Dr. Steven Collins is an archeologist who has been digging at Tall el-Hammam since 2001. He’s convinced that this site is the biblical Sodom, a massive city destroyed by a fiery cataclysm. After digging down below the Roman and Iron-age layers, he encountered a destruction layer with ash and ceramic fragments. After having the pottery Read more about Archeologist Locates Biblical Sodom[…]
Can Jesus relate to us? In a major ad campaign called “He Gets Us,” the artful message is clear: Jesus understands us, which is why he’s as relevant and attractive as ever. Here are a few of their videos: Dinner Party: Jesus was radically inclusive The Rebel: Jesus knew how it felt to be Read more about He Gets Us Because He’s One of Us[…]
This is a follow-up discussion to Will Barlow’s Scripture and Science class, episode 16. If you haven’t watched or listened to that yet, you can go here to find on the Restitutio podcast feed as episode 479 here. Sean Finnegan asks Will Barlow about the possibility of the Bible getting scientific descriptions wrong. How can Read more about Can the Bible Get Science Wrong?[…]
Where does life come from? Eric Metaxas opens with some comedic remarks (keep in mind he has a classic NY sense of humor) and then engages Dr. James Tour in conversation about his work in nanotechnology before delving into the issue of abiogenesis. Tour has taken it upon himself to expose the exaggerated “progress” that Read more about How Did Life Come into Being? (Eric Metaxas, James Tour)[…]
This is a follow-up discussion to Will Barlow’s Scripture and Science class, parts 12-13. If you haven’t watched or listened to that yet, you can go here or find it on the Restitutio podcast feed as episode 464 on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Sean Finnegan asks Will Barlow about earth science, climate change, geology, radiometric Read more about Climate Change and Noah’s Flood[…]
This is a follow-up discussion to Will Barlow’s Scripture and Science class, parts 9-11. If you haven’t watched or listened to that yet, you can watch it on Youtube or find it on the Restitutio audio podcast feed as episodes 469-471 on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Will asks Sam about the issues that arise between Read more about Can Christians Believe in Evolution?[…]
This is a follow-up discussion to Will Barlow’s Scripture and Science class, parts 6-8. If you haven’t watched or listened to that yet, you can go here or find it on the Restitutio podcast feed as episode 464 on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Sean Finnegan asks Will Barlow about light, relativity, quantum theory, the big Read more about Why is our universe SO finely tuned to support life?[…]
Those who have studied the biblical manuscripts in the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) are aware that they preserve a variety of textual families, including some that agree with the Masoretic Text (56), the Samaritan Pentateuch (5), the Septuagint (7), or unaligned (57). What are we to make of this plurality? Anthony Ferguson who has a Read more about How Reliable are the Masoretic Texts?[…]
Have you ever noticed places in the Old Testament where an updated place name occurs? For example, Genesis 23.2 says “And Sarah died at Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan” and Judges 1.10 says, “And Judah went against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron (now the name of Hebron was formerly Kiriath-arba).” Read more about Updating the Old Testament? (Peter Gentry)[…]
Over at the Unitarian Christian Alliance, we’ve been hard at work putting out a bunch of short videos about who God and Jesus are. These videos are great to use as a teaching aid for adults and children. They’re also great to share with others from “traditional” Christian backgrounds to make them think. Here are Read more about Short One-God Videos[…]
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[…]
How did it become culturally rude to tell the others that Jesus is king? As Christians how do we show the gospel is not only plausible, but beautiful? How can we be more than faithful—but actually effective in evangelism? This seminar offers a theoretical framework that makes sense of why you probably hate evangelism and Read more about Evangelism Seminar[…]
Last weekend I presented on “The Trinity before Nicea” at Restoration Fellowship’s Theological Conference in Hampton, GA. This is such an important question to wrestle with, since the answer has a huge bearing on whether the Trinity was a new idea in the fourth century or if Christians had always believed and taught it since Read more about Did Christians Believe in the Trinity before the Council of Nicaea in 325?[…]
The traditional site for Mount Sinai is on the Sinai peninsula in Egypt, where the Red Sea forks into two gulfs. On this spot is St. Catherine’s Monastery, one of the oldest working Christian monasteries on the planet (founded around ad 550). However, some researches have identified a second site as a possible location. The Read more about The Real Mount Sinai?[…]
In this video, Michael Heiser lays out his case that “Satan” in the Old Testament does not refer to God’s chief enemy (the devil), but to a specific adversary who is actually working for God. He spends a great deal of time explaining that “the satan” cannot be “Satan” because the definite article is never Read more about Who Is the Adversary in the OT?[…]
Below I’ve posted a video that was masterfully done. It retells the biblical account of creation, fall, the patriarchs, Egypt, exodus, and the desert wandering. With magnificent scenery and an original soundtrack, this 12 minute video will be sure to help you connect with the biblical narrative in a fresh way. I found it so Read more about From Creation to the Promised Land (Spoken Word)[…]
Have you wondered about the Trinity? Here are five major problems about the Trinity that need answers. I presented this at a conference in 2011. It has received more than 200k views on YouTube. Scroll down to see my original notes in outline form. For more podcasts and videos challenging the Trinity see: The Trinity Read more about Five Major Problems with the Trinity[…]
Have you ever heard of the Bible Project? It’s a series of videos by Tim Mackie and Jon Collins out of Portland, Oregon. Most of their videos are really helpful. Anyhow, a little while ago, they came out with this video on the holy spirit that got them into some trouble. Watch it and see Read more about What Is the Holy Spirit?[…]
Last weekend I participated in an apologetics conference at John and Lisa Truitts’ home in Paducah, Kentucky. It was a wonderful time of meeting people and working together to figure out ways of reaching the millennial generation with the gospel. As it turned out, a great majority of the presentations focused on understanding the post-modern Read more about 2018 Apologetics Conference[…]
Last weekend I presented at Restoration Fellowship’s 27th annual Theological Conference. Here’s an edited version of my presentation with the slides added in. To get the full paper, click here. Biblical Somatology: How the Bible’s View of the Body Cures Social Ills and Unleashes Human Flourishing Between the apathy and reductionism of those who think Read more about Biblical Somatology[…]
What do you think happens when people die? Do they go to heaven, purgatory, hell, reincarnate, or sleep in the grave until resurrection? Watch this video to see more.
The Case for Christ, a classic apologetics book that provides evidence for Jesus’ resurrection, is now a movie! The film follows the lives of Lee and Leslie Strobel, a happily married non-religious couple in the Chicago area. One night out a restaurant, their daughter begins choking on something and nearly dies. However, at the last Read more about Case for Christ Movie Nails It[…]
Saint Patrick is one of the most courageous missionaries of Christian history. Although revelers mark his day with debauchery and drunkenness, he pursued holiness and risked his life to preach to the Irish barbarians. He held out to the ancient Irish tribes a promise of protection from their gods and demons, if only they would Read more about Podcast 76: The Real St. Patrick (Sean Finnegan)[…]
Today the church is faced with a false dichotomy: (1) show love and acceptance to same-sex attracted people or (2) get labeled as homophobic and hateful bigots. But, is there a third way? What about women and men who have a homosexual orientation but want to follow Christ authentically? What does the gospel say to Read more about Gay and Christian? Dealing with Same-Sex Attraction as a Christ-Follower (Wesley Hill)[…]
Check out this video from William Craig’s ministry, Reasonable Faith, explaining why God exists using the ontological argument. Here is the argument: God is the greatest conceivable being God exists as an idea in the mind A being that exists as an idea in the mind and in reality is greater than a being that Read more about The Ontological Argument for God’s Existence[…]
Check out this video from William Craig’s ministry, Reasonable Faith, explaining why God exists using the fine tuning of physical constants. Here is the three step argument: The universe evidences order and design A design implies a designer A designer of the universe exists This argument works for any living creatures (hummingbirds, bacteria, etc.), complex Read more about Fine Tuning Argument for God[…]
Check out this video from William Craig’s ministry, Reasonable Faith, explaining why God exists using morality. Here is the three step argument: If God doesn’t exist, objective morals don’t exist Objective morals do exist God exists If we agree that certain actions are morally wrong for everyone (objective morality), then we have to look for Read more about The Moral Argument for God’s Existence[…]
Check out this video from William Craig’s ministry, Reasonable Faith, explaining why God exists using cause and effect. Here is the three step argument: Whatever begins to exist has a cause The universe began to exist Therefore, the universe has a cause Just like dominoes falling in a row, we cannot explain the present day Read more about The Kalam Cosmological Argument[…]
Believing Jesus is Lord and Christ is both religious and political. Watch this to see how early Christians living in Philippi would have interpreted the gospel message as requiring a radical shift in allegiances from Caesar to Jesus. Here are the slides from this sermon: Here are my notes: Battle of Actium (Sept 2, 31 Read more about Kingdom Citizenship[…]
I’m starting a series of videos assessing the Trinity. I want to begin by asking, “Does the bible teach the Trinity?” In order to answer this question, we need to define what we mean. In one sense the Trinity is biblical and in another it is not. Watch this video to find out more:
Here is the full video (including questions and answers) of my theological conference presentation: “Why Did Jesus Die? Exploring the Multifaceted Biblical Doctrine of the Atonement from a Biblical Unitarian Perspective.” To access the paper, click here.
Check out Dustin Smith’s Ten Minute Truth Talk for a short, funny, and informative account on what the bible teaches about where persons go when they die. In his presentation he puts forward the doctrine called “the sleep of the dead,” which teaches the dead are unconscious until the resurrection when Jesus returns.
Would you like to watch any of the lectures or testimonies from the 2016 Theological Conference? Carlos Jiminez has put them on the Restoration Fellowship YouTube channel. Here is the link:
Tim Keller deftly explains the classic Christian view of marriage at Google. His endearing style combines with his honest approach to show how attractive and relevant the biblical view of marriage is in our present day. Whether you are married or thinking about getting married some day, this talk will help you.
Check out Dustin Smith’s explanation of the only true God’s identity in his first ever 10 Minute Truth Talk: Edited by Josiah Cain and Jacob Paura For those who want to donate towards the production of future videos, go here: paypal.me/10mintruthtalks
Have you heard of the bible project. I’ve watched a number of their videos and the ones I’ve seen are excellent. Here’s a little video they put together about reading through the bible in a year. We spend so much time absorbing television, youtube videos, and social media, but how can we hope to resist Read more about Why Not Read the Bible through This Year?[…]
Here’s a documentary I contributed to by Restoration Fellowship some years ago about the shocking lack of knowledge about the kingdom of God in mainstream Christian evangelism and teaching. Although some evangelical leaders have made great progress in understanding the kingdom message, the average church-goer remains attached to the old heaven-at-death mythology. Watch on YouTube