551 Read the Bible for Yourself 18: Helpful Tools to Understand the Bible

Posted on June 7, 2024June 14, 2024 by Sean Finnegan

This is part 18 of the Read the Bible For Yourself. What tools can help you understand the bible better? Today we’ll cover some recommended resources for you to deepen your study of the scriptures, including bible dictionaries, commentaries, bible software, AI, and more. Of course, it’s impossible to cover everything in a reasonable time Read more about 551 Read the Bible for Yourself 18: Helpful Tools to Understand the Bible[…]

546 Read the Bible for Yourself 13: How to Read the Church Epistles

Posted on May 2, 2024April 24, 2024 by Sean Finnegan

This is part 13 of the Read the Bible For Yourself. Before getting to the Church Epistles, we’ll begin with an overview of how letters were written, read, and performed. Then we’ll see how they are arranged in our Bibles. We’ll spend a good deal of time talking about occasion. Why did Paul write each Read more about 546 Read the Bible for Yourself 13: How to Read the Church Epistles[…]

534 Read the Bible for Yourself 4: How to Determine Content and Application

Posted on February 8, 2024February 22, 2024 by Sean Finnegan

This is part 4 of the Read the Bible For Yourself. Exegesis and application take work. Today you’ll learn how to grasp the content of scripture by asking the question, “What did this text mean to the original audience?” Looking for a book’s author, audience, occasion, and purpose will help you answer that question. Next, Read more about 534 Read the Bible for Yourself 4: How to Determine Content and Application[…]

533 Read the Bible for Yourself 3: How to Read the Bible in Context

Posted on February 1, 2024February 22, 2024 by Sean Finnegan

This is part 3 of the Read the Bible For Yourself. Today is the first of two episodes on how to understand and apply the Bible. One of the greatest problems facing Bible readers today is the lifted verse. It’s so common to see a verse or even half a verse posted on social media Read more about 533 Read the Bible for Yourself 3: How to Read the Bible in Context[…]

516 Sean Finnegan on Restoring Authentic Christianity (Tom Huszti)

Posted on October 6, 2023October 17, 2023 by Sean Finnegan

Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts Recently Tom Huszti interviewed me for his YouTube channel, the Unitarian Anabaptist. We talked about the importance of geography, archeology, and Greco-Roman history for interpreting the bible, especially the New Testament. Next we delved into early church history, starting with the earliest forms of Jewish Christianity Read more about 516 Sean Finnegan on Restoring Authentic Christianity (Tom Huszti)[…]

487 Early Church History 7: Philo and Clement of Alexandria

Posted on March 16, 2023March 23, 2023 by Sean Finnegan

This is part 7 of the Early Church History class. Philo of Alexandria was the most well-known representative of Hellenistic Judaism in the first century. His many books combine Platonism with scripture via allegory–a daring project that had a massive influence on Christian thinkers. Clement of Alexandria followed in Philo’s footsteps a century later, doing Read more about 487 Early Church History 7: Philo and Clement of Alexandria[…]

477 Questioning the Trinity (Steven Nemes)

Posted on January 5, 2023June 14, 2024 by Sean Finnegan

Dr. Steven Nemes is an analytic philosopher and theologian who uses a phenomenological approach to reading scripture and constructing theology. In this interview I ask him about his unique approach to evaluating doctrine, especially the Trinity, from a phenomenological perspective. We also discuss restorationism as a common ground and delve into Church history extensively. In Read more about 477 Questioning the Trinity (Steven Nemes)[…]

462 Scripture & Science 4: Reading Genesis One, Part 2 (Will Barlow)

Posted on September 23, 2022September 29, 2022 by Sean Finnegan

We’ve been considering the various options for interpreting the creation account in Genesis. Last time we looked at two young earth theories and today we’ll survey three old earth perspectives, including the day age theory, modified day-age theory, and a non-literal approach. For each Will Barlow explains the basics and offers a gentle critique. Listen Read more about 462 Scripture & Science 4: Reading Genesis One, Part 2 (Will Barlow)[…]

Bible Translation Sources and Theory

Posted on May 9, 2020July 20, 2020 by Sean Finnegan

In preparation for Restoration Fellowship’s Theological Conference, I began work on a research paper to explain how the process of Bible translation works. While putting this paper together, I kept coming across important topics that I felt uncomfortable excluding. Whenever possible I prioritized brevity over thoroughness and still the “paper” grew beyond the 10 page Read more about Bible Translation Sources and Theory[…]

Mike Licona vs. Richard Howe on Innerancy

Posted on November 18, 2019November 18, 2019 by Sean Finnegan

Have you ever wondered about differences between the Gospels? Thinking Christians have employed a variety of strategies to explain them. In this debate, Mike Licona, author of Why Are There Differences in the Gospels, presents his theory that the differences are merely the result of compositional devices commonly employed by ancient biographers. Richard Howe offers Read more about Mike Licona vs. Richard Howe on Innerancy[…]

Theology 2 – Bibliology

Posted on January 10, 2019April 10, 2019 by Sean Finnegan

Before delving into specific biblical doctrines, we need to first think about what the bible is. In this lecture you’ll learn what the bible says about itself, some reasons to believe God inspired it, as well as the major types of biblical scholars and how they approach scripture. This episode, along with the last one, Read more about Theology 2 – Bibliology[…]

Theology 1 – Introduction

Posted on January 3, 2019April 10, 2019 by Sean Finnegan

Happy New Year. I’m so excited to begin with you a new class that covers a whole range of biblical doctrines. In fact, I’m going to combine two classes into one and I think they will work together really well. The first class was originally titled “Basic Bible Doctrine” and it covered approximately fifteen different Read more about Theology 1 – Introduction[…]

152 Why Didn’t God Call the Light Light? (John Walton)

Posted on October 18, 2018September 21, 2018 by Sean Finnegan

When it comes to Genesis 1, Christians tend to divide into two major camps: old earth and young earth creationists. The former sees the days as long periods of time (e.g. Hugh Ross) while the latter insists on literal twenty-four hour periods (e.g. Ken Ham). Professor John Walton of Wheaton College advocates for a different Read more about 152 Why Didn’t God Call the Light Light? (John Walton)[…]

Interview 37: A New Perspective on Galatians (Jerry Wierwille)

Posted on May 17, 2018May 17, 2018 by Sean Finnegan

Last time, Jerry Wierwille explained the concept of covenantal nomism–the idea that rather than seeking to earn their salvation through perfect obedience, Jews at the time of Christ looked at the Law as a covenant God graciously entered into with his people. They enter that covenant by birth and then need to remain faithful to Read more about Interview 37: A New Perspective on Galatians (Jerry Wierwille)[…]

Is Matthew 28.19 a Forgery?

Posted on April 25, 2018April 25, 2018 by Sean Finnegan

Introduction Tucked away at the end of the Gospel of Matthew is the great commission. It reads, “Therefore, go, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit” (Mat 28.19). Oftentimes modalists and unitarians question the validity of this verse because of its trinitarian Read more about Is Matthew 28.19 a Forgery?[…]

133 Is God a Misogynist? (Mary Willson)

Posted on February 15, 2018February 8, 2018 by Sean Finnegan

Mary Willson, director of women’s initiatives for the Gospel Coalition, wrestles with a couple of the Old Testament texts that critics use to show that God hates women, including Deuteronomy 21.10-14 and Numbers 5.11-31. First she looks at how we perceive these ancient scriptures from the perspective of our own culture, then she shows how Read more about 133 Is God a Misogynist? (Mary Willson)[…]

123 The Fall by Preston & Jackie Perry

Posted on December 17, 2017December 14, 2017 by Sean Finnegan

Have you ever thought about what it must have been like for Adam and Eve have that conversation after the Fall, after they had become ashamed of what they had done and they had to come to grips with the new reality. In this stunning piece of poetry, written by Preston and Jackie Perry, we Read more about 123 The Fall by Preston & Jackie Perry[…]

Interview 28: Exegetical Fallacies (Jerry Wierwille)

Posted on August 31, 2017August 30, 2017 by Sean Finnegan

Why are there so many divergent beliefs about what the bible teaches? Partially, this results from mistakes we make when reading scripture. In this interview, Dr. Jerry Wierwille enumerates seven typical fallacies that bible students commit when reading: Root Fallacy Time-Frame Fallacy Misusing Parallels Fallacy Single Meaning Fallacy Word-Concept Fallacy Disjunctive Fallacy Lexical Fallacy Avoiding Read more about Interview 28: Exegetical Fallacies (Jerry Wierwille)[…]

Interview 27: Understanding Proverbs (Jerry Wierwille)

Posted on August 20, 2017August 10, 2017 by Sean Finnegan

What do you know about the book of Proverbs? It can be quite difficult to understand what’s going on without some knowledge of how Hebrew poetry works. In this episode Jerry Wierwille, serves as our guide to get a better grip on what Proverbs is all about. He explains the poetic structures, general approach, and Read more about Interview 27: Understanding Proverbs (Jerry Wierwille)[…]

104 The Kingdom Is Too Jewish (Kingdom of God 13)

Posted on July 27, 2017July 27, 2017 by Sean Finnegan

This is part three of a series of three lectures on why some Christians ended up rejecting the kingdom message in the first few centuries of Christianity. In this part, I work through the major differences between how Jews and Greeks read scripture. What we find is that the Christians who didn’t like the kingdom Read more about 104 The Kingdom Is Too Jewish (Kingdom of God 13)[…]

88: Restorationist Manifesto

Posted on May 28, 2017May 27, 2017 by Sean Finnegan

Simply put, restorationism is the approach to Christianity that seeks to compare accepted doctrines and practices against the bible to see if they are valid. Our intention is to recover authentic New Testament Christianity and live it out today. We hold God’s inspired scriptures above traditions, creeds, and clergy. The time is ripe for us Read more about 88: Restorationist Manifesto[…]

Restorationist Manifesto

Posted on May 15, 2017September 17, 2021 by Sean Finnegan

Presented at the 26th Theological Conference on May 18, 2017 Sponsored by Restoration Fellowship by Sean Finnegan The information age has opened up incredible opportunities to understand Christianity better. With unprecedented and unrestricted access to disparate religious perspectives, sincere bible students have been increasingly questioning the typical doctrinal packages offered by many Christian groups today. Read more about Restorationist Manifesto[…]

Interview 2: Jerry Wierwille on Hermeneutics

Posted on July 31, 2016September 6, 2016 by Sean Finnegan

Have you ever struggled to interpret the bible? Although many today think only professionals who are trained in seminaries can understand the bible, the truth is that every reader is a theologian to some degree. The moment you pick up the book and begin reading, you also begin interpreting what you read. The only question Read more about Interview 2: Jerry Wierwille on Hermeneutics[…]