Restitutio

Last time we looked at Solomon's glorious reign as an archetype. Today Pastor Victor shows five parallels between Solomon's golden era and Christ's coming kingdom. Eliminate rivals and enemies Appoint new leaders Peace and prosperity Nations flowing to Jerusalem Worship of God central This last episode of this Son of David class ties together everything nicely, providing us with a wonderful descri...

In many ways, Solomon was the greatest Israelite king of all time. Abundance, security, and vastness characterized his long reign. Pastor Victor surveys Solomon's prodigious reign, tying it in to both the promises God made to Abraham before him and those he made regarding a future son of David after him. Solomon's fabulous wealth, unrivaled wisdom, and magnetic reputation serve as an archetype for...

As we saw last time, Solomon's coronation set a precedent as the first son of David. By learning to recognize this archetype, we can spot intentional enactments later on. In this episode, Pastor Victor explores the striking parallels between Solomon's anointing and Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Next he considers how the first coming of our Lord into Jerusalem in peace on a donkey differ...

Today we begin looking at the original son of David--Solomon. Although his brother, Adonijah had crafted a master plan to take the throne, he was not God's choice. As a result, Bathsheba acted quickly to impose upon her elderly husband so that Solomon would be anointed. Pastor Victor shares the story of how this all happened, ending with the son of David riding into Jerusalem on a donkey with crow...

This is part 2 of the class, Son of David . Today our focus is on Jesus. What do terms like “son of God,” “Christ,” and “messiah” mean? How does Jesus fit into the promises God made to King David a millennium before his birth? Victor Gluckin answers these questions through copious texts from the New Testament, driving home the point that Jesus’ primary ide...

This is part 1 of the class, Son of David . Today we're beginning a new class called "Son of David," which explores the rich biblical parallels between Solomon and Jesus. Our teacher is Victor Gluckin, pastor of Living Faith Christian Church in Warwick, Rhode Island. Over more than two decades of friendship, I've been repeatedly impressed by Gluckin's ability to bring scripture alive when he teach...

Did you know that scholars who work on Jesus divide starkly into two major camps? On the one hand, the evangelicals do such great work on the existence of God, the historicity of the resurrection, and the reliability of Scripture. But, then they read the Gospels through the filter of their theological commitments, always coming away with a Jesus that looks suspiciously like the second person of th...

Why did Jesus die? Why couldn't God just forgive all our sins? How did Jesus' death pay for sin? How can someone else die for my sins? Questions like these are what atonement theories strive to answer. Throughout the history of Christianity a half dozen prominent theories have vied for adherents. In what follows I begin by surveying what the bible says about atonement before moving to briefly cove...

Is the Son equal with the Father or is he subordinate? Thinking Christians have struggled over the tension between the traditional doctrine of coequality between Father and Son, on the one hand, and the dozens upon dozens of scriptures that either imply our explicitly teach the Father's supremacy over his Son. Two ways of solving this problem include the idea of the economic Trinity and eternal fu...

What does the bible say about hell? Though many Christians believe hell is where the wicked suffer eternal conscious torment, this view contradicts dozens of scriptures about the fate of the wicked. In this masterful presentation, hell expert, Edward Fudge, works through not only the bible, but also intertestamental literature and church history to show the original view of hell and how it changed...

This is part 14 of the One God Over All class . After a brief sketch of one God believers throughout time, we’ll consider how well positioned we are today to publish this truth. We may be few, but we are mighty, motivated, and making a difference! Additionally, we’ll consider a few important questions like (1) How can unitarianism be right if most Christians are trinitarian? (2) Should...

This is part 13 of the One God Over All class . What happened in the fourth century? You've probably heard all kinds of rumors about Arius of Alexandria and his newfangled heresy. But, was Arius really a sinful outsider who tried to corrupt Christianity? Was his idea of a Son with a beginning even new? In this episode we'll cover an outline of the major events that happened in the controversy that...

This is part 12 of the One God Over All class . If the entire bible clearly and repeatedly teaches that there is one supreme God who is over all and that Jesus is his subordinate son, then surely we should find evidence of this idea in the historical writings of Christians after the New Testament period. Within the four broad strands of Christianity in the second and third centuries, three of them...

This is part 11 of the One God Over All class . Who or what is the spirit of God? It won't do to read later tradition back into the scriptures. Rather, we need to see how the bible itself talks about the holy spirit. To get at that answer we'll take a look at a couple of bible dictionaries along with dozens of texts. Next we'll explore how the spirit solves the problem of a God who is both transce...

This is part 10 of the One God Over All class . We've looked at Jesus' identity as Messiah, his relationship to God throughout his ministry, his crucifixion, and his resurrection. Repeatedly we've asked the question, if Jesus is not the one God over all, then how should we interpret him? Today we delve into his exaltation and priestly ministry in heaven. We'll explore a little about what it means...

This is part 9 of the One God Over All class . If Jesus is not the one God over all, then how should we interpret his death and resurrection? How does his death pay for our sins? What does the resurrection tell us about Jesus? Unlike medieval Christianity that taught God the Son united himself to impersonal human nature, the bible portrays a whole person, a second Adam, who died for our sins. When...

This is part 8 of the One God Over All class . Does the bible call Jesus God? If so, how many times? This seems like such a straightforward question, but it's pretty hard to answer. We'll examine three types of texts in which Jesus might be called God, including those with manuscript issues, translation issues, and interpretation issues. In each case we'll see that, in fact, the text in question d...

This is part 7 of the One God Over All class . In the bible we encounter a strange phenomenon. Sometimes beings other than Yahweh are called Gods. How can we square that with monotheism–the idea that the Father is the only true God? Although most Christians are aware that the bible calls Jesus God a couple of times, most have never noticed that the scriptures also use the term for Moses, ang...

This is part 6 of the One God Over All class . The bible routinely recognizes the subordination of the Son to his Father. Throughout his ministry on earth, Jesus repeatedly and unapologetically taught, "The Father is greater than I" (John 14.28). Further, after his exaltation, Jesus remains dependent on the Father as his superior (1 Cor 11.3). Then, even once the age to come arrives, the Son will...

This is part 5 of the One God Over All class . Last time we looked at what Jesus taught about God. Although this class is called "One God Over All," it's also important for us to talk about Jesus. If the Father alone is the one God over all, then what does that mean about Jesus? Who is he? We're going to take the next few sessions to explore what the bible teaches about Jesus. Today our focus is o...

This is part 4 of the One God Over All class . Today we enter the New Testament and ask the question, “What did Jesus believe about God?” After all, whatever Jesus said on the matter is primary for us as Christ-followers, right? As it turns out, Jesus not only believed the Shema , but strongly endorsed it as his core understanding of what’s most important! Furthermore, he repeate...

This is part 3 of the One God Over All class . Yahweh is particularly sensitive about fidelity.  He wants his people to be solely devoted to him; he’s not content to share them with other gods. Century after century, when Israel strayed from him, Yahweh sent prophets to confront his people.  Eventually, he could not abide their treachery and he took drastic measures, removing them from the l...

This is part 2 of the One God Over All class . This class is all about who God is. That Yahweh is our God and that Yahweh is one are truths we must take to heart if we want to think biblically about God. Today we'll continue our march through the Hebrew Bible, stopping to see how God reveals himself through his ten commandments, the golden calf incident, and the Shema creed. Although the Shema tea...

Today we are starting a brand new class called "One God Over All!"  My plan is to work through scripture to build a biblical theology of the one true God and his Son, Jesus the Messiah. This class will cover both texts supporting God's exclusive oneness as well as misunderstood verses that seem to teach otherwise.  Additionally, we will briefly explore how Christian theology developed from the New...

Have you heard about the upcoming Unitarian Christian Alliance conference (or as I like to call it, UCA-con)?  It's going to happen next month from October 15-17.  My guest today is Dr. Dale Tuggy, the chairman of the board of the UCA.  Listen in as he discusses what's on the docket for our inaugural UCA conference as well as a teaser for what he will be saying about John 1 in his presentation.  (...