Kegan Chandler grew up as a bible-believing Christian in Texas. His grandfather, Pat E. Harrell, was a leader within Church of Christ who founded their Restoration Quarterly publication. As a result of his grandparents’ and parents’ passion for God, Chandler grew up in a family steeped in bible study and theological reflection. One day the Mormon’s came knocking and Chandler, the consummate apologist and champion of orthodoxy, licked his lips at the chance to set them straight. However, in the course of that conversation, one of the missionaries asked Chandler, “Well, who do you say that Jesus is?” Strangely enough, this one question caught him off guard. The young man wasn’t asking, “Who do your parents, your pastor, or your seminary say that Jesus is?” but “Who do you say that Jesus is?” The intensely personal nature of this question started Chandler on a quest to firm up his orthodox answer, which eventually led to a complete reconsideration of his beliefs about God, Jesus, and the spirit. Over the course of several years, he came to see the bible from a more Hebrew perspective. After intense bible study and a thorough investigation into church history, he discovered the God of Jesus. Here is his story.
Notes and Links:
- The conference we met at was Restoration Fellowship’s Theological Conference. Next year the date for this weekend is May 18-21, 2017.
- For “the Protestant burden” see Jason David BeDuhn’s book, Truth in Translation.
- Chandler referenced my presentation, “Five Major Problems with the Trinity.” (This video now has over 33,000 views.)
- Chandler’s book, The God of Jesus, is now available on amazon.
- Chandler’s websites include The God of Jesus and Buried Deep
- For J. Dan Gill, visit the 21st Century Reformation website as well as his voluminous youtube channel.
- For Anthony Buzzard, visit the Restoration Fellowship site or watch his videos on youtube.
- Intro music: “District Four” by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.
That was awesome, edifying, and heartwarming! An encouragement to be more intellectually engaged with our faith rather than bound by the arbitrarily low intellectual standards of institutional shackles. Just an amazing story! It would be amazing if more people took the history of dogma more seriously. “The Truth has nothing to Fear!”
What a great story! I’m anticipating the next installment. Aside from the well known theological family and Mormon connections, I find his spiritual and theological journey very similar to my own, which is very encouraging. Thanks for sharing this interview.