If a native English speaker says “you have a frog in your throat,” this means that your voice doesn’t sound normal, but is low, broken, “croaky.” It is a mistake to think that he is saying that you literally have a frog in your throat! What about when the author of Revelation refers to the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world and the… Read More »podcast 61 – Dr. Dustin Smith on preexistence in ancient Jewish thought
Does the Bible ever speak of redeemed humans as “gods”? Many Jews and Christians have thought so. In this episode Dr. Carl Mosser takes us on a journey through this theme in the Bible, including Psalm 82, the New Testament epistles, and the book of Genesis. You’ll have listen to see why I chose a picture of Joseph in his career as the Pharaoh’s right… Read More »podcast 60 – Dr. Carl Mosser on deification in the Bible
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
To the contrary, it seems possible that there be just one perfect being, one self who is all-knowing, all-powerful, completely good, and so on.
Professor Swinburne: we can argue from reason alone that the one God is a Trinity.
In September of 2014 I was privileged to attend a conference in honor of the greatest living natural theologian. For the uninitiated, this is what “natural theology” is (also here). The initiated hold Swinburne in awe because of his writings. Richard Swinburne has produced an unparalleled string of carefully argued, in many cases ground-breaking books in philosophy of religion and in analytic theology (see the links… Read More »podcast 56 – Richard Swinburne on his life and work
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?
Locke fired back twice against Edwards’s criticisms of Locke’s The 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
In the comments to my last round, Mr. Robert M. Bowman, Jr. replied to my request for his reply to this argument: The Father and the Son are the same God. For any x and y, and for any kind F, if x and y are the same F, then x is an F, y is an F, and x = y. (x and y… Read More »answering Bowman’s questions about identity, being the same F
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
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?
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
What are the essential teachings which one must accept to be a Christian?
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
Dr. Ravi Zacharias is a popular, Indian-born, evangelical apologist, the author of many books and articles, a frequent public speaker, and a veteran of Christian radio. Recently here at the trinities blog I received a reader question about an answer Dr. Zacharias gave about the Trinity in a recent public talk. In this episode, I review and critically examine that answer, and a few other of his… Read More »podcast 51 – Dr. Ravi Zacharias on the Trinity
Dr. Laurence Brown is an opthamologist, author, and Muslim apologist. In this episode of The Deen Show (“Deen” is Arabic for “religion” or “religious practice.”), he gave his “Top 10 Reasons Why The Trinity Is Invalid.” Does he disprove or undermine trinitarian theology? In this episode, I interact with and evaluate his reasons. You can also listen to this episode on youtube. This this 50th… Read More »podcast 50 – Muslim apologist Dr. Laurence B. Brown on the Trinity
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
Does Paul’s letter to the Philippians, chapter 2 teach that Jesus is God himself, and that at certain point in time about 2,000 years ago, Jesus became a man, letting go of his equality with God, and thereby divesting himself of his glory, or the use of his attributes, to become a human like us, but obedient to the point of death? In this episode we… Read More »podcast 48 – 2 interpretations of Philippians 2 – part 1
In this episode we hear the audio of Dr. Padgett’s talk “Informal Reason and the Idea of a Christian Philosophy” of April 25, 2014 at Claremont McKenna College, at the retirement conference in honor of Stephen T. Davis. In this wide-ranging talk, Dr. Padgett discusses human reasoning (with special reference to science), and 20th century debates about the idea of a Christian philosophy. You can… Read More »podcast 47 – Dr. Alan Padgett, “Informal Reason and the Idea of a Christian Philosophy”