Search — Theology Explorer

Romans 16:1 Tom Schreiner Craig Blomberg Phoebe

Phoebe likely was an official deacon because of the phrase 'of the church at Cenchreae'

Mike concludes Phoebe was a deacon based on the qualifying phrase.

Romans 16:2 Philip Payne Phoebe prostatis

Philip Payne's claim: Phoebe was Paul's personal leader based on 'prostatis' in Romans 16:2

Mike examines an extraordinary claim about Phoebe's role.

Philip Payne prostatis LSJ lexicon

LSJ vs. BDAG on prostatis: wrong lexicon used; BDAG says 'patron/benefactor,' not 'leader'

Mike identifies a significant lexical error in Payne's argument.

Romans 16:2 Philip Payne Phoebe prostatis

Survey of 12 translations on prostatis: all say patron/helper/benefactor; only Passion Translation says 'leader'

Mike checks major English translations to see if any support Payne's reading.

Romans 16:7 Junia Romans 16:7 Andronicus

Romans 16:7 text and the translation debate on Junia

Mike reads the ESV translation of Romans 16:7 and introduces the translation controversy.

Romans 16:7 Romans 16:7 Bible translations NKJV

Translation survey: inclusive vs. exclusive renderings of Romans 16:7

Mike surveys how various English translations handle the phrase.

Romans 16:7 Romans 16:7 translation methodology

When translations disagree, it signals genuine difficulty

Mike offers a hermeneutical principle for Bible readers.

Burer-Wallace paper (2001) lexical evidence syntactical evidence

Burer-Wallace: 'snowballing dogma with little substance at its core'

Mike quotes from the paper's critique of the consensus.

Romans 16:7 NET Bible Romans 16:7 ESV

Burer-Wallace conclusion: 'almost certainly' means well known to the apostles

Mike quotes the paper's strong conclusion.

Mike Winger idea 2022-05-30

Romans 12:6-8 — teaching and leading are listed as spiritual gifts alongside gifts women clearly have

Mike examines the gifts list in Romans 12 to determine whether women can have teaching and leadership gifts.

Romans 12:6-8 spiritual gifts teaching gift leadership gift

Mike Winger idea 2022-06-20

Greek construction difference: 'kai' instead of 'nor' for male and female, alluding to Genesis 1:27

Mike provides grammatical background on the Greek text of Galatians 3:28.

Galatians 3:28 Genesis 1:27 Galatians 3:28 kai Genesis 1:27

Mike Winger idea 2022-06-20

Westfall's translation of Galatians 3:26-29 and 'sonship status' rendering

Mike evaluates Westfall's personal translation of the key passage.

Galatians 3:26-29 Cynthia Long Westfall Galatians 3:26-29 huioi (sons)

Mike Winger idea 2022-07-18

Greek/lexical argument introduced: kephale means 'source' in Greek, not authority — the 'battle of the lexicons'

Mike introduces the fourth and largest egalitarian argument — the Greek lexical claim.

kephale lexical argument battle of the lexicons

Mike Winger idea 2022-07-18

Peter Glare, editor of the LSJ, writes to Grudem agreeing with his conclusions — 'the supposed sense source of course does not exist'

Mike presents the dramatic climax of the lexical argument — the LSJ's own editor sides with Grudem.

kephale Wayne Grudem LSJ (Liddell-Scott-Jones)

Mike Winger idea 2022-07-18

26+ Bible translations translate kephale as 'head' or 'authority' — only The Passion Translation (2017) used 'source,' later corrected

Mike surveys Bible translations for how they render kephale.

1 Corinthians 11:3 kephale The Passion Translation 1 Corinthians 11:3

Mike Winger idea 2022-08-15

Teaching through 1 Peter 3:1-7 - wives told to be subject to husbands

Mike reads and begins teaching through the first main passage.

1 Peter 3:1-7 1 Peter 3:1-7 hypotasso ESV translation

Mike Winger idea 2022-03-28

Textual issue in Isaiah 3:12: the Hebrew word for 'women' may actually be 'creditors' — the consonants are identical, only vowels differ.

Textual criticism of Isaiah 3:12

Isaiah 3:12 NET Bible Septuagint Isaiah 3:12

1 Corinthians 11:2-16 NASB 1 Corinthians 11:2-16

Full reading of 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 without commentary

Mike reads the entire passage from the NASB translation to establish familiarity before analysis.

Traditional interpretation: using NASB over ESV because ESV translates 'woman' as 'wife'

Mike explains his translation choice as the ESV makes interpretive decisions he wants to leave open.

ESV NASB gyne

1 Corinthians 11:9 Craig Keener translation comparison 1 Corinthians 11:9

Keener translates verse 9 as 'through' instead of 'for the sake of,' absorbing it into verse 8

Mike identifies Keener's handling of the problematic verse 9.

1 Corinthians 11:15 Romans 12:17 1 Thessalonians 5:15 1 Corinthians 11:15 Alan Padgett anti

Greek word analysis: anti in verse 15 means equivalence, not replacement

Mike examines the Greek preposition debate in verse 15.

1 Corinthians 11:9 Craig Keener translation comparison 1 Corinthians 11:9

Keener on verse 9: translates 'for' as 'through,' making it reiterate verse 8

Mike examines and refutes Keener's translation choice.

Mark Goodacre Troy Martin peribolaion Mark Goodacre

Martin's two ancient sources for peribolaion meaning testicle: Achilles Tatius and Euripides

Mike examines Martin's evidence for the word meaning.

Mark Goodacre translation comparison Troy Martin peribolaion

Euripides source: all published translations use clothing metaphor, not testicle

Mike examines the second and stronger piece of evidence.

Troy Martin peribolaion anti

Six reasons Martin gives for testicle in 1 Corinthians 11 -- all fail

Mike systematically refutes Martin's case from the text of 1 Corinthians.

Mike Winger idea 2022-12-04

View 2 analysis: The Quotation-Refutation View and Beth Allison Barr's promotion of it

Mike begins analyzing the quotation-refutation view, noting Beth Allison Barr as a key proponent.

Beth Allison Barr The Making of Biblical Womanhood quotation-refutation view

Mike Winger idea 2022-12-04

The RSV does not actually support the quotation-refutation view

Mike argues that the RSV translators were not trying to communicate what Barr claims.

1 Corinthians 14:33b Beth Allison Barr RSV translation 1 Corinthians 14:33b

Mike Winger idea 2022-12-04

The Livy quotation parallel does not hold up under scrutiny

Mike examines Barr's claim that 1 Corinthians 14 echoes a secular quote from Livy.

Beth Allison Barr The Making of Biblical Womanhood Livy

Mike Winger idea 2024-03-01

Pillar 2: Elder positions AND functions are for men only

Mike establishes the second pillar as more than just the title Elder.

1 Timothy 2:12 eldership 1 Timothy 2:12 teaching with authority

1 Timothy 2:12 1 Timothy 2:12 authenteo hapax legomenon

Introduction to the authenteo debate: the most contested word in the passage

Mike begins the massive section on authenteo, the word translated 'have authority' or 'exercise authority' in 1 Tim 2:12.

authenteo BGU 1208 papyrus evidence

BGU 1208: the key papyrus document for authenteo

Mike examines the famous papyrus letter BGU 1208, one of the most important extra-biblical uses of authenteo.

1 Timothy 2:12 1 Timothy 2:12 authenteo church fathers

Additional church fathers and their testimony on 1 Tim 2:12

Mike provides further patristic evidence for how authenteo was understood in the early church.

authenteo Coptic translation Gothic translation

Ancient translations of 1 Tim 2:12: how authenteo was rendered

Mike examines how the earliest Bible translations rendered authenteo, providing important evidence for its meaning.

authenteo Douglas Moo translation history

English translation history of authenteo and the NIV 'assume authority' rendering

Mike traces how English translations have rendered authenteo from Wycliffe to the present.

1 Timothy 2:12 authentein 1 Timothy 2:12 Andreas Kostenberger

Kostenberger's syntactic study: two infinitives joined by oude

Mike presents Andreas Kostenberger's influential syntactic analysis of 1 Tim 2:12.

1 Timothy 2:12 1 Timothy 2:12 authenteo have authority translation

Application of authenteo conclusion: 'have authority' is the correct translation

Mike summarizes the full case for translating authenteo as 'have authority.'

1 Timothy 2:12 1 Timothy 2:12 authenteo have authority translation

Conclusion 8: 'Have authority' is the correct translation of authenteo

Mike restates the translation conclusion.

Mike Winger idea 2018-01-10

JW misconception #1: Clouds represent judgment/hiddenness

JW misinterpretation of 'clouds' in Matthew 24:30

Matthew 24:30 Clouds of heaven Matthew 24:30 Visibility debate

Abraham Joseph Smith Book of Abraham

Joseph Smith purchases the mummies and scrolls for $2,400; claims one scroll was written by Abraham's own hand

The acquisition and initial claims about the papyri

Joseph Smith Book of Abraham 1835

Smith's diary entries document ongoing 'translation' work on Egyptian alphabet and grammar in late 1835

Documentary evidence from Smith's own journals

Abraham Joseph Smith Book of Abraham

LDS Church president's diary corroborates that Smith translated Abraham's own handwriting using the Urim and Thummim

Secondary LDS historical witness to Smith's translation claims

Joseph Smith Book of Abraham Brigham Young University

LDS professor at BYU commented that the rediscovery of the papyri was 'a far more' significant test of LDS claims

Internal LDS academic recognition of the significance of the papyri rediscovery

translation comparison Joseph Smith testability of religious claims

Unlike the Book of Mormon (golden plates taken away), the Book of Abraham papyri CAN be tested — this is unique

The Book of Abraham as a uniquely testable LDS truth claim

translation comparison LDS Church Book of Abraham

The LDS Church's own official article on lds.org admits the characters on the papyri do not match the Book of Abraham text

The LDS Church's own admission in its official online materials

Joseph Smith Book of Abraham Joseph Smith diary

LDS apologist claim that Smith received direct revelation (not translation) is refuted by his own diary

Responding to a viewer question about the LDS apologetic counter-argument

Book of Abraham Great Chicago Fire Metropolitan Museum of Art

LDS apologist argument #1: the 'Short Scroll Theory' — the recovered fragments are only part of a longer scroll

Review of LDS apologetic responses to the papyri problem