Weighed in the Balance

Send us Fan Mail Does the PC(USA) still hold forth the Christian faith? And when a denomination tolerates teaching and practices that contradict Scripture, is separation justified—or is it schism? In this episode of Weighed in the Balance , I continue examining the debate between Dr. Matthew Everhard and Redeemed Zoomer over whether the founders of the Presbyterian Church in America were wise to l...

Send us Fan Mail What happens when the pursuit of Christian unity becomes more important than biblical truth? And can we defend the unity of the visible church while condemning faithful Christians who leave a denomination that has departed from Scripture? In this episode of Weighed in the Balance , Jonathan Brooks responds to an online controversy surrounding the Reconquista movement and the claim...

Send us Fan Mail What is schism? When is separation from a church sinful—and when can separation actually be necessary? In this episode of Weighed in the Balance , I begin examining the debate between Redeemed Zoomer and Dr. Matthew Everhard over whether it was wise for the founders of the Presbyterian Church in America to leave the Presbyterian Church in the United States and form a new denominat...

Send us Fan Mail Does Irenaeus prove the Roman Catholic papacy? In this episode of Weighed in the Balance , we continue examining Cameron Bertuzzi's argument that Protestantism faces an inescapable dilemma when it appeals to early Christian writers such as Irenaeus. Irenaeus is an extremely important witness to early Christianity. But does accepting his testimony about the authorship of the G...

Send us Fan Mail Is Scripture clear concerning the things necessary for salvation? After spending several episodes working through what the question of Scripture’s perspicuity is not, we finally arrive at Turretin’s first positive argument: Scripture itself speaks of Scripture as giving light, wisdom, understanding, and life. In this episode, we examine Turretin’s interaction with Robert Bellarmin...

Send us Fan Mail Cameron Bertuzzi presents another supposed dilemma for Protestants—this time involving the early church, the authorship of Luke, and Irenaeus's statements about the Church of Rome. But does the historical evidence actually establish what the argument claims? In this episode of Weighed in the Balance, Jonathan Brooks examines Bertuzzi's argument and argues that the dilemm...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Weighed in the Balance , Jonathan responds to a Biblical Unitarian argument that Protestants are inconsistent when they call Unitarians heretics. The argument compares Trinitarianism and Unitarianism to the disagreement between Calvinists and Arminians. Jonathan explains why he believes the comparison fails, arguing that the Trinity concerns the identity of God...

Send us Fan Mail Is the Trinity really taught in Scripture? In this episode of Weighed in the Balance , Jonathan responds to a series of objections to the doctrine of the Trinity from the YouTube channel Biblical Unitarians. The episode examines the biblical case for the Trinity and addresses objections involving the singularity of God, Psalm 110, the deity of Christ, the deity of the Holy Spirit,...

Send us Fan Mail What is the doctrine of the Trinity—and what does Scripture actually teach about it? Before responding to anti-Trinitarian arguments, we need to establish what historic Trinitarian Christianity actually confesses. In this episode of Weighed in the Balance , Jonathan lays the groundwork for next week's examination of an anti-Trinitarian presentation by walking through the bibl...

Send us Fan Mail Cameron Bertuzzi argues that if Protestants accept the New Testament canon, they must also accept the authority claims of the Roman Catholic Church. In this second installment, I examine that claim by looking more closely at the historical evidence. We discuss:  The councils of Hippo and Carthage   Whether Rome "gave" us the New Testament canon   Athanasius and the Old T...

Send us Fan Mail For the third week, we're still asking what the doctrine of the perspicuity (clarity) of Scripture isn't . That may sound tedious, but Turretin is doing exactly what a careful theologian should do: defining his terms before answering objections. In this episode we finish the final two qualifications:  Does Scripture have to be equally clear everywhere?   Does the doctrin...

Send us Fan Mail Roman Catholic apologists often argue that Protestants cannot account for the canon of Scripture. If Scripture alone is our only infallible rule of faith, how do we know which books belong in the Bible? In this episode of Weighed in the Balance , Jonathan Brooks responds to Cameron Bertuzzi's recent challenge to Protestants on the canon of Scripture. Examining the historical...

Send us Fan Mail What does the doctrine of the perspicuity of Scripture actually claim? Continuing our study of Francis Turretin's Institutes of Elenctic Theology , we examine how Turretin carefully defines the question before defending the clarity of Scripture. Along the way, we consider Robert Bellarmine's objections, discuss why difficult passages do not undermine the doctrine, distin...

Send us Fan Mail What exactly is Christian Nationalism? Is it simply a desire for Christian influence in society, or is it something more? In this episode, Jonathan Brooks is joined by Rev. Matt Duraski to discuss one of the most debated topics in American evangelicalism. Together they examine: • What Christian Nationalism actually is  • How it relates to theonomy  • Political liberalism vs. moder...

Send us Fan Mail Roman Catholic and Protestant debates frequently become bogged down in discussions about Mary, the saints, church government, or other secondary issues. But beneath those disagreements lies a more fundamental question: Is Scripture sufficiently clear to function as the Christian's final authority? In this opening episode of a new series through Francis Turretin's Institu...

Send us Fan Mail The Presbyterian Church in America recently released a pastoral letter from its Ad Interim Committee studying Christian Nationalism. Almost immediately, critics began claiming the report promotes compromise, liberalism, and even the destruction of biblical Christianity. But does it? In this episode of Weighed in the Balance , I read the pastoral letter, examine the historical clai...

Send us Fan Mail Keith Nestor says there were five Protestant beliefs he could no longer defend—and that those beliefs eventually led him into the Roman Catholic Church. As a Presbyterian pastor, I watched his arguments carefully. Surprisingly, I agree that several of those beliefs are indefensible. The problem is that they aren't actually historic Protestant doctrines. In this episode we exa...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Weighed in the Balance , we take a deep dive into the historical and theological relationship between the Reformer John Calvin and the early church father Ignatius of Antioch. Recently, Roman Catholic creator Cameron Rieker claimed that Protestants "fear" Ignatius and that Calvin attempted to "erase him from history." But is that an accurate...

Send us Fan Mail I received five all-caps comments from a skeptic that demanded a response. Today, we're putting those claims—from the trial of Jesus to the dating of the Gospels—under historical scrutiny.   Was Jesus a failed Revolutionary executed by the Romans for sedition? Did Augustine change Christian doctrine to make it Manichaean and Neoplatonist? Are the Gospels just “fan fiction”? W...

Send us Fan Mail Is the King James Version the only trustworthy English Bible? How should Christians think about textual criticism, Bible translations, and the doctrine of preservation? In this episode of Weighed in the Balance , Jonathan Brooks is joined by Rev. Don Baker to bring the King James Onlyism series to a close. Having both grown up in Independent Fundamental Baptist churches, they disc...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Weighed in the Balance , we conclude the 2021 King James Onlyism debate between Nathan Cravatt and Mitch Canupp, focusing on a key moment involving Titus 2:13 and the translation of “our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” We walk through the Greek text, discuss the Granville Sharp construction, and examine claims about whether modern translations (like the ESV...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Weighed in the Balance, we continue our review of the 2021 debate on King James Onlyism by examining two audience questions that reveal what I believe are significant inconsistencies within the King James Only and Landmark Baptist positions. First, we look at the question of Baptist history. Why are some groups throughout church history embraced as spiritual for...

Send us Fan Mail Can Christians disagree on doctrine and still recognize one another as genuine believers? In this episode of Weighed in the Balance, we examine arguments against Protestantism that claim doctrinal disagreement inevitably leads to chaos, relativism, or endless division. We discuss the difference between primary, secondary, and tertiary doctrines, why Protestants reject false teachi...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Weighed in the Balance, we continue examining audience questions from the 2021 debate between Mitch Canupp and Nathan Cravatt on the King James Only controversy. This section of the debate reveals some of the deepest theological differences between the two sides. We discuss: Textual variants and how textual criticism actually works Translation differences vs. ma...

Send us Fan Mail Are we studying Scripture to discover what’s true—or just to defend what we already believe? In this episode of Weighed in the Balance , we break down a key issue behind so many theological debates: confirmation bias . Using a real exchange on Bible translations, we look at what happens when someone prioritizes their conclusions over the evidence. We cover: Why “uniformity” in man...