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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

Dr. Stephen R. Holmes's The Quest for the Trinity

podcast 42 – Dr. Stephen R. Holmes on his The Quest for the Trinity

In this episode I talk with Dr. Stephen R. Holmes about his 2012 book The Quest for the Trinity: The Doctrine of God in Scripture, History and Modernity (UK title: The Holy Trinity). In this book Dr. Holmes argues that the much celebrated recent “revival of trinitarian theology” is no such thing. In his view, recent theology has deviated from the course set by the 4th centuries… Read More »podcast 42 – Dr. Stephen R. Holmes on his The Quest for the Trinity

podcast 41 – Stephen T. Davis’s Christian Philosophical Theology

In this episode, Dr. Davis reads short selections from his 2006 book Christian Philosophical Theology (Oxford University Press). As he said in our interview, this book is probably the best place to look for his mature views. Hopefully Oxford University Press will someday release this in paperback and electronic versions. He addresses John Hick’s and others’ “minimal christology” on which Jesus is merely a wise teacher,… Read More »podcast 41 – Stephen T. Davis’s Christian Philosophical Theology

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

podcast 40 – Dr. Stephen T. Davis on Christians in Philosophy

In this episode I talk with Christian philosopher Dr. Stephen T. Davis on the occasion of the start of his phased retirement from Claremont McKenna College (and the Claremont Graduate University). We discuss his advice for Christians going into philosophy, his views on the most important work done in recent Christian philosophy that most Christians don’t know about, his advice on writing, and his own work… Read More »podcast 40 – Dr. Stephen T. Davis on Christians in Philosophy

podcast 39 – Dr. Craig Evans on Dr. Bart Ehrman’s historical methodology

In this episode, Dr. Craig A. Evans and I discuss the surprising and bold methodological claims about doing history in chapter 4 of Dr. Ehrman’s How Jesus Became God. Along the way we bring up such topics as Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon,  the historicity of the New Testament gospels, the views of David Hume (pictured above) on belief in miracles, the probability of… Read More »podcast 39 – Dr. Craig Evans on Dr. Bart Ehrman’s historical methodology

podcast 37 – Why did Jesus have to suffer?

This is a special Good Friday edition of the trinities podcast: a short pre-concert lecture I was privileged to give before a masterful performance of the 1724 version of Bach’s St. John Passion at SUNY Fredonia, directed by my friend Dr. Gerald Gray. I discuss what the New Testament says about the suffering and death of Jesus, and briefly canvass different approaches to atonement theory in… Read More »podcast 37 – Why did Jesus have to suffer?

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

Why we should doubt the Hitler-as-dog-lover traditions

Dr. Ehrman has effectively argued that we can’t know whether or not Jesus was really buried in a donated tomb. (How Jesus Became God, pp. 151-64) For this, we should be grateful. Like many important discoveries, this method of reasoning proves fruitful even in other domains. I am happy to announce the results of my recent investigations now. Like many of you, I used to… Read More »Why we should doubt the Hitler-as-dog-lover traditions

Kimel and Bauckham on monotheism

I thank Fr. Aiden Kimel for reminding me of Richard Bauckham’s chapter on kinds of monotheism. I read it years ago, and thought there was something that was not quite right about it. Kimel says, summarizing Bauckham, Inclusive monotheism declares the God is the highest being within the class of deities to which he belongs. “He is unique,” Bauckham explains, “only in the sense of… Read More »Kimel and Bauckham on monotheism

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podcast 35 – Interview with Dr. Bart Ehrman about his How Jesus Became God – Part 1

In this episode, a conversation with Dr. Bart Ehrman about his How Jesus Became God, and the evangelical response book How God Became Jesus. Dr. Ehrman has given other interviews in which he gives an overview of his project in the book. So skipping that, we jump right into some of his more controversial conclusions, and how he arrived at them. We also discuss the… Read More »podcast 35 – Interview with Dr. Bart Ehrman about his How Jesus Became God – Part 1

Ehrman’s misreading of John 10:30

At Dustin Martyr, theologian Dr. Dustin Smith gives a forceful critique of  Bart Ehrman’s appeal to “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30) to show that the Gospel of John presents Jesus either as God himself, or as “equal to God” (where this doesn’t imply that he’s God himself). …this is disappointing… because even the most conservative scholars of Johannine literature don’t interpret John 10:30 as… Read More »Ehrman’s misreading of John 10:30

podcast 34 – Albrecht vs. Tuggy debate – Was Tertullian a trinitarian? Part 2

In this episode, the final half of my debate with Roman Catholic apologist Mr. William Albrecht. The question: was Tertullian a trinitarian? (Part 1 is here.) First, we take turns cross-examining one another, and then the closing arguments. I’ve shortened the audio here,  but have not cut any meaningful content at all. Who makes the better case? As Fox News says, we report, you decide.… Read More »podcast 34 – Albrecht vs. Tuggy debate – Was Tertullian a trinitarian? Part 2

Bart Update

The latest on internet discussion of Dr. Bart Ehrman’s new book and the evangelical response book. Update: part one of my interview with Dr. Ehrman is now out. Part two is out on April 14. Ehrman’s own summary. And short Q & A. Theology professor “Dustin Martyr” evaluates Dr. Ehrman’s arguments, chapter by chapter. Negative review by evangelical theologian Dr. Andreas Köstenberger. Positive review by the Revangelical… Read More »Bart Update

Do the Gospels disagree about Jesus and God? Part 2 – Counting the Costs

Last time we looked at this inconsistent triad of claims, one of which we must deny: The New Testament gospels agree in their core claims about Jesus and God. Matthew, Mark, and Luke don’t teach that Jesus is God. John teaches that Jesus is God. We can look at this from two directions. First, we can ask what the evidence for each  of 1-3 is.… Read More »Do the Gospels disagree about Jesus and God? Part 2 – Counting the Costs

Do the Gospels disagree about Jesus and God? Part 1 – Three Options

Let’s define “Jesus is God” to mean one or more of these: Jesus is numerically identical to the one God, YHWH, or Jesus fully possesses the divine nature of the one God, or Jesus is one “divine person” within the one God. The New Testament gospels are centrally concerned with Jesus, and with the one God. But how do they relate the two – or… Read More »Do the Gospels disagree about Jesus and God? Part 1 – Three Options