Trinities

Analytic theologian Dr. Randal Rauser wrote an excellent review of my first short book What is the Trinity? Recently, he's reviewed my debate book co-authored with Chris Date . In this episode, I present and respond to his review, answering some of his questions, explaining a few of my own missteps , and ultimately hitting the tennis ball back to Dr. Rauser's side of the court. Topics include: the...

In this talk, originally presented to Restoration Fellowship's online 2020 Theological Conference, I describe six "stages" I've gone through, and that many go through , with respect to "the Trinity." Because of my many slides, I recommend the YouTube version of this episode, embedded below. As I explain, most Christians spend their lives at the first stage. But some believe what they are told, tha...

Dr. Daniel Boyarin is the Hermann P. and Sophia Taubman Professor of Talmudic Culture in the Departments of Near Eastern Studies and Rhetoric at the University of California at Berkeley. He is the author of more than a dozen scholarly books and more than 150 scholarly articles in English and in Hebrew. He has been called one of the greatest living Talmudic scholars . Many Christians interested in...

In this second part of my conversation with apologist Dale Glover, I object to the argument he presented in part 1 (see below). Topics discussed include how to understand " the Holy Spirit " in the Bible, why we can't (I argue) treat the New Testament like those authors treat the Old Testament, the significance of personal pronouns when it comes to interpretation, the fact that there is no biblica...

In this episode, the first half of my conversation/debate with Canadian evangelical apologist Dale Glover, about whether or not the New Testament teaches " Trinity Monotheism ." (This is a three-self Trinity theory on which the Persons are proper parts of the triune God.) First, Dale asks me which Trinity theory I would accept if I were convinced that the Father, Son, and Spirit are three personal...

Harvard professor Andrews Norton (1786-1853) was the leading American unitarian intellectual in the first half of the 19th century. He was an original thinker, a careful and deep scholar, and a lucid writer. In this episode I present in full his discussion of the prologue of the fourth gospel from his important book A Statement of Reasons for not Believing the Doctrines of Trinitarians, Concerning...

In this second part of my conversation with Canadian apologist Dale Glover, we continue to discuss Dr. Craig's views on the Trinity. Mr. Glover is sympathetic to "Trinity monotheism," but I am against it for biblical and philosophical reasons. Our topics include: Dr. Craig's philosophical anti-unitarian argument (taken from Swinburne) progressive revelation and how this relates to Craig's Trinity...

Notoriously, Dr. William Lane Craig compares the Trinity to the mythical three-headed dog Cerberus from Greek mythology - shown here as Hercules is about to club him. (Or: club them ?) But that analogy is not really the heart of his model of the Trinity, which he calls " Trinity monotheism ." On this theory, God is one "soul" which somehow supports three "centers of consciousness" by having three...

In this episode I present and offer a few comments on a discussion of the prologue to the fourth gospel by a very learned English unitarian Christian who died in 1900, the pastor and philosopher James Martineau. This is a portion of his chapter " The Proposition 'That Christ is God,' Proved to be False from the Jewish and the Christian Scriptures" . Martineau writes in a dense, learned, 19th centu...

In this second conversation with Dr. Jo-Ann Brant , author of a unique commentary on the Gospel According to John, we discuss a number of topics, including: the famous and difficult prologue of the fourth gospel why John the Baptist is so prominently mentioned there Jesus's divine authority his subordination to God in this book Jesus as God's agent Jesus's faithful obedience whether or not John pr...

In this episode I discuss the gospel according to John with the author of a unique commentary on it , one which focuses on the rhetoric and arguments which feature so prominently in the book. In this first part of our conversation we discuss dating, authorship, why the book is so different from Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the popular thesis that christology developed in a "high" direction over the co...

This episode is an extended conversation with Bill Schlegel , host of the One God Report podcast. Hosted by our friend Sam Adams for his YouTube channel Transfigured , we have a friendly argument about whether "the beginning" mentioned in John 1:1 is supposed to be the time of the Genesis creation or the time of God's "new creation" through Jesus, the start of the new Christian era. Another questi...

In this presentation I ask what the author means by saying in John 1:1 that "the Word was God." Is this the same god as the one mentioned before ("the Word was with God") or is it a different god? And also, is this "Word" supposed to be the same self as the man Jesus? It seems that Christian theologians c. 150-250 A.D. disagreed on these questions! As I explain here, there are four options for rea...

In this episode I discuss "Socinian"-type readings of John 1 with Carlos from Restoration Fellowship. First, I explain the common anachronistic misreading of this passage, and then the "Socinian" rival interpretation. I then lodge several objections against this interpretation. Along the way we discuss Socinus, the Racovian Catechism, the evolution of my own views, why I don't believe in Jesus's p...

Big news! I can announce today that I have received a new letter from the Lord Jesus . An angel who said his name was "Boloni" appeared to me and showed me where the golden plates were buried. (I am not at liberty to disclose this location.) I thought this was a most unusual method of delivery, especially as the soil was fresh; the plates had just been buried. You see, this is no ancient compositi...

In this episode you'll hear interpretations of John 1 by unitarian minister and educator Dr. Lant Carpenter (1780-1840, pictured here) and minister Stephen Nye (1648-1719). I then explain some concerns I have about the "Socinian" sort of interpretation of the prologue to John, which ends up in a discussion of how John 1 relates to 1 John 1:1-4 . We'll hear the translation of this latter passage in...

In this episode we'll explore the sort of interpretation of John 1 where "the beginning" in question was in the first century, and on which "the Word" is the man Jesus Christ. Pioneered by the radical reformation Protestants known as the Polish Socinians, this sort of interpretation was adopted in the 17th-19th centuries by some English-speaking unitarian Christians. We'll hear the translation and...

The Baptism of Christ This is the first in a series of podcasts dealing with how to interpret John 1:1-18. This famous Prologue to John's gospel is unique in the New Testament. It is routinely read in light of Nicene-controvery-era concerns : the eternality and full deity of Christ, a multi-personal God, the pre-human Jesus as "involved in" the Genesis creation, the "incarnation" of the eternal Lo...

In this episode I interact with a short video by Dr. William Lane Craig , and with a critique of it by Dr. James White . You'll learn what they have in common as apologists, as well as what separates them. You'll hear Dr. White distinguish between two things which might be meant by calling the Trinity "essential." I explain why in my view "the Trinity" isn't essential in either sense. I also expla...

In this final part of his follow-up podcast pastor Sean Cole argues that in the New Testament the Son and the Spirit of God are as divine as is the Father. In his view the New Testament rather obviously implies that the one God is the Trinity. About the Son, he argues that in various passages he is called "God over all," "our Great God and Savior," and "the true God." I respon d, critically weighi...

After our December 2019 dialogue Dr. Cole followed up on his Understanding Christianity podcast, mounting some new arguments that according to the New Testament God is the Trinity . In this episode I start to evaluate these arguments. Pastor Cole particularly focuses on this famous text: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of...

In the second half of our dialogue we start by discussing John 17:1-3. After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, “ Father , the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God , and J...

In this first part of my dialogue with pastor Sean Cole, we introduce ourselves, offer brief opening statements , and then we discuss which Trinity theory he thinks is taught in scripture, and how we understand the famous first chapter of the gospel according to John . In his opening statement Dr. Cole essentially expresses some core convictions of catholic traditions about the Father, Son, and Sp...

In this special episode of the trinities podcast current board members of the UCA discuss our vision for this new parachurch organization . Sean Finnegan, Kegan Chandler, Mark Cain and I discuss: our choice of name the UCA Affirmation , and why it's so short what the UCA is and is not, and why it is not in competition with the various unitarian churches, denominations, and ministries some of the n...

Two of the four gospels contain accounts of Jesus's birth. Does either of them portray Jesus as "becoming Incarnate" - in other words, having always been divine, he becomes human when Mary becomes pregnant with him? Do they teach that an eternal divine Person came to earth from heaven? That a divine nature "assumed a complete human nature, body and soul"? In this episode we look for the sorts of i...