The New Testament, among many of its seemingly complicated christologies, exhibits influence from Jewish ideas of preexistence--the theology regarding certain important persons, places, and things that preexisted within God's plans and purposes. This episode explores the ways in which the New Testament texts were impacted by Jewish understandings of notional preexistence. Subscribe for free on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-biblical-unitarian-podcast/id1347983887 To support th...
Aug 09, 2018•18 min•Season 1Ep. 30
Although it is a common belief that God the Father and the Son of God are coequal, there appear to be explicit differences between these two figures. This episode sets out seven of these differences from Scripture in order to encourage further conversation on this issue. It is concluded that Jesus' authentic humanity is the primary reason why he is not coequal with God the Father. Subscribe for free on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-biblical-unitarian-podcast/id1347983887 To s...
Aug 02, 2018•13 min•Season 1Ep. 29
Having already observed that the opening Prologue of the Gospel of John is a poem of Wisdom Christology, we turn in this episode to see how the rest of the book depicts Jesus as the incarnation of personified wisdom. In fact, there are over a dozen instances where Jesus within the Gospel of John is described in terms echoing Lady Wisdom. John's Gospel appears to be the best example in the New Testament of Wisdom Christology, and this episode details why that is in fact the case. Subscribe for fr...
Jul 26, 2018•26 min•Season 1Ep. 28
John's Gospel begins with an eighteen-verse Prologue where Jesus is depicted as the incarnation/embodiment of God's creative and powerful word. However, it is demonstrated in this episode that the echoes of Lady Wisdom, rather than the personified word, would have been more clearly evident by the earliest readers of the Gospel of John. This episode notes the evidence for Wisdom Christology in John 1:1-18. Please consider supporting this Podcast and future projects by donating at: - https://www.p...
Jul 19, 2018•23 min•Season 1Ep. 27
As we continue our journey through the New Testament, we arrive at the Book of Hebrews. Within the first three verses of this sermon, there appear to be four statements about Christ that have their origins in descriptions of Lady Wisdom, specifically from the book Wisdom of Solomon. For the author of Hebrews, the risen and exalted Son of God is the fullest embodiment of God's Wisdom so that things formerly said about this Wisdom figure can now be attributed to Jesus. Please consider supporting t...
Jul 12, 2018•16 min•Season 1Ep. 26
Within our ongoing study of Wisdom Christology within the New Testament, we move to examine the Gospel of Matthew. Within this ancient biography of the human Jesus, we observe five passages where Jesus is portrayed in terms of personified Lady Wisdom. In particular, the author took the roles, characteristics, and functions of Wisdom and reapplied them to Jesus. For the Gospel of Matthew, just like 1 Corinthians and Colossians before it, Jesus Christ is the fullest embodiment of God's personified...
Jul 05, 2018•10 min•Season 1Ep. 25
In our continued study of Wisdom Christology throughout the New Testament, we arrive at the Epistle to the Colossians. Within this letter, the famous hymn about Christ in Col. 1:15-20 lavishly praises the accomplishments of Jesus in light of things formerly said about Lady Wisdom (without implying that Jesus consciously preexisted his birth). Furthermore, Colossians repeatedly depicts Christlike behavior as wise teaching and wisdom from God. Please consider supporting this Podcast and future pro...
Jun 28, 2018•26 min•Season 1Ep. 24
Having already examined Proverbs, Sirach, and Philo depicting God's Wisdom as a personified female figure embodied into human beings, we now turn to the New Testament. In this episode, we look at Paul's first letter to the Corinthians where Jesus is also depicted as the human embodiment of Lady Wisdom, specifically in light of his death, resurrection, and exaltation. Please consider supporting this Podcast and future projects by donating at: - https://www.paypal.me/10mintruthtalks Check out some...
Jun 21, 2018•20 min•Season 1Ep. 23
The theology exhibited in Proverbs wherein Lady Wisdom can be embodied into human beings was influential with other Jewish writers before the New Testament was written. This episode aims to lay that foundation by looking at the Book of Sirach and the writings of Philo. Both Sirach and Philo continue the argument from Proverbs by depicting God's Wisdom, personified as a female figure, as becoming incarnate in the human figures Simon the High Priest and Sarah, Abraham's wife. This indicates that t...
Jun 14, 2018•25 min•Season 1Ep. 22
Modern scholars have observed that many New Testament authors depict Jesus in light of Lady Wisdom (i.e., God's wise interaction with and instruction to his creation). However, most casual readers of the Bible seem to be unaware of what this 'Wisdom Christology' actually is. This episode seeks to examine the origins of Wisdom Christology by studying the Book of Proverbs, where astute readers will note that Lady Wisdom is embodied/incarnate into human beings in chapter thirty-one. Please consider...
Jun 07, 2018•24 min•Season 1Ep. 21
Despite the dominant scholarly consensus, there is a vocal minority on social media insisting that John 1:1 is not pointing back to the Genesis creation, but instead is referring to the beginning of Jesus' evangelistic ministry of preaching the Logos as gospel. This episode seeks to create a conversation with this minority perspective by noting what appears to be the fairly obvious literary and theological connections between John chapter one and Genesis chapter one. Please consider supporting t...
May 31, 2018•23 min•Season 1Ep. 20
Does the New Testament depict believers praying/offering prayers to Jesus? You might be surprised at the answer. This episode seeks to honestly assess how the New Testament uses 'prayer language' for Jesus and concludes by offering a model on the biblical way to appropriately direct prayers. Please consider supporting this Podcast and future projects by donating at: - https://www.paypal.me/10mintruthtalks
May 24, 2018•23 min•Season 1Ep. 19
Does it even matter what we believe about who God is and who Jesus is? Some say that it does; others say that it doesn't. In this episode, we explore three practical applications taught in Scripture regarding Biblical Unitarian theology, one of which is highly controversial. Please consider supporting this Podcast and future projects by donating at: - https://www.paypal.me/10mintruthtalks
May 17, 2018•25 min•Season 1Ep. 18
If Jesus is worshiped in the Bible, does that prove that he is God? Not necessarily. This episode will examine how the Bible depicts worship offered to human figures and then note the difference between the worship offered to God and the worship offered to Christ. Please consider supporting this Podcast and future projects by donating at: - https://www.paypal.me/10mintruthtalks
May 10, 2018•21 min•Season 1Ep. 17
Many of the debates about Jesus' identity revolve around how one understands the nature of 'preexistence' within the Bible. This episode sets out to introduce the basics of how preexistence was understood and taught by the various biblical authors. We will explore how Jesus was regarded within God's plans/mind and how the New Testament authors understood Jesus as the current embodiment of God's personified Wisdom and Word. Please consider supporting this Podcast and future projects by donating a...
May 03, 2018•27 min•Season 1Ep. 16
What are we to make of the controversial passage of Phil. 2:5-11? This episode attempts to explain the nuances of the passage by highlighting Paul's allusions to Adam, Isaiah's Suffering Servant, and even to Emperor Nero. Furthermore, we show that the Philippians passage is actually an ethical argument for Christians to live in humility and obedience to God, just as Christ demonstrated during his earthly life. Please consider supporting this Podcast and future projects by donating at: - https://...
Apr 26, 2018•28 min•Season 1Ep. 15
How are we to responsibly interpret the fact that the Bible both calls certain exceptional human beings "God" and insists that there is only one true God? The answer lies in the fact that the true God can invest his authority into certain human beings as his representatives, such as a prophet, a judge, and even a royal king. This connection appears to be the most prudent way to understand Jesus being called "God," despite being the human Messiah. Buy Wisdom Christology in the Gospel of John: htt...
Apr 19, 2018•26 min•Season 1Ep. 14
Why does it seem that the most exalted praises are given to Jesus after his resurrection? Is the risen Jesus equal in status and rank with God the Father? How should we interpret the fact that God has titles and Jesus is often addressed with those very same titles? This episode seeks to answer these questions by looking at the exaltation of the human Jesus. Please consider supporting this Podcast and future projects by donating at: - https://www.paypal.me/10mintruthtalks...
Apr 12, 2018•18 min•Season 1Ep. 13
What does the New Testament teach about Jesus' death that has implications for biblical Christology? Did Jesus completely die or did he only partially die? Does that New Testament teach that God died on the cross? These questions will be answered in this week's episode dealing with Jesus' death. Please consider supporting this Podcast and future projects by donating at: - https://www.paypal.me/10mintruthtalks
Apr 05, 2018•19 min•Season 1Ep. 12
Did Jesus have a God? This might sound like a strange question to some, but Jesus stated on multiple occasions that he did indeed has a God above him. The God of Jesus is also addressed as "my Father" many times in the New Testament. This episode will examine how Jesus understood the Father as 'his God' and will examine how Jesus acted in subordination to God the Father. Please consider supporting this Podcast and future projects by donating at: - https://www.paypal.me/10mintruthtalks...
Mar 29, 2018•17 min•Season 1Ep. 11
In this episode, we explore the principle of agency wherein a sent agent fully represents the one who sent him. We demonstrate that this understanding of agency was practically taken for granted within the first-century Jewish world and note how Jesus operates as God's authoritatively sent agent. Since Jesus is God's agent, Jesus can exercise divine prerogatives, speaks God's words, and fully represent God without compromising monotheism. Please consider supporting this Podcast and future projec...
Mar 22, 2018•17 min•Season 1Ep. 10
In this episode, we examine how the four New Testament Gospel accounts portray Jesus as a human figure. Do Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John call Jesus a "human being?" Is Jesus portrayed as omniscient in the manner that Yahweh is omniscient? Do the four Gospels describe Jesus as growing in understanding, as one who learns, or even as one who has limited knowledge as all human beings possess? This episode seeks to answer these questions as we continue to explore what the Bible has to say about Jesus...
Mar 15, 2018•17 min•Season 1Ep. 9
We continue our discussion of how the New Testament authors describe the birth of Jesus. We examine this in this episode how Romans, Galatians, 2 Timothy, Hebrews, 1 John, and Revelation describe Jesus' birth and origins, namely as a human figure descending from the family lines of Abraham, Judah, Jesse, and King David. Please consider supporting this Podcast and future projects by donating at: - https://www.paypal.me/10mintruthtalks...
Mar 08, 2018•16 min•Season 1Ep. 8
This episode seeks to answer whether Jesus was "begotten" (brought into existence) or not. Both Matthew and Luke offer birth narratives and lengthy genealogies wherein Jesus' birth is described in detail. Luke, having also authored the Book of Acts, offers his thoughts on Jesus' origins in both documents, so we will explore both his Gospel and Acts in this episode. Please consider supporting this Podcast and future projects by donating at: - https://www.paypal.me/10mintruthtalks...
Mar 01, 2018•19 min•Season 1Ep. 7
This episode continues our exploration throughout the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) in which we observe how the Messiah was expected to be of the line of David, thus making him an authentic human figure. The Old Testament has a lot to say about the coming Son of David, especially within the Psalms and the Prophets. As the Son of David, Jesus exists as the climactic and long-awaited human descendant, and Jesus being a human figure is one of the central points of Biblical Unitarianism. This episode...
Feb 22, 2018•19 min•Season 1Ep. 6
The Old Testament regards the coming messianic figure to be of the line of King David, clearly making him a human being (as David was). In fact, there are so many passages repeating and expounding this "Son of David" theology that it will require two episodes of the Biblical Unitarian Podcast to cover them all, and those are just the ones within the Old Testament. If the Messiah was to descend from the line of King David, then he would be both an authentic human figure as well as one who was dis...
Feb 09, 2018•19 min•Season 1Ep. 5
In the first century C.E., Jesus was recognized by his followers as the "Messiah," a title denoting the anointed king of the kingdom in whom all of Israel's theology would find their climax. This office of Messiah came with a set of qualifications (i.e., job descriptions), and these qualifications are set out within the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible). This episode of the Biblical Unitarian Podcast begins to survey the qualifications of the Messiah set out within the Old Testament, finding primaril...
Feb 09, 2018•18 min•Season 1Ep. 4
One of the major truth claims of Biblical Unitarians is that the God of the Bible is a single person (rather than a multi-personal God taught within binitarian and trinitarian faiths). This episode begins to scratch the surface of the massive amount of biblical data that demonstrates that God is a single person. We survey a variety of texts, both in the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) and within the New Testament. We particularly note how Jesus Christ himself taught on multiple occasions this very ...
Feb 09, 2018•15 min•Season 1Ep. 3
"What is a Biblical Unitarian?" In this introductory episode, we set the scope for the Biblical Unitarian Podcast. In doing so, we define what a Biblical Unitarian is, what BUs believe, and the response we are attempting to produce among our listeners. Biblical Unitarians regard the God of the Bible to be a single, undivided person. They also recognize that the Bible teaches that Jesus Christ was a human being who did not literally preexist his birth in any way. These episodes are aimed to start...
Feb 09, 2018•5 min•Ep. 2
