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Search Results for: What is essential to the gospel, according to Luke?

podcast 36 – Interview with Dr. Bart Ehrman about his How Jesus Became God – Part 2

Is the author of John confused about Jesus and God? Does he think that two different beings – the Father, and the man Jesus – are numerically the same as the one true God? Some people think so; putting it gently, they talk of the “tensions” (=apparent contradictions) in the book. But is this author that confused? Again, some think that John makes Jesus qualitatively… Read More »podcast 36 – Interview with Dr. Bart Ehrman about his How Jesus Became God – Part 2

Did Jesus have faith in God?

“It’s stunning; there is nothing in the Bible that says Jesus had faith.”

podcast 128 – Ehrman and Bird on How Jesus Became God – Part 1

In this episode I review the first portion of a recent debate/discussion between Dr. Bart Ehrman and Dr. Michael Bird, held at the at the 2016 Greer-Heard Point Counter Point Forum in February 12-13, 2016 at the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.

Simeon says…

Who was born on the first Christmas? According to Luke, God revealed this information to a Jewish prophet named Simeon: Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see… Read More »Simeon says…

podcast 118 – The Son of God 2 – Mr. Danny Andre Dixon’s “Arian” view of Jesus

Many Christians in the 2nd to the 4th centuries, and many since, have read the famous opening of the gospel according to John like this: In the beginning [i.e. at the Genesis creation, but not necessarily before] was the Word [i.e. the pre-human Jesus], and the Word was with God [i.e. the Father], and the Word was divine.

SCORING THE BURKE – BOWMAN DEBATE – Round 4 Part 1

In this post I venture to offer some debate advice: be very hesitant to accuse your opponent of a logical fallacy.

  • First, your lack of sympathy for his position can easily cause you to be see ones which are not really there.
  • Second, it is often unclear whether or not the dude is actually making an error in reasoning – begging the question is particularly tricky to diagnose, for instance, and some of the “flags” I’ve thrown in judging previous rounds are debatable.
  • Third, there is a temptation to quickly allege a fallacy rather than dealing with the truth or falsity of your opponent’s premises. (This can verge on making an ad hominem fallacy yourself.)
  • Fourth, you may be tempted to make up a new sort of error in reasoning new for the occasion, and accuse your opponent of it.

In round 4, Burke makes the 3rd error, Bowman the 4th.

Burke argues,

Even Acts 5, where the apostle Peter accuses Ananias of “lying to the Holy Spirit” (verse 3) and his wife of trying to “test the Spirit of the Lord” (verse 9) is not an open and shut case. The usual argument made from this passage is that Peter accuses Ananias of “lying to the Holy Spirit” and Sapphira of trying to “tempt the Holy Spirit”; but since an impersonal power cannot be lied to or tempted, the Holy Spirit must therefore be a person and therefore it follows that the Holy Spirit is God. The logic here is not terribly good, and the argument ends with a non sequitur.

Neither this nor what follows it make clear what Bowman’s errors in reasoning are supposed to be. What exactly is the argument he’s criticizing? Is it this?Read More »SCORING THE BURKE – BOWMAN DEBATE – Round 4 Part 1

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.

Did Jesus have faith in God? – Part 1

In “How Jesus’ Not Having Faith In God Affirms His Deity” at the Thinking Christian blog, Tom Gilson argues that the New Testament, by not teaching that Jesus had faith in God, implies that Jesus is God himself. Thus, even the synoptic gospels implicitly teach that Jesus is God. Here, I’ll comment on his first post in the series; next time, his second post. In… Read More »Did Jesus have faith in God? – Part 1

McLatchie attacks

Jesus and God: identical, or distinct? Two trinitarians disagree.

podcast 87 – Kermit Zarley on the deity and preexistence of Jesus

In this second conversation, Mr. Kermit Zarley and I discuss a number of themes from his book The Restitution of Jesus Christ, including
the evangelical tradition of saying that “Jesus is God” or “Jesus is divine,” the biblical phrases “Son of God” and “the Son of God,” the texts commonly read as teaching that Jesus existed before his conception in Mary.