acts 2 (Pentecost) 1 Corinthians 13:1 1 Corinthians 14 Tongues Acts 2 (Pentecost)

Mike Winger idea 2019-02-27

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

Earliest written testimony to resurrection appearances

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

Mike Winger idea 2019-02-27

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

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

Galatians 1:18 historeo Galatians 1:18 Eyewitness testimony

Mike Winger idea 2019-03-14

Apologist/counter-apologist "Paulogia": Cameron had a debate with him on the resurrection on the Non Sequitur Show

Q&A from Nick J about Paulogia's series on the resurrection

resurrection of Jesus Non Sequitur Show Paulogia

Mike Winger idea 2019-03-14

Refutation of Paulogia's claim that Romans denied honorable burial to crucifixion victims: Josephus explicitly says Romans made an exception for Jews

Mike provides a specific example of responding to a resurrection objection

Josephus empty tomb swoon theory

Mike Winger idea 2019-03-14

Closing message to skeptics from Cameron: dialogue doesn't have to be combative; take philosophy seriously; read atheist philosophers of religion (Paul Draper, Graham Oppy, John Schellenberg), not just popular atheists like Dawkins or Hitchens

Cameron's closing message to skeptic viewers

John Schellenberg Richard Dawkins Cameron Bertuzzi Paul Draper

Mike Winger idea 2019-03-27

Cameron Bertuzzi (Capturing Christianity): inability to answer a question doesn't mean Christianity is false; testimony is a legitimate epistemic basis

Video clip from Cameron Bertuzzi with pastoral/apologetic advice for Christians facing SE

Apologetics Capturing Christianity Cameron Bertuzzi

Acts of the Apostles Paul the Apostle early Christian persecution Acts of the Apostles

The book of Acts as a sustained narrative of persecution — Paul's pre-conversion role as persecutor and post-conversion experience of being persecuted

Persecution is the central recurring theme of Acts

1 Peter Romans 8 Revelation 2-3 1 Peter Romans 8 Revelation 2-3

Prison epistles and other NT letters as evidence that suffering was a church-wide reality needing sustained pastoral address

The pervasive theme of persecution across the entire NT corpus

James the brother of Jesus Paul the Apostle apostle sincerity conspiracy hypothesis

Focus narrowed to Peter, James the brother of Jesus, and Paul as the three central resurrection eyewitnesses whose sincerity needs to be established

Transition from general persecution to specific apostolic martyrdoms