Search — Theology Explorer

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

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

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

Criterion of embarrassment Joseph of Arimathea

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

Joseph as historical figure validating burial account

Gary Habermas Resurrection appearances

Habermas's 2005 scholarly consensus paper on resurrection appearances

Academic consensus on resurrection appearances

Mike Winger idea 2019-03-14

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

Mike describes the structure and goals of the joint project

Christian apologetics Hemant Mehta atheist objections to Christianity

Mike Winger idea 2019-03-14

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

Mike articulates the philosophy behind the collaboration

Christian unity essentials vs non-essentials in doctrine ecumenical cooperation

Mike Winger idea 2019-03-14

Closing message from Mike to skeptics: the evidence for Christianity is robust and surprising; Jesus really died for sins; God is personal and loves people; life is not purposeless

Mike's closing address to skeptic viewers

atonement gospel apologetics

Mike Winger idea 2019-04-03

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

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

Mike Winger idea 2019-04-03

Gary Habermas's scholarly consensus claim: early data report the martyrdoms of Peter, James the brother of Jesus, and Paul; few scholars doubt this

Citing the scholarly consensus on apostolic martyrdoms

James the brother of Jesus scholarly consensus Paul the Apostle Gary Habermas

Mike Winger idea 2019-04-10

Why Mike gave only two poll options and why "trust" is the appropriate generic definition of faith

Explaining poll methodology

faith trust allegiance

Mike Winger idea 2019-04-10

How Old Testament believers were saved by faith before Christ — Romans 4 and Genesis 15:6

Q&A: JoseCJ asks how OT believers were saved before Christ's work on the cross

Romans 4 Genesis 15:6 justification by faith Abraham salvation by faith

Mike Winger idea 2019-04-24

Strategy for LGBTQ conversations with Christians: still lead with questions, then move to Scripture on God's design for marriage and sexuality

McDowell addresses the same topic from the angle of a Christian asking

marriage discipleship LGBTQ

Mike Winger idea 2019-04-24

Q&A: Traditional vs. contemporary worship music — worship is not primarily about personal enjoyment; cross-generational blending is ideal

Audience question about worship style preferences

church culture worship community

Mike Winger idea 2019-05-01

Twitter response 1: Jesus appearing across the globe with stories from all nations as required evidence

First Twitter respondent's example of what extraordinary evidence for the resurrection would look like.

Resurrection of Jesus Eyewitness testimony Historical evidence

Mike Winger idea 2019-05-01

Textual criticism: the discipline that traces copies back to originals and why we can trust the transmission

Brief explanation of how we verify the integrity of the New Testament text.

Biblical manuscripts Textual criticism New Testament reliability

Mike Winger idea 2019-05-08

The necessity of Christ's atonement is biblically defensible; Jesus's Gethsemane prayer implies there was no other way to redeem fallen humanity

Response to question about whether God needed Christ's sacrifice in order to cleanse us for indwelling by the Holy Spirit

Matthew 26:39 atonement Matthew 26:39 Gethsemane

Mike Winger idea 2019-05-15

Matthew 5:17 must be read pre-New Covenant: Jesus is speaking to Jews before the cross

Key hermeneutical frame for interpreting the Sermon on the Mount

Matthew 5:17 hermeneutics Sermon on the Mount Matthew 5:17

divine inspiration Jonathan McLatchie unity of Scripture

Unity of the Bible as a second argument for divine inspiration

Mike Winger introduces the unity of Scripture as a distinct argument from prophecy for divine inspiration.

Islam divine inspiration Quran

Why unity argument doesn't work for Islam — Quran vs. Bible authorship

Cameron Bertuzzi's question: if unity of Scripture argues for divine inspiration, why doesn't it work for the Quran?

John 6:5 John 12:21 Luke 9:10 undesigned coincidences Jonathan McLatchie John 6:5

Undesigned coincidence: why Jesus addressed Philip at the feeding of the 5,000

McLatchie's first example of an undesigned coincidence involving John 6, John 12, and Luke 9.

1 Corinthians 4:17 Luke 1 Corinthians 16:10 Paul Timothy 1 Corinthians 4:17

Undesigned coincidence: 1 Corinthians 4 and Acts 19 — Timothy's route to Corinth

McLatchie gives an example of undesigned coincidences between Paul's epistles and the book of Acts, confirming Luke as Paul's traveling companion.

undesigned coincidences Lydia McGrew historicity of the Gospels

Lydia McGrew's book on undesigned coincidences

Winger references Lydia McGrew's scholarly work as a resource for deeper study on undesigned coincidences.

Mike Winger idea 2019-05-22

Mark 7:19 -- Jesus declared all foods clean. Winger defers full treatment but flags it as part of a progressive revelation from Jesus through Paul to Hebrews.

Cross-reference to Mark 7:19

Mark 7:19 progressive revelation dietary laws fulfillment theology

Mike Winger idea 2019-05-22

Acts 13:42-46 -- Paul invited back next Sabbath; nearly the whole city comes; jealous Jews contradict him; Paul and Barnabas declare they are turning to the Gentiles

Survey of Acts 13:42-46, rejection by Jews and turn to Gentiles

Acts 13:42-46 Barnabas Paul the Apostle Gentile mission

Mike Winger idea 2019-05-22

1 Corinthians 9:19-22 -- Paul becomes as a Jew to win Jews, as under the law to win those under the law, as without law to win those without law. Timothy's circumcision fits this pattern.

Cross-reference to 1 Corinthians 9 to explain Timothy's circumcision

1 Corinthians 9:19-22 Timothy Paul the Apostle law of Christ

Mike Winger idea 2019-06-05

Main conclusion: the phrase "under the law" refutes Torah observance as a Christian obligation

Winger's summary conclusion for the episode

Hebrew Roots Movement Law of Moses Old Testament application

Mike Winger idea 2019-06-05

Why was Jesus bound to the law? God's holiness requires punishment for sin; Jesus satisfies both justice and mercy

Q&A: Christina Hunt about why Jesus had to die

Psalm 85:10 atonement Jesus under the law holiness of God

Calvinism limited atonement TULIP

Definition of limited atonement: Jesus's death only paid for the sins of the elect

Winger defines limited atonement as the doctrine that God only provided payment for the sins of certain people (the elect), not for all humanity.

Colossians 1:20 Colossians 1:16-17 Colossians 1:21-23 reconciliation extent of atonement application of atonement

Colossians 1:20 — 'all things' reconciled through the blood of the cross supports universal extent

Winger turns to Colossians 1:20 as a secondary passage confirming the universal extent of the atonement.

Calvinism limited atonement TULIP

Summary: multiple scriptures confirm universal extent, non-universal application; rejecting limited atonement does not require leaving Calvinism

Winger wraps up his scriptural case and notes that rejecting limited atonement does not require rejecting Calvinism wholesale.

1 John 2:2 John 11:51-52 limited atonement 1 John 2:2 John 11:51-52

Calvinist reinterpretation of 1 John 2:2: 'whole world' means Gentile believers scattered abroad, paralleled with John 11:51-52

Winger presents the Calvinist counter-argument that 'whole world' in 1 John 2:2 means people from every nation, not every individual.

1 John 3:1 1 John 3:13 1 John 4:3-5 kosmos 1 John 3:1 1 John 3:13

1 John's own usage of 'world' across multiple verses defines the term as the ungodly — not scattered believers

Winger grounds the interpretation of 'world' in 1 John 2:2 by examining how the same author uses the word elsewhere in 1 John.

Mike Winger idea 2019-06-19

Objection that scholars affirm historicity only because they signed faith statements is refuted by citing atheist/agnostic scholars who agree

Responding to the claim that Christian bias explains scholarly consensus on historicity

James Crossley John Dominic Crossan scholarly consensus Bart Ehrman historicity of Jesus

Mike Winger idea 2019-06-19

Suetonius's report of Claudius expelling Jews from Rome matches Acts 18 — illustrating how omissions in one source don't prove falsehood; Josephus doesn't mention this expulsion

Cross-referencing Suetonius and Acts; illustrating argument from silence

Acts 18 argument from silence Josephus extra-biblical sources

Mike Winger idea 2019-06-19

John Dominic Crossan in debate with Licona affirmed the use of criteria — demonstrating that most historians still rely on them

Licona's debate with Crossan as evidence of continuing scholarly use of criteria

John Dominic Crossan Mike Licona criteria of authenticity John Dominic Crossan

Mike Winger idea 2019-06-26

Verse-by-verse: v. 12 — "face to face" and "know fully even as I am fully known" point to the eschatological vision of God, not completion of Scripture; confirmed by 1 John 3:2 and 1 Cor 8:3.

Winger's positive exegesis of v. 12, identifying "the perfect" with the second coming/resurrection state. He cross-references 1 John 3:2 and 1 Cor 8:3.

1 Corinthians 13:12 1 John 3:2 1 Corinthians 8:3 eschatology glorification face to face with God

Mike Winger idea 2019-07-17

Q&A: 2 Corinthians 7:10 — godly grief vs. worldly grief, applied to lust

Question about the difference between godly and worldly grief and how to repent better from lust.

1 Corinthians 10:13 2 Corinthians 7:10 repentance sanctification lust

hell divine justice limited atonement

Objection 5 stated: double jeopardy / double payment

If Christ paid for everyone's sins, it is unjust to punish anyone further.

Ephesians 2:1-3 election limited atonement intercession

Ephesians 2 refutes the intercession argument: the elect were still under wrath after the cross, before believing

Mike uses Ephesians 2 as a direct rebuttal to the Calvinist intercession/atonement link.

Ephesians 2:8-9 Ephesians 2:11-13 Ephesians 2:8-9 faith atonement

Ephesians 2:11-13 reinforces: benefits of Christ's blood applied at the moment of belief, not at the cross

Further use of Ephesians 2 to argue for the extent/application distinction.

Ephesians 2:1-3 faith limited atonement trilemma

Owen's trilemma implies the elect were forgiven before they believed — which Ephesians 2 contradicts

Secondary refutation of the trilemma from Ephesians 2.

Ephesians 2:1-3 divine justice limited atonement double jeopardy / double payment

Double jeopardy objection answered: Ephesians 2 proves the elect were under wrath after the cross, i.e., already "double payment" on limited atonement

Mike turns the double payment argument against limited atonement.