Trinities

In this episode theologian Dr. Randal Rauser interviews me for his YouTube channel (original video below), asking good and tough questions. He inquires about my theological views and how I came to them, and why I think Christians who accept the authority of the New Testament should re-examine their assumptions about traditional triune-God speculations. We discuss the true humanity of Jesus, his be...

In this presentation from the 2021 Unitarian Christian Alliance Conference Kegan Chandler examines the work of "Early High Christology Club" members Dr. Michael Bird, Dr. N.T. Wright, and Dr. Larry Hurtado about what we can say, based on historical evidence, about Jesus' understanding of himself. Chandler finds their proposals wanting. They are intended to be orthodox, or at least somehow to point...

In this second part of my post-dialogue thoughts, I address in depth Dr. Craig's "deity of Christ" proof-texts, as well as his appeal to "Sharp's Rule" in relation to Titus 2:13 and 2 Peter 1:1. Does this alleged rule of Greek grammar to show that the authors there assert "the deity of Christ"? With some help from previous unitarian scholars, I show why it is pointless to argue against a unitarian...

My recent one-hour dialogue with Dr. William Lane Craig featured a number of interesting exchanges, as well as what I believe is Dr. Craig's first publicly distinguishing between a creedal Trinity doctrine (which he doesn't defend) and what he calls a minimal and biblical Trinity doctrine (which he does defend). In this podcast, I reflect on the discussion, and even try to " steel man " Dr. Craig'...

On July 11, 2022 I had the privilege of dialoguing for about an hour with Dr. William Lane Craig on Jordan Hampton's Analytic Christian YouTube channel . Our official topics were (1) Dr. Craig's Trinity theory and my objections to it, and (2) my unitarian Christian view of the one God, and Dr. Craig's objections thereto. In this short but spirited exchange, I lodge biblical and philosophical objec...

In this second episode ( part 1 here ) you'll learn about the very interesting last two chapters of Novatian's book On the Trinity , chapters which tell us so much about the range of theological opinions in mainstream Christianity in the middle of the 200s. In chapter 30, he relates three arguments of his opponents, arguments from mainstream Christians who rejected the then-new logos speculations....

A possible image of Novatian. Novatian was executed by the Roman government in 258. This ended an interesting career . After an emergency baptism when he was sick, Novatian became a priest and a leading theologian at Rome. He wrote his book The Trinity as a sort of commentary on traditional Roman baptismal creed , in order to help laypeople steer around docetic, Modalistic Monarchian, and Dynamic...

Does the New Testament teach that when God raised and exalted the Lord Jesus, this changed Jesus from being human to being divine? There's at least one passage in Paul's letters which at first glance sounds like this, and this view is held by some unitarian Christians. In this episode I answer an email from listener Corey in which he argues that certain texts clearly teach that Jesus is no longer...

A few months ago a podcast listener wrote me a long email arguing that clearly , according to the New Testament, the risen and exalted Lord Jesus is no longer human , but is instead divine. In this first part of my reply I lay the groundwork for my response in part 2, where I'll interact with his arguments and proof-texts. First I explain why, in general, knowledge of Philosophy is helpful for the...

In this episode I critically evaluate Dr. Craig's "Neo-Apollinarian" christology, and I find that it is beset with many metaphysical, creedal, and biblical problems . Topics include: How Dr. Craig does not come close to addressing all of the apparent clashes between the kind-essences divinity and humanity. How Craig's christology unfortunately implies that Jesus lied in the episode reported in Mar...

Since 2003 Dr. William Lane Craig has been propounding what he calls his "Neo-Apollinarian" theory as a model of the Incarnation which is contradiction-free. On this take on traditional "two natures" theory, God the Son (a.k.a. the divine nature) serves as the soul of the "complete human nature" of the divine-human Christ. In this first episode I put the discussion in context by explaining various...

Well, these are not new podcasts, but maybe some of these will be new to you . In this first podcast of 2022 I share with you some theology-related podcasts that I regularly listen to , serving up samples and explaining what I like about them. As I explain, some of them have a very broad appeal , while others cater more to the theology (and philosophy, and history, and Bible) " nerd ." All of them...

My recent debate with Dr. Andrew Loke about the deity of Christ was courteous but content-rich. In this episode I follow up on some of those issues and arguments. Topics include: How Dr. Loke follows some other two natures theorists in understanding Christ's two natures to be concrete things and not mere properties. How this sort of two-natures theory is subject to serious too-many-sons problems ,...

In this final portion of our debate, we engage in about 40 minutes of free-flowing discussion, followed by our closing statements. Our topic is New Testament teaching, but I can't resist raising what look to me like some serious problems for Dr. Loke's "kryptic" theory of the incarnation , on which the Son's divine omniscience is in his "pre-conscious" mind, not being directly accessible to him. A...

In August of 2021 I debated analytic theologian and philosopher of religion Dr. Andrew Loke on the above topic for The Analytic Christian YouTube channel . Dr. Loke makes his case by arguing that a handful of New Testament texts clearly imply the full deity of Jesus, focusing on ones which in his view assert that Jesus was "involved in creation" and so must be "on the creator side of the creator-c...

This lecture was the opening session of the 2021 Unitarian Christian Alliance Conference. In it, after briefly surveying the historical range of interpretations of John 1:1-18, I show how earlier literature gives us the context in which the original audience would have understood the prologue of the fourth gospel. The resulting interpretation is compatible with but does not imply Trinity or Incarn...

In this episode, apologist Chris Date continues to develop his Trinity theory we heard the roots of last time , and also adds in a new, similar but different theory. Starting from ideas in a Psychology article, and adding some reflections based on his favorite first-person shooter video game, Chris Date suggests that one being/substance might well have three "subjectivities" or points of view. Thi...

Some object to "the doctrine of the Trinity" that it is incoherent - that is, that it implies one or more contradictions. This is the sort of objection which apologists tend to focus on. But it's never been clear quite what that doctrine is , as tradition has bequeathed words in need of interpretation without also giving the interpretations. Given this, it's hard to make the case that "the doctrin...

As a life-long Church of Christ member and a long-time pastor, Jeff Deuble had a Bible-centered faith, endorsing such slogans as "No creed but Christ," "Where the Scriptures speak, we speak; where the Scriptures are silent, we're silent," "Bible things by Bible names," "We're Christians only, not the only Christians," and "In essentials, unity; in non-essentials liberty; in all things, love." But...

What would we expect to see in the New Testament if these authors thought Jesus to be a man and not a god? What would we expect to see if they thought he was a god but not a man? And what would we expect to see in these book if the authors thought that Jesus was a " godman ," one of three "Persons" within the triune God? The answers, when we compare them to what is actually in the New Testament, a...

Humor, used carefully, can be a powerful weapon of argument. In this episode I analyze a little humorous historical fiction called " God's Death: A Counterfactual Historical Reconstruction " which was recently featured on Mark Cain's Unitarian Christian Alliance Podcast . When I first heard it, I laughed out loud multiple times. But on reflection, I realized that the piece is presenting serious ar...

Thomas Emlyn was a beloved minister in a Presbyteria n church in Dublin, Ireland. But he and a friend decided to investigate some recent controversies about "the Trinity," and eventually Emlyn found himself seeing the New Testament in a unitarian light . Not being a contentious person, he avoided such topics in the pulpit. But when his true convictions came to light, he was immediately forced out,...

At one point, influenced by the great Christian philosopher Richard Swinburne , Dr. Joshua Sijuwade held to a "social" Trinty . But now, following Beau Branson , he holds to a "monarchical trinitarian" view on which the one God just is the Father, and also there is a divine Son and a divine Spirit. But he's continued to think about the issues, now influenced by some work by Timothy Pawl and by met...

In this episode Dr. Sijuwade and I discuss his recent article " Building the Monarchy of the Father ". Topics include: what constitutes biblical monotheism different meanings of the word "God" whether Dr. Sijuwade's theology should be understand as trinitarian or as unitarian whether by definition a trinitarian theology must imply monotheism different ideas of subordination the dependence of this...

Dr. Richard Bauckham has urged, especially in his book Jesus and the God of Israel , that everywhere in the New Testament Jesus is taught to "have the divine identity " or to "belong to the identity of God" or to be "included in the divine identity." Such language has widely proliferated in recent evangelical scholarship. In a 2013 article to which Dr. Bauckham has never responded, I pointed out t...