Podcast appearances and mentions of sean finnegan

What was life like for women in the Roman empire? How did Christianity challenge cultural norms about the role of women? In today’s episode we’ll see what life was like for a range of women from wealthy single benefactors to athletes to freedwomen and slaves. We’ll focus our attention on the head-coverings passage in 1 Corinthians 11 and see why men were covering their heads and women were uncovering them. Lastly, we’ll work through the options for interpreting Paul’s instruction for women to remain silent during church services. Scriptures Covered: 1 Corinthians 11:2-6, 10, 14-15; 14:34-36   Listen on Spotify   Listen on Apple Podcasts —— Links —— See all the episodes in this class: 1 Corinthians in Context Check out Sean’s other classes here Get the transcript of this episode Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read his bio here Get Finnegan’s book, Kingdom Journey to learn about God’s kingdom coming on earth as well as the story of how Christianity lost this pearl of great price.

1 Corinthians 9 is a fascinating chapter. Paul masterfully lays out five arguments for why ministers should be paid for their work before telling the church of Corinth that he has chosen not to make use of this right and that he never would. Why not? What was it about the situation in Corinth that made Paul leery of taking their money? In order to get at this question we’ll consider how benefaction functioned in Greco-Roman cities. We’ll also consider two significant patronesses: Junia Theodora and Phoebe of Cenchreae. My hope is that this episode will open your eyes to see how Paul deftly negotiated the issue of benefaction in his first-century context. Scriptures Covered: 1 Corinthians 8:9-13; 9:1-27   Listen on Spotify   Listen on Apple Podcasts —— Links —— See all the episodes in this class: 1 Corinthians in Context Check out Sean’s other classes here Get the transcript of this episode Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read his bio here Get Finnegan’s book, Kingdom Journey to learn about God’s kingdom coming on earth as well as the story of how Christianity lost this pearl of great price.

What does 1 Corinthians tell us about Christ? After a brief survey of the main ideas about Christ in the epistle, we’ll turn our attention to understanding 1 Corinthians 8.6. This verse has been a lightning rod for speculating about Christ’s relationship to God. Scholars like N. T. Wright and Richard Bauckham have asserted that Paul identified Christ with God, whatever that means. Their idea is that Paul reworked the shema, the core creed of Judaism, in order to bring Christ into the “divine identity.” In this episode, I’ll critique that view and offer in its place a contextual reading that interprets 1 Corinthians 8.6 as addressing our Christian relationship to God through Christ. Rather than going to each of the gods for this or that, we go to the Father for everything and we receive everything from him through Christ. Scriptures Covered: 1 Corinthians 3:22-23; 8:4-6; 11:3; 15:23-28   Listen on Spotify   Listen on Apple Podcasts —— Links —— See all the episodes in this class: 1 Corinthians in Context Check out Sean’s other classes here Get the transcript of this episode Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read his bio here Get Finnegan’s book, Kingdom Journey to learn about God’s kingdom coming on earth as well as the story of how Christianity lost this pearl of great price.

In this video Sean Finnegan talks about the current state of Biblical Unitarianism across the world, its recent growth, it's challenges, and his vision for the future. Sean is the host of ‪@restitutio8765‬ . He is the pastor of Living Hope Ministries Internal ( ‪@livinghopelatham‬ ) He is also on the board of the Unitarian Christian Alliance ( ‪@UnitarianChristianAlliance‬ ). We mention Compass Christian Church ( ‪@compasschurchlou‬ ). Unitarian Christian Alliance - https://www.unitarianchristianallianc...Living Hope Internal Ministries - https://lhim.org/Living Hope Internal Ministries Youtube -    / @livinghopelatham  Restitutio -    / @restitutio8765   Converge Fest - https://convergefest.com/

Although often overlooked today, whether or not to eat food that had been sacrificed to idols was a major issue in first-century Christianity, especially in urban centers like Corinth. The city was teeming with temples, idols, and smaller shrines. Divinities abounded and devotees made offerings regularly from a little wine poured out at a home shrine to full animal sacrifices amid the pomp and circumstance of a city-funded celebration in the main forum. It’s hard for us to imagine the immense social pressure, especially on elite Christians, to attend state sacrifices, eat meals at temple dining rooms, and accept invitations to banquets at which meats from animals sacrificed to the gods would be served. Join me to see what the idolatry landscape was like in Corinth and how Paul instructed the Christians there to navigate the situation with fidelity and grace. Scriptures Covered: 1 Corinthians 8:1-13; 10:14-11:1   Listen on Spotify   Listen on Apple Podcasts —— Links —— See all the episodes in this class: 1 Corinthians in Context Check out Sean’s other classes here Get the transcript of this episode Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read his bio here Get Finnegan’s book, Kingdom Journey to learn about God’s kingdom coming on earth as well as the story of how Christianity lost this pearl of great price.

The Romans looked at families and marriage very differently than most of us do today. In this session we’ll cover arranged marriages, the double standard for adultery, and the new Roman Women who were breaking all the rules. This will put us in a good place to read chapter 7 of 1 Corinthians and see how Christian marriage, divorce, and remarriage differed from how the world lived. We’ll see that not only was Christian marriage incredibly honoring to wives, it also provided a better foundation on which to build intimacy and mutuality. Scriptures Covered: 1 Corinthians 7:1-16   Listen on Spotify   Listen on Apple Podcasts —— Links —— See all the episodes in this class: 1 Corinthians in Context Check out Sean’s other classes here Get the transcript of this episode Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read his bio here Get Finnegan’s book, Kingdom Journey to learn about God’s kingdom coming on earth as well as the story of how Christianity lost this pearl of great price.

How should Christians deal with internal disputes? As with so many other issues, the Christians in Corinth were failing to distinguish between the body of Christ and the world. Today we’ll consider what Paul wrote in the first half of 1 Corinthians chapter six. In order to get a handle on his instructions to the church, we’ll consider the Roman legal system and how litigation worked. We’ll see that Paul wanted them to work out their grievances internally rather than going to court before unbelievers. However, does this mean that Christians should never go to court? Find out in this episode. Scriptures Covered: 1 Corinthians 6:1-11 Correction: in this presentation I said Cicero would put pebbles in his mouth and speak into the crashing waves at the ocean to strengthen his voice and articulation. I had that wrong. It was actually Demosthenes who did that not Cicero. Pace Robert Harris.   Listen on Spotify   Listen on Apple Podcasts —— Links —— See all the episodes in this class: 1 Corinthians in Context Check out Sean’s other classes here Get the transcript of this episode Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read his bio here Get Finnegan’s book, Kingdom Journey to learn about God’s kingdom coming on earth as well as the story of how Christianity lost this pearl of great price.

So often we default to categories of thought prevalent in our time and without realizing it, read them into the Bible. As it turns out, first-century people living in Corinth did not think about sexuality like we do at all. In today’s episode, I want to begin by focusing rather closely on 1 Corinthians 6.9, which mentions same-sex relationships. This verse has been at the center of major translation disagreements that have sometimes opened the door wide to committed same sex relationships and at other times closed the door so tightly that even celibate men get locked out merely for experiencing attractions to the same sex. In what follows we’ll carefully examine not only the Greek underlying the bewildering array of English translations of 1 Corinthians 6.9, but also critical background information from both Greek and Roman cultures. This will put us on solid ground to understand precisely what behavior Paul is forbidding for Christians in Corinth. Next we’ll dip our toes into chapter seven and see how advantageous singleness is for Christians whether same-sex or opposite-sex attracted. Scriptures Covered: 1 Corinthians 6.9-11; 7.7-9, 28, 32-40   Listen on Spotify   Listen on Apple Podcasts —— Links —— See all the episodes in this class: 1 Corinthians in Context Check out Sean’s other classes here Get the transcript of this episode Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read his bio here Get Finnegan’s book, Kingdom Journey to learn about God’s kingdom coming on earth as well as the story of how Christianity lost this pearl of great price.

Do you know what blows my mind? That with all the permissiveness and sinfulness of the Roman world, what the Corinthian Christians were doing shocked Paul. He said that the sexual immorality of one man among them was so bad that such was not even found among the gentiles. That’s quite an indictment! Today we’re going to cover 1 Corinthians 5 and the second half of chapter 6. Both of these have to do with sexual immorality and, as such, today’s content is not appropriate for children. We’re going to cover the incident where a man was with his father’s wife as well as Paul’s condemnation of those who indulged in the use of prostitutes. It’s going to be a spicy episode. Scriptures Covered: 1 Corinthians 5.1-13; 6.12-20   Listen on Spotify   Listen on Apple Podcasts —— Links —— See all the episodes in this class: 1 Corinthians in Context Check out Sean’s other classes here Get the transcript of this episode Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read his bio here Get Finnegan’s book, Kingdom Journey to learn about God’s kingdom coming on earth as well as the story of how Christianity lost this pearl of great price.

Paul wrote extensively about worldly wisdom in 1 Corinthians. Due to the prevalence and esteem of philosophical schools, Paul probably felt a need to explain how Christianity measured up. In this lecture we’ll survey the five main philosophical options available to first-century Corinthians, including Platonism, Cynicism, Skepticism, Epicureanism and Stoicism. Then once we get a cursory grasp of how each of these worldly approaches worked, we’ll contrast them to Paul’s idea of spiritually discerned truths, which are available only to the mature in Christ. Scriptures Covered: 1 Corinthians 1:17-25; 2:1-16; 3:1-4   Listen on Spotify   Listen on Apple Podcasts —— Links —— Here’s the link for the UCA UK Conference Paper Submission See all the episodes in this class: 1 Corinthians in Context Check out Sean’s other classes here Get the transcript of this episode Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read his bio here Get Finnegan’s book, Kingdom Journey to learn about God’s kingdom coming on earth as well as the story of how Christianity lost this pearl of great price.

Now that we’ve familiarized ourselves with the city of Corinth and Paul’s missionary activity there, we’re ready to dive into 1 Corinthians. As I mentioned previously, my strategy for this class is to focus on the major themes rather than covering every verse. Our first theme is the issue of divisiveness among the Christians at Corinth, which spans the first four chapters of the letter. In this episode we’ll look at the factions in the church in light of two major contributing background forces: imperial celebrity culture and competition for status among Corinth’s elite. By situating ourselves firmly within the context of first-century Roman Corinth, we’ll see that worldly pride, ambition, and sectarianism infiltrated the church and how Paul inverted their sense of status by pointing to his message about Christ’s crucifixion.   Listen on Spotify   Listen on Apple Podcasts —— Links —— See all the episodes in this class: 1 Corinthians in Context Check out Sean’s other classes here Get the transcript of this episode Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read his bio here Get Finnegan’s book, Kingdom Journey to learn about God’s kingdom coming on earth as well as the story of how Christianity lost this pearl of great price.

How did Christianity come to Corinth in the first place? Although many times we are left speculating about how an ancient church got started, we have definitive knowledge about the Corinthian church from Luke, Paul’s traveling companion. In what follows we’ll work through Acts chapter 18 to see how Paul initially founded the church in Corinth. We’ll also take time to consider what life was like for Paul as a tentmaker, how he broke from the synagogue, and how we date Paul’s time there using the Gallio inscription from Delphi. Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts —— Links —— See all the episodes in this class: 1 Corinthians in Context Check out Sean’s other classes here Get the transcript of this episode Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read his bio here Get Finnegan’s book, Kingdom Journey to learn about God’s kingdom coming on earth as well as the story of how Christianity lost this pearl of great price.

Today we’re beginning something new. I’ve been working on this class on 1 Corinthians for months and months. I had taken classes on 1 Corinthians at Boston University twice. The first time we just read through the entire epistle in Greek. The second time was when we learned about what modern scholars said about Corinth. I’ve taught this epistle in the past both in a home bible study (in Rhode Island) and at the college level (in Georgia). Then, last April I had the opportunity to visit many ancient cities in both Turkey and Greece, including Corinth, which gave me first-hand knowledge and experience with the site and the museum. Then we hiked up the Acrocorinth to get a good view of the ocean and the ancient site. From all of this I’ve put together a class on 1 Corinthians that I hope will make the Bible come alive for you in a new and exciting way. Now, when most people pick up their Bibles and read 1 Corinthians, they approach it as if this was a modern document addressing our concerns today. Of course, there is a lot in 1 Corinthians that directly applies to us today, but there’s also a huge potential for misunderstanding when we read today’s issues and categories into Scripture. A better approach, and the approach I’ll be taking in this class, is to do the hard work of adjusting our minds to think like they thought in their time and place. When we do that we can see through their eyes and this will tremendously help us to understand what Paul was doing in the epistle he wrote them. Today is an introduction to the city of Corinth to help you start getting your bearings. Then next week we’ll look at what happened when Paul came there. Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts —— Links —— See all the episodes in this class: 1 Corinthians in Context Check out Sean’s other classes here Get the transcript of this episode Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read his bio here Get Finnegan’s book, Kingdom Journey to learn about God’s kingdom coming on earth as well as the story of how Christianity lost this pearl of great price.

As we left things last time, Vaughn Madsen of New Zealand had been on a quest for biblical truth that resulted in repeated rejection from churches and Bible studies. Apart from his kids, Vaughn was alone. He met a couple of random people in street evangelism who agreed with him about Jesus, but that was it… for years. Even his wife, Sharon, didn’t agree with him. No matter how much he tried, he couldn’t manage to convince her otherwise. He prayed and prayed. He waited. He was patient. Then in the last two years something changed. Today you’ll find out what that was as we listen in to the exciting conclusion of the story. Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts —— Links —— Get the transcript of this episode Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read his bio here Get Finnegan’s book, Kingdom Journey to learn about God’s kingdom coming on earth as well as the story of how Christianity lost this pearl of great price.

Vaughn Madsen was a simple kiwi farmer who subscribed to evangelical Christianity in New Zealand. No, he wasn’t farming kiwis. A kiwi is what you call someone from New Zealand. Anyhow, like I said, he was a devout member of his local church when he came across a presentation by Warren Prestige about the state of the dead. Although he had always believed his deceased loved ones were in heaven, this presentation provided extensive biblical evidence that the dead–both righteous and unrighteous–are asleep until the resurrection happens at the coming of Christ. Sometime later his brother prompted him to explore the Trinity. After looking through the scriptures on the topic, Vaughn concluded that the Father of Jesus alone was God. Still later, he came across Paul Washer’s preaching on repentance and adopted the view that obedience–not just belief–was necessary. At every stage of his journey he faced resistance, rebuke, and rejection and still, somehow, he kept going. Join me as we listen in to Vaughn’s incredible journey pursuing truth no matter the cost. Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts —— Links —— Get the transcript of this episode Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read his bio here Get Finnegan’s book, Kingdom Journey to learn about God’s kingdom coming on earth as well as the story of how Christianity lost this pearl of great price.

Happy New Year everyone! Have you started to think about what you want to change in this coming year? Today we’re going to listen to a powerful message by Dr. Jerry Wierwille about standing strong in the Lord. The world is always pressing on us, squeezing us into its mold. How can we resist? What can we do? In this sermon Wierwille explains how putting on the armor of God will empower you to withstand the darts that come your way. Turning to God as your protector and refuge will help you stand strong today and throughout the coming year. Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts —— Links —— Get the transcript of this episode Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read his bio here Get Finnegan’s book, Kingdom Journey to learn about God’s kingdom coming on earth as well as the story of how Christianity lost this pearl of great price.

Does the New Testament refer to Jesus as God? Though this is an important question, it’s only a starting point for wrestling with who Jesus is. In what follows we’ll consider the evidence from five scholars on what texts they say attribute deity to Christ. Then we’ll examine the biblical evidence that pulls in the opposite direction, suggesting that Jesus was not God. Lastly, we’ll examine five major possibilities for interpreting this data, including trinitarianism, modalism, Arianism, Greco-Roman polytheism, and biblical unitarianism. Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts —— Links —— Get the transcript of this episode Also see Five Major Problems with the Trinity Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read his bio here Get Finnegan’s book, Kingdom Journey to learn about God’s kingdom coming on earth as well as the story of how Christianity lost this precious pearl of great price.

Have you heard of Hippolytus’s Refutation of All Heresies? Written not long after 222 A.D. this book works through dozens of heresies–beliefs that the author disagreed with. Some scholars have argued against Hippolytus as the author, preferring to call him pseudo-Hippolytus. But regardless of who wrote the tome, the fact is that this huge book was the mature result of nearly seventy years of Christians cataloging heresies. In each case the next generation typically included much of what had come before and this book is no exception. It’s a massive tome, totaling more than 400 pages long in the most recent translation by David Litwa. In this talk, delivered at the 2024 UCA conference held in Little Rock, Arkansas, Dr. Dale Tuggy draws on the Refutation of All Heresies to catalog the major christological options that were known to the author in the third century. Excluding all the gnostic groups, Tuggy identifies three broad groups of Christians who held very different ideas about Christ: the Dynamic Monarchians, the Modalistic Monarchians, and the Logos Incarnationists. Or to use the parlance of today, biblical unitarians, oneness believers, and Arians. But, what about the Trinity? Where was it? Why didn’t pseudo-Hippolytus mention three persons in one being? Surely hundreds of millions of Christians who say the Church has always believed in the Trinity from the beginning can’t be wrong, can they? Listen in to this talk to find out. Dale Tuggy is an analytic philosopher specializing in Trinity theories. He’s the author of the Trinity article in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy as well as the book What Is the Trinity, which gives a brief introduction to the various Trinity models and their problems. A month ago, a new book came out that he contributed to called One God, Three Persons, Four Views, in which he debated various Trinitarian scholars, putting forward his own non-trinitarian view as an alternative. Find out more about Tuggy and his work at his blog: Trinities.org. In what follows he lays out the various christologies in the period before Nicea as well as explains quotations by Athenagoras and Mileto that modern trinitarian defenders use to prove that the Trinity was there in the second century. Lastly, he provides evidence for which view he thinks was the majority in the second and third centuries. Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts —— Links —— Get the transcript of this episode Check out these other episodes with Dale Tuggy Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read his bio here Get Finnegan’s book, Kingdom Journey to learn about God’s kingdom coming on earth as well as the story of how Christianity lost this precious pearl of great price.

Another day, another round of excellent church history questions from conference attendees.

Have you ever noticed that the New Testament authors love to quote the Old Testament? This happens hundreds of times. Sometimes the quotation is direct, other times it is a paraphrase, still others a New Testament author will allude to the Old Testament. In today’s episode, we’re going to hear Dr. Jerry Wierwille explaining what Paul did in Romans 10.13 when he quoted Joel’s prophecy and applied it to Jesus. Not only will this presentation help you to understand Romans 10.13 better, it will open your eyes to the various interpretive methods that first-century Jews used when quoting the Old Testament and applying it to various situations. Dr. Wierwille has been a frequent guest on Restitutio over the years so many of you will be familiar with him. Nevertheless, let me give you a brief bio. Wierwille’s first love was science and so his Ph. D. is in biodmedical engineering. After that he shifted his interest to NT studies and earned both an MTS and an MDiv with a focus on Pauline literature. Now he’s working on a Ph. D. in NT at Stellenbosch University. He’s also the lead translator for Revised English Version and the director of research at Spirit and Truth. He is a teaching elder at Living Hope Community Church where I serve as the lead pastor. Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts —— Links —— Get the transcript of this episode Check out these other episodes with Jerry Wierwille Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read his bio here Get Finnegan’s book, Kingdom Journey to learn about God’s kingdom coming on earth as well as the story of how Christianity lost this precious pearl of great price.

A wide-ranging Q&A session with excellent questions from New Zealand conference attendees.

Has anyone ever said to you, “Oh, you believe Jesus is just a mere man.” How do you respond when someone says that? Do you just go along with it and say, “Yep, that’s what I believe–Jesus is just another guy”? I hope not. Jesus is not just another guy. He’s the virginally-conceived son of God who lived righteously without sin, healed dozens (maybe hundreds) of people, preached tirelessly about the kingdom, taught the Bible and how to live, performed many miracles and exorcisms, voluntarily died for our sins as a perfect sacrifice. Then God raised him from the dead and he ascended to God’s right hand from which place he is the head of the church and from which place he will come again on the last day to establish God’s reign upon the earth. This doesn’t sound like just another guy to me. Even so, Jesus’s unprecedented and magnificent accomplishments don’t make him God either. He is a genuine, authentic, 100% human being. He shows us what God can do with a human being who wholly submits to God in everything. In today’s episode Anna Brown will draw upon the Bible and the ancient Near Eastern background to show that humans can bear God’s image, representing him on earth. Although some allege that Jesus had to be God to succeed, Brown shows in her presentation that it was actually Christ’s humanity that equipped him to stand in for God as his quintessential image. Anna Brown grew up in Oregon and graduated from Hillsdale College with a Bachelor's in Economics. Fluent in Spanish and learning Hebrew, she has traveled in Europe, Australia, and Israel, and lived in Spain. She currently resides in Louisville, Kentucky, with her husband and two children, where she does marketing and publishing for Living Hope International Ministries. Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts —— Links —— Get the transcript of this episode Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read his bio here Get Finnegan’s book, Kingdom Journey to learn about God’s kingdom coming on earth as well as the story of how Christianity lost this precious pearl of great price.

Johnny Barnes is a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary but he had his degree revoked after he revealed that he didn't believe in the Trinity and the Seminary's statement of faith. He tells his story, his work on translating the bible for Spirit and Truth Ministries, and his work on the Biblical Unitarian youtube channel. (  @biblicalunitarian  ) We mention Sean Finnegan ( @restitutio8765 ) , Chris Date ( @rethinkinghell ), Bill Schlegel, John Schoenheit, Jerry Weirwille, and more. Biblical Unitarian Youtube channel - https://www.youtube.com/@biblicalunitarian Sean's Isaiah 9:6 Presentation - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtJxn39zPVM

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Now I realize many of you are listening from other countries outside the USA, so you may not have this holiday where you live. That’s fine. Still, I do appreciate how we set aside a day each year in this country to practice gratitude. In what follows we’ll consider a great biblical example of thankfulness: Hannah. My hope is that by considering her amazing story, you will be inspired to give God thanks for your blessings. And this message about gratitude is relevant any day of the year. Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts —— Links —— Get the transcript of this episode Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read Sean’s bio here

Cayce Fletcher is the host of A More Beautiful Life Collective, a blog, a YouTube channel, and a podcast. She releases a new show each week on making theology practical and developing a more beautiful life. As a wife, mother, and homemaker she appeals more to women than men, but I personally–as a man–have found much of her contact about lifestyle really helpful and I recommend it to you. In this interview, she shares about her journey of faith, why she made the show, systematic theology, and leading a good, true, and beautiful life. Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts —— Links —— Get the transcript of this episode Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read Sean’s bio here

It’s easy for complacency to set in our walk with God. It’s easy to settle into apathy with respect to spiritual growth. It’s easy to stop dreaming about what God can do in our lives. Today we’ll hear another message from Revive earlier this year–this one from yours truly. We’ll consider three examples of people who pursued blessing from God: Jabez, Rahab, and Jacob. This episode should nicely round out our four-part series on walking with God. Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts —— Links —— Get the transcript of this episode Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read Sean’s bio here

Over our last two episodes we’ve been hearing from Pastor Bob Carden on the topic of healing and walking by the spirit. Today I’d like to play out a sermon by Carden’s successor, Garrett Bova who is the lead pastor now at Align Ministries. Now I realize his message will challenge some of you to consider speaking prophetically in a way that may be foreign to you. All I ask is that you hear him out. He talks about the power of words of encouragement and speaking blessings over people. Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts —— Links —— Visit the Align Ministries website for more about Garrett Bova Get the transcript of this episode Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read Sean’s bio here

I talked about why I got baptized and my testimony and some other thoughts on baptism. I mention Dr. Victor Wierwille, EW Bullinger, Loni Frisbee, Ulrich Zwingli, Joni Mitchell, Chuck LaMattina, Tim Keller, John Piper, Shane Claiborne, Kallistos Ware, Soren Kierkegaard, Francis Collins, Augustine of Hippo, Athanasius, Tim Mackie, Jordan Peterson, Paul Vanderklay (  @PaulVanderKlay  ), Jonathan Pageau, Kanye West, Dr. Beau Branson, Bob Carden, Brett Salkheld, James McGrath, Basil the Great, Sean Finnegan (  @restitutio8765  ), Will Barlow, Anna Brown, Michael Servetus, Victor Gluckin, Reverend Gary Davis, Bob Dylan, Jorma Kaukonen, and Bob Weir. My randos convo with PVK - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuoqGzIu5Wc&t=3633s My last channel update - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJvcrgL79BY Rev. Gary Davis "Oh Glory How Happy I am" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=972Dx71AtFA

Comparing the Hebrew of Isaiah 9.6 to most popular English translations results in some serious questions. Why have our translations changed the tense of the verbs from past to future? Why is this child called “Mighty God” and “Eternal Father”? In this presentation I work through Isaiah 9.6 line by line to help you understand the Hebrew. Next I look at interpretive options for the child as well as his complicated name. Not only will this presentation strengthen your understanding of Isaiah 9.6, but it will also equip you to explain it to others. Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts —— Links —— See my other articles here Check out my class: One God Over All Get the transcript of this episode Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read Sean’s bio here Below is the paper presented on October 18, 2024 in Little Rock, Arkansas at the 4th annual UCA Conference. Access this paper on Academia.edu to get the pdf. Full text is below, including bibliography and end notes. Abstract Working through the grammar and syntax, I present the case that Isaiah 9:6 is the birth announcement of a historical child. After carefully analyzing the name given to the child and the major interpretive options, I make a case that the name is theophoric. Like the named children of Isaiah 7 and 8, the sign-child of Isaiah 9 prophecies what God, not the child, will do. Although I argue for Hezekiah as the original fulfillment, I also see Isaiah 9:6 as a messianic prophecy of the true and better Hezekiah through whom God will bring eternal deliverance and peace. Introduction Paul D. Wegner called Isaiah 9:6[1] “one of the most difficult problems in the study of the Old Testament.”[2] To get an initial handle on the complexities of this text, let's begin briefly by comparing the Hebrew to a typical translation. Isaiah 9:6 (BHS[3]) כִּי־יֶ֣לֶד יֻלַּד־לָ֗נוּ בֵּ֚ן נִתַּן־לָ֔נוּ וַתְּהִ֥י הַמִּשְׂרָ֖ה עַל־שִׁכְמ֑וֹ וַיִּקְרָ֨א שְׁמ֜וֹ פֶּ֠לֶא יוֹעֵץ֙ אֵ֣ל גִּבּ֔וֹר אֲבִיעַ֖ד שַׂר־שָׁלֽוֹם׃ Isaiah 9:6 (ESV) For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Curiosities abound in the differences between these two. The first two clauses in English, “For to us a child is born” and “to us a son is given,” employ the present tense while the Hebrew uses the perfect tense, i.e. “to us a child has been born.”[4] This has a significant bearing on whether we take the prophecy as a statement about a child already born in Isaiah's time or someone yet to come (or both). The ESV renders the phrase,וַיִּקְרָא שְׁמוֹ  (vayikra sh'mo), as “and his name shall be called,” but the words literally mean “and he called his name” where the “he” is unspecified. This leaves room for the possibility of identifying the subject of the verb in the subsequent phrase, i.e. “And the wonderful counselor, the mighty God called his name…” as many Jewish translations take it.  Questions further abound regardingאֵל גִּבּוֹר (el gibbor), which finds translations as disparate as the traditional “Mighty God”[5] to “divine warrior”[6] to “in battle God-like”[7] to “Mighty chief”[8] to “Godlike hero,”[9] to Luther's truncated “Held.”[10]  Another phrase that elicits a multiplicity of translations is אֲבִיעַד (aviad). Although most versions read “Eternal Father,”[11] others render the word, “Father-Forever,”[12] “Father for all time,”[13] “Father of perpetuity,”[14] “Father of the Eternal Age,”[15] and “Father of Future.”[16] Translators from a range of backgrounds struggle with these two phrases. Some refuse to translate them at all, preferring clunky transliterations.[17] Still, as I will show below, there's a better way forward. If we understand that the child had a theophoric name—a name that is not about him, but about God—our problems dissipate like morning fog before the rising sun. Taking the four pairs of words this way yields a two-part sentence name. As we'll see this last approach is not only the best contextual option, but it also allows us to take the Hebrew vocabulary, grammar, and syntax at face value, rather than succumbing to strained translations and interpretational gymnastics. In the end, we're left with a text literally rendered and hermeneutically robust. Called or Will Call His Name? Nearly all the major Christian versions translate וַיִּקְרָא (vayikra), “he has called,” as “he will be called.” This takes an active past tense verb as a passive future tense.[18] What is going on here? Since parents typically give names at birth or shortly thereafter, it wouldn't make sense to suggest the child was already born (as the beginning of Isa 9:6 clearly states), but then say he was not yet named. Additionally, וַיִּקְרָא (vayikra) is a vav-conversive plus imperfect construction that continues the same timing sequence of the preceding perfect tense verbs.[19] If the word were passive (niphal binyan) we would read וַיִּקָּרֵא (vayikarey) instead of וַיִּקְרָא (vayikra). Although some have suggested an emendation of the Masoretic vowels to make this change, Hugh Williamson notes, “there is no overriding need to prefer it.”[20] Translators may justify rendering the perfect tense as imperfect due to the idiom called a prophetic past tense (perfectum propheticum). Wilhelm Gesenius notes the possibility that a prophet “so transports himself in imagination into the future that he describes the future event as if it had been already seen or heard by him.”[21] Bruce Waltke recognizes the phenomenon, calling it an accidental perfective in which “a speaker vividly and dramatically represents a future situation both as complete and independent.”[22] Still, it's up to the interpreter to determine if Isaiah employs this idiom or not. The verbs of verse 6 seem quite clear: “a child has been born for us … and the government was on his shoulder … and he has called his name…” When Isaiah uttered this prophecy, the child had already been born and named and the government rested on his shoulders. This is the straightforward reading of the grammar and therefore should be our starting point.[23] Hezekiah as the Referent One of the generally accepted principles of hermeneutics is to first ask the question, “What did this text mean in its original context?” before asking, “What does this text mean to us today?” When we examine the immediate context of Isa 9:6, we move beyond the birth announcement of a child with an exalted name to a larger prophecy of breaking the yoke of an oppressor (v4) and the ushering in of a lasting peace for the throne of David (v7). Isaiah lived in a tumultuous time. He saw the northern kingdom—the nation of Israel—uprooted from her land and carried off by the powerful and cruel Assyrian Empire. He prophesied about a child whose birth had signaled the coming freedom God would bring from the yoke of Assyria. As Jewish interpreters have long pointed out, Hezekiah nicely fits this expectation.[24] In the shadow of this looming storm, Hezekiah became king and instituted major religious reforms,[25] removing idolatry and turning the people to Yahweh. The author of kings gave him high marks: “He trusted in Yahweh, the God of Israel. After him there was no one like him among all the kings of Judah nor among those who were before him” (2 Kgs 18:5).[26] Then, during Hezekiah's reign, Sennacherib sent a large army against Judea and laid siege to Jerusalem. Hezekiah appropriately responded to the threatening Assyrian army by tearing his clothes, covering himself with sackcloth, and entering the temple to pray (2 Kings 19:1). He sent word to Isaiah, requesting prayer for the dire situation. Ultimately God brought miraculous deliverance, killing 185,000 Assyrians, which precipitated a retreat. There had not been such an acute military deliverance since the destruction of Pharaoh's army in the sea. Indeed, Hezekiah's birth did signal God's coming deliverance. In opposition to Hezekiah as the referent for Isa 9:6, Christian interpreters have pointed out that Hezekiah did not fulfill this prophecy en toto. Specifically, Hezekiah did not usher in “an endless peace” with justice and righteousness “from this time onward and forevermore” (Isa. 9:7). But, as John Roberts points out, the problem only persists if we ignore prophetic hyperbole. Here's what he says: If Hezekiah was the new king idealized in this oracle, how could Isaiah claim he would reign forever? How could Isaiah so ignore Israel's long historical experience as to expect no new source of oppression would ever arise? The language, as is typical of royal ideology, is hyperbolic, and perhaps neither Isaiah nor his original audience would have pushed it to its limits, beyond its conventional frames of reference, but the language itself invites such exploitation. If one accepts God's providential direction of history, it is hard to complain about the exegetical development this exploitation produced.[27] Evangelical scholar Ben Witherington III likewise sees a reference to both Hezekiah and a future deliverer. He writes, “[T]he use of the deliberately hyperbolic language that the prophet knew would not be fulfilled in Hezekiah left open the door quite deliberately to look for an eschatological fulfillment later.”[28] Thus, even if Isaiah's prophecy had an original referent, it left the door open for a true and better Hezekiah, who would not just defeat Assyria, but all evil, and not just for a generation, but forever. For this reason, it makes sense to take a “both-and” approach to Isa 9:6. Who Called His Name? Before going on to consider the actual name given to the child, we must consider the subject of the word וַיִּקְרָא (vayikra), “and he called.” Jewish interpreters have and continue to take אֵל גִבּוֹר (el gibbor), “Mighty God,” as the subject of this verb. Here are a few examples of this rendering: Targum Jonathan (2nd century) And his name has been called from before the One Who Causes Wonderful Counsel, God the Warrior, the Eternally Existing One—the Messiah who will increase peace upon us in his days.[29] Shlomo Yitzchaki (11th century) The Holy One, blessed be He, Who gives wondrous counsel, is a mighty God and an everlasting Father, called Hezekiah's name, “the prince of peace,” since peace and truth will be in his days.[30] Jacob ben Isaac Ashkenazi (16th century) “For a child is born to us.” A son will be born and this is Hezekiah. Though Ahaz is an evildoer, his son Hezekiah will be a righteous king. He will be strong in his service of the Holy One. He will study Torah and the Holy One will call him, “eternal father, peaceful ruler.” In his days there will be peace and truth.[31] The Stone Edition of the Tanach (20th century) The Wondrous Adviser, Mighty God, Eternal Father, called his name Sar-shalom [Prince of Peace][32] Although sometimes Christian commentators blithely accuse Jewish scholars of avoiding the implications of calling the child “Mighty God” and “Eternal Father,” the grammar does allow multiple options here. The main question is whether Isaiah specified the subject of the verb וַיִקְרָ (vayikra) or not. If he has, then the subject must be אֵל גִבּוֹר (el gibbor). If he has not, then the subject must be indefinite (i.e. “he” or “one”). What's more, the Masoretic punctuation of the Hebrew suggests the translation, “and the Wonderful Adviser, the Mighty God called his name, ‘Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace'”[33] However, Keil and Delitzsch point out problems with this view on both grammatical and contextual grounds. They write: [I]t is impossible to conceive for what precise reason such a periphrastic description of God should be employed in connection with the naming of this child, as is not only altogether different from Isaiah's usual custom, but altogether unparalleled in itself, especially without the definite article. The names of God should at least have been defined thus, הַיּוֹעֵץ פֵּלֶא הַגִּבּוֹר, so as to distinguish them from the two names of the child.”[34] Thus, though the Masoretic markings favor the Jewish translation, the grammar doesn't favor taking “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God” as the subject. It's certainly not impossible, but it is a strained reading without parallels in Isaiah and without justification in the immediate context. Let's consider another possibility. His Name Has Been Called Instead of taking אֵל גִּבּוֹר (el gibbor) as the subject, we can posit an indefinite subject for וַיִקְרָ (vayikra): “one has called.” Examples of this outside of Isaiah 9:6 include Gen 11:9; 25:26; Exod 15:23; and 2 Sam 2:16. The phenomenon appears in Gesenius (§144d) and Joüon and Muraoka (§155e), both of which include our text as examples. However, the translation “one has called his name” is awkward in English due to our lack of a generic pronoun like on in French or man in German. Accordingly, most translations employ the passive construction: “his name has been called,” omitting the subject.[35] This is apparently also how those who produced the Septuagint (LXX) took the Hebrew text, employing a passive rather than an active verb.[36] In conclusion, the translation “his name has been called” works best in English. Mighty Hero Now we broach the question of how to render אֵל גִּבּוֹר el gibbor. As I've already noted, a few translations prefer “mighty hero.” But this reading is problematic since it takes the two words in reverse order. Although in English we typically put an adjective before the noun it modifies, in Hebrew the noun comes first and then any adjectives that act upon it. Taking the phrase as אֵל גִּבּוֹר (gibbor el) makes “mighty” the noun and “God” the adjective. Now since the inner meaning of אֵל (el) is “strong” or “mighty,” and גִּבּוֹר gibbor means “warrior” or “hero,” we can see how translators end up with “mighty warrior” or “divine hero.” Robert Alter offers the following explanation: The most challenging epithet in this sequence is ‘el gibor [sic], which appears to say “warrior-god.” The prophet would be violating all biblical usage if he called the Davidic king “God,” and that term is best construed here as some sort of intensifier. In fact, the two words could conceivably be a scribal reversal of gibor ‘el, in which case the second word would clearly function as a suffix of intensification as it occasionally does elsewhere in the Bible.[37] Please note that Alter's motive for reversing the two words is that the text, as it stands, would violate all biblical usage by calling the Davidic king “God.” But Alter is incorrect. We have another biblical usage calling the Davidic king “God” in Psalm 45:6. We must allow the text to determine interpretation. Changing translation for the sake of theology is allowing the tail to wag the dog. Another reason to doubt “divine warrior” as a translation is that “Wherever ʾēl gibbôr occurs elsewhere in the Bible there is no doubt that the term refers to God (10:21; cf. also Deut. 10:17; Jer. 32:18),” notes John Oswalt.[38] Keil and Delitzsch likewise see Isa 10:21 as the rock upon which these translations suffer shipwreck.[39] “A remnant will return,” says Isa 10:21, “the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God.” The previous verse makes it clear that “mighty God” refers to none other than “Yahweh, the holy one of Israel.” Without counter examples elsewhere in the Bible, we lack the basis to defy the traditional ordering of “God” as the noun and “mighty” or “warrior” as the adjective.[40] Mighty God-Man Did Isaiah foresee a human child who would also be the mighty God? Did he suddenly get “a glimpse of the fact that in the fullness of the Godhead there is a plurality of Persons,” as Edward Young thought?[41] Although apologists seeking to prove the deity of Christ routinely push for this reading, other evangelical scholars have expressed doubts about such a bold interpretation.[42] Even Keil and Delitzsch, after zealously batting away Jewish alternatives, admit Isaiah's language would not have suggested an incarnate deity in its original context.[43] Still, it would not be anachronistic to regard a king as a deity in the context of the ancient Near East. We find such exalted language in parallels from Egypt and Assyria in their accession oracles (proclamations given at the time a new king ascends the throne). Taking their cue from the Egyptian practices of bestowing divine throne names upon the Pharaoh's accession to the throne, G. von Rad and A. Alt envisioned a similar practice in Jerusalem. Although quite influential, Wegner has pointed out several major problems with this way of looking at our text: (1) the announcement is to the people in Isa 9:6, not the king; (2) Isa 9:6 does not use adoption language nor call the child God's son; (3) יֶלֶד (yeled), “child,” is never used in accession oracles; (4) the Egyptian parallels have five titles not four as in Isa 9:6; (5) Egyptians employ a different structure for accession oracles than Isa 9:6; and (6) we have no evidence elsewhere that Judean kings imitated the Egyptian custom of bestowing divine titles.[44] Another possibility, argued by R. A. Carlson, is to see the names as anti-Assyrian polemic.[45] Keeping in mind that Assyria was constantly threatening Judah in the lifetime of Isaiah and that the child born was to signal deliverance, it would be no surprise that Isaiah would cast the child as a deliberate counter-Assyrian hero. Still, as Oswalt points out, “[T]he Hebrews did not believe this [that their kings were gods]. They denied that the king was anything more than the representative of God.”[46] Owing to a lack of parallels within Israel and Isaiah's own penchant for strict monotheism,[47] interpreting Isa 9:6 as presenting a God-man is ad hoc at best and outright eisegesis at worst. Furthermore, as I've already noted, the grammar of the passage indicates a historical child who was already born. Thus, if Isaiah meant to teach the deity of the child, we'd have two God-men: Hezekiah and Jesus. Far from a courtly scene of coronation, Wegner makes the case that our text is really a birth announcement in form. Birth announcements have (1) a declaration of the birth, (2) an announcement of the child's name, (3) an explanation of what the name means, and (4) a further prophecy about the child's future.[48] These elements are all present in Isa 9:6, making it a much better candidate for a birth announcement than an accession or coronation oracle. As a result, we should not expect divine titles given to the king like when the Pharaohs or Assyrian kings ascended the throne; instead, we ought to look for names that somehow relate to the child's career. We will delve more into this when we broach the topic of theophoric names. Mighty God's Agent Another possibility is to retain the traditional translation of “mighty God” and see the child as God's agent who bears the title. In fact, the Bible calls Moses[49] and the judges[50] of Israel אֱלֹהִים (elohim), “god(s),” due to their role in representing God. Likewise, as I've already mentioned, the court poet called the Davidic King “god” in Ps 45:6. Additionally, the word אֵל (el), “god,” refers to representatives of Yahweh whether divine (Ps 82:1, 6) or human (John 10.34ff).[51] Thus, Isa 9:6 could be another case in which a deputized human acting as God's agent is referred to as God. The NET nicely explains: [H]aving read the NT, we might in retrospect interpret this title as indicating the coming king's deity, but it is unlikely that Isaiah or his audience would have understood the title in such a bold way. Ps 45:6 addresses the Davidic king as “God” because he ruled and fought as God's representative on earth. …When the king's enemies oppose him on the battlefield, they are, as it were, fighting against God himself.[52] Raymond Brown admits that this “may have been looked on simply as a royal title.”[53] Likewise Williamson sees this possibility as “perfectly acceptable,” though he prefers the theophoric approach.[54] Even the incarnation-affirming Keil and Delitzsch recognize that calling the child אֵל גִּבּוֹר (el gibbor) is “nothing further…than this, that the Messiah would be the image of God as no other man ever had been (cf., El, Ps. 82:1), and that He would have God dwelling within Him (cf., Jer. 33:16).”[55] Edward L. Curtis similarly points out that had Isaiah meant to teach that the child would be an incarnation of Yahweh, he would have “further unfolded and made central this thought” throughout his book.[56] He likewise sees Isa 9:6 not as teaching “the incarnation of a deity” but as a case “not foreign to Hebrew usage to apply divine names to men of exalted position,” citing Exod 21:6 and Ps 82:6 as parallels.[57] Notwithstanding the lexical and scholarly support for this view, not to mention my own previous position[58] on Isa 9:6, I'm no longer convinced that this is the best explanation. It's certainly possible to call people “Gods” because they are his agents, but it is also rare. We'll come to my current view shortly, but for now, let's approach the second controversial title. Eternal Father The word אֲבִיעַד (aviad), “Eternal Father,” is another recognizable appellative for Yahweh. As I mentioned in the introduction, translators have occasionally watered down the phrase, unwilling to accept that a human could receive such a title. But humans who pioneer an activity or invent something new are fathers.[59] Walking in someone's footsteps is metaphorically recognizing him as one's father.[60] Caring for others like a father is yet another way to think about it.[61] Perhaps the child is a father in one of these figurative senses. If we follow Jerome and translate אֲבִיעַד (aviad) as Pater futuri saeculi, “Father of the future age,” we can reconfigure the title, “Eternal Father,” from eternal without beginning to eternal with a beginning but without an end. However, notes Williamson, “There is no parallel to calling the king ‘Father,' rather the king is more usually designated as God's son.”[62] Although we find Yahweh referred to as “Father” twice in Isaiah (Isa 63:16; 64:7), and several more times throughout the Old Testament,[63] the Messiah is not so called. Even in the New Testament we don't see the title applied to Jesus. Although not impossible to be taken as Jesus's fatherly role to play in the age to come, the most natural way to take אֲבִיעַד (aviad) is as a reference to Yahweh. In conclusion, both “mighty God” and “eternal Father” most naturally refer to Yahweh and not the child. If this is so, why is the child named with such divine designations? A Theophoric Name Finally, we are ready to consider the solution to our translation and interpretation woes. Israelites were fond of naming their kids with theophoric names (names that “carry God”). William Holladay explains: Israelite personal names were in general of two sorts. Some of them were descriptive names… But most Israelite personal names were theophoric; that is, they involve a name or title or designation of God, with a verb or adjective or noun which expresses a theological affirmation. Thus “Hezekiah” is a name which means “Yah (= Yahweh) is my strength,” and “Isaiah” is a name which means “Yah (= Yahweh) has brought salvation.” It is obvious that Isaiah is not called “Yahweh”; he bears a name which says something about Yahweh.[64] As Holladay demonstrates, when translating a theophoric name, it is customary to supplement the literal phrase with the verb, “to be.” Hezekiah = “Yah (is) my strength”; Isaiah = “Yah (is) salvation.” Similarly, Elijah means “My God (is) Yah” and Eliab, “My God (is the) Father.” Theophoric names are not about the child; they are about the God of the parents. When we imagine Elijah's mother calling him for dinner, she's literally saying “My God (is) Yah(weh), it's time for dinner.” The child's name served to remind her who her God was. Similarly, these other names spoke of God's strength, salvation, and fatherhood. To interpret the named child of Isa 9:6 correctly, we must look at the previously named children in Isa 7 and 8. In chapter 7 the boy is called “Immanuel,” meaning “God (is) with us” (Isa 7:14). This was a historical child who signaled prophecy. Isaiah said, “For before the boy knows to reject evil and choose good, the land whose two kings you dread will be abandoned” (Isa 7:16). In Isa 8:1 we encounter “Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz,” or “The spoil speeds, the prey hastens.”[65] This child has a two-sentence name with an attached prophecy: “For before the boy calls, ‘my father' or ‘my mother,' the strength of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off before the king of Assyria” (Isa 8:4). Both children's sign names did not describe them nor what they would do, but what God would do for his people. Immanuel is a statement of faith. The name means God has not abandoned his people; they can confidently say, “God is with us” (Isa 8:10). Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz does not mean that the child would become a warrior to sack Damascus and seize her spoils, but that God would bring about the despoiling of Judah's enemy. When we encounter a third sign-named child in as many chapters, we are on solid contextual grounds to see this new, longer name in the same light. Isaiah prophecies that this child has the government upon his shoulder, sits on the throne of David, and will establish a lasting period of justice and righteousness (Isa 9:5, 7). This child bears the name “Pele-Yoets-El-Gibbor-Aviad-Sar-Shalom.” The name describes his parents' God, the mighty God, the eternal Father. Although this perspective has not yet won the day, it is well attested in a surprising breadth of resources. Already in 1867, Samuel David Luzzatto put forward this position.[66] The Jewish Publication Society concurred in their 2014 study Bible: Semitic names often consist of sentences that describe God … These names do not describe that person who holds them but the god whom the parents worship. Similarly, the name given to the child in this v. does not describe that child or attribute divinity to him, but describes God's actions.[67] The New Oxford Annotated Bible (NRSV) footnote on Isa. 9:6 says, “As in many Israelite personal names, the deity, not the person named, is being described.”[68] Additional scholars advocating the view also include Holladay (1978), Wegner (1992), Goldingay (1999, 2015), and Williamson (2018). Even so, Keil and Delitzsch eschew “such a sesquipedalian name,” calling it “unskillful,” and arguing that it would be impractical “to be uttered in one breath.”[69] But this is to take the idea too literally. No one is going to actually call the child by this name. John Goldingay helpfully explains: So he has that complicated name, “An-extraordinary-counselor-is-the-warrior-God, the-everlasting-Father-is-an-officer-for-well-being.” Like earlier names in Isaiah (God-is-with-us, Remains-Will-Return, Plunder-hurries-loot-rushes), the name is a sentence. None of these names are the person's everyday name—as when the New Testament says that Jesus will be called Immanuel, “God [is] with us,” without meaning this expression is Jesus' name. Rather, the person somehow stands for whatever the “name” says. God gives him a sign of the truth of the expression attached to him. The names don't mean that the person is God with us, or is the remains, or is the plunder, and likewise this new name doesn't mean the child is what the name says. Rather he is a sign and guarantee of it. It's as if he goes around bearing a billboard with that message and with the reminder that God commissioned the billboard.[70] Still, there's the question of identifying Yahweh as שַׂר־שָׁלוֹם (sar shalom). Since most of our translations render the phrase “Prince of Peace,” and the common meaning of a prince is someone inferior to the king, we turn away from labeling God with this title. Although HALOT mentions “representative of the king, official” for the first definition their second is “person of note, commander.”[71] The BDB glosses “chieftain, chief, ruler, official, captain, prince” as their first entry.[72] Wegner adds: “The book of Isaiah also appears to use the word sar in the general sense of “ruler.””[73] Still, we must ask, is it reasonable to think of Yahweh as a שַׂר (sar)? We find the phrase שַׂר־הַצָּבָא (sar-hatsava), “prince of hosts,” in Daniel 8:11 and שַׂר־שָׂרִים (sar-sarim), “prince of princes,” in verse 25, where both refer to God.[74]  The UBS Translators' Handbook recommends “God, the chief of the heavenly army” for verse 11 and “the greatest of all kings” for verse 25.[75] The handbook discourages using “prince,” since “the English word ‘prince' does not mean the ruler himself but rather the son of the ruler, while the Hebrew term always designates a ruler, not at all implying son of a ruler.”[76] I suggest applying this same logic to Isa 9:6. Rather than translating שַׂר־שָׁלוֹם (sar shalom) as “Prince of Peace,” we can render it, “Ruler of Peace” or “Ruler who brings peace.” Translating the Name Sentences Now that I've laid out the case for the theophoric approach, let's consider translation possibilities. Wegner writes, “the whole name should be divided into two parallel units each containing one theophoric element.”[77] This makes sense considering the structure of Maher-shalal-hash-baz, which translates two parallel name sentences: “The spoil speeds, the prey hastens.” Here are a few options for translating the name. Jewish Publication Society (1917) Wonderful in counsel is God the Mighty, the Everlasting Father, the Ruler of peace[78] William Holladay (1978) Planner of wonders; God the war hero (is) Father forever; prince of well-being[79] New Jewish Publication Society (1985) The Mighty God is planning grace; The Eternal Father, a peaceable ruler[80] John Goldingay (1999) One who plans a wonder is the warrior God; the father for ever is a commander who brings peace[81] John Goldingay (2015) An-extraordinary-counselor-is-the-warrior-God, the-everlasting-Fathers-is-an-official-for-well-being[82] Hugh Williamson (2018) A Wonderful Planner is the Mighty God, An Eternal Father is the Prince of Peace[83] My Translation (2024) The warrior God is a miraculous strategist; the eternal Father is the ruler who brings peace[84] I prefer to translate אֵל גִּבּוֹר (el gibbor) as “warrior God” rather than “mighty God” because the context is martial, and  גִּבּוֹר(gibbor) often refers to those fighting in war.[85] “Mighty God” is ambiguous, and easily decontextualized from the setting of Isa 9:6. After all, Isa 9:4-5 tells a great victory “as on the day of Midian”—a victory so complete that they burn “all the boots of the tramping warriors” in the fire. The word פֶּלֶא (pele), though often translated “wonderful,” is actually the word for “miracle,” and יוֹעֵץ (yoets) is a participle meaning “adviser” or “planner.” Since the context is war, this “miracle of an adviser” or “miraculous planner” refers to military plans—what we call strategy, hence, “miraculous strategist.” Amazingly, the tactic God employed in the time of Hezekiah was to send out an angel during the night who “struck down one hundred eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians” (Isa 37:36). This was evidently the warrior God's miraculous plan to remove the threat of Assyria from Jerusalem's doorstep. Prophecies about the coming day of God when he sends Jesus Christ—the true and better Hezekiah—likewise foretell of an even greater victory over the nations.[86] In fact, just two chapters later we find a messianic prophecy of one who will “strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked” (Isa 11:4). The next phrase, “The eternal Father,” needs little comment since God's eternality and fatherhood are both noncontroversial and multiply attested. Literally translated, שַׂר־שָׁלוֹם (sar-shalom) is “Ruler of peace,” but I take the word pair as a genitive of product.[87] Williamson unpacks this meaning as “the one who is able to initiate and maintain Peace.”[88] That his actions in the time of Hezekiah brought peace is a matter of history. After a huge portion of the Assyrian army died, King Sennacherib went back to Nineveh, where his sons murdered him (Isa 37:37-38). For decades, Judah continued to live in her homeland. Thus, this child's birth signaled the beginning of the end for Assyria. In fact, the empire itself eventually imploded, a fate that, at Hezekiah's birth, must have seemed utterly unthinkable. Of course, the ultimate peace God will bring through his Messiah will far outshine what Hezekiah achieved.[89] Conclusion We began by considering the phraseוַיִּקְרָא שְׁמוֹ  (vayikra sh'mo). We noted that the tense is perfect, which justifies a past-tense interpretation of the child who had already been born by the time of the birth announcement. I presented the case for Hezekiah as the initial referent of Isa 9:6 based on the fact that Hezekiah’s life overlapped with Isaiah’s, that he sat on the throne of David (v7), and that his reign saw the miraculous deliverance from Assyria's army. Furthermore, I noted that identifying the child of Isa 9:6 as Hezekiah does not preclude a true and better one to come. Although Isa 9:6 does not show up in the New Testament, I agree with the majority of Christians who recognize this text as a messianic prophecy, especially when combined with verse 7. Next we puzzled over the subject for phraseוַיִּקְרָא שְׁמוֹ  (vayikra sh'mo.) Two options are that the phrase פֶּלֶא יוֹעֵץ אֵל גִּבּוֹר (pele yoets el gibbor) functions as the subject or else the subject is indefinite. Although the Jewish interpreters overwhelmingly favor the former, the lack of definite articles and parallel constructions in Isaiah make me think the latter is more likely. Still, the Jewish approach to translation is a legitimate possibility. I explained how a passive voice makes sense in English since it hides the subject, and settled on “his name has been called,” as the best translation. Then we looked at the phrase אֵל גִּבּוֹר (el gibbor) and considered the option of switching the order of the words and taking the first as the modifier of the second as in “mighty hero” or “divine warrior.” We explored the possibility that Isaiah was ascribing deity to the newborn child. We looked at the idea of Isaiah calling the boy “Mighty God” because he represented God. In the end we concluded that these all are less likely than taking God as the referent, especially in light of the identical phrase in Isa 10:21 where it unambiguously refers to Yahweh. Moving on to אֲבִיעַד (aviad), we considered the possibility that “father” could refer to someone who started something significant and “eternal” could merely designate a coming age. Once again, though these are both possible readings, they are strained and ad hoc, lacking any indication in the text to signal a non-straightforward reading. So, as with “Mighty God,” I also take “Eternal Father” as simple references to God and not the child. Finally, we explored the notion of theophoric names. Leaning on two mainstream Bible translations and five scholars, from Luzzatto to Williamson, we saw that this lesser-known approach is quite attractive. Not only does it take the grammar at face value, it also explains how a human being could be named “Mighty God” and “Eternal Father.” The name describes God and not the child who bears it. Lastly, drawing on the work of the Jewish Publication Society, Goldingay, and Williamson, I proposed the translation: “The warrior God is a miraculous strategist; the eternal Father is the ruler who brings peace.” This rendering preserves the martial context of Isa 9:6 and glosses each word according to its most common definition. I added in the verb “is” twice as is customary when translating theophoric names. The result is a translation that recognizes God as the focus and not the child. This fits best in the immediate context, assuming Hezekiah is the original referent. After all, his greatest moment was not charging out ahead of a column of soldiers, but his entering the house of Yahweh and praying for salvation. God took care of everything else. Likewise, the ultimate Son of David will have God's spirit influencing him: a spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, and fear of God (Isa 11:2). The eternal Father will so direct his anointed that he will “not judge by what his eyes see or decide by what his ears hear” (Isa 11:3). In his days God will bring about a shalom so deep that even the animals will become peaceful (Isa 11:6-8). An advantage of this reading of Isa 9:6 is that it is compatible with the full range of christological positions Christians hold. Secondly, this approach nicely fits with the original meaning in Isaiah’s day, and it works for the prophecy’s ultimate referent in Christ Jesus. Additionally, it is the interpretation with the least amount of special pleading. Finally, it puts everything into the correct order, allowing exegesis to drive theology rather than the other way around. Bibliography Kohlenberger/Mounce Concise Hebrew-Aramaic Dictionary of the Old Testament. Altamonte Springs: OakTree Software, 2012. The Holy Scriptures According to the Masoretic Text: A New Translation. Philadelphia, PA: The Jewish Publication Society, 1917. The Jewish Study Bible. Edited by Adele Berlin and Marc Zvi Brettler. Second ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014. Net Bible, Full Notes Edition. Edited by W. Hall Harris III James Davis, and Michael H. Burer. 2nd ed. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2019. The New Oxford Annotated Bible. Edited by Carol A. Newsom Marc Z. Brettler, Pheme Perkins. Third ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001. The Stone Edition of the Tanach. Edited by Nosson Scherman and Meir Zlotowitz. Brooklyn, NY: Artscroll, 1996. Tanakh, the Holy Scriptures: The New Jps Translation According to the Traditional Hebrew Text. 4th, Reprint. Philadelphia, PA: The Jewish Publication Society, 1985. Translation of Targum Onkelos and Jonathan. Translated by Eidon Clem. Altamonte Springs, FL: OakTree Software, 2015. Alter, Rober. The Hebrew Bible: Prophets, Nevi’im. Vol. 2. 3 vols. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2019. Ashkenazi, Jacob ben Isaac. Tze’enah Ure’enah: A Critical Translation into English. Translated by Morris M. Faierstein. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2017. https://www.sefaria.org/Tze’enah_Ure’enah%2C_Haftarot%2C_Yitro.31?lang=bi&with=About&lang2=en. Baumgartner, Ludwig Koehler and Walter. The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament. Edited by M. E. J. Richardson. Leiden: Brill, 2000. Brown, Raymond E. Jesus: God and Man, edited by 3. New York: Macmillan, 1967. Carlson, R. A. “The Anti-Assyrian Character of the Oracle in Is. Ix, 1-6.” Vetus Testamentum, no. 24 (1974): 130-5. Curtis, Edward L. “The Prophecy Concerning the Child of the Four Names: Isaiah Ix., 6, 7.” The Old and New Testament Student 11, no. 6 (1890): 336-41. Delitzsch, C. F. Keil and F. Commentary on the Old Testament. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1996. Finnegan, Sean. “Jesus Is God: Exploring the Notion of Representational Deity.” Paper presented at the One God Seminar, Seattle, WA, 2008, https://restitutio.org/2016/01/11/explanations-to-verses-commonly-used-to-teach-that-jesus-is-god/. Francis Brown, S. R. Driver, and Charles A. Briggs. The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1996. Gesenius, Wilhelm. Gesenius’ Hebrew Grammar. Edited by E. Kautzsch and A. E. Cowley. 2nd ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1910. Goldingay, John. “The Compound Name in Isaiah 9:5(6).” The Catholic Biblical Quarterly 61, no. 2 (1999): 239-44. Goldingay, John. Isaiah for Everyone. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2015. Holladay, William L. Isaiah: Scroll of Prophetic Heritage. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1978. III, Ben Witherington. Isaiah Old and New. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2017. https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1ggjhbz.7. Luzzatto, Samuel David. Shi’ur Komah. Padua, IT: Antonio Bianchi, 1867. O’Connor, Bruce K. Waltke and Michael P. An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax. Winona Lake, IN: Esenbrauns, 1990. Ogden, Graham S., and Jan Sterk. A Handbook on Isaiah. Ubs Translator's Handbooks. New York: United Bible Societies, 2011. Oswalt, John. The Book of Isaiah, Chapters 1-39. Nicot. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1986. Péter-Contesse, René and John Ellington. A Handbook on Daniel. Ubs Translator’s Handbooks. New York, NY: United Bible Societies, 1993. Roberts, J. J. M. First Isaiah. Vol. 23A. Hermeneia, edited by Peter Machinist. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2001. Thayer, Joseph Henry. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1996. Walter Bauer, Frederick W. Danker, William F. Arndt, F. Wilbur Gingrich. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000. Wegner, Paul D. “A Re-Examination of Isaiah Ix 1-6.” Vetus Testamentum 42, no. 1 (1992): 103-12. Williamson, H. G. M. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Isaiah 1-27. Vol. 2. International Critical Commentary, edited by G. I. Davies and C. M. Tuckett. New York: Bloomsbury, 2018. Yitzchaki, Shlomo. Complete Tanach with Rashi. Translated by A. J. Rosenberg. Chicago, IL: Davka Corp, 1998. https://www.sefaria.org/Rashi_on_Isaiah.9.5.2?lang=bi&with=About&lang2=en. Young, Edward J. The Book of Isaiah: Chapters 1-18. Vol. 1. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1965. End Notes [1] Throughout I'll refer to Isaiah 9:6 based on the versification used in English translations. Hebrew Bibles shift the count by one, so the same verse is Isaiah 9:5. [2] Paul D. Wegner, “A Re-Examination of Isaiah Ix 1-6,” Vetus Testamentum 42, no. 1 (1992): 103. [3] BHS is the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, the standard Hebrew text based on the Leningrad Codex, a medieval Masoretic text. [4] In Hebrew the perfect tense roughly maps onto English past tense and the imperfect tense to future tense. [5] See NRSVUE, ESV, NASB20, NIV, NET, LSB, NLT, NKJ, ASV, KJV. [6] See translations by Robert Alter, James Moffat, and Duncan Heaster.  Also see Westminster Commentary, Cambridge Bible Commentary, New Century Bible Commentary, and The Daily Study Bible. [7] See New English Bible. [8] See Ibn Ezra. [9] See An American Testament. [10] “Held” means “hero” in German. In the Luther Bible (1545), he translated the phrase as “und er heißt Wunderbar, Rat, Kraft, Held, Ewig -Vater, Friedefürst,” separating power (Kraft = El) and hero (Held = Gibbor) whereas in the 1912 revision we read, “er heißt Wunderbar, Rat, Held, Ewig-Vater Friedefürst,” which reduced el gibbor to “Held” (hero). [11] See fn 4 above. [12] See New American Bible Revised Edition and An American Testament. [13] See New English Bible and James Moffatt's translation. [14] See Ibn Ezra. [15] See Duncan Heaster's New European Version. [16] See Word Biblical Commentary. [17] See Jewish Publication Society translation of 1917, the Koren Jerusalem Bible, and the Complete Jewish Bible. [18] In the Dead Sea Scrolls, 1QIsaa 8.24 reads “וקרא,” the vav-conversed form of “קרא,” translated “he will call,” an active future tense. This reading is implausible considering the unambiguous past tense of the two initial clauses that began verse 6: “a child has been born…a son has been given.” [19] “Here the Hebrew begins to use imperfect verb forms with the conjunction often rendered “and.” These verbs continue the tense of the perfect verb forms used in the previous lines. They refer to a state or situation that now exists, so they may be rendered with the present tense in English. Some translations continue to use a perfect tense here (so NJB, NJPSV, FRCL), which is better.” Graham S. Ogden, and Jan Sterk, A Handbook on Isaiah, Ubs Translator's Handbooks (New York: United Bible Societies, 2011). [20] H. G. M. Williamson, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Isaiah 1-27, vol. 2, International Critical Commentary, ed. G. I. Davies and C. M. Tuckett (New York: Bloomsbury, 2018), 371. [21] Wilhelm Gesenius, Gesenius’ Hebrew Grammar, ed. E. Kautzsch and A. E. Cowley, 2nd ed. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1910), §106n. [22] Bruce K. Waltke and Michael P. O’Connor, An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax (Winona Lake, IN: Esenbrauns, 1990), §30.5.1e. [23] John Goldingay takes a “both-and” position, recognizing that Isaiah was speaking by faith of what God would do in the future, but also seeing the birth of the son to the king as having already happened by the time of the prophecy. John Goldingay, Isaiah for Everyone (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2015), 42. [24] Jewish authors include Rashi, A. E. Kimchi, Abravanel, Malbim, and Luzzatto. [25] See 2 Kings 18:3-7. [26] Unless otherwise noted, all translations are my own. [27] J. J. M. Roberts, First Isaiah, vol. 23A, Hermeneia, ed. Peter Machinist (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2001), 153. [28] Ben Witherington III, Isaiah Old and New (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2017), 95-6, 99-100. https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1ggjhbz.7. [29] Translation of Targum Onkelos and Jonathan, trans. Eidon Clem (Altamonte Springs, FL: OakTree Software, 2015). [30] Shlomo Yitzchaki, Complete Tanach with Rashi, trans. A. J. Rosenberg (Chicago, IL: Davka Corp, 1998). https://www.sefaria.org/Rashi_on_Isaiah.9.5.2?lang=bi&with=About&lang2=en. [31] Jacob ben Isaac Ashkenazi, Tze’enah Ure’enah: A Critical Translation into English, trans. Morris M. Faierstein (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2017). https://www.sefaria.org/Tze’enah_Ure’enah%2C_Haftarot%2C_Yitro.31?lang=bi&with=About&lang2=en. [32] Square brackets in original. The Stone Edition of the Tanach, ed. Nosson Scherman and Meir Zlotowitz (Brooklyn, NY: Artscroll, 1996). [33] Net Bible, Full Notes Edition, ed. W. Hall Harris III James Davis, and Michael H. Burer, 2nd ed. (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2019), 1266. [34] C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1996), 249-50. [35] As mentioned above, the Hebrew is not actually passive. [36] The LXX reads “καὶ καλεῖται τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ” (kai kaleitai to onoma autou), which means “and his name is called.” [37] Rober Alter, The Hebrew Bible: Prophets, Nevi’im, vol. 2, 3 vols. (New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2019), 651. [38] John Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah, Chapters 1-39, Nicot (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1986), 247. [39] Delitzsch, 252. [40] The אֵלֵי גִבּוֹרִים (eley gibborim) of Ezek 32.21 although morphologically suggestive of a plural form of el gibbor, is not a suitable parallel to Isa 9:6 since אֵלֵי (eley) is the plural of אַיִל (ayil), meaning “chief” not אֵל (el). Thus, the translation “mighty chiefs” or “warrior rulers” takes eley as the noun and gibborim as the adjective and does not actually reverse them. [41] Edward J. Young, The Book of Isaiah: Chapters 1-18, vol. 1 (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1965), 338. [42] Translator's note A on Isa 9:6 in the NET states, “[I]t is unlikely that Isaiah or his audience would have understood the title in such a bold way.” Net Bible, Full Notes Edition, 1267. [43] “The Messiah is the corporeal presence of this mighty God; for He is with Him, He is in Him, and in Him He is with Israel. The expression did not preclude the fact that the Messiah would be God and man in one person; but it did not penetrate to this depth, so far as the Old Testament consciousness was concerned.” Delitzsch, 253. [44] See Wegner 104-5. [45] See R. A. Carlson, “The Anti-Assyrian Character of the Oracle in Is. Ix, 1-6,” Vetus Testamentum, no. 24 (1974). [46] Oswalt, 246. [47] Isa 43:10-11; 44:6, 8; 45:5-6, 18, 21-22; 46:9. Deut 17:14-20 lays out the expectations for an Israelite king, many of which limit his power and restrict his exaltation, making deification untenable. [48] Wegner 108. [49] See Exod 4:16; 7:1. The word “God” can apply to “any person characterized by greatness or power: mighty one, great one, judge,” s.v. “אֱלֹהִים” in Kohlenberger/Mounce Concise Hebrew-Aramaic Dictionary of the Old Testament.. The BDAG concurs, adding that a God is “that which is nontranscendent but considered worthy of special reverence or respect… of humans θεοί (as אֱלֹהִים) J[ohn] 10:34f (Ps 81:6; humans are called θ. in the OT also Ex 7:1; 22:27,” s.v. “θεός” in A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. [50] See Exod 21.6; 22:8-9. The BDB includes the definition, “rulers, judges, either as divine representatives at sacred places or as reflecting divine majesty and power,” s.v. “אֱלֹהִים” in The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon [51] Thayer points this out in his lexicon: “Hebraistically, equivalent to God’s representative or vicegerent, of magistrates and judges, John 10:34f after Ps. 81:6 (Ps. 82:6)” s.v. “θέος” in A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. [52] Net Bible, Full Notes Edition, 1267. [53] Raymond E. Brown, Jesus: God and Man, ed. 3 (New York: Macmillan, 1967), 25. [54] Williamson, 397. [55] Delitzsch, 253. See also fn 40 above. [56] Edward L. Curtis, “The Prophecy Concerning the Child of the Four Names: Isaiah Ix., 6, 7,” The Old and New Testament Student 11, no. 6 (1890): 339. [57] Ibid. [58] Sean Finnegan, “Jesus Is God: Exploring the Notion of Representational Deity” (paper presented at the One God Seminar, Seattle, WA2008), https://restitutio.org/2016/01/11/explanations-to-verses-commonly-used-to-teach-that-jesus-is-god/. [59] Jabal was the father of those who live in tents and have livestock (Gen 4:20) and Jubal was the father of those who play the lyre and the pipe (Gen 4:21). [60] Jesus told his critics, “You are from your father the devil, and you choose to do your father's desires” (John 8:44). [61] Job called himself “a father to the needy” (Job 29:16) and Isaiah prophesied that Eliakim would be “a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem” (Isa 22:21). [62] Williamson, 397. [63] For references to Yahweh as father to the people see Deut 32:6; Ps 103:13; Prov 3:12; Jer 3:4; 31.9; Mal 1.6; 2:10. For Yahweh as father to the messiah see 2 Sam 7:14; 1 Chron 7:13; 28:6; Ps 89:27. [64] William L. Holladay, Isaiah: Scroll of Prophetic Heritage (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1978), 108. [65] See NRSVUE fn on Isa 8:1. [66] והנה המכוון במאמר פלא יועץ וגו’ הוא כי האל הגבור שהוא אבי עד ואדון השלום, הוא יועץ וגוזר לעשות פלא לישראל בזמן ממלכת הילד הנולד היום, ואח”כ מפרש למרבה המשרה וגו’. ולפי הפירוש הזה לא לחנם האריך כאן בתארי האל, כי כוונת הנביא לרמוז כי בבוא הפלא שהאל יועץ וגוזר עתה, יוודע שהוא אל גבור ובעל היכולת ושהוא אב לעד, ולא יפר בריתו עם בניו בני ישראל, ולא ישכח את ברית אבותם. ושהוא אדון השלום ואוהב השלום, ולא יאהב העריצים אשר כל חפצם לנתוש ולנתוץ ולהאביד ולהרוס, אבל הוא משפילם עד עפר, ונותן שלום בארץ, כמו שראינו בכל הדורות. Chat GPT translation: “And behold, the intention in the phrase ‘Wonderful Counselor’ and so on is that the mighty God, who is the Eternal Father and the Prince of Peace, is the Counselor and decrees to perform a wonder for Israel at the time of the reign of the child born today. Afterwards, it is explained as ‘to increase the dominion’ and so on. According to this interpretation, it is not in vain that the prophet elaborates on the attributes of God here, for the prophet’s intention is to hint that when the wonder that God now advises and decrees comes about, it will be known that He is the Mighty God and possesses the ability and that He is the Eternal Father. He will not break His covenant with His sons, the children of Israel, nor forget the covenant of their ancestors. He is the Prince of Peace and loves peace, and He will not favor the oppressors whose every desire is to tear apart, destroy, and obliterate, but He will humble them to the dust and grant peace to the land, as we have seen throughout the generations.” Samuel David Luzzatto, Shi’ur Komah (Padua, IT: Antonio Bianchi, 1867). Accessible at Sefaria and the National Library of Israel. [67]The Jewish Study Bible, ed. Adele Berlin and Marc Zvi Brettler, Second ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2014), 784. [68] The New Oxford Annotated Bible, ed. Carol A. Newsom Marc Z. Brettler, Pheme Perkins, Third ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001), 991. [69] Delitzsch, 249. [70] Goldingay, 42-3. [71] Ludwig Koehler and Walter Baumgartner, The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, ed. M. E. J. Richardson (Leiden: Brill, 2000). [72] See s.v. “שַׂר” in The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon [73] Wegner 112. [74] Keil and Delitzsch say the sar of Dan 8:11 refers to “the God of heaven and the King of Israel, the Prince of princes, as He is called in v. 25,” Delitzsch, 297. [75] René and John Ellington Péter-Contesse, A Handbook on Daniel, Ubs Translator’s Handbooks (New York, NY: United Bible Societies, 1993). [76] Ibid. [77] Wegner 110-1. [78] The main text transliterates “Pele-joez-el-gibbor-/Abi-ad-sar-shalom,” while the footnote translates as indicated above. The Holy Scriptures According to the Masoretic Text: A New Translation (Philadelphia, PA: The Jewish Publication Society, 1917), 575. [79] Holladay, 109. [80] Tanakh, the Holy Scriptures: The New Jps Translation According to the Traditional Hebrew Text (4th: repr., Philadelphia, PA: The Jewish Publication Society, 1985), 634. [81] John Goldingay, “The Compound Name in Isaiah 9:5(6),” The Catholic Biblical Quarterly 61, no. 2 (1999): 243. [82] Goldingay, Isaiah for Everyone, 40. [83] Williamson, 355. [84] An alternative is “The warrior God is planning a miracle; the eternal Father is the ruler of peace.” [85] For גִּבּוֹר in a military context, see 1 Sam 17:51; 2 Sam 20.7; 2 Kgs 24:16; Isa 21.17; Jer 48:41; Eze 39:20; and Joel 2:7; 3:9. [86] See 2 Thess 2:8 and Rev 19:11-21 (cp. Dan 7:13-14). [87] See Gesenius § 128q, which describes a genitive of “statements of the purpose for which something is intended.” [88] Williamson, 401. [89] Isaiah tells of a time when God will “judge between nations,” resulting in the conversion of the weapons of war into the tools of agriculture and a lasting era when “nation shall not lift up sword against nation; neither shall they learn war any more” (Isa 2:4).

This is part two of my conversation with Bob Carden who served as the lead pastor of Grace Christian Fellowship for decades before retiring. (The church is now called Align Ministries, led by Garrett Bova.) Continuing on the topic of healing and deliverance from last week, we begin by talking about evil spirits and pornography addiction. Next we spend a good deal of time discussing how Align Ministries enables holy spirit activity during their weekly services. Carden ends with a challenge, saying, "Put yourself out there for God. Don't be afraid to attempt something the Bible says you should be able to do." Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts —— Links —— Learn more about Bob Carden at Align Ministries Get Carden's book, One God: The Unfinished Reformation Get the transcript of this episode Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read Sean's bio here

People need the touch of God in their lives. People are broken, wounded, and sick. Jesus Christ has already come and made available deliverance from sin and its consequences. He did this throughout his ministry and continues to bring healing through his church today. Bob Carden shares about his own journey of faith from Catholicism to the Way Ministry to pastoring a non-denominational church in Naperville, IL. Now retired, he relates his decades-long pursuit of the miraculous, especially deliverance and healing. Now I realize this can be a controversial subject, which is why I'm so thankful for how Carden's kind and compassionate tone comes through in this conversation. Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts —— Links —— Learn more about Bob Carden at Align Ministries Get Carden's book, One God: The Unfinished Reformation Get the transcript of this episode Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read Sean's bio here

Seneca Harbin became a Christian later in life through reading the Bible. However, when he was attending a megachurch in Indianapolis, he starting hearing the pastor preach about Christ in a way that seemed bizarre and unbiblical. To his surprise Seneca discovered that the vast majority of Christians held to these extra-biblical speculations about multiple persons in the godhead and dual natures of Christ. This set him on a quest to find others who, like him, preferred to stop where scripture stops and understand Jesus as the Messiah not a God man. After relating his own spiritual journey, he talks about his recent book, The Cost of Truth, which adds in the testimonies of several others, including Bill Schlegel, Will Barlow, Johnny Barnes, Seth Ross, Susanne Lakin, Candise Tuggy, and Ryan Russell. I believe this book will fire you up. It's easy to get complacent, but this little book of testimonies shows us that God is not done yet. He's reaching people in our time, calling them out of darkness and confusion into his marvelous light. Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts —— Links —— Pick up your copy of The Cost of Truth Check out these other podcast interviews about leaving the Trinity. Get the transcript of this episode Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read Sean's bio here

Last week Dustin Smith and Sam Tideman discussed the intermediate state--what happens after death but before resurrection on the last day. Although most Christians affirm the folk idea of going immediately to heaven or hell at death, Smith and Tideman argue that the Bible teaches the dead are in Sheol or Hades. However they disagree on what's happening there. Smith holds to soul-sleep while Tideman believes the dead are conscious. We went through many scriptures last time, but today we'll discuss two critical texts on this subject: the witch of Endor and the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts https://youtu.be/B42ZendSYJU —— Links —— More about Dustin Smith here More about Sam Tideman here Check out these other episodes discussing the intermediate state Get the transcript of this episode Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read Sean's bio here

Dustin Smith and Sam Tideman discuss whether people are conscious in the intermediate state (between death and resurrection). Interestingly, neither of them think the deceased are currently in heaven or hell. Smith affirms the sleep of the dead, seeing all the dead, whether good or bad, as unconscious and unaware of the passage of time. Tideman puts forward the idea that the souls of the dead are in a semi-conscious dreamlike state in a chamber called Sheol or Hades. Today is part one of their discussion in which both lay out their positions and then discuss Ecclesiastes 9.10 and Isaiah 14.9-11. This is part one of their conversation. Stay tuned for part two next week. Dr. Dustin Smith currently serves as a New Testament scholar at Spartanburg Methodist College in South Carolina. Smith has authored or edited six books, including the 2024 monograph, Wisdom Christology in the Gospel of John. He is also the weekly host of the Biblical Unitarian Podcast. Sam Tideman is a Harvard educated data scientist at Google who has keen interests in biblical studies, theology, and especially church history. He hosts the YouTube channel, "Transfigured," which has a total of nearly 250k views with interesting guests like Tim Mackie, Alister McGrath, and John Vervaeke. https://youtu.be/v6IBqLHlzQ4 Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts —— Links —— More about Dustin Smith here More about Sam Tideman here Check out these other episodes discussing the intermediate state Get the transcript of this episode Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read Sean's bio here

This is part 5 of the Kingdom Seminar, based on the book Kingdom Journey. This episode begins by delving into the history of how the theologians of the third and fourth centuries rejected the kingdom since they thought it was too crude, too hedonic, and too Jewish. Next I briefly cover three rediscovery movements, including the Anabaptists of the 16th century, the Adventists of the 19th century, and the New Testament scholars of the 20th century. Still, the majority of Christendom lies in the shadow of heaven-at-death mythology, hidden from the light of God's grand vision for our world. You and I have work to do. The kingdom of God is not a side doctrine--a footnote in eschatology. It's extremely important. We are kingdom ambassadors. And we have a winning message to tell the world. Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts —— Links —— Get your copy of Kingdom Journey here. Check out the full Kingdom Seminar series Get the transcript of this episode Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read Sean's bio here

This is part 4 of the Kingdom Seminar, based on the book Kingdom Journey. Jesus didn't just believe in a future kingdom that didn't affect the present. His entire ministry was saturated with kingdom symbology and activity. Wherever he went, he brought a bubble of the kingdom with him. As Christ-followers, we too, are called to prophesy the kingdom in how we live. This should include adopting the kingdom's culture, as well as pledging allegiance to the kingdom. Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts —— Links —— Get your copy of Kingdom Journey here. Check out the full Kingdom Seminar series Get the transcript of this episode Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read Sean's bio here

This is part 3 of the Kingdom Seminar, based on the book Kingdom Journey. The kingdom of God is the golden thread running throughout the whole Bible from beginning to end. In this presentation, we'll consider some of the key texts from the Old and New Testaments that define what the kingdom is. In contrast to many who think the goal of Christian salvation is to go home to be with the Lord in heaven, the Bible offers a consistent vision of God's children living forever on a restored world. Rather than leaving the planet or physicality, the kingdom is the idea that God will fix up this place, healing everything in it from national strife to animal violence--and everything between. Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts —— Links —— Get your copy of Kingdom Journey here. Check out the full Kingdom Seminar series Get the transcript of this episode Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read Sean's bio here

This is part 2 of the Kingdom Seminar, based on the book Kingdom Journey. What is heaven? Although it is not the place where the dead go when they die, it is, still, a real place. Today we'll survey different ways in which the Bible talks about heaven, including the sky, God's throne, the storehouse, and the heaven of heavens. Next we'll consider what other religions teach about the afterlife. Finally, we'll conclude by seeing how the Biblical authors courageously took a radically unpopular view about life after death. Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts —— Links —— Get your copy of Kingdom Journey here. Check out the full Kingdom Seminar series Get the transcript of this episode Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read Sean's bio here

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 a highlight some of the key points in my book and also add in some new content. Today we're going to start by asking the question, "Why should I care about the kingdom of God?" In what follows I make the case that we should care because Jesus said to prioritize the kingdom and because he preached it as gospel. Whether you've long believed in God's kingdom coming to earth at Christ's return or you're new to it, I hope this message will encourage and inspire you to share the message with others.  Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts —— Links —— Get your copy of Kingdom Journey here. Get the transcript of this episode Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read Sean's bio here

Last month the Unitarian Christian Alliance put on the first conference in Europe. A mixture of British and American speakers presented on various aspects of unitarian Christianity. In today's episode I speak with Daisy Jones, one of the main coordinators of the event as well as Mark Cain who assisted in planning and in recording the presentations. They share some highlights from this year's conference as well as what they are planning for next year. Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts —— Links —— Find out more about the Unitarian Christian Alliance as well as about future events Listen to the interview with Josh and Daisy Jones: Walking with God Get the transcript of this episode Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read Sean's bio here

Pentecost, as described in Acts 2, was a strange event. We read about unusual miraculous signs such as the sound of a great wind and tongues of fire. Still, the most interesting moment is when the apostles of our Lord began speaking in foreign languages that they didn't know. Such divine utterance is called speaking in tongues and everyone, it seems, has an opinion about it. But, have you ever asked yourself why? God is launching the church to go into Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Christ pours out the spirit to enable them to be his witnesses. OK. But, why have them speak in foreign languages? Now, this can't just be a nifty trick to grab people's attention, though it certainly did that. Join me as we consider the Old Testament background to Pentecost, which I believe goes all the way back to Babel when God originally confused the languages. Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts https://youtu.be/eRgD-t0tskw —— Links —— Check out these other episodes about speaking in tongues Get the transcript of this episode Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read Sean's bio here

Last week Joshua Michael Smith began sharing his testimony from childhood to his college years when he changed his mind about Jesus's identity. In part two he talks about cage stage unitarianism--where one seeks to confront everyone about this important truth regardless of their interested or antagonism. Smith shares how he matured while continuing to work within Assemblies of God and Baptist churches in Tennessee. Then we broach the topic of youth ministry. Smith explains why it is so important and what he hopes to accomplish as the new youth ministry coordinator at Living Hope. Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts —— Links —— Visit Guthrie Grove in Pelzer, SC (Aug 11-14) Sign up to come to Kingdom Fest at Living Hope near Albany, NY (Sep 13-15) Register to attend the UCA conference near Little Rock, AK (Oct 17-19) Check out these other interviews about people leaving the Trinity to embrace a biblical unitarianian understanding of God. Get the transcript of this episode Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read Sean's bio here

Joshua Michael Smith grew up in northern Florida in a Baptist church. In this interview he shares his journey of faith, including how came to Christ as well as how he ended up in ministry training at Word of Life before earning a bachelors at Tennessee Temple University in Chattanooga. While there, he began questioning his received doctrinal package based on the Bible. As a result, he came to discover the human Messiah of scripture and courageously embraced this new understanding despite the consequences. This is part one of his story. Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts —— Links —— Check out these other interviews about people leaving the Trinity to embrace a biblical unitarianian understanding of God. Get the transcript of this episode Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read Sean's bio here

Many believe there is 400 years of silence between the Old and New Testament. My guest today is Professor George Athas, director of research and senior lecturer in Hebrew, Old Testament, and Early Church History at Moore Theological College in Sydney, Australia. He's the author of Bridging the Testaments, which covers four major periods, including Persian, Hellenistic, Hasmonean, and Roman. By studying the four centuries before Christ you can gain key insights to help you understand both the Old and New Testaments. You will discover that God was still speaking all the while. Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aWT83oT2ts —— Links —— More about George Athas here Check out his book: Bridging the Testaments Get the transcript of this episode Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read Sean's bio here

Christians have approached the first chapter of Genesis differently over the centuries. There are those who hold to young earth creationism, day-age theory, gap theory, and progressive creationism, just to name a few. Oftentimes defenders of a particular view will provide biblical, scientific, and historical evidence for their position. Our focus today is on the use of church history to find witnesses for this or that view.  Rather than cherry picking a quote here and quote there, it's better to read ancient Christians in their own context to be sure we are interpreting them correctly. My guest today is Dr. Andrew Brown, a lecturer in OT and Hebrew at Melbourne School of Theology. He did his thesis on the creation week in Genesis 1 and 2 and has written a book called Recruiting the Ancients for the Creation Debate. In today's episode he shares his concerns and recommendations for handling our historical sources wisely. Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xX2P-ksSIHw —— Links —— More about Andrew Brown here Check out his book: Recruiting the Ancients for the Creation Debate Get the transcript of this episode Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read Sean's bio here

Scholars and pastors regularly point to specialized "technical" language in Paul's epistles to make the case that Paul was intentionally subverting Roman power by applying to Jesus terms that the ancients commonly applied to the Caesars. My guest today has done the hard work of analyzing the inscriptions, coins, and material remains of several key ancient cities to see how they talked about the Roman emperors in the New Testament period. In our conversation he shares his own journey to become an independent scholar as well as how his research offers a corrective to what many are saying about imperial divine honors. Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErL9D90JL7k —— Links —— More about Clint Burnett here Check out his book Paul & Imperial Divine Honors Get the transcript of this episode Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read Sean's bio here

Something is going on in New Zealand...and I'm excited to tell you about it. In today's interview I speak with Zach Mayo who along with his wife, Kayla, were serving as youth pastors at an evangelical church when they came to change their minds on the doctrine of the Trinity. Now they're organizing a conference to unite one-God believers in New Zealand and invite folks from Australia and beyond to come. Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts https://youtu.be/U27POf3dKnI —— Links —— To register for the upcoming conference, use this link Get in touch with Zach Mayo at zkmayo@outlook.com See other testimonies of people who left the Trinity and came to believe in the biblical unitarian Jesus Get the transcript of this episode Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read Sean's bio here

Kermit Zarley was a professional golfer who had an interest in studying the Bible about the end times when he came across a disturbing verse. Reading Jesus's words in the Olivet Discourse, he noticed that only the Father knew the day and hour of the end. Neither the angels nor the son of God were privy to it. As a good trinitarian evangelical, Zarley was familiar with the dual natures idea, but just couldn't square that with the scripture. If Jesus was God in his being, he knew everything. Why did he say he didn't know the time of the end? Surely, Jesus couldn't be lying! This conundrum set Zarley down a path of research and investigation for many years until he slowly uncovered a different way of understanding Christ. Although he knew going public with his new belief would result in ostracism and rejection, he went ahead with it anyhow. This is his story. Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts https://youtu.be/3bZ7t2Z-ql8 —— Links —— Take a listen to my previous interview with "Servetus the Evangelical" from 2009 Get in touch with Kermit at kermitzarley.com Read his blog at Patheos Check out his books on Amazon See other testimonies of people who left the Trinity and came to believe in the biblical unitarian Jesus Get the transcript of this episode Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read Sean's bio here

From her childhood in a Jewish family to a 7-year stint with the Jehovah's Witnesses to attending evangelical churches, Susanne Lakin never felt comfortable with the doctrine of the Trinity. She signed up to attend Phoenix Seminary, a conservative evangelical school, thinking they would help her finally get to the bottom of it. She was willing to agree to the idea, thinking, surely, studying with scholars like Wayne Grudem, the prince of evangelical systematic theology, would answer her questions and settle the issue for her once and for all. Amazingly, the opposite happened. This is her story. Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts https://youtu.be/W35IRYHjfP8 —— Links —— Get in touch with Susanne at livewritethrive.com Check out her theological book about annihilationism: Hell No Get Leeland Ryken's book, God's Word in English See other testimonies of people who left the Trinity and came to believe in the biblical unitarian Jesus Get the transcript of this episode Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read Sean's bio here

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 frame, so I'll just recommend two or three of each resource type, focusing primarily on tools that I personally have and use regularly. Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJOFFIkNdUg&list=PLN9jFDsS3QV2TrdUEDtAipF3jy4qYspM_&index=18 —— Links —— See other episodes in Read the Bible For Yourself Other classes are available here, including How We Got the Bible, which explores the manuscript transmission and translation of the Bible Get the transcript of this episode Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read his bio here —— Notes —— 18 Helpful Tools to Understand the Bible Why do we need extra-biblical tools to help us understand the Bible? Different geography Different history Different cultures (ancient Near Eastern, first-century Jewish, Greco-Roman) Different economics Different literacy rates Different scientific and philosophical knowledge Bible Dictionaries International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915) Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000) Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (2015) The IVP Bible Dictionary Series Dictionary of OT: Pentateuch (2002) Dictionary of OT: Historical Books (2005) Dictionary of OT: Wisdom, Poetry, & Writings (2008) Dictionary of OT: Prophets (2012) Dictionary of NT Background (2000) Dictionary of Jesus & Gospels (2013) Dictionary of Paul & Letters (2023) Dictionary of the Later NT (1997) Commentaries Fee & Stuart: “Jesus says, ‘…It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.' You will sometimes hear it said that there was a gate in Jerusalem known as the “Needle's Eye,” which camels could go through only by kneeling, and with great difficulty. The point of this “interpretation” is that a camel could in fact go through the “Needle's Eye.” The trouble with this “exegesis,” however, is that it is simply not true. There never was such a gate in Jerusalem at any time in its history. The earliest known “evidence” for this idea is found in the eleventh century(!) in a commentary by a Greek churchman named Theophylact, who had the same difficulty with the text that many later readers do. After all, it is impossible for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, and that was precisely Jesus' point. It is impossible for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom. It takes a miracle for a rich person to get saved…”[1] Zondervan Illustrated Bible Background Commentary (ZIBBC - 10 vols.) New International Commentary (NICOT - 30 vols.; NICNT - 20 vols.) New International Greek Testament Commentary (NIGTC - 12 vols.) The New Testament for Everyone by N. T. Wright (18 vols.) Bible Project Videos Book Overviews (OT - 39 videos; NT - 26 videos) How to Read the Bible (19 videos) Themes (41 videos) Word Studies (21 videos) Many more at com/explore/ Software Lots of translations Original language resources Cross-references Outlines Search tools Accordance & Logos Search Tools Artificial intelligence chat bots (openai.com) Crowd sourced websites (info/topics) Review Bible dictionaries and encyclopedias provide short articles on places, individuals, and topics in the Bible. Older and free research tools sometimes contain inaccuracies that more recent scholarship has overturned or updated. A good commentary tells you the options for interpreting a verse, reasons for each of those options, and a suggestion for which one makes the most sense. The Bible Project's book overview videos are really helpful to get a general understanding of a book of the Bible. Bible software on PCs, tablets, and phones provide worldclass research tools to help you study scripture. When searching for a phrase, a topic, or something specific, you can use a Bible app, openbible.info, or AI. [1] Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart, How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2014). p. 29.