Gospel Objections 0: What is the Gospel? | Think Theism
An overview of the good news of the kingdom of God.
This video is from our 2021 Fall lecture series responding to Gospel Objections. Each week, we evaluate a common objection to the core message of Jesus. For more information and resources go to http://rc-tamu.org/gospel-objections
Note: This video has been slightly edited for length and clarity.
DISCLAIMER: Think Theism lectures are supported by Ratio Christi @ Texas A&M, but the opinions represented herein do not necessarily reflect the beliefs or values of Ratio Christi, Inc. nor Texas A&M University. This content is presented to encourage discussion and critical thought about challenging questions. ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ib7R4tzYfco
Recent years have seen a slew of high profile Christians publicly renouncing their faith, deconverting, and/or deconstructing. Unfortunately, many of these "Exvangelicals" have received nasty responses and even many well-meaning people have unintentionally responded offensively. What is the healthy way to approach the issue of deconstruction? What can be learned from these public figures? Do the phenomena of deconstructions and deconversions provide evidence against Christianity?
In this meeting, we discuss excerpts from the deconstructions of Rhett & Link and @Paulogia. The full length sources for these excerpts can be found below.
Rhett's Spiritual Deconstruction: https://youtu.be/1qbna6t1bzw
Link's Spiritual Deconstruction: https://youtu.be/w1AZhlyoD9s
Christians Probe the @Paulogia Deconversion Origin Story: https://youtu.be/h5SYO5mQfkE
Deconstruction Stories Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGoSdaqy-TUIzaHnOy6VAWJ-OIp-K6ZkD
This video is from our 2021 Fall lecture series responding to Gospel Objections. Each week, we evaluate a common objection to the core message of Jesus. For more information and resources go to http://rc-tamu.org/gospel-objections
Note: This video has been slightly edited for length and clarity.
DISCLAIMER: Think Theism lectures are supported by Ratio Christi @ Texas A&M, but the opinions represented herein do not necessarily reflect the beliefs or values of Ratio Christi, Inc. nor Texas A&M University. This content is presented to encourage discussion and critical thought about challenging questions.
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7wCFDVwxK0
This video is from our 2022 Spring lecture series Deconstruction & Reconstruction. For more information and resources go to http://rc-tamu.org/
Note: This video has been slightly edited for length and clarity.
---------------------
DISCLAIMER
---------------------
Think Theism lectures are supported by Ratio Christi @ Texas A&M, but the opinions represented herein do not necessarily reflect the beliefs or values of Ratio Christi, Inc. nor Texas A&M University. This content is presented to encourage discussion and critical thought about challenging questions.
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAr-UOUeGVM
Recorded September 11, 2016
Slides: https://ia601401.us.archive.org/33/items/green-2017-04-04-is-it-rational-to-believe-in-anything-other-than-science/Green-2016-09-11-ProblemofEvil.pdf
Disclaimer: Think Theism is an independent podcast produced in association with Ratio Christi TAMU. The opinions, perspectives, and beliefs expressed in individual episodes are those of the participants only and not necessarily a reflection of Ratio Christi nor Texas A&M University.
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtjrDt1hmE8
Guest speaker Dr. Micah Green provides an overview of the contemporary philosophical problem of miracles and "Hume's Abject Failure".
This video is from our 2021 Spring lecture series covering Natural Theology & the Truth of Christianity. Each week, we evaluate the classical arguments for and against the existence of God and truth of Christianity. For more information go to http://rc-tamu.org/natural-theology
Note: This video has been slightly edited for length and clarity.
DISCLAIMER: Think Theism lectures are supported by Ratio Christi @ Texas A&M, but the opinions represented herein do not necessarily reflect the beliefs or values of Ratio Christi, Inc. nor Central Church BCS nor Texas A&M University. This content is presented to encourage discussion and critical thought about challenging questions.
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhjxyVH8EOA
Zach and Andrew interview Dr. Joshua Swamidass about his new book The Genealogical Adam & Eve which aims to show that a literal Adam & Eve is fully compatible with the contemporary evolutionary account of human origins.
Resources mentioned during or relevant to the episode
* "The Genealogical Adam & Eve" by Joshua Swamidass (2019) https://www.ivpress.com/the-genealogical-adam-and-eve
* Fazale Rana vs. Joshua Swamidass - The Genealogical Adam & Eve - https://youtu.be/I2-STA7n0V0
* TEMPLETON, A. Biological races in humans. Stud Hist Philos Biol Biomed Sci. 2013;44(3):262–271. doi:10.1016/j.shpsc.2013.04.010
* ROHDE, DLT. Modelling the Recent Common Ancestry of All Living Humans.
* HEIN, J. Human Evolution: Pedigrees for All Humanity. Nature 431 (2004): 518–19, https://doi.org/10.1038/431518a;
* DONNELLY, P. Discussion: Recent Common Ancestors of All Present-Day Individuals. Advances in Applied Probability 31 (1999): 1027–35, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0001867800009599;
* CHANG, JT. Reply to Discussants: Recent Common Ancestors of All PresentDay Individuals. Advances in Applied Probability 31 (1999): 1036–38, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0001867800009605.
* LOKE, ATE. Reconciling Evolution and Biblical Literalism: A Proposed Research Program, Theology and Science (2016), 14:2, 160-174, https://doi.org/10.1080/14746700.2016.1156328
Subscribe to the Think Theism podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or thinktheism.org
Disclaimer: Think Theism is an independent podcast produced in association with Ratio Christi TAMU. The opinions, perspectives, and beliefs expressed in individual episodes are those of the participants only and not necessarily a reflection of Ratio Christi nor Texas A&M University.
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKZxPXiF9rA
This video is from our 2023 Spring lecture series. For more information and resources go to thinktheism.org
---------------------
DISCLAIMER
---------------------
Think Theism lectures are supported by Ratio Christi @ Texas A&M, but the opinions represented herein do not necessarily reflect the beliefs or values of Ratio Christi, Inc. nor Texas A&M University. This content is presented to encourage discussion and critical thought about challenging questions.
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrVv9HUcNU8
This video is from our 2022 Spring lecture series Deconstruction & Reconstruction. For more information and resources go to http://rc-tamu.org/
Note: This video has been slightly edited for length and clarity.
---------------------
Timestamps
---------------------
0:00 Disclaimer
0:23 Introduction + Veritas Forum: tx.ag/Veritas22
1:43 What is "deconstruction"?
6:40 What is "Pentecostalism"?
12:03 Baby Zach
12:45 Round 1: Does me speaking in tongues prove Christianity?
15:13 Round 2: Could I be faking my tongues?
23:01 Round 3: Does tongues+interpretation prove Christianity?
29:30 Round 4: Is there evidence tongues+interpretation is non-divine?
32:55 Why didn't I spiral into atheism?
40:37 The Road Out + Recommended Resources
44:10 Q&A: "Is your current church boring compared to the UPCI?"
46:57 Q&A: "Did you get rebaptized?"
48:05 Q&A: "What is the difference between Presbyterian and Reformed Baptist?"
49:04 Q&A: "What's the deal with baptizing babies?"
50:30 Q&A: "Why didn't you leave the UPCI as soon as you thought your tongues were fake?"
52:21 Q&A: "Did you have a rift with your family?"
53:00 Jesus loves all his children and will draw them home to him in time (John 6:44).
---------------------
Recommended Resources
---------------------
*Oneness Pentecostalism*
- "What Are Oneness Pentecostals?" (Ready to Harvest): https://youtu.be/3HHKwl9ZoL0
- "Oneness Pentecostals and the Trinity" by Greg Boyd: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0801010195
- "Oneness of God" by David K. Bernard: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00307SA0W/
*Grounding Your Faith in the Essentials*
- "Warranted Christian Belief" by Alvin Plantinga: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0059EQ4DY
- "Reasonable Faith" by William Lane Craig: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00G5M1BFK
- "The Resurrection of Jesus" by Michael Licona: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005LUJDNE
*Knowing the Landscape of Secondary Issues*
- "A Flexible Faith" by Bonnie Kristian: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075CT7ZP7
- "Across the Spectrum" ed. Greg Boyd & Paul Eddy: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008BLTV28
- "Evangelical Faith and the Challenge of Historical Criticism" ed. Chris Hays & Chris Ansberry: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0801049385
---------------------
Additional Commentary from Zach
---------------------
If you are currently Oneness or former Oneness or questioning Oneness, please leave a comment with your story or reach out to me privately at zacharytlawson+pentecostal [at] gmail [dot] com.
Like I said at 6:18, my goal was not to provide a decisive refutation of Oneness theology. Rather the purpose was to retrace my steps in the first part of an ongoing spiritual journey. The arguments that persuaded me back then are not going to be persuasive to everyone nor are they the strongest arguments against Oneness doctrines. In particular, introspecting on my experience speaking in tongues is a necessarily subjective process that bears no evidential weight for anyone other than me. Some Pentecostals have the opposite experience, desperately trying to speak in tongues but never succeeding.
Per request, one of the strongest lines of argument against Oneness, in my current estimation, is the evidence of divine plurality in the Hebrew Bible (aka Old Testament) that culminated in the "Two Powers in Heaven" controversy during the Second Temple period. Classic Biblical texts include the "second YHWH" of Genesis 19:24, the "Son of Man" of Daniel 7, and the equation of Jesus with the Angel of YHWH who delivered the Hebrews from Egypt (Judges 2:1-4 // Jude 5). Recent research into so-called "Jewish Binitarianism" has revealed strains of Jewish theology as early as 200 B.C./B.C.E. that interpreted these (and other) Biblical texts to be distinct persons of the one God YHWH; moreover, that this "binitarian" view may have been the dominant theology of Jesus's time (c.f. "Two Powers in Heaven" (1977) by Segal, "Border Lines" (2006) by Boyarin). This is a strong refutation of the common retort from Oneness apologists "why didn't the Jews think of the Trinity?". Such a retort is predicated on equating "Judaism" with Rabbinic theology that wasn't developed until well into the 400s A.D./C.E, centuries after the "Two Powers" language was appropriated by Christians to identify Jesus as the "second YHWH". While this does not, on its own, demonstrate the truth of Nicene orthodoxy, it is powerful Biblical evidence against modalism. For more on this, see below
"Three Persons, Two Powers, One God" - Zachary Lawson: https://youtu.be/j3fZWNUrN20?t=1678
"Two Powers of the Godhead" - Michael Heiser: https://youtu.be/CUkhWBKCuXc
---------------------
DISCLAIMER
---------------------
Think Theism lectures are supported by Ratio Christi @ Texas A&M, but the opinions represented herein do not necessarily reflect the beliefs or values of Ratio Christi, Inc. nor Texas A&M University. This content is presented to encourage discussion and critical thought about challenging questions.
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhAZRHqP2T0
This video is from our 2022 Fall lecture series. For more information and resources go to thinktheism.org
Note: This video has been slightly edited for length and clarity.
---------------------
DISCLAIMER
---------------------
Think Theism lectures are supported by Ratio Christi @ Texas A&M, but the opinions represented herein do not necessarily reflect the beliefs or values of Ratio Christi, Inc. nor Texas A&M University. This content is presented to encourage discussion and critical thought about challenging questions.
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQrAxkDIlnk