Theology Unplugged

Must you be 100% certain of your salvation to be truly saved? Can someone have genuine saving faith while struggling with doubt? And can Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians be saved despite holding theological views of justification that Protestants believe are seriously mistaken? In this episode of Theology Unplugged , C. Michael Patton reads and expands upon his recent article examin...

How do we know whether a miracle really happened? Can extraordinary claims be tested? And if a miracle appears to be genuine, does that mean we should believe the message associated with it? In this episode of Theology Unplugged , Michael Patton examines one of the most important questions in Christian apologetics: How do we evaluate claims of the supernatural, both inside and outside Christianity...

What's happening with Credo House? What does the future hold for the ministry, our books, and our ongoing theological projects? In this episode of Theology Unplugged , Michael Patton gives a general update on Credo House Ministries, current projects, and plans for the future. Michael announces the release of Todd Stories: Coloring Book and discusses plans for future theological children's books de...

What happens when the mind can no longer give the certainty the heart needs? Can theology, arguments, and intellectual conviction carry us through seasons of doubt, suffering, and spiritual darkness? In this episode of Theology Unplugged , Michael reflects on the relationship between the mind and the heart in the Christian life. After decades spent teaching theology and helping people understand w...

How can the Bible be one unified story when it was written by more than forty authors across roughly fifteen hundred years, in different places, languages, cultures, and historical settings? In this episode of Theology Unplugged , Michael argues that the progressive unity of Scripture is one of the most striking evidences of its divine inspiration. Other religious systems are often built around a...

In this episode of Theology Unplugged , Michael is joined by his daughter Kylee for a lively and personal conversation about Israel, the Church, and the promises God made to Abraham. Michael reads and expands upon his recent article arguing that a promise may ultimately mean more than its original recipient understood, but it cannot mean less than what was originally communicated. If God promised...

Is the Bible filled with irrelevant details? In one sense, yes—and that may be one reason to trust it. The biblical writers frequently preserve small, vivid, seemingly unnecessary details that do not advance the plot, establish a doctrine, or strengthen an argument. Why include them at all? In this episode of Theology Unplugged , Michael continues developing the cumulative case for the historical...

Why do the Gospel writers preserve stories that appear awkward, damaging, or even embarrassing to the earliest Christians? If the Gospels were invented to persuade people to follow Jesus, why did their authors include details that made Jesus' family, His disciples, and some of His most important witnesses appear doubtful, confused, and unreliable? In this episode of Theology Unplugged , Michael co...

How can we be certain that the Bible is inspired? What evidence supports the Christian claim that the Scriptures are uniquely the Word of God? In this episode of Theology Unplugged , Michael begins examining the cumulative case for biblical inspiration, including Scripture's self-attestation, its uniqueness, its historicity, its prophetic character, the testimony of Christ, its life-changing power...

What happens when we become convinced that our church, our tradition, or our denomination is the official gatekeeper of the kingdom of God? In this episode of Theology Unplugged , Michael explores a surprising pattern that runs throughout the Gospels. Again and again, the disciples appoint themselves as the guardians of God's kingdom. They try to stop outsiders from ministering in Jesus' name, cal...

In this episode, Michael introduces a new term for an old interpretive problem: Biblical Docetism . Borrowing from the ancient Christological heresy of Docetism—which denied the true humanity of Christ while affirming His deity—Michael argues that many Christians approach the Bible in a remarkably similar way. They affirm the divine origin of Scripture but neglect its genuinely human character, tr...

In this episode, Michael explores one of the most fascinating questions in biblical interpretation: Can Scripture mean more than its human author intended? If God is the ultimate Author of Scripture, is it possible for Him to communicate truths that transcend the conscious awareness of the biblical writers while remaining faithful to their intended meaning? Along the way, Michael introduces the co...

In this episode, Michael examines the major theories of biblical inspiration and asks one of the most important questions in theology: Where does inspiration reside? Is Scripture merely the product of exceptionally gifted men? Does the Holy Spirit simply elevate human insight? Is only part of the Bible inspired? Are some passages more inspired than others? Or did God dictate every word mechanicall...

In this episode, Michael reflects on passion, conviction, and the danger of treating every issue as if it deserves the same level of intensity. In a culture where outrage gets clicks and every disagreement becomes a battlefield, Christians must recover a proper hierarchy of passion. Drawing from John Wesley's famous line about setting oneself on fire, Paul's statement in 1 Corinthians 15 about mat...

In this session of Through Theology in a Year, we begin our study of one of the most foundational doctrines in all of Christianity: the inspiration of Scripture. What does it mean when Christians say the Bible is "God-breathed"? Does inspiration reside in the authors, the message, the readers, or the very words of Scripture itself? And why has this doctrine become such a defining issue within evan...

In this session of Through Theology in a Year, we explore one of the most important and misunderstood topics in modern Christianity: Bible translations. Why are there so many English Bibles? Why do some translations sound more literal while others read more naturally? And what are translators actually trying to accomplish when they create a new version of Scripture? In this lesson, we walk through...

The New Prophets: Authority, Experience, and the Collapse of Trust Podcast culture is telling us something—and it’s not just about who people are listening to, but why they trust them. As voices like Joe Rogan and Shawn Ryan rise, trust in institutions continues to collapse. Government, media, and even scientific authorities are no longer seen as stable sources of truth. But this does not mean tru...

Israel, the Camaro, and the Faithfulness of God Can a promise from God mean more than the original hearer understood without meaning less than what God actually said? In this episode of Theology Unplugged, we look at one of the most important questions in biblical interpretation: how should Christians understand Old Testament promises in light of Christ, progressive revelation, typology, and the N...

Ontological Argument: The Definitive Explanation In this episode, I walk through the ontological argument the way Anselm actually framed it—not the simplified version, but the real thing. God is defined as “that than which nothing greater can be conceived.” Once you understand that definition, the argument starts to press in on you in a way that’s hard to escape. If God exists only in the mind, th...

Basement Theology: Dispensationalism (With Gavin) This is something new—and honestly, something I should have started a long time ago. My nephew Gavin and I sat down in the basement, turned the cameras on, and had an unscripted conversation about dispensationalism. No prep, no polish—just real theology in real time. I’ll be the first to admit, it’s rough. The camera work needs help, the audio has...

#81 - The Self-Authentication of Scripture

#1 - Miracles (Pilot Episode) This is the pilot episode introducing our new journey through Craig S. Keener’s monumental two-volume work **Miracles: The Credibility of the New Testament Accounts**. Explore the Project: Through the Church Fathers – https://www.throughthechurchfathers.com Patreon – https://www.patreon.com/cmichaelpatton Credo Courses – https://www.credocourses.com Credo Ministries –...

In this session, we explore the structure of Roman Catholic authority from a Protestant perspective. What is the Magisterium, and how does it function alongside Scripture and Tradition? What does apostolic succession really mean, and how is infallibility understood? This episode aims to unpack the internal logic of Rome's authority structure-not to caricature it, but to understand it. My goal is t...

In this episode, I step into unfamiliar territory as a Protestant: making the strongest possible case for the inclusion of the deuterocanonical books-those writings often labeled *Apocrypha* like *Tobit*, *Judith*, *Wisdom*, *Sirach*, and *1-2 Maccabees*. I walk through the theological logic of the Catholic position: the organic relationship between Scripture and Church, the role of apostolic trad...

In this first session of our series on Roman Catholicism, we explore its foundations from a Protestant perspective-graciously and truthfully. What is Rome? How did it develop? Why does it matter today? This series invites you to understand the structure, beliefs, and beauty of the Roman Catholic Church, even while wrestling with key differences. Let's get to know Rome-not as outsiders, but as info...