Restitutio

We’re in a series investigating the two powers in heaven heresy. Last time I laid out for you the six groups of Jewish literature that we are going to look at. Today we are beginning with 1 Enoch. This is a collection of apocalyptic Jewish literature centered on the Enoch mentioned in Genesis. What does 1 Enoch have to tell us about two powers in heaven? Does 1 Enoch even mention the heresy?...

What do you know about the two powers heresy? Have you heard about before? In today’s episode, we’re beginning a new series on the Jewish condemnation of the idea that there are two powers in heaven. This subject is fraught with confusion and difficulty, and my goal is to clear up the confusion. As always, I’ll be taking a fact-based approach to the subject. Instead of telling yo...

Maurice Chahilu serves as a bishop in western Kenya. He coordinates a network of around two dozen churches who are part of Kingdom Life Abrahamic Faith Ministries (KLAFM). In this interview I ask him what that is like and what problems he faces. He talks at length about the importance of vetting pastors who want to join his group of churches. He wants to make sure that those who affiliate with him...

As many of you know, I’m not only the host of this podcast. My main job is working for Living Hope International Ministries, which is a network of churches, home fellowships, and individuals seeking to make authentic disciples of Christ. In addition to my local church responsibilities, I also travel on behalf of LHIM to visit churches within our network, help start new ones, and affiliate wi...

When Knieshia came to question the doctrine of the Trinity, she had to make a decision. After she did the Bible study, she knew Jesus wasn’t God. She took a step of faith and began teaching her new understanding of the human Jesus. Overnight, she lost 500 subscribers on her YouTube channel. In time that number grew to 1,000. Still, she didn’t want to teach false doctrine nor did she wa...

Will Turner grew up in a Presbyterian Church, but when the Jehovah’s Witnesses came calling, he had to admit they made a lot of sese. They got him to question the Trinity and heaven-at-death. He almost joined, but there were a few issues that made him keep his distance. Find out what they were and how encountering Biblical Unitarians online like John Schoenheit and Dustin Smith helped Will t...

Are you using artificial intelligence? I bet you are. I certainly do. I find AI chatbots to be incredibly helpful. In today’s discussion with Sam Tideman, we discuss what AI chatbots are actually doing. We cover how to use them well for research and Bible study as well as some of their limitations. We also talk about the dark side of AI and what incentives have been wired into them. I hope y...

What do you do when you’ve tried to quit something over and over and still can’t get free? My guest today is Jody Rodriguez who fell into a life of regular substance use from her teenage years onward. By the time she was nearing thirty she had been to jail and rehab but still couldn’t shake her addictions. Then after a second failed drug test, she hit rock bottom and said to hers...

Mina grew up in a poor village in South Korea in the 1950s. She faced many hardships due to her abusive alcoholic father who loaned her to another family to work as a servant. Although Mina escaped from that situation, she found herself in something much worse. She got entrapped by sex traffickers and forced to work as a prostitute. The crushing shame from these experiences followed her through li...

Jeremy Martin is a complicated man. Although raised in a Christian home, he chose a different path. At eighteen years old, he embraced the party lifestyle of drinking alcohol and using drugs of various kinds. Before long, he found himself sucked into a criminal lifestyle, including an eight-year stretch where he earned his living from crime. At 25 he had to flee Arizona in order to escape murder....

Last time we learned about software engineer Alex Ticer’s terrifying health crisis and the healing he received. This set him on a quest to dedicate his life to serving God, but how? He had no idea what he was supposed to do. So, he quit his job and intensified his study of the Bible and praying. After discovering Jesus’s identity as the human Messiah (not a Godman), he embarked on a jo...

Alex Ticer had It all: a degree from UCLA, a job as a software engineer, financial security, a beautiful family, a house in Texas, but something was terribly wrong. It was something he couldn’t fix with money or intelligence or grit. He had a genetic disease that would cause him to waste away no matter what he did. He cried out to God, and something miraculous happened. He saw a bright light...

  Are you under the impression that everyone believes in the Trinity? Most denominational creeds, seminary requirements, and church statements of faith begin with a confession that there is one God who exists in three persons. Perhaps you think that this means that American pastors believe in the Trinity and they faithfully teach it to their congregations. If so, you would be wrong. Today my...

It’s recited in churches all around the world in many languages. It’s the standard by which all modern Christians are measured. It’s an artful and eloquent expression of doctrine. What am I talking about? Of course, it’s the Nicene Creed. But what if I told you that this creed wasn’t from the Council of Nicea in 325 ad. You’d say, “Yeah, yeah, Sean, everyo...

What is the true nature of God? How should we understand monotheism? What about heresy? In today’s interview, I ask Dr. Dale Tuggy about his new book,  Monotheism, Heresy, and the Bible , published by Theophilus Press. Our discussion ranges from handling proof-texts that call Jesus “God” to the role of logic in sorting out doctrine to how and when it’s appropriate to call a...

How do you know God exists? What reasons do atheists have to doubt God’s existence? Can you arrive at certainty? These questions are among the most significant that you can ask. If God exists, there are huge implications for your daily life. If not, then you can more or less choose your own adventure, making up meaning as you go. My guest today is Andrew Drinkard, the editor and project lead...

Are all your beliefs equally important? If not, how do you rank them? By what standard do you say, “This belief matters” and “This one is less important”? My guest today is Michael Hughes who has been working on these very questions. He’s written a couple of papers addressing levels of evidence. In his more recent work, he’s enumerated a nine-level rating system...

Are you looking for a biblically-grounded albeit easy-to-read introduction to theology? Well, look no further, because I’m excited to announce the publication of Pastor Will Barlow’s book, Explore What We Believe . He goes through what the Bible teaches about God, humanity, covenants, the kingdom of God, Jesus, salvation, Israel, the church, the spirit of God, the spiritual realm, deat...

I have a new book out and I’m excited to tell you all about it. In order to do that, Anna Brown is hosting Restitutio today and putting me in the hot seat. In this interview, she asks me about Read the Bible for Yourself,  a book I’ve been working on for the last three years. In our conversation we talk about whom the book is for and how to use it most effectively. I share about the ch...

Jesus said, “Make disciples of all nations” (Mat 28:19). How are you doing on this? Are you currently mentoring someone in the faith? Are you under the impression that this work is only for pastors, those in church leadership, or those with the gift of evangelism? You may say to yourself, “I don’t have a Bible-college degree,” or “I don’t know enough to te...

To whom was God speaking in Genesis 1.26 when he said, “Let us make humanity in our image”? My guest today, Sam Mansfield of Adelaide, South Australia, has found six different answers to this question. In the following interview, I ask him about his recent presentation at the inaugural Australian Unitarian Christian Alliance conference, called “ Wrought with Wisdom: How Solomon U...

Many Bible-believing churches are ridged keepers of tradition. They have a statement of faith, a historic confession, or old creeds that determine what people should and should not believe. There’s very little space for people to genuinely ask questions, investigate competing doctrines, and honestly change their minds over time. Today I’m speaking with Matt Lovegrove of New Castle, New...

Paul Robson was an upstanding Christian leader in a Bible-believing church when his friend upended his world by revealing that he no longer believed the Trinity was biblically true. Although Robson initially reacted negatively to such a departure from the norm, he eventually came to change his mind based on a thorough study of Scripture. What happened next was both tragic and all too common–...

One of the largest and most intriguing blocks of teaching in the Gospel of John is the upper room discourse in chapter 13-17. This block of time begins with the washing of the disciples’ feet (13) and ends with Jesus’s high-priestly prayer (17). In the middle chapters (14-16), we encounter Jesus preparing his followers for his departure. They still didn’t quite understand what wa...

Have you ever heard the expression “a smoking gun”? It comes from an earlier era of guns when black powder produced a good cloud of smoke each time someone fired the weapon. Originally a smoking gun referred to a situation when someone was caught with the weapon in hand, still emitting smoke. The implication of this is not just that the smoking gun is evidence of the person’s gui...