Trinities

This episode is part one of my review of my July 2026 debate with Dr. Joshua Sijuwade . ( Video version here. ) It consists of his 35-minute opening statement , with my comments and critique. He spends the bulk of it arguing that what he calls "Conciliar Trinitarianism" best explains New Testament teaching about God, his Son, and his spirit. He then argues that this theology, or something much lik...

The Christian internet recently lost his mind when a short video went viral in which Dr. William Lane Craig points out that the New Testament does not teach that the Father "eternally generates" the Son. He also professes skepticism about that traditional, catholic doctrine. Does this make him a heretic? In this episode I react to his follow-up video in which Craig assures those concerned about he...

Countless millions have testified to the spiritual depth and importance of the Bible, and it is the most-read and most-translated book in human history. Yet in the recent west, reading the Bible has fallen out of favor (not to mention reading in general ). Do you have a Bible or two on your shelf that are just collecting dust? Are you intimidated by this influential and important, but not easy-to-...

Photo credit: Jerry Wierwille. In this second episode you'll hear the second half of the debate : rebuttals, open discussion time, audience questions and answers, and closing statements. Subjects discussed include: traditional, Chalcedonian views about Christ's two natures and whether these imply one too many persons the worship of Jesus which claims are essential to the gospel whether an immortal...

This episode consists of our opening statements. In my opening statement ( slides here ) , I first briefly explain why a trinitarian should not want to identify Jesus and God . I assume that when my opponent says that "Jesus is God" he means that Jesus is fully divine/has the divine nature. I then explain a terrible problem of the official Christology of the Council of Chalcedon in 451: the implic...

In this short video apologist Wes Huff confidently dishes out a bunch of mostly standard apologetics "answers" designed to sooth worries about "the doctrine of the Trinity." In this reaction video I interact with Huff's claims, clarifying what he's saying and why, pointing out what he's doing and not doing, and how he fails to engage with the seemingly non-trinitarian theology of the New Testament...

A befuddled student asked apologist Wes Huff about how to make sense of the Trinity . Huff's answer has gone viral (also here and here ). Obviously, Christians are enjoying and sharing Huff's answer. But how helpful of an answer is it? Is this an answer that is going to help a thinking Christian love God with all her mind? Does it point her to the relevant biblical teachings? Unfortunately, as Mic...

This final installment includes the cross-examination times, audience Q & A, and our closing statements, of course with my commentary. The cross-examination times are revealing. As we heard in part two , I presented Dr. White with an argument that his interpretation of John 1 implies that there are at least two gods and so should be rejected. In the cross-examination here, I ask which premise...

In this second of three episodes, we'll review the rest of Dr. White's opening statement and the two rebuttals . In several cases I push the discussion past what we were able to do in the confines of the debate. White's claim that the correct text of John 1:18 is "unique God" rather than "unique Son" and how his interpretation but not mine requires a decision about the correct text here White's cl...

I make an exciting announcement at the start of this episode! In this and the following two episodes, I present and comment on my recent debate with Dr. James White . This episode contains my opening statement and part of his. Here is an interpretive paraphrase which summarizes the interpretation I argue for in my opening statement: John 1:1–5 The Early Career of God’s Word When the world was crea...

In this lecture, given at the amazing Converge event in Ohio in August of 2025, I first explain the three varieties of early Christian theologies , which I have also discussed here , here , and in my recent debate with James White. I then explain the fully developed catholic views which replaced them over the years 381-681, as the "ecumenical" councils innovated in Christology and theology. Noting...

Both of the arguments below are valid . But which one is sound ? (By the definition of validity it's impossible that both are sound.) Argument #1: God can’t be tempted. Jesus was tempted. Therefore, Jesus is not God Argument #2: God can’t be tempted. Jesus is God. Therefore, Jesus was not tempted. In this talk I argue that Scripture requires that we endorse the first argument as sound. I then inte...

In this talk I answer three questions: Was Jesus tempted? What is it to be tempted? What can Jesus' temptations teach us? You are invited to reflect on your own calling (if you know it) and on what temptations are barriers to your walking that path God has put before you. If you prefer the video here is the version produced by Sharon Gill at 21st Century Reformation: https://youtu.be/jU71GAWB1Nc?s...

In this episode I open by briefly explaining the gap this year in my podcasting . Then you'll hear my presentation from the first ever New Zealand UCA Conference. Longstanding catholic traditions teach that Jesus is both fully divine , having the sort of divinity enjoyed by the Father Almighty, and fully human , being "like us in all things but sin." The problem with this is that the godman idea t...

When you're from a trinitarian Christian tradition , whether or not a doctrine of the Trinity is really in the Bible is more than an intellectual question. For one thing, there is the fear: am I angering God by asking these questions? And another huge factor is the peer pressure : it's part of catholic traditions to harshly exclude, with little to no discussion, people who will not pay lip service...

In this second part ( part 1 here ) I interact with the rest of this discussion between Dr. Sean McDowell and Dr. Fred Sanders. I do register some significant agreements with them, but on the whole, my criticism from last time stands: their apologetic defense of "the doctrine of the Trinity" is not anywhere near sufficient to rebut or refute the arguments presented by today's unitarian Christians....

In this episode I, a Biola University alum (B.A., Philosophy) interact with this video by two current Biola University professors , Dr. Fred Sanders , and Dr. Sean McDowell . Their goals are to show that the doctrine of the Trinity is coherent (not self-contradictory) and that it fits well with Scripture. Issues they discuss include: What about the fact that the word "Trinity" is not in the Bible?...

In this second part (first part here ) we hear the rest of this podcast by Cold Case Christianity apologist and former cold case detective J. Warner Wallace. In this part he tries to define "the doctrine of the Trinity" by quoting a portion of the so-called "Athanasian Creed." He then argues that this doctrine is necessary for understanding the atonement, and gives his version of the philosophical...

In this and the next episode I engage with an episode by Cold Case Christianity apologist J. Warner Wallace called " Why is the Trinity an Essential Doctrine? " (Also here . Alternate title: " Is the Trinity Contradictory? ") We first hear him explain how crime-solving police detectives reason using Inference to the Best Explanation , or what some call abductive reasoning. This is an approach I en...

In this episode you'll hear my presentation from the October 2024 UCA Conference in Little Rock, Arkansas . In it I explain the theological landscape from the late 100s through the early 200s using the words of some writers in that era: the author of the Refutation of All Heresies (attributed by some to Hippolytus), Theodotus of Byzantium (as quoted by Epiphanius), Noetus of Smyrna and Zephyrinus...

At the start of this episode I have a very important announcement! Then you'll hear day 2 - November 24, 2024 - of pastor Sean Finnegan and I fielding church history questions for New Zealand conference attendees. Topics include: the only really trinitarian-sounding text in the New Testament ( Matthew 28:19 ), the formation of the biblical canon , some ancient books which are not in any current-da...

This episode is a live Q&A session from the first ever UCA Conference in New Zealand , held in a beautiful lakeside conference center in Cambridge. The venue was a 15-minute walk from where I stayed. The view from there was this! Topics discussed include: unitarians throughout church history, Eusebius of Caesarea and his Church History , Theodotus of Byzantium, Artemon, Paul of Samosata, Photi...

In videos like this one and this one , trinitarian apologists continue to push false narratives about the history of mainstream Christian theologies, like these (ordered from least to most plausible): In this historical presentation, focusing on passages from Tertullian, Origen, and Novatian , I explain the actual early history of mainstream Christian theologies. Each of these three authors is a l...

To understand a book as its author intended, you don't look to its future, but rather to its past. What has this author read , and what could he presuppose his audience to have read? These other pieces of literature are like tools in the author's hands. The biblical book of Proverbs famously features a vivid personification, Lady Wisdom . She pleads with people to seek and find her, and she even a...

The way to evaluate a debate is to actively chart and compare the arguments made by each side. Debaters call this "flowing" a debate. I sat down and did this, working carefully all the way through my recent debate with James White on the question "Is Jesus Yahweh?" In this episode I'll give you my evaluation of the debate , with an assist from the cutting edge Chat Debate Beta AI . She and I even...