This is part 1 of the Read the Bible For Yourself.

Today we are beginning a new class called Read the Bible for Yourself. Whether you are new to scripture, or you’ve been reading it for years, this class will empower you to read and understand the bible like never before. You’ll gain key insights into the context, content, and application of scripture so you can take your reading and understanding to the next level.Today I want to begin with the question, "Why should you read the bible for yourself?" Why is this book even worth your time? For those of you who have been reading it for years, you get it, but how would you inspire a desire in someone else to go through the hard work of learning to read the bible proficiently? In this episode you'll see why everyone, even non-Christians, should put in the effort to read the good book.

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https://youtu.be/wXXnD1LLl-A

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Notes

The Bible survives in more manuscripts than other ancient documents.[1]

The Bible is available in more languages than other books.[2]

The Bible sells more copies than other books.[3]

Which two sayings are in the Bible?

Although most often defined as "peace," the Hebrew word "shalom" is much bigger than that. It refers to not only the absence of war, but also the presence of wholeness and safety. In this sermon you'll gain a better understanding of this important biblical word as well as what God's heart is for shalom in the world and in your life. At times we all go through periods of crisis in which we lose our shalom, but thankfully we can return to God over and over and he can cause his face to shine upon us and give us peace.

Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts

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In Deuteronomy Moses famously taught the Jewish people the Shema--the heart of Judaism. He told them to repeat those words day in and day out: when they sit, when they walk, whey they lie down, and when they rise. In fact God built many mechanisms to remember him into the scriptures.

What about us Christians? How can we build routines to likewise remember God throughout our day, week, month, and year?

I shared this message at a weekend event, called Revive, last year. You may not recognize some of the references, but most of it should make sense. Also, during the sermon I played two videos I took of the Western Wall in Jerusalem. I've uploaded them to the Restitutio YouTube channel and posted them on Restitutio.org so you can watch them, if you're curious.

https://youtu.be/ZFQFux7-MUo

https://youtu.be/Ddgara8vcIY

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Remember

story of Akiva and the water dripping in a cave

story of Akiva’s supportive wife who married him though he was poor, but made him promise to go away to study

around the time of the 3rd Jewish-Roman War (Bar Kokhba Revolt), Emperor Hadrian outlawed the teaching of Torah in the land on pain of death- Rabbi Akiva kept teachingstory of his arrest and martyrdom [Talmud, Berakhot 61b, cited from Sefaria: https://www.sefaria.org/Berakhot.61b.9?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en, accessed Jan 3, 2023.]- Talmud: “The Gemara relates: When they took Rabbi Akiva out to be executed, it was time for the recitation of Shema. And they were raking his flesh with iron combs, and he was reciting Shema, thereby accepting upon himself the yoke of Heaven. His students said to him: Our teacher, even now, as you suffer, you recite Shema? He said to them: All my days I have been troubled by the verse: With all your soul, meaning: Even if God takes your soul. I said to myself: When will the opportunity be afforded me to fulfill this verse? Now that it has been afforded me, shall I not fulfill it? He prolonged his uttering of the word: One, until his soul left his body as he uttered his final word: One.”

דְבָרִים 6.4-5 ‏שְׁמַ֖ע יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵ֖ינוּ יְהוָ֥ה ׀ אֶחָֽד׃‎ 5 ‏וְאָ

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Today my guest is Thomas Gaston who’s book is called Dynamic Monarchianism: the Earliest Christology? Dr. Gaston earned his Ph. D. from Oxford University and this book one of the fruits of that labor. In this interview we talk about the earliest Dynamic Monarchians, including Ebionites and Theodotus as well as how logos incarnational christology took off under the influence of Middle Platonism in the writings of Justin Martyr and his doctrinal successors. Dynamic Monarchians affirm the supremacy of the Father as the only true God and that Jesus was miraculously conceived, but did not pre-exist. The term more or less refers to what we today call “biblical unitarians,” but typically applies to Christians that held this view in the second, third, and fourth centuries.

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Should Christians celebrate the birth of Christ? If so, where should we draw the line with respect to ancient pagan customs like bringing an evergreen tree into our houses or  giving presents to each other? How much pagan practice is too much?

My guest today is philosopher Dale Tuggy, the host of the Trinities podcast and the chair of the board of the Unitarian Christian Alliance. However, in this episode we're not talking about analytic theology or Christology. Instead we're discussing Christmas and how Christians should think about it. Tuggy argues that Christians have the freedom to celebrate or not celebrate Christmas.

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It's the holidays and many of us are seeing family members and coworkers and neighbors at parties. Sometimes the topic of Christianity comes up, and you may be having conversations about your beliefs. You may find yourself defending your belief in Jesus in general or even trying to convince trinitarian loved ones and friends to understand who he really is. In today's episode Jeff Deuble explains how powerful and important presuppositions are in these conversations. Additionally, he recommends the approach of asking good questions to open the door to changing people's minds.

Jeff Deuble is a retired pastor who has served in the Churches of Christ in Australia in various capacities for four decades. He's also the author of the book, Christ before Creeds: Rediscovering the Jesus of History. A book that has a conversational and friendly approach which in my opinion makes it a more effective tool at winning people over.

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Do the Gospels give you the impression that the kingdom of God is about to arrive? My guest today is Troy Salinger who wrote an interesting article called, "The Postponement of the Kingdom – A Response to Preterists and Anti-Missionary Rabbis." His idea is that the kingdom of God is a political restoration of the kingdom of Israel to one of David's descendants--and that this kingdom could have come during the time of Christ. However, because the Jewish people, especially the leaders, rejected Jesus as their Messiah, God postponed the coming of the kingdom until a later time. Salinger lays out four points:

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For centuries heresy hunters have labeled those who deny the pre-existence of Jesus "adoptionists." This ancient category was based on the idea some Christian groups denied the virgin birth, thinking instead that Jesus became the son of God at his baptism when God adopted him. Modern scholars such as Bart Ehrman and Michael Bird employ this term to describe several early unitarian Christian groups. My guest today is Dr. Jeremiah Coogan, a scholar of the New Testament and early Christianity. He's written a really helpful journal article analyzing the early so-called adoptionist groups. His conclusion? None of them actually qualifies as adoptionists.

https://youtu.be/zPL25MPwvbM

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- Today I'm interviewing Dr. Jeremiah Coogan. He is the Assistant Professor of NT at the Jesuit School of Theology. He has a PhD from Notre Dame in Christianity and Judaism in Antiquity. Welcome to Restitutio, I'm so glad to talk with you today.- Today we're talking about your article "Rethinking Adoptionism: An Argument for Dismantling a Dubious Category," published in the Scottish Journal of Theology early this year. In this article you argue that the label of adoptionism is a problematic anachronism. To make sure everyone is up to speed on this issue, could you briefly describe what adoptionism is?- Describe the problem with modern scholars retrojecting Nicene controversies into earlier Christian history.- You argue that though there may have existed adoptionists somewhere in the ante-Nicene period, we have no evidence for them. What about Cerinthus?- Let's talk about the Ebionites? Weren't they adoptionists?- Do you think there's a connection between the Christian community of James in Jerusalem and the Ebionites?- What about Theodotus? He and his followers are often cited as adoptionists, but they affirmed the virginal conception of Christ, right? - Let's move on to Paul of Samosata. I see you cited Paul Sample. I got a hold of his dissertation from Northwestern a little while ago and was impressed to see he had collected and translated so many sources about Paul. What do you make of Paul of Samosata's christology?- So your conclusion after analyzing the evidence is that none of these authors were adoptionists? Why

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Ignatius of Antioch lived in the first generation of Christians after the apostles died during the late first and early second century. Modern day apologists regularly point to Ignatius' letters to prove the antiquity of the deity of Christ and one-bishop church governance (monarchical episcopate). But did you know that Ignatius' letters have survived in three different versions or recensions? Although most scholars and textbooks recognize the middle recension as authentic Ignatius, rejecting the shorter and longer versions, my guest today, Pastor Nathan Massie, says otherwise. He argues that the shorter recension is the most authentic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUUesuqB0pw

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