Restitutio

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 cover seven atonement theories. I originally released this presentation as two separate talks a while back (Theology 17 and Theology 18), but due to continued interest and inquires about this subject, I thought it would be a good idea to rebroadcast this talk.

For those who would like to go more in depth, you can access the full-length paper here.

Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAox3ELuVwY

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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 functional subordination. In what follows I overview the biblical evidence for the Son's subordination to the Father before critiquing both of these reigning trinitarian solutions to the problem. Last of all, I consider a few texts often pressed into service to teach coequality, but upon closer examination fail to adequately warrant that position. Also, if you'd like to dig deeper into this topic, here is the full paper.

Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts

https://youtu.be/PPjAfgfGejM

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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 over time. He explains that the destiny of the lost is to face God’s terrifying wrath leaving them ultimately annihilated rather than tortured without end.

This understanding of judgment has been steadily growing in recent history as evidenced by scholars like F. F. Bruce, John Stott, John Stackhouse, Clark Pinnock, Richard Bauckham, and N. T. Wright. Still none of them compares to the erudition and persuasiveness of the late Edward Fudge in his tour de force on the subject.

Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts

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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) Shouldn’t I stay “in the closet” if so I don’t get excluded, mocked, or persecuted? (3) What are some good books to dig deeper? and (4) How can you support the cause? This is our last episode in this class. I hope it has served you well and that you will share it with your friends.

Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts

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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 raged from 318 to 381. You may be surprised to discover that Arius was actually and elderly conservative with an impeccable character who quite consciously worked to avoid established heresies.

Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts

https://youtu.be/OZeMX_Ni6O0

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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 embraced thoroughgoing subordinationism while the fourth--the modalists--taught that Jesus was the Father. In this episode, we'll focus on the three early subordinationist groups: the Gnostics, the Dynamic Monarchians, and the Logos Incarnationists to explore what they each believed about Jesus.

Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts

https://youtu.be/Or5KAXkc6Jc

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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 transcendent and immanent. Lastly, we'll briefly examine three commonly misunderstood texts, including lying to the spirit in Acts 5.3, blaspheming the spirit in Matthew 12.31, and how Jesus talks about the spirit in the upper room discourse (John 14-16).

Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWrN8EX8lLs

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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 to be at God's right hand before spending a good deal of time working through Colossians 1.15-20. Lastly, we'll cover how Jesus' humanity uniquely equips him to sympathize with us in his role as our high priest.

Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts

https://youtu.be/kdKv52WkI5Q

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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 the Almighty raised Jesus from the dead, that marked him out as God’s true messiah.  In this episode, we’ll also briefly consider Thomas’ statement in John 20.28 when he called Jesus, “my Lord and my God.”

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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 doesn't have to be taken in that way.Texts covered include: 1 Timothy 3.16; 1 John 5.7-8; John 1.18; Acts 20.28; Romans 9.5; Titus 2.13 (2 Peter 1.1; 2 Thessalonians 1.12); and 1 John 5.20.

Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvQ32LLM9cU&list=PLN9jFDsS3QV0lS6ELFoLnZovP0NKxqTGG&index=8

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