When you’re from a trinitarian Christian tradition , whether or not a doctrine of the Trinity is really in the Bible is more than an intellectual question. For one thing, there is the fear: am I angering God by asking these questions? And another huge factor is the peer pressure : it’s part of catholic traditions to harshly exclude, with little to no discussion, people who will not pay lip service to “the doctrine of the Trinity.” On the other hand, there are Christians who’ve always had the ble...
Mar 10, 2025•52 min
In this second part ( part 1 here ) I interact with the rest of this discussion between Dr. Sean McDowell and Dr. Fred Sanders. I do register some significant agreements with them, but on the whole, my criticism from last time stands: their apologetic defense of “the doctrine of the Trinity” is not anywhere near sufficient to rebut or refute the arguments presented by today’s unitarian Christians. I also explain some historical problems with various things they’re saying. Detailed knowledge of e...
Feb 22, 2025•1 hr 14 min
In this episode I, a Biola University alum (B.A., Philosophy) interact with this video by two current Biola University professors , Dr. Fred Sanders , and Dr. Sean McDowell . Their goals are to show that the doctrine of the Trinity is coherent (not self-contradictory) and that it fits well with Scripture. Issues they discuss include: What about the fact that the word “Trinity” is not in the Bible? Does the Old Testament support the doctrine of the Trinity? If the Father eternally generates the S...
Feb 17, 2025•1 hr 19 min
In this second part (first part here ) we hear the rest of this podcast by Cold Case Christianity apologist and former cold case detective J. Warner Wallace. In this part he tries to define “the doctrine of the Trinity” by quoting a portion of the so-called “Athanasian Creed.” He then argues that this doctrine is necessary for understanding the atonement, and gives his version of the philosophical argument that God could not be a single someone because then he would fail to be perfect in love. I...
Jan 31, 2025
In this and the next episode I engage with an episode by Cold Case Christianity apologist J. Warner Wallace called “ Why is the Trinity an Essential Doctrine? “ (Also here . Alternate title: “ Is the Trinity Contradictory? “) We first hear him explain how crime-solving police detectives reason using Inference to the Best Explanation , or what some call abductive reasoning. This is an approach I endorse; among other places I have made use of it here and here and here . But as you’ll hear, Mr. Wal...
Jan 22, 2025•1 hr 3 min
In this episode you’ll hear my presentation from the October 2024 UCA Conference in Little Rock, Arkansas . In it I explain the theological landscape from the late 100s through the early 200s using the words of some writers in that era: the author of the Refutation of All Heresies (attributed by some to Hippolytus), Theodotus of Byzantium (as quoted by Epiphanius), Noetus of Smyrna and Zephyrinus (as reported in the Refutation ). I discuss gnostic “possessionist” Christologies, Dynamic Monarchia...
Dec 23, 2024•1 hr 8 min
At the start of this episode I have a very important announcement! Then you’ll hear day 2 – November 24, 2024 – of pastor Sean Finnegan and I fielding church history questions for New Zealand conference attendees. Topics include: the only really trinitarian-sounding text in the New Testament ( Matthew 28:19 ), the formation of the biblical canon , some ancient books which are not in any current-day Christian canon, books in the Catholic and Orthodox Bible but not in the Protestant ones, why some...
Dec 15, 2024•1 hr 2 min
This episode is a live Q&A session from the first ever UCA Conference in New Zealand , held in a beautiful lakeside conference center in Cambridge. The venue was a 15-minute walk from where I stayed. The view from there was this! Topics discussed include: unitarians throughout church history, Eusebius of Caesarea and his Church History , Theodotus of Byzantium, Artemon, Paul of Samosata, Photinus of Sirmium, the biblical canon in the early church , Athanasius, Arius and the so-called “Arian”...
Dec 06, 2024•1 hr 7 min
In videos like this one and this one , trinitarian apologists continue to push false narratives about the history of mainstream Christian theologies, like these (ordered from least to most plausible): In this historical presentation, focusing on passages from Tertullian, Origen, and Novatian , I explain the actual early history of mainstream Christian theologies. Each of these three authors is a logos theorist , and I explain how they think God and the Logos (aka “the second god”) differ. “Subor...
Aug 15, 2024•1 hr 11 min
To understand a book as its author intended, you don’t look to its future, but rather to its past. What has this author read , and what could he presuppose his audience to have read? These other pieces of literature are like tools in the author’s hands. The biblical book of Proverbs famously features a vivid personification, Lady Wisdom . She pleads with people to seek and find her, and she even appears alongside God when he is creating. As Dr. Dustin Smith explains, this character appears in a ...
May 17, 2024•59 min
Working through the arguments with an assist from AI.
Mar 23, 2024•1 hr 7 min
Mutual interrogations, closing statements, and audio Q&A. In your view, which side won?
Mar 16, 2024•53 min
A new debate: opening statements and rebuttals.
Mar 14, 2024•1 hr 16 min
Some responses and a debate challenge.
Feb 19, 2024•53 min
Not all engagement is good engagement.
Feb 17, 2024•56 min
Q & A time, forgiving sins, Cerberus, and some answers critiqued.
Dec 24, 2023•1 hr 1 min
Is it true that most ancients lacked the concept of numerical identity?
Dec 05, 2023•1 hr 22 min
Four authors summarize their views on the Trinity.
Nov 29, 2023•1 hr 8 min
Is the New Testament Jesus "divine," and is he supposed to have two natures?
Oct 09, 2023•1 hr 12 min
Exploring a new argument against any sort of catholic Trinity theory.
Sep 26, 2023•1 hr 6 min
Can a "mere" human being represent God on the earth? What does the Bible say?
Sep 04, 2023•1 hr
Understanding "the plural of majesty" in the Hebrew Bible.
Aug 12, 2023•58 min
Cross-examinations, closing statements, and audience Q&A - with post-debate links.
Jul 03, 2023•1 hr 26 min
A helpful two-on-two debate from April 2023: opening statements and rebuttals.
Jun 20, 2023•57 min
How can debating serve the cause of unitarian Christianity?
Jun 06, 2023•44 min
Evaluating three proposed reasons why God would be motivated to incarnate.
Apr 26, 2023•57 min
A deep dive on divine attributes, processions, and "social" trinitarianism.
Apr 13, 2023•1 hr 5 min
What is "mere" social trinitarianism, and why is it controversial among trinitarian theologians?
Apr 04, 2023•51 min
Is it the foundational commitment of biblical unitarians that Scripture must be inoffensive to human reason?
Feb 22, 2023•58 min
Basic questions answered, and a bit of history.
Jan 31, 2023•36 min
