Restitutio Classes

This is part 3 of the One God Over All class. Yahweh is particularly sensitive about fidelity.  He wants his people to be solely devoted to him; he’s not content to share them with other gods. Century after century, when Israel strayed from him, Yahweh sent prophets to confront his people.  Eventually, he could not Read more about 413 One God 3: Yahweh Versus the Idols[…]

This is part 2 of the One God Over All class. This class is all about who God is. That Yahweh is our God and that Yahweh is one are truths we must take to heart if we want to think biblically about God. Today we’ll continue our march through the Hebrew Bible, stopping to Read more about 412 One God 2: Yahweh Our God, Yahweh Is One[…]

Today we are starting a brand new class called “One God Over All!”  My plan is to work through scripture to build a biblical theology of the one true God and his Son, Jesus the Messiah. This class will cover both texts supporting God’s exclusive oneness as well as misunderstood verses that seem to teach Read more about 411 One God 1: Yahweh, the Supreme Creator[…]

This is the last episode of our class, Why Christianity.  We’ve covered so many different reasons why Christianity is attractive, makes sense, and is worthy of our attention.  We’ve looked at scientific, logical, epistemological, social, psychological, and historical reasons for God’s existence, Christ’s resurrection, and the gospel’s effectiveness.  Today, we consider three stories of changed Read more about 403 Why Christianity 16: Changed Lives (Sean Finnegan)[…]

Although many throughout the Western world are quick to criticize Christianity, Jesus remains well-liked.  In fact, one of the most obvious answers to the question, “Why Christianity?” is “Jesus.”  To this day, reading the Gospels  draws the reader to Jesus’ magnetic and compelling way of life.  What’s more, the less satisfied we are with our Read more about 402 Why Christianity 15: Jesus the Revolutionary (Daniel Fitzsimmons)[…]

Community is so important.  As so many continue to struggle with the ache of loneliness, anxiety about social encounters, and the gnawing pain of depression, we who belong to Christian communities have a huge opportunity and obligation to invite outsiders in, provide them a taste of God’s goodness, and welcome them with a spirit of Read more about 401 Why Christianity 14: Hypocrisy and Community (Daniel Fitzsimmons)[…]

What is the proper role of your emotions?  Should you trust them?  How do you know when they are helping and when they are hurting?  Today we’ll take a look at another exciting advantage that Christianity provides.  In this episode, you’ll learn about the problems endemic to emotional reasoning, the robust biblical teaching about your Read more about 400 Why Christianity 13: The Heart (Sean Finnegan)[…]

One of the most enduring problems we have faced throughout human history is tribalism.  From the Nazis to the Rwandan genocide, we’ve repeatedly seen the devastating results of group think and dehumanizing outsiders.  Although some Christian groups have tragically fallen into this sin, we don’t have to.  Christianity provides a better way.  We can draw Read more about 399 Why Christianity 12: Inclusiveness (Sean Finnegan)[…]

Who are you and why does your life matter?  These two piercing questions get to the heart of your identity.  Our society in the West has increasingly embraced an internally discovered identity on the basis of individual passions.  Such expressive individualism is exciting to live out, especially if those around you push back, however, the Read more about 398 Why Christianity 11: Christian Identity (Jerry Wierwille)[…]

Let’s face it, suffering is a major problem for those of us who believe in a good and powerful God.  How do you answer skeptics who challenge your belief in God because of the gratuitous suffering endemic in human history?  In this episode we’ll explore some answers to this question offered by several worldviews before Read more about 397 Why Christianity 10: Suffering and Evil (Jerry Wierwille)[…]

Freedom and morality are two interrelated concepts that everyone has an opinion about. From a Christian perspective, we limit our freedom based on our received moral code. We believe that the restrictions the bible provides us are for our good; They are not the result of a capricious deity’s arbitrary or stifling whims. In fact, Read more about 396 Why Christianity 9: Christian Freedom and Morality (Sean Finnegan)[…]

Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts This is part 8 of the Why Christianity class. Last time we delved into the first two components of scripture’s overarching story line: creation and fall.  These two explain where the world came from and what went wrong with it.  Today we’ll consider the last two Read more about 395 Why Christianity 8: Metanarrative 2 (Jerry Wierwille)[…]

Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts This is part 7 of the Why Christianity class. So far in this class we have stuck to classic apologetics topics like reasons for God’s existence, the historicity of the resurrection, and the rationality of Christian epistemology.  Now we are going to shift gears and do Read more about 394 Why Christianity 7: Metanarrative 1 (Daniel Fitzsimmons)[…]

Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts This is part 6 of the Why Christianity class. The Bible is such a strange thing. On the one hand, it looks like a big book, on the other hand, it’s a library of books. It’s loaded with very different kinds of literature from poetry and Read more about 393 Why Christianity 6: The The Origin and Authority of the Bible (Jerry Wierwille)[…]

  Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts This is part 4 of the Why Christianity class. How would you go about convincing someone that the resurrection of Jesus actually happened?  Now, what if that person didn’t recognize the scriptures as inspired by God.  How would you go about making a case for Read more about 392 Why Christianity 5: The Resurrection of Jesus Happened (Sean Finnegan)[…]

Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts This is part 4 of the Why Christianity class. Is Christianity irrational?  Is believing in God intellectually vacuous?  Jerry Wierwille will address the criticism of skeptics that Christian belief is arrogant, unjustified, and irrational.  Next, he’ll describe the popular secular belief in scientism before exposing its Read more about 391 Why Christianity 4: Believing in God Is Not Stupid (Jerry Wierwille)[…]

Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts This is part 3 of the Why Christianity class. How do you know God is real?  What sorts of evidence would you marshal to make a case for God’s existence?  It won’t do to tell skeptics you believe in God because you’ve always believed in him, Read more about 390 Why Christianity 3: God Is Real (Sean Finnegan)[…]

In a culture where biblical Christianity is falling more and more out of fashion, it’s increasingly important to have confidence in your faith. Today we are beginning a class called Why Christianity, in which we will lay out a few of the ways that our faith makes sense and works best. In this first session, Read more about 388 Why Christianity 1: Introduction (Jerry Wierwille)[…]

This is now our last episode in this 24 part class on How We Got the Bible.  Today after a quick review and an appeal to learn the biblical languages, I’ll recommend a number of Bible translations.  Although I’m hesitant to do this, so many have written in asking for it that I would be Read more about 353 Bible 24 – Recommended Bible Translations (Which Bible Is Best?)[…]

This is our fifth and final example of bias in translation. After this episode, we’ll have one more to conclude our class on How We Got the Bible.  Today our focus is God’s spirit.  Should it have an uppercase ‘S’ or a lowercase ‘s?’  Should pronouns referring back to spirit be masculine (like “he”) or Read more about 352 Bible 23 – Spirit Who or Spirit Which? (Translating the Holy Spirit)[…]

Did Jesus claim to be “The Great I AM” in John 8.58?  If not, what was he saying?  In this episode we examine the alleged parallel passage in Exodus where God reveals his name to Moses at the burning bush.  Next, we’ll explore texts with the same Greek construction that Jesus used in an effort Read more about 351 Bible 22 – Did Jesus Claim to Be the I AM? (Translating John 8.58)[…]

Colossians 1.15 presents an interesting test case to examine translation bias.  Well-meaning Bible students have taken this text in at least three different ways.  However, some translators, motivated by a fear that readers might see Christ as a member of creation, have increasingly pushed for translating this text so that it says Christ is superior Read more about 350 Bible 21 – Firstborn Of or Firstborn Over? (Translating Colossians 1.15)[…]

How should translators render the word προκσυνέω (proskuneo) into English?  Since this word has a range of meanings from bowing as a sign of respect to worshiping God, translators sometimes decide what English words to use based more on their theological presuppositions than the grammar or textual context.  For example, some translations (mostly those done Read more about 349 Bible 20 – Bow or Worship? (Translating Proskuneo)[…]

This is our first of five examples of bias in translation. Today we’ll examine Philippians 2.6-7, specifically focusing on how translators render two important words (ἁρπαγμός harpagmon and μορφή morphe). We’ll see how a couple of the most popular evangelical versions break free from the underlying Greek syntax in order to inject their own doctrinal Read more about 348 Bible 19 – God’s Form or God’s Nature (Translating Philippians 2.6-7)[…]

Last time we evaluated two popular single-translator Bibles: the Message and the Passion Translation.  This time, we’re switching gears to consider committee-based versions.  I want to shine a spotlight on the whole subject of bias in translation in an effort to point out what often goes unnoticed.  We’ll consider both the committee effect that tends Read more about 347 Bible 18 – Bias in Bible Translation[…]

Last time we looked at the King James version which is one of the strictest formal equivalence Bibles every made.  This time we are going to analyze two Bibles on the other end of the spectrum: the Message Bible and the Passion Translation.  These two versions share a number of characteristics in common.  For example Read more about 346 Bible 17 – Evaluating the Message Bible and the Passion Translation[…]

What do you know about the King James Version?  Is it an accurate translation?  Does it have flaws?  Should you use it as a measuring stick for other translations?  In today’s episode, we’ll cover the making of the KJV of the Bible, going back to William Tyndale’s courageous work before delving into four areas of Read more about 345 Bible 16 – Evaluating the King James Version[…]

Did you know that controversies surrounding how to translate gender in the Bible had a major impact on Bible translation over the last 30 years?  In this episode we’ll briefly overview various feminist movements before examining the NRSV, which proved to be a forerunner for gender inclusive Bible translations.  Next we’ll take a journey through Read more about 344 Bible 15 – Gender in Bible Translation[…]

Last time we focused on the two main translation theories: formal and dynamic equivalence.  This time, we need to take a look at five major default decisions translation teams make at the outset. Units of Measurement and Currency Hebrew Idioms English Vocabulary Editorial Enhancements God’s Name By becoming familiar with these five topics, you’ll be Read more about 343 Bible 14 – Bible Translation Default Decisions[…]

Up until now we’ve focused our attention on the text of Scripture.  We took five episodes looking at the Hebrew Bible, including it’s sources, transmission, and how textual scholars go about deciding the initial text.  Then for the last seven episodes we did the same for the New Testament, examining the surviving source material and Read more about 342 Bible 13 – Bible Translation Philosophies (Formal and Dynamic Equivalence)[…]

Last time we covered two corrected corruptions (1 Timothy 3.16 and 1 John 5.7).  This time we’ll consider two uncorrected corruptions, including the long ending on Mark (16.9-20) and the passage about the adulterous woman that Jesus saves (John 7.53-8.11).  Although these two texts are not found in the earliest and best manuscripts and translators Read more about 341 Bible 12 – Two Uncorrected Corruptions (Mark 16.9-20 and John 7.53-8.11)[…]

Today we move from learning about manuscripts and textual criticism to actually doing textual criticism.  I’ve chosen two well-known corruptions to illustrate the process of textual criticism: 1 Timothy 3.16 and 1 John 5.7.  In each of these cases scribes have altered the text of scripture and we have the manuscript evidence to show exactly Read more about 340 Bible 11 – Two Corrected Corruptions (1 Timothy 3.16 & 1 John 5.7)[…]

Last time we surveyed five hundred years of New Testament textual criticism.  Today we address the process by which these scholars have done and continue to do their work.  We’ll see how they weigh internal and external evidence.  We’ll cover reasoned eclecticism, the refined documentary approach, and the computer-driven coherence based genealogical method.  (Don’t worry Read more about 339 Bible 10 New Testament Textual Criticism[…]

Before we can understand how textual scholars do their work today, it’s important to understand the history of how they have endeavored to reconstruct the Greek New Testament over the years.  In this episode you’ll learn about the rich and important history of how our understanding of the Greek New Testament changed over the last Read more about 338 Bible 9 Reconstructing the New Testament[…]

We’ve been working our way through the various sources for our Greek New Testament.  We’ve looked at the papyri and the uncials, but there is so much more to consider.  In fact, the New Testament papyri and uncials combined make up less than 2% of our manuscripts.  Today, we’ll consider the other 98% of manuscripts Read more about 337 Bible 8 – Other New Testament Manuscripts[…]

Today we are moving into our second group of New Testament manuscripts–the uncials.  However, before describing them, we’ll need to focus on how Christian scribes went about their work.  As it turns out the situation is quite different than the Jewish scribes who preserved the Hebrew Bible.  Then we’ll follow the exciting career of Bible Read more about 336 Bible 7 – Greek New Testament Uncials[…]

Today we are shifting gears from the Old Testament to the New Testament, from Hebrew manuscripts to Greek ones.  We’ll begin with the earliest evidence for the Greek New Testament, the papyri.  Made from the papyrus plant, approximately 130 of these manuscripts survive today in museums around the world.  In this lecture you’ll learn the Read more about 335 Bible 6 – Greek New Testament Papyri[…]

Today we are going to take a brief break from manuscripts and dip our toes into the pool of Bible translations.  Specifically, we’ll take a look at six of the most prominent Jewish translations of the Hebrew Bible, including: Jewish Publication Society (1917) Koren Jerusalem Bible (1961) New Jewish Publication Society (1985) Artscroll’s Stone Tanach Read more about 334 Bible 5 – Jewish Bible Translations[…]

For our Hebrew Bibles we have three main groups of manuscripts to compare: the Masoretic Text group, the Samaritan Pentateuch group, and the Septuagint group.  Each of these groups contain many manuscripts with the Masoretic Text group containing the most.  In this episode of How We Got the Bible, we’re going to look at the Read more about 333 Bible 4 – Determining the Best Hebrew Reading[…]

In How We Got the Bible, we’re continuing on in our quest to understand the sources for the Hebrew Bible.  We’ve already covered the Masoretic Text and the Dead Sea Scrolls, but we have one last important Hebrew source to look at before surveying several significant ancient translations.  As it turns out the Samaritans have Read more about 332 Bible 3 – Samaritan Pentateuch and Ancient Translations[…]

Last time we looked at the Hebrew manuscripts known as the Masoretic Texts from the middle ages.  Today, we’ll focus on the earliest Hebrew manuscripts ever found, including those at the Cairo Genizah, the Ein-Gedi Scroll, the Nash Papyrus, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Ketef Hinnom Silver Scroll.  This is going to be very Read more about 331 Bible 2 – Earliest Hebrew Manuscripts[…]

Today we are beginning a major new class on how we get our English Bibles. I’m so excited about sharing with you so much about what I’ve learned in doing the research for this project. We’re going to have a great time together. My goal here is to cover the transmission of manuscripts and translation Read more about 330 Bible 1 – The Masoretic Text[…]

This is the fifth and final part of our parenting class.  Today you’ll learn about striking the balance between oversight and independence.  Although many parents today think their children are at risk of kidnapping and other terrible crimes, our society is actually much safer than it has been in decades.  The tendency to protect our Read more about 329 Parenting 5 – Balancing Oversight with Independence[…]

In part 4 of our parenting class, Ruth Finnegan tackles the issue of screen time for children.  Although technology itself is neutral, much of what our children spend their time doing with screens is self-destructive and worldly.  As parents our responsibility is to bring God and his scriptures into the family and curtail exposure to Read more about 328 Parenting 4 – Anxiety, Depression, and Screens (Ruth Finnegan)[…]

Welcome to part three of our parenting class where Dr. Mary Ann Yaconis will help us deal with episodes of anger both within ourselves and our children.  This is such an important issue because childhood anger can lead to serious characterological disorders in adulthood if not dealt with appropriately.  In this episode you’ll learn about Read more about 327 Parenting 3 – Dealing with Anger (Mary Ann Yaconis)[…]

In this the second part of our parenting seminar, we will broach the topic of disciplining children.  For many of us, this is the hardest part of parenting.  We’d rather enjoy harmony in our homes rather than having to lay down the law.  Even so, the scriptures call us to do the hard work of Read more about 326 Parenting 2 – Disciplining Children (Russell & Joelle Brown)[…]

For many of us during this COVID-19 pandemic, quarantine has been difficult.  A huge number of us are working from home and those of us with children are home schooling as well.  Add to that cold and rainy spring weather, and you’ve got a perfect storm for challenging parenting.  In an effort to help out, Read more about 325 Parenting 1 – Preparing Our Kids for the Road (Sean Finnegan)[…]

This is the sixth and final part of Joshua Anderson’s Announcing the Kingdom evangelism class. In this panel discussion Josh Anderson, Jerry Wierwille, and I discuss several issues before taking questions from the audience.  Questions we cover include: How can we develop relationships with non-Christians? How should we handle rejection? What should we say when Read more about 320 Evangelism Panel Discussion (Josh Anderson, Jerry Wierwille, Sean Finnegan)[…]

We are living in an unprecedented time. As many of you know, I live in New York, the state with the most positive coronavirus cases in America. In my lifetime, I have never seen a disease spread like this all around the world. This pandemic is taking lives every day even if most of us Read more about 319 How To Get Better at Evangelism (Josh Anderson)[…]

This is part four of Joshua Anderson’s Announcing the Kingdom evangelism class.  Francis of Assisi allegedly said, “Preach the gospel at all times; use words if necessary.”  Sadly, many of us have taken this way of thinking as an excuse to remain silent.  However, as Anderson points out, the scriptures specifically call us to open Read more about 318 Building Relational Credibility (Josh Anderson)[…]

This is part three of Joshua Anderson’s Announcing the Kingdom evangelism class.  In the previous teaching we learned what evangelism is not as well as some ineffective methods to avoid.  Today, we’ll hear about what evangelism is and one key to sharing your faith more effectively. Anderson also explains the history of how our culture Read more about 317 What Evangelism Is (Josh Anderson)[…]