Last December, my first ever published book came out, called Kingdom Journey. Recently I recorded a seminar on the kingdom at a church in South Carolina based on the book that I will be playing out over the next 5 weeks. In this seminar I highlight some of the key points in my book and Read more about 562 Kingdom Seminar 1: Why Should You Care[…]
Let’s face it the New Testament probably calls Jesus God (or god) a couple of times and so do early Christian authors in the second century. However, no one offers much of an explanation for what they mean by the title. Did early Christians think Jesus was God because he represented Yahweh? Did they think Read more about 521 The Deity of Christ from a Greco-Roman Perspective (Sean Finnegan)[…]
This is part 17 of the Early Church History class. Throughout the first five hundred years of Christian history, a significant shift occurred in what we believed about our ultimate destiny. The New Testament and the early church fathers repeatedly expressed belief in God’s kingdom coming to earth. Over time, however, this idea gave way Read more about 499 Early Church History 17: The Kingdom of God in Early Christianity[…]
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[…]
This is part 5 of the Early Church History class. Have you heard of the Gnostics before? Gnostics of different types claimed to have secret knowledge of humanity’s true origins and destiny. They were intellectuals who combined the philosophical thinking of their day with Jewish and Christian scripture to produce a compelling alternative to biblical Read more about 485 Early Church History 5: Gnostics and Valentinians[…]
In this lecture, you’ll learn about anthropology–the bible’s view of humanity. In particular, we’ll focus on the two ends of the spectrum: creation and death. We’ll see how the biblical view of humanity is rather exalted since we are made in God’s image. We’ll examine what the bible teaches about death and resurrection and how Read more about Theology 3 – Conditional Immortality[…]
Biblical Somatology How the Bible’s View of the Body Cures Social Ills and Unleashes Human Flourishing Sean Finnegan (Restitutio.org) Presented May 6, 2018 27th Theological Conference Sponsored by Restoration Fellowship Introduction Between the apathy and reductionism of those who think our biological bodies don’t matter, and the vanity and superficiality of the celebrity culture that Read more about Biblical Somatology[…]
Last time we saw that some influential Christians rejected the biblical teaching on the kingdom because the idea of living on earth forever seemed crude to them. This time, we look at how the ancients thought about bodies and bodily pleasures. As it turns out, from (at least) Plato onward, many philosophers tended to embrace Read more about 103 The Kingdom Is Too Hedonic (Kingdom of God 12)[…]
Now that you’ve seen the historical defenders of the kingdom faith, it’s time to turn our attention to those who fought against it. Over the next three lectures you’ll learn the main reasons why Christianity rejected the kingdom message of the bible and replaced it with going to heaven or hell at death. First up, Read more about 102 The Kingdom Is Too Crude (Kingdom of God 11)[…]
What happens when you die? Is there an intermediate state? What does the bible teach about the dead before resurrection? These questions are important for our study of the kingdom of God. If you go straight to heaven when you die, you’re not going to care very much about what happens when Jesus returns. You Read more about 97: The Sleep of the Dead (Kingdom of God 6)[…]
The best chapter on resurrection in the bible is 1 Corinthians 15. In it, the Apostle Paul masterfully lays out the Christian position on resurrection while overcoming common objections in the culture. As it turns out, people living in Corinth thought the idea of resurrection seemed real bizarre. Looking at tombstone inscriptions, Plato’s Phaedo, and Read more about Podcast 80: Resurrection People (Sean Finnegan)[…]
Kegan Chandler joins me once again to talk about the history of theology. If you haven’t yet heard his story, check out Interview 8: A Restorationist Finds the God of Jesus. In this episode, I ask Chandler about his book, The God of Jesus in Light of Christian Dogma. If you are at all interested Read more about Interview 9: Pagan Influences on the Development of the Trinity (Kegan Chandler)[…]
by Sean Finnegan Why do so nearly all Christians today believe that the people of God will spend eternity living in heaven with God? Although the bible clearly and in many places teaches just the opposite, one is hard-pressed to find any Christians who believe that God intends to fix the planet rather than evacuate Read more about Rejecting the Kingdom 3: Too Jewish[…]