Restitutio

We continue our refutation of Michael Brown’s opening statement by addressing a whole smattering of texts, including Isaiah 9.6, John 20.28, Colossians 2.9, 2 Peter 1.1, Romans 9.5, and 1 John 5.20. We explain and debunk Brown's unusual singular verb argument from 1 Thess 3.13, 2 Thess 2.16-17, and Rev 22.3-4. We briefly touch upon Zech 14.3-4 and Mat 28.19 before handling Brown's case for the ind...

We continue our refutation of Michael Brown's opening statement by addressing some alleged pre-existence texts in John 17.5, John 12.41, Philippians 2.6-11, and Matthew 23.37.  ( See previous episodes here .)  Lastly we spend some considerable time working through Hebrews 1, giving special attention to verses 8 and 10.  To help you follow along, here is the relevant portion of the manuscript Brown...

In this episode we tackle the next chunk of Michael Brown’s opening statement in the recent Trinity debate .  We address his argument that since God’s words remain forever and Christ’s words remain forever, they must be the same (cf. Mat 24.35 vs. Isaiah 40.7-8).  Next we briefly explain the grammatical issues related to Titus 2.13 and the alleged Granville Sharp Rule.  Then we d...

Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts . Jerry Wierwille and I systematically refute Michael Brown’s problematic case for the deity of Christ in his recent debate with Dale Tuggy. Due to the number of texts Brown crammed into his opening statement, this will have to be a multipart series. In this episode we begin by covering Brown’s assertion that believing that Jesus is a...

Are you curious how Dale Tuggy thinks he did on the Trinity debate with Michael Brown?  In this post-debate interview I ask him about his strongest points as well as what he thought Brown’s strongest arguments were.  I ask Tuggy about Brown’s Trinity theory and he explains the “one self” version of the Trinity as well as some of the major problems with that positi...

Are you curious how Michael Brown thinks he did on the Trinity debate last weekend ? In this post-debate interview I ask him about his strongest points as well as what he thought Dale Tuggy's strongest points were. We talk about his reticence to use traditional trinitarian language in light of his own unique heritage and ministry focus. I press him gently to explain his view of the Trinity in ligh...

Last night Michael Brown (PhD NYU) and Dale Tuggy (PhD Brown U) debated the question, “Is the God of the Bible the Father Alone?” Tuggy affirmed while Brown denied. Both scholars recognize the inspiration and the authority of scripture over tradition. Both made an effort to found their beliefs using the bible, reason, and history. The debate went for nearly three hours and followed thi...

Before delving into specific biblical doctrines, we need to first think about what the bible is. In this lecture you’ll learn what the bible says about itself, some reasons to believe God inspired it, as well as the major types of biblical scholars and how they approach scripture. This episode, along with the last one, serves to round out the introduction to this course. —— Notes —— bibliolo...

Happy New Year. I’m so excited to begin with you a new class that covers a whole range of biblical doctrines. In fact, I’m going to combine two classes into one and I think they will work together really well. The first class was originally titled “Basic Bible Doctrine” and it covered approximately fifteen different major beliefs. The goal was to explain these aspects of th...

Greg Deuble grew up in the Church of Christ in Australia, went to N.S.W. Bible College in Sydney, and spent fifteen years serving as a pastor and evangelist.  One day he attended a meeting during which Anthony Buzzard challenged him on his belief in the deity of Christ.  Rattled, Deuble began on a quest to reassess all of his doctrinal convictions in light of scripture.  As a l...

For more than a decade, Sam An has faithfully served as an administrator and teacher at the Korean Extension of the Atlanta Bible College.  In this interview, you’ll learn about his own story of faith as well as what God is doing through his ministry to touch Koreans both in America and in South Korea. —— Links —— Check out the Korean Extension’s website at abcke.weebly.com Watch Steve...

Have you heard of the Christian Disciples Church?  They are a biblical unitarian group scattered throughout Asia primarily.  In this episode Calvin Chan, who has been with the disciples since the beginning, will tell you the story of how this group got started as a student disciple movement.  He also shares about how the founder, Pastor Eric Chang, reexamined what the bible says abo...

This is the fourth and final part of our Misunderstood Texts about Jesus series with Bill Schlegel.  In this episode he offers remarks on Philippians 2.5-6, Colossians 2.9, and Revelation 1.17.  After this, I ask him one of the biggest questions on this subject: if Jesus isn’t God then how can his sacrifice possibly pay for our sins?  As usual Schlegel points out that this is not a biblical...

In parts one and two , we examined ten misunderstood verses in the Gospel of John.  In part three, we’ll examine seven more texts from the rest of the bible: Genesis 1.26 Isaiah 9.6 Matthew 2.2 Matthew 28.9 Matthew 28.19 (cf. 2 Cor 13.14) Romans 9.5 Acts 20.28 Repeatedly, Bill Schlegel calls us back to understand each verse within its immediate and canonical contexts, rather than reading in...

This is part two of my series with Bill Schlegel, former professor of the Israel Bible Extension and long time bible teacher and geography expert.  Last time we discussed five major texts in the Gospel of John and this time we cover four or five more: John 10.30 John 10.33 John 13.18-19 John 20.28 1 John 5.20 Next time we’ll discuss a number of more important verses in the rest of the bible....

Today we are beginning a new series called “Misunderstood Texts about Jesus” with Bill Schlegel.  Professor Schlegel lived and taught the bible and geography in Israel for more than three decades.  Recently, he came to change his mind on the deity of Jesus, seeing him now as God’s man rather than a God-man.  Since he made this change, several friends and acquaintances have brough...

Q: How do you know the bible is true? A: Because God wrote it. Q: How do you know God wrote it? A: Because the bible says God wrote it. Q: But, how do you know the bible is true? Here we encounter the classic circular argument for the bible’s inspiration. Surely, there’s a better way to go about establishing God’s influence on this book. In this episode we’ll take a look at...

Our world seems intent on trotting out the same extremist examples of Christianity as either a homophobic religion (think Westboro Baptist Church) or a totally accepting faith (think Episcopalians).  However, these are not the only positions Christians take on this subject.  In this talk, Wesley Hill, assistant professor of biblical studies at Trinity School for Ministry, not only advocates for bu...

Our culture longs for authenticity. We’re tired of fakers and phonies who say one thing and do another. People should just be true to themselves and have the courage to flout tradition when it holds them back from genuine self-expression. However, this mentality results in major individual and social problems from sexually transmitted diseases to sexual harassment to racism and mass shootings. Chr...

When it comes to Genesis 1, Christians tend to divide into two major camps: old earth and young earth creationists. The former sees the days as long periods of time (e.g. Hugh Ross ) while the latter insists on literal twenty-four hour periods (e.g. Ken Ham ). Professor John Walton of Wheaton College advocates for a different reading of the bible’s first chapter. By carefully comparing Genes...

Do you ever stop and marvel at God’s creation?  Are you in wonder at what he has made?  Too often we take God’s masterful creations for granted, instead of seeing them as pointers back to God’s ingenuity, generosity, and artistry.  Although we can’t always take time out to praise God for plums, palm trees, and panthers, when we can it’s helpful to meditate on his hand...

Kenneth LaPrade lives in El Paso, Texas, on the border between the United States and Mexico.  His wife is Mexican and many of the folks in his house church are from Mexico.  In such a context, immigration is always a touchy subject, but lately some Christians have baptized certain political rhetoric and presented it as “the” Christian position on this complicated issue.  LaPrade sees t...

Last week we examined what the bible teaches about heaven. This week we’ll see what it says about hell. John Cortright explains there are three meanings of hell in scripture, including tartarus where fallen angels are temporarily imprisoned, hades/sheol where the dead remain until resurrection, and gehenna where the wicked are destroyed in the final judgment. —— Links —— More Restitutio podc...

What is heaven? Throughout the bible we find different layers of meaning, including (1) heaven as sky, (2) heaven as God’s throne, and (3) heaven as God’s realm or dimension. Although heaven is a reality, it is not where we go when we die. Rather the bible teaches that the dead are asleep until the resurrection when they inherit the earth, renewed and restored. —— Notes —— Louis Armstr...

Robin Todd has faithfully served as the director of the Worldwide Scattered Brethren Network for the last 10 years.  He helps biblical unitarians find each other all over the United States as well as some other countries.  In this interview, we talk about how he got started, what it takes to get on his list, and how he sees the future of the network. —— Links —— Visit the Worldwide Scattered Breth...