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Unitarianism

podcast 66 – Before Abraham was… what?

“Before Abraham, I am.” What did Jesus, or the author of the fourth gospel, mean here? In this episode we hear how some ancient authors interpreted John 8:58, including the famous North African bishop Augustine of Hippo.

Christian-Muslim debate/discussion, December 12 in Melbourne

Announced on Steve Katsaras’s blog. Both Mr. Katsaras and Mr. Naga did well last time, which was a 3-way discussion: And here’s a later debate between Mr. Naga and evangelical apologist Samuel Green, called Jesus: Mighty Prophet or God with us?

podcast 62 – Dr. Dustin Smith on the preexistence of Jesus in the gospel of John

Does the fourth gospel teach that Jesus existed long before his conception, even before the creation of the cosmos? Most readers think so. But in this episode Dr. Dustin Smith argues that rightly understood, this gospel neither assumes nor teaches that Jesus “preexisted,” that is, existed before he was a human. He argues that we should read the gospel according to John in light of… Read More »podcast 62 – Dr. Dustin Smith on the preexistence of Jesus in the gospel of John

podcast 59 – Dr. Carl Mosser on salvation as deification

When a Christian is saved, is she thereby deified? This is how Eastern Orthodox theologians describe Christian salvation, and it is a common saying that this is distinctive of Eastern Christian theology, but not of Western. In this episode, Dr. Carl Mosser (Associate Professor at Eastern University, on leave, and a Visiting Scholar at the Center for Philosophy of Religion at the University of Notre Dame) challenges this assumption,… Read More »podcast 59 – Dr. Carl Mosser on salvation as deification

J. Dan Gill: Must one believe in the Trinity and the two natures of Jesus to be saved?

In this interesting presentation called “Yet Another Music City Miracle” pastor J. Dan Gill points out that the way evangelicals evangelize is incompatible with the old catholic tradition, famously asserted in the “Athanasian” creed, Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the catholic faith; Which faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish… Read More »J. Dan Gill: Must one believe in the Trinity and the two natures of Jesus to be saved?

podcast 54 – John Edwards vs. John Locke’s Reasonableness of Christianity

John Edwards (1637-1726) was an Anglican Calvinist and would-be defender of Christian orthodoxy. Seemingly at the last minute, he tacked on to his Some Thoughts Concerning the Several Causes and Occasions of Atheism (1695) a critique of Locke’s Reasonableness. Guns blazing, he charged Locke (among other things) with promoting “Socinianism” (aka “Racovian” theology, i.e. the type of unitarian theology famously expounded by the Polish Brethren,… Read More »podcast 54 – John Edwards vs. John Locke’s Reasonableness of Christianity

podcast 53 – John Locke’s The Reasonableness of Christianity, Part 2

This week I start with a long and insightful listener comment. Among other things, he asks how one’s theology as unitarian or trinitarian affect one’s discipleship, or how one follows Jesus as Lord. I give a short answer from my own experience here, confessing how my own confusions hindered my spiritual life. The listener also asks: doesn’t Locke require too little? In particular, mustn’t a Christian also, minimally,… Read More »podcast 53 – John Locke’s The Reasonableness of Christianity, Part 2

continuing the conversation with Robert Bowman – different selves, same being?

Thanks to Robert Bowman for his reply to my off-target criticisms. I thought I understood what he was doing, following in the steps of many a theologian, but evidently I was mistaken in my inferring that he holds to a one-self Trinity. In this post, I make a clarification, then ask two questions. He says that in trinitarian doctrine, the term [“person”] was and is… Read More »continuing the conversation with Robert Bowman – different selves, same being?

a reply to Robert Bowman on biblical monotheism, the Trinity, and the Shema

Thanks to Rob Bowman for his thoughtful reply to my previous post regarding the Shema and his argument with Sir Anthony Buzzard. While I sided with Mr. Bowman regarding the meaning of the Shema (as saying that YHWH is unique – who which only presupposes, but doesn’t assert that he is a god), I think Buzzard is correct that ancient Jews thought that YHWH was… Read More »a reply to Robert Bowman on biblical monotheism, the Trinity, and the Shema

Bowman vs. Buzzard on the Shema

Today’s letter is “B.” At Bowman’s blog, Bowman and Buzzard battle about the basic building block of Old Testament belief – that YHWH is but one. But who has the better of this bitter brawl? Will Bowman best Buzzard? Or will Buzzard beat Bowman? Bowman’s a bit burned, as he feels he’s been a bit abused. But I think it best to leave that issue… Read More »Bowman vs. Buzzard on the Shema

podcast 49 – 2 interpretations of Philippians 2 – part 2

Jesus was “in the form of God,” but chose to empty himself, becoming like us. What do these famous statements by Paul mean? In episode 48, I examined a common evangelical interpretation of this text and found it lacking. In this episode, I compare scripture with scripture, to try to come up with a plausible, understandable, well-motivated interpretation. Can the authors of Genesis, Isaiah, Hebrews, and Revelation,… Read More »podcast 49 – 2 interpretations of Philippians 2 – part 2

podcast 46 – Professor Timothy Winter’s Islamic perspective on the Trinity

In this episode I talk with Professor Timothy Winter (a.k.a. Shaikh Abdal-Hakim Murad), an Islamic theologian at Cambridge University. He’s the author of a chapter called “The Trinity is Incoherent” in the 2013 collection edited by J.P. Moreland, Chad Meister, and Khaldoun A. Sweis, Debating Christian Theism. It was paired with a chapter by Dr. Tom Senor, a Christian philosopher from the University of Arkansas, called “The… Read More »podcast 46 – Professor Timothy Winter’s Islamic perspective on the Trinity

podcast 45 – Sir Anthony Buzzard on Christian mistakes

In this less biographical episode, Sir Anthony and I discuss various Christian mistakes: obsession with Hebrew names for God and for Jesus, keeping kosher food laws and Jewish holidays, the doctrine of tithing, and even the avoidance of doctors (as if that showed a lack of faith in God). Another mistake was discarding the simple, messianic gospel preached by Jesus, including his Jewish theology of one God,… Read More »podcast 45 – Sir Anthony Buzzard on Christian mistakes

podcast 44 – The Spiritual Journey of Sir Anthony Buzzard

I first encountered Sir Anthony Buzzard (yes, he’s a real “Sir”, and his wife Barbara a “Lady”) in the endnotes of Dallas Willard’s The Divine Conspiracy. Willard had referred to his short book The Coming Kingdom of the Messiah. Buzzard and Willard have in common a deep grasp of the good news of the Kingdom as preached by Jesus, and the centrality of God the Father to… Read More »podcast 44 – The Spiritual Journey of Sir Anthony Buzzard

podcast 43 – Dr. Stephen R. Holmes on God and humankind

Is God a self – a being capable of consciousness, knowledge, and choice, like us, but infinitely greater? Or is God a community, or a something-we-know-not-what? Dr. Holmes’s language in his book  The Quest for the Trinity made me think that he would answer: yes, God is a self, and not a community, or a mysterious Something. I took him to be a one-self trinitarian, and… Read More »podcast 43 – Dr. Stephen R. Holmes on God and humankind

two new papers published online

At the Journal of Analytic Philosophy, and at the Journal of Biblical Unitarianism. Thanks to the editors of both journals for their good work. The first paper continues the discussion with Hasker of my “Divine Deception” arguments against three-self Trinity theories. I discuss there the monotheism of Isaiah. Then I get into interesting arguments by historical unitarians, such as Nye, Clarke, and Worcester, even comparing… Read More »two new papers published online