Could human beings in Judaism and early Christianity say the phrase "I am he" and mean something other than "I am Yahweh, the only true God of Israel?" This episode explores ten human figures who said, in various languages, "I am he." In each instance, it is clear and self-evident that these speakers were making ordinary, casual, self-referential claims. Furthermore, there is no indication that others regarded these speakers as having committed blasphemy. Please consider supporting this Podcast ...
Oct 12, 2023•21 min•Ep. 300
This episode examines the meaning of the phrase "I am He" (Greek: "ego eimi") in John chapters 9-21. Within these five instances, four belong to Jesus and one belongs to a blind beggar, which brings some nuance to our study. Is the person who says "I am He" claiming to be the only true God within the Gospel of John? Or are there better answers based on the available evidence and context? This week's episode aims to answer these important questions. Please consider supporting this Podcast and fut...
Oct 05, 2023•24 min•Ep. 299
In John chapter 8, Jesus makes the claim "I am He" four times, with the final claim resulting in the Jews attempting to stone him to death. This week's episode will closely examine the dialogue between Jesus and the Jews in order to better understand what he meant by the claim "I am He" (Greek: ego eimi). Is Jesus claiming in this chapter to be Yahweh, the only true God, or is he claiming to be God's authorized messianic agent, the son of God? Please consider supporting this Podcast and future p...
Sep 28, 2023•37 min•Ep. 298
This week's episode begins looking through all the occurrences of "ego eimi" ("I am He") within the Fourth Gospel, the Gospel according to John. After noting how the narrative regularly distinguishes God and Jesus as two separate beings, we examine the first four instances of "ego eimi," two of which are uttered by John the Baptist and two by Jesus himself. The results indicate that Jesus was not claiming to identify as Yahweh, the only true God. Instead, Jesus' use of "I am He" indicated that h...
Sep 21, 2023•29 min•Ep. 297
In this week's episode, we explore every single occurrence of the phrase "I am he" (Greek: "ego eimi") in the Gospel of Luke in order to see if any of the speakers who utter the phrase are making a claim to be Yahweh, the God of Israel. We also explore the many ways in which the Lukan Jesus is distinguished from God in ways that never suggest that the two figures have collapsed into a single being. Please consider supporting this Podcast and future projects by donating at: https://www.paypal.me/...
Sep 14, 2023•27 min•Ep. 296
This week's episode examines all the instances of people saying "I am He" in the Gospel according to Matthew. We note that Jesus makes this self-declaration (Greek: "ego eimi") twice and each of his disciples also utters the phrase. Do those who say "I am He" mean that they are identifying as Yahweh, the God of Israel? Or is the claim a casual, self-reference that has nothing to do with what God means when he claims the title for himself? This episode breaks down all the data. Please consider su...
Sep 07, 2023•27 min•Ep. 295
This week's episode examines all the occurrences within the Gospel of Mark where Jesus says "I am he" (Greek: "ego eimi"). We begin by examining whether the narrator distinguishes God and Jesus or whether the two are collapsed into a single being. From there, we set each of the instances where the Markan Jesus declares "I am he" in its context in order to see whether he is claiming to be Yahweh, the God of Israel. Please consider supporting this Podcast and future projects by donating at: https:...
Aug 31, 2023•31 min•Ep. 294
What did Jews think of the phrase “I am he” and how was it used in normal, everyday life? This episode lays out the context for upcoming studies of the four NT Gospels by exploring how the phrase “I am he” was understood, both as a self-declaration of Yahweh to be the only true God and as an increasingly casual self-designation in dialogues between learned Jewish rabbis. Please consider supporting this Podcast and future projects by donating at: https://www.paypal.me/10mintruthtalks To view the ...
Aug 24, 2023•30 min•Ep. 293
As we continue our study of Yahweh's famous self-declaration "I am He," we turn to examine the phrase in the Book of Isaiah. This episode will look closely at eight Isaiah passages to better understand what Yahweh means when he repeatedly claims to be "I am He." We also look at how the Jews rendered these Isaiah passages into the Greek of the LXX in order to learn from their translation choices and what they say about God as a single person. Please consider supporting this Podcast and future pro...
Aug 17, 2023•27 min•Ep. 292
What does Yahweh mean when he claims the self-designation "I am he" within the Hebrew Bible? This episode begins a series that aims to explore what the phrase "I am he" means on the lips of Yahweh in order that we might better make sense of what Jesus means when he makes a similar declaration. We examine the first-person reference ("I am he") as well as evidence for the second-person designation ("You are he") before drawing conclusions on the nature of their exclusivity. Please consider support...
Aug 10, 2023•27 min•Ep. 291
In Revelation 1:4-5, we encounter our last attempt at the supposedly-biblical Triune God being referenced in the Bible. However, there is a problem with the designation "seven spirits who are before his throne." While some interpreters desperately argue that this is actually a reference to the Holy Spirit, the evidence suggests that these are seven angels. We examine the Book of Revelation anyways to see what it says about God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Please consider supporting this Podcast ...
Aug 03, 2023•31 min•Ep. 290
Within the small Epistle of Jude, there exists another triadic passage (Jude 1:20-21). However, this passage actually speaks about God, Jesus, and the Spirit--not quite the definition of the triune God eager interpreters often seek. This episode explores what Jude had to say about God, Jesus, and the Spirit. We even briefly touch on the controversial verses like 1:4 and 1:5. Please consider supporting this Podcast and future projects by donating at: https://www.paypal.me/10mintruthtalks To view ...
Jul 27, 2023•24 min•Ep. 289
The opening sentence of 1 Peter mentions the Father, Son, and Spirit together. Is this an implicit declaration of the doctrine of the Trinity or is the Father the God of Jesus? This week's episode explores this triadic statement by placing it in its context to determine what 1 Peter has to say about God, Jesus, and the Spirit. We observe that the Father alone is God, Jesus is the highly exalted human messiah, and the Spirit is God's sanctifying gift to believers. Please consider supporting this ...
Jul 20, 2023•30 min•Ep. 288
Hebrews 9:14 contains another triadic reference to God, Jesus, and the Spirit. Is this evidence of the doctrine of the Trinity? We examine this passage and observe that it actually speaks about Jesus offering himself to the one true God in sacrificial terms, mediated by God's Spirit. We also explore how this triadic passage fit within the theology of the Book of Hebrews as a whole. Please consider supporting this Podcast and future projects by donating at: https://www.paypal.me/10mintruthtalks T...
Jul 13, 2023•30 min•Ep. 287
In this week's episode, we explore the prayer language in Ephesians involving the Father, Son, and Spirit. Is this prayer a subtle reference to the triune God or is the God addressed here the Father alone--the God of Jesus? We explore Ephesians and discover that the latter option is true. Please consider supporting this Podcast and future projects by donating at: https://www.paypal.me/10mintruthtalks To view the notes from this episode please click the link below: https://docs.google.com/documen...
Jul 06, 2023•31 min•Ep. 286
In this week's episode, we explore what Paul means in the triadic mention of God, the Son, and the Spirit in Gal. 4:4-6. Is this a reference to the triune God or is Paul reaffirming his Jewish monotheistic stance? We strive to set Gal. 4:4-6 within the context of the Letter to the Galatians in order to responsibly and charitably interpret what Paul meant for his original readers to understand with his theology and christology. Please consider supporting this Podcast and future projects by donati...
Jun 29, 2023•31 min•Ep. 285
This week's episode explores the triad present in the final verse of 2 Corinthians. Since the triad does not fit the Trinity's own definition of God and the three persons, we explore what Paul has to say about God, Jesus, and the Spirit throughout the epistle in order to set the final verse responsibly in its overall context. Please consider supporting this Podcast and future projects by donating at: https://www.paypal.me/10mintruthtalks To view the notes from this episode please click the link ...
Jun 22, 2023•35 min•Ep. 284
Our study of the triad passages within the New Testament leads us to 1 Cor. 12:4-6, where the Apostle Paul speaks of the same Spirit, the same Lord, and the same God. While some eager interpreters jump on this reference and claim that Paul was teaching the Trinity to the Corinthians, this episode argues that the meaning of the passage is far more nuanced. Paul instead clearly indicates that God is the Father alone, Jesus is the subordinate human son, and the Spirit is the extended presence and p...
Jun 15, 2023•27 min•Ep. 283
As we continue to explore the various "triads" in the New Testament, we come across Romans 15:30 in this week's episode. What does Paul mean with this call to prayer involving God, Jesus, and the Spirit? Is Paul teaching that the Romans should pray to the Triune God or is there something else going on here? This episode explores this triad and aims to set it in its context within the Book of Romans. Please consider supporting this Podcast and future projects by donating at: https://www.paypal.me...
Jun 08, 2023•27 min•Ep. 282
Instead of explaining away or casting doubt on the reference to the Father, Son, and Spirit in Matt. 28:19, why not strive to understand what it does mean? This week's episode begins a new series that aims to explore the triadic formulas in the New Testament, beginning with the Great Commission. We consider that the Gospel of Matthew teaches about God, the Son, and the Spirit before drawing conclusions concerning the triadic reference at the end of the book. Please consider supporting this Podca...
Jun 01, 2023•31 min•Ep. 281
This week's episode surveys six NT authors in order to see what sort of preexistence they attribute to Jesus. Do these authors (the four Evangelists, Paul, 1 Peter) regard Jesus as having existed in the plans and purposes of God? What about preexisting as personified wisdom/word? Can a NT author believe both of these things without contradiction? Is there any evidence that these authors regarded Jesus as having literally preexisted his birth? These are the sort of questions this episode encourag...
May 25, 2023•31 min•Ep. 280
This week's episode explores how Jews described the concept of preexistence. We note that "preexistence" is not a single concept, but rather we observe from several Jewish texts that preexistence can mean three different ideas: preexisting in God's plans, preexisting as a personified attribute (e.g., word and wisdom), and literally preexisting. This study aims to encourage interpreters to think more critically about the way we talk about preexistence, rather than to assume that it only refers to...
May 18, 2023•36 min•Ep. 279
Did Jesus Christ preexist as a rock? In this week's episode, we explain what Paul means in 1 Cor. 10:4 by first identifying the wisdom Christology in his letter. We then turn to place his discussion of the nourishment-giving rock in its Hellenistic Jewish context. Lastly, we charitably interpret the way in which Paul describes Jesus before he was born (i.e., typology). As we come to better understand and grasp Paul's wisdom Christology, we can discern that the attributes and characteristics of G...
May 11, 2023•24 min•Ep. 278
This week's episode gives another listen to our recent debate's closing statements. If you do not have time to listen to the debate in its entirety, my closing statement summarizes what took place, the strengths of our position, the inadequate attempts by our dialogue partners to address our key points, the weaknesses of their position, and a call to the audience to seek the more logical of the two options presented. Please consider supporting this Podcast and future projects by donating at: htt...
May 04, 2023•12 min•Ep. 277
In this week's episode, we listen to the second round of cross-examination from our recent debate on whether Jesus is Yahweh (to which we argued the negative position). My debate partner Will Barlow asked the questions and I took the role of answering the questions offered by the affirmative side. Please consider supporting this Podcast and future projects by donating at: https://www.paypal.me/10mintruthtalks To view the notes from this episode please click the link below: https://docs.google.co...
Apr 27, 2023•22 min•Ep. 276
This week's episode explores the first round of cross-examination questions from our recent debate on whether Jesus is Yahweh. My partner Will took the lead in asking the questions to our two dialogue partners while I took the lead in answering their questions. This is the first of two rounds of cross-examination (round two will be in next week's episode). Please consider supporting this Podcast and future projects by donating at: https://www.paypal.me/10mintruthtalks To view the notes from this...
Apr 21, 2023•22 min•Ep. 275
In this episode, we will listen to the rebuttal round of our recent debate on whether the Bible teaches that Jesus is Yahweh. We argued against the proposition. In addition to hearing both rebuttals (one from each team), I discuss our strategy in organizing our refutation of their opening points. If you listen carefully to their rebuttal, they fail to respond to many of the seven initial points that we demonstrated in our opening statement. Please consider supporting this Podcast and future proj...
Apr 13, 2023•26 min•Ep. 274
Pastor Will Barlow and I recently participated in a live debate on whether the Bible teaches that Jesus is Yahweh. Will and I argued for the negative, while our dialogue partners--Kyle and Samuel--graciously argued for the affirmative. This episode of the Biblical Unitarian Podcast recalls the two opening statements from the debate. Check out the notes of this episode for the transcript of our opening statement (which Will and I wrote together). Next week's episode will feature the rebuttals of ...
Apr 06, 2023•31 min•Ep. 273
In our final episode exploring the messianic expectations set forth in the Hebrew Bible, we dive deep into Micah chapter 5. This passage talks about a coming ruler to be born in Bethlehem in order to shepherd the children of Israel. We explore the origins of this messianic ruler, the ways in which Yahweh empowers this coming king, and the influence of Micah 5 upon the NT authors as they illustrate Jesus' birth and kingly role. Please consider supporting this Podcast and future projects by donati...
Mar 30, 2023•23 min•Ep. 272
As we continue to explore the passages in the Old Testament that shaped the expectation of the Jewish messiah, we come to the Book of Daniel. In this work, the prophet interprets a dream by Nebuchadnezzar regarding a rock that crushes a large statue of kingdoms. This episode will look into how this image of a rock came to be understood by interpreters as the messianic son of God, after which we will look to see if Jesus himself possessed this interpretation in the Gospel of Luke. Please consider...
Mar 23, 2023•29 min•Ep. 271
