Search — Theology Explorer

Isaiah 41:22 evidence-based faith Isaiah 41:22 predictive prophecy

Isaiah 41:22 — predictive prophecy as God's proof of his own existence and authority

Mike's third Old Testament passage, showing God challenges false gods to prove themselves through prediction.

Matthew 9:5-7 miracles as evidence Matthew 9:5-7 paralytic healing

Matthew 9:5-7 — Jesus heals the paralytic as evidence of authority to forgive sins

Mike uses Jesus's healing of the paralytic as another instance of miracles functioning as proof.

hermeneutics biblical interpretation contextual reading

Q&A: How to know you have the proper interpretation of Scripture — hermeneutics and contextual reading

Viewer question from Eric Seagardia.

Isaiah 53 Bible as historical document Isaiah 53 Pontius Pilate

Q&A: How to use the Bible as evidence with non-believers who don't accept it as God's word — the prophecy approach

Viewer question from Kate about apologetic method.

Mike Winger idea 2019-01-30

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 13 Paul Peter Paul rejection

Mike Winger idea 2019-02-07

Catholic Church mandatory celibacy for priests and nuns is unbiblical

Mike addresses the Catholic sex abuse scandal as it relates to mandatory celibacy.

Catholic Church mandatory celibacy priestly celibacy

Genesis 1 Genesis 9 dominion mandate Mormonism Genesis 1

Image of God (imago Dei): grounds human value, authority over creation, and raises questions about communicable attributes

Viewer asking what it means to be created in the image of God

John 3:13 Moses divine authority Elijah

John 3:13 — "No one has ascended" does not necessarily contradict Elijah's translation

Viewer asking about John 3:13 and its apparent contradiction with Elijah ascending

healing spiritual warfare authority of Christ

Authority over evil spirits and sickness comes from Christ's authority, not the believer's own

Viewer asking about Christians' authority over evil spirits and sickness

Job apostolic authority biblical canon Job

Books like Job belong in the canon because Jesus accepted the Old Testament, and apostles were commissioned to teach

Viewer asking why books like Job are in the Bible if we don't know the author

John 14:10 John 14:13 Trinity John 14:10 John 14:13

John 14:10 reinforces Trinitarian distinction: Jesus is "in" the Father, not identical to the Father.

Continuing the John 14 exposition.

1 John 2:16 Prosperity gospel Lust of the eyes Lust of the flesh

Prosperity gospel critique: misappropriates OT promises to Israel, ignores Jesus's teachings on suffering and cross-bearing.

Continuing the prosperity gospel discussion.

1 Timothy 2:11-15 1 Timothy 2:8-10 1 Timothy 2:11-15 Modesty 1 Timothy 2:8-10

1 Timothy 2:11-15 context: instructions to men (avoid anger/quarreling in prayer) and women (modesty, inner vs. outer beauty).

Lady D asks about 1 Timothy 2:11-15 regarding women being silent and not having authority.

1 Timothy 2:11-12 1 Timothy 2:11-12 Women in ministry Teaching elder role

1 Timothy 2:11-12 — women learning quietly with submission refers to the teaching context, not a prohibition on speaking at all.

Exegeting 1 Timothy 2:11-12.

1 Timothy 2:12 1 Timothy 2:12 Women in ministry Complementarianism

1 Timothy 2:12 — "teach" and "exercise authority" may be two aspects of the same role, not two separate prohibitions.

Exegeting the grammar of 1 Timothy 2:12.

Mike Winger idea 2019-03-14

Q&A: Can God give humans dominion and then interfere with that dominion? Parents analogy: giving children authority does not prevent parental intervention when abused

Q&A question from "The Messenger Reveals" about divine interference with human dominion

Genesis 1 Genesis 1 divine sovereignty human dominion

Mike Winger idea 2019-04-03

James the brother of Jesus as the leader of the Jerusalem church; Acts 15 and 1 Corinthians 15 as key evidence for his role and resurrection witness

Transition to James as the third focal figure

Acts 15 1 Corinthians 15 James the brother of Jesus Acts 15 1 Corinthians 15 James the brother of Jesus

Mike Winger idea 2019-04-10

Jesus healed the paralytic to provide evidence for his authority to forgive sins — faith is evidence-based

Biblical example of evidence-based faith

forgiveness of sins paralytic lowered through roof faith grounded in evidence

Mike Winger idea 2019-04-24

Why mainline churches are dying: no meaningful difference from wider culture gives people no reason to attend

McDowell gives the bottom-line diagnosis for mainline church decline

biblical authority cultural accommodation church attendance

hermeneutics Scripture authority biblical worldview

Biblical worldview should transcend culture wars rather than being shaped by either conservative or liberal culture

Opening monologue before Q&A begins

Scripture authority spiritual discernment near-death experiences

Near-death experience books should be tested against Scripture and not used to supplement or replace it; the danger is NDE narrators becoming gurus with insider knowledge

Response to a question about the theological accuracy of books like 23 Minutes in Hell and 90 Minutes in Heaven

Luke apostolic authority apostolos Barnabas

Modern-day apostles: the original apostles were unique authoritative founders whose authority is now held in the NT canon; the movement claiming ongoing apostolic offices is unbiblical, though the lowercase term can refer to missionaries

Response to question about whether modern-day apostles are biblical

1 John 4:2 Incarnation Scripture authority Messiah

1 John 4:2 — testing spirits by confession that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh carries the full theological weight of Messiah, incarnation, and OT fulfillment, not merely a verbal formula

Response to question about whether 1 John 4:2 is a sufficient test for false spirits

Mike Winger idea 2019-05-16

Isaiah 63 — Three persons of the Trinity in the Old Testament

McLatchie presents Isaiah 63:7-10 as containing all three persons of the Trinity within a single Old Testament passage.

Mark 2 Isaiah 63:7-10 Psalm 78:40 Holy Spirit Mark 2 Jonathan McLatchie

Mike Winger idea 2019-05-16

Acts corroboration: Ananias falsely acting as high priest — Acts 23

McLatchie gives a final Acts example showing extra-biblical corroboration explaining an apparent difficulty in the text.

Acts 23:1-5 Josephus Jonathan McLatchie historicity of Acts

Mike Winger idea 2019-05-22

Acts 15:22-29 -- The Apostolic letter: the Holy Spirit and the Apostles together impose no greater burden than four essentials. These four are explicitly for sanctification ('you will do well'), not salvation.

Survey of the Apostolic letter text

James (brother of Jesus) Acts 15:22-29 Holy Spirit James (brother of Jesus) salvation vs. sanctification

Mike Winger idea 2019-05-30

Critique: limited atonement is mostly supported by philosophical reasoning, not direct scriptural teaching

Winger argues that most support for limited atonement comes from logical inference from other doctrines, not clear biblical texts.

theological method Scripture authority limited atonement

Mike Winger idea 2019-06-26

Verse-by-verse: vv. 9-10 — Paul includes himself in "we know in part," undermining the inscripturation reading; even apostolic knowledge is partial, not completable by writing.

Key exegetical point: the first-person plural "we" in v. 9 includes Paul and the other apostles, not just ordinary charismatics.

1 Corinthians 13:9-10 apostolic authority prophecy inscripturation

Mike Winger idea 2019-06-26

Warning against seeking comfort in progressive or unorthodox theology as a false catharsis; such teachers typically demonize biblical Christianity to wedge in their reinterpretations.

Q&A response about walking with a friend questioning traditional beliefs, specifically mentioning Greg Boyd.

biblical authority apologetics discernment

Mike Winger idea 2019-06-26

Views on gifts are often driven more by experience than Scripture; the exegetical case against cessationism from 1 Cor 13 is strong but trajectory arguments for cessationism are weak.

Q&A — viewer asks whether people's positions on sign gifts are experience-based more than Scripture-based.

biblical authority cessationism continuationism

Mike Winger idea 2019-07-24

Mike's overall conviction: Scripture clearly teaches Jesus died for everyone

Before diving into objections, Mike states his position and epistemic posture.

Scripture authority unlimited atonement universal atonement

Mike Winger idea 2019-07-24

Scripture should trump philosophical reasoning; most limited atonement arguments are not exegetical

Mike's meta-level argument about the structure of Calvinist argumentation for limited atonement.

Calvinism theological method Scripture authority

Mike Winger idea 2019-07-24

Closing: Scripture texts for unlimited atonement still stand; Calvinist trump concepts do not override them

Mike's final assessment of the debate.

James White hermeneutics James White Scripture authority

Mike Winger idea 2019-08-07

Consequence 1 of denying wrath: contradicts clear biblical testimony

Mike lists the theological consequences of removing wrath from one's doctrine of God.

biblical authority God's wrath theological error

Mike Winger idea 2019-09-04

Atheists (Dan Barker) also use the cross-vs-stake argument to discredit Christianity

Beyond JWs, some atheists promote the idea that Jesus did not die on a cross. Winger specifically names Dan Barker, known in online atheist circles as an authority on New Testament Greek, who argues Christians are wrong about even the basic shape of the cross.

apologetics Dan Barker atheism

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 2019-10-02

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

Viewer question from Bobby Miller about scholarly defenders of universalism

John 14:6 hermeneutics John 14:6 universalism

Mike Winger idea 2019-07-31

Part 5: Church history arguments for infant baptism should not override Scripture

Winger addresses the appeal to church tradition as evidence for infant baptism.

Mark 7:8 biblical authority church history tradition

Mike Winger idea 2019-07-31

Sola Scriptura: tradition must be tested by Scripture, not used to trump it

Winger articulates his methodological principle for handling church tradition claims.

Mark 7:8 biblical authority church tradition theological method

Mike Winger idea 2020-08-28

1 Timothy 2:12-15 restricts women from the pastoral/authority role in the church, but does not prohibit co-ed Bible study or women's ministry generally

Question from Seanya about whether 1 Timothy 2:12-15 makes co-ed Bible studies unbiblical and how it affects women's ministry.

1 Timothy 2:12-15 women in ministry hermeneutics complementarianism

Proverbs 1 Corinthians 12 word of wisdom wisdom prayer

God gives wisdom primarily through Scripture, secondarily through the word of wisdom gift and through other believers

Q from Will Kozab about how God replies when you ask him for wisdom—does he send thoughts?

John MacArthur Romans 13 1 Peter 2:13 church unity John MacArthur religious freedom

Government mandates on indoor gatherings (COVID): default to submission unless clearly convinced it is government oppression of religious freedom

Q about whether a home church holding an indoor wedding in violation of COVID government mandate is in accord with Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2:13.

John 6 Council of Trent doctrinal development communion

Communion/eucharist: real and important but not transubstantiation; early church writings are secondary to Scripture; John 6 is not about communion

Q from Chris Middleton about Mike's views on communion/eucharist and how much weight early church writings should carry.

Genesis 2 Numbers 30 Genesis 2 honoring parents parental authority

Parental authority over adult children: diminishes naturally with age; adult children make their own decisions while still honoring parents

Q from Joel Larson about how much authority a father has over adult children, and whether it differs for sons vs. daughters.