This episode is part of the Restoration Theology class.

About a year ago I was listening to a podcast that said black plastic cookware comes from recycled electronics. Such plastics are loaded with chemicals like fire retardants and should not be used in cooking. I was thinking about the black plastic spatula our family used regularly. I imagined how each time it was heating up, bad chemicals were leeching into our food.

This information caused me to doubt something I had never thought of before. I did some looking around online and found that there were other options. There are metal spatulas, silicone spatulas, and even wooden spatulas. I weighed the merits of each and purchased one. When it arrived by mail, I threw out the old black plastic one.

You probably employ this kind of reasoning all the time. However, when it comes to deeply cherished beliefs, we tend to be quite resistant to hearing criticisms or having doubts. We are often unaware of what the other theological options are. Most of us are underexposed to other Christian ways of thinking outside of our group.

Today my goal is to convince you that looking at other options and evaluating your own beliefs over against them is worthwhile for you to do. Furthermore, I want to–as always–share a method that you can use to do this process on your own. I believe that when you have the courage to allow yourself to doubt your beliefs, you will benefit by either discarding falsehood or strengthening those that are true.

  Listen on Spotify

  Listen on Apple Podcasts

—— Links ——

This episode is part of the Restoration Theology class.

As we continue through our survey of the major branches of theology, we come to the subject of doctrinal precedents. Who has believed a particular idea before? Were there any Christians who held position x in the past? Who were they? If the majority of the church no longer holds to a certain belief, what happened?

When I was in high school, I thought history was terribly boring. Learning the names of dead American presidents or about European wars never appealed to me. You may feel this way too. However, right from my first time encountering Christian history, I felt different. Perhaps that was a gift of God. Or maybe it’s because Christian history is family history. I was learning about my ancestors in the faith–the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Today you’re going to learn a method to do historical theology. This will empower you to test your beliefs in the laboratory of history and see who held them previously. Such an exercise is important in our quest for doctrinal truth. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I do.

  Listen on Spotify

  Listen on Apple Podcasts

—— Links ——

This episode is part of the Restoration Theology class.

Restoration Theology is an approach that brings together good hermeneutics and good theology. We’ve talked a great deal about hermeneutics, which how to interpret the Bible well, and now we’re working our way through all the major branches of theology. In previous episodes, we’ve looked at biblical and systematic theologies and now we’re ready to see how analytic theology can help us evaluate our doctrines.

Though analytic theology may seem intimidating at first–what with all the symbols and logical operators–it’s actually quite a commonsensical way to approach doctrine. If we boil it down, analytic theology is merely the application of reason to your belief. We all do this all the time. We look at some weird belief and say, “Well, that doesn’t make sense. I’m not going to believe that.” We come up against a different way of putting together scripture and we scrutinize the reasoning. We say, “Hey that argument doesn’t work because of this problem.” Analytic theology provides the tools to formalize this process. And I’m excited to share with you a method to harness the power of this field without having to do years of schooling or spend hundreds of hours reading dry textbooks.

  Listen on Spotify

  Listen on Apple Podcasts

—— Links ——

This episode is part of the Restoration Theology class.

Whereas last time we focused on differences and development, today our goal is to perceive the final form of a doctrine. Because restorationists believe God inspired scripture, we recognize that amidst the diversity we can also detect coherence. Although there were many authors, there was only one God inspiring each of them.

Today you’re going to learn about how to do systematic theology well. Rather than merely collecting a few texts that support your belief, you’ll also learn what other steps are necessary to put together a robust theological statement. You’ll also learn about the limitations of systematic theology.

  Listen on Spotify

  Listen on Apple Podcasts

—— Links ——

This episode is part of the Restoration Theology class.

The Bible is a collection of sixty-six books, written by dozens of authors over centuries. It did not drop from heaven, nor did it arrive all in one generation. No, God slowly revealed the Christian scriptures over time. As a result, we find development within them, which is important to understand when building theology. While next time, we’ll focus on the final form of this or that doctrine, today our focus is on how doctrines change over time. This is nothing to worry about. It’s not a bug; it’s a feature! Afterall, our God is not a stone idol, but the dynamic living God who carefully shapes history to his sovereign ends, generation by generation. Today we’ll begin our first episode in a five-part series, covering all the major branches of theology. Enjoy!

  Listen on Spotify

  Listen on Apple Podcasts

—— Links ——

This episode is part of the Restoration Theology class.

Although one of the most overlooked aspects of hermeneutics, figuring out how to apply scripture to your own context today is extremely important. If you interpret the Bible well, but never ask the question, “How does this affect me?” what good does it do you? Like the scholar of religion who is just curious, you can read the Bible and understand it correctly, but never experience the kind of change God wants for you.

Let’s say you want to apply the Bible to your life today. How do you do it? It won’t do to just pick a verse here and a verse there–taking this one literally and that one metaphorically as you like. No, you need a method to help keep you honest and to make sure you’re not leaving anything critical out. Today’s episode is going to equip you to apply scripture to your life today in a methodical way, not only providing some clear guidelines of what to do, but also some problems to avoid.

  Listen on Spotify

  Listen on Apple Podcasts

—— Links ——

This episode is part of the Restoration Theology class.

There’s no getting around it. The Bible is a historical book. The events it describes occurred in history. What’s more, biblical history isn’t just limited to a single period of time. No, it stretches over thousands of years. As a result, it’s critical that you always remember that you’re reading something from another time and place. You’re reading about people who lived long ago in a place that is far away–at least for most of us.

Now, if you’re anything like me, you found social studies, global studies, and history classes totally boring in high school. I never cared to learn much about American presidents or European wars. However, when I came to understand that the historical context was a major key for understanding the Bible, I discovered–to my surprise–a passion for history. Suddenly I wanted to learn about ancient empires and literature. I researched archeology, epigraphy, and paleography. I suppose my awakening occurred because I saw there was a payoff. I wasn’t just studying history to learn random facts about long ago. I was studying to learn how to understand the Bible better, and that made all the difference in the world.

  Listen on Spotify

  Listen on Apple Podcasts

—— Links ——

This episode is part of the Restoration Theology class.

What’s the difference between reading the Bible and studying it? Reading the Bible is like surfing on the waves, following the general flow of thought as you go. Studying the Bible is more like swimming underwater, perhaps with scuba gear to enable you to investigate matters thoroughly. Today we’re doing the second one. You’re going to learn how to interpret a biblical text in its literary context using the grammatical-historical hermeneutic. This includes learning about genre, scriptural additives, context, and intertextuality. Our goal is to understand the authorial intent of a scripture so that you interpret it accurately.

  Listen on Spotify

  Listen on Apple Podcasts

—— Links ——

This episode is part of the Restoration Theology class.

Would you agree that every translation of the Bible has some sort of bias in it? Even the most literal translations have a good deal of bias baked into them. What can we do? Well, you could learn Hebrew and Greek so you can read the Bible for yourself instead of depending on a translation. Ok, but if you don’t have the inclination, motivation, or time to do that, what can you do? This episode of Restoration Theology is going to take you step by step through an English-only process of detecting bias in translation. You’ll learn a little about the translation process as well as how to spot bias in translation. This is a necessary component in our quest to evaluate doctrines against the text of Scripture.

  Listen on Spotify

  Listen on Apple Podcasts

—— Links ——

The Old Testament, also called the Hebrew Bible, is a collection of 39 books written before the time of Christ. Today you’re going to learn about the three major manuscript families of the OT: (1) the Masoretic Text, (2) the Septuagint, and (3) the Samaritan Pentateuch. Like last time, we’ll go through several of the most significant manuscripts while also covering some of the most exciting stories of discovery. My goal here is simply to familiarize you with the texts upon which our Old Testaments are based, so that when you go to build doctrines later, you’ll be able to understand why textual differences matter and how to navigate them effectively.

  Listen on Spotify

  Listen on Apple Podcasts

—— Links ——