Christian Monotheism Podcast

Orthodoxy tells us that we have to believe a "trinity" to be Christians. But why isn't this triune teaching obvious anywhere in scripture? Who or what did Jesus and his fellow Jews worship? In today's message, you may be surprised to find the simple the truth when we let scripture speak for itself.

There have been many centuries of Hellenistic constraints on Christianity, and many councils and creeds since the days of the early apostles. But exactly what did the early followers of Jesus believe? Though most "orthodox" Christians believe in a trinity, was that concept really taught and believed in the early church? What about the "Shema?" What about the simple unity of God? Is our basis of belief on the word of God, or has it been formulated throughout the history of the church? In today's message, we examine the one God of the Hebrew scriptures and what the early church professed about their God and his Son. Mark 12:28-34; Deuteronomy 6:4; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Ephesians 4:6; 1 Timothy 2:5; Isaiah 44:6; 2 Timothy 3:16

"Servetus the Evangelical" is the pseudonym for an evangelical scholar who recently published a book called The Restitution of Jesus Christ in which he describes who God and Jesus are from a biblical unitarian perspective including exegesis of several texts typically used to teach that Jesus is God (i.e. John 1.1; 20.28; etc.). Though he has been a Bible-believing evangelical all his adult life he began to question the doctrine of the Trinity when he couldn't make sense of certain Scriptures within a trinitarian mindset. In particular Matthew 24.36 (also Mark 13.32) convinced him that Jesus was not omniscient since he confessed that he did not know when he would return. Texts like this began "Servetus" on a quest for truth which ended in his confession of the historic creed of the people of God that Yahweh alone is God (Deut. 6.4; Mark 12.29) and that Jesus is the human Messiah divinely begotten by God via the Holy Spirit. "Servetus" has a website at which many articles... To read the rest of the description visit http://www.christianmonotheism.com/php/media_center/media_displayer.php?mode=display_one#38;data=294

George Littler has been leading a home Bible fellowship for the past 30 years in Poughkeepsie, New York. As a child he attended the local Catholic church but never really connected with God so that by the age of 13 he quit going. Subsequent to this and throughout his troubled twenties he considered himself an anti-theist (someone who believed in God but was mad at him). Not until a Christian shared the faith with him in an apartment bathroom during a party did George finally come to the place of accepting Jesus as his Lord and Savior. Listen in to this conversation to hear not only a riveting story of how God in his love pursued George throughout his early tumultuous years, but also how he was saved apart from believing in the Trinity or other complex doctrines which made little sense to a street-smart New Yorker. His engaging tone, sense of humor, and poignant ability to state the logical make for an insightful and memorable discussion.

Danny Dixon is a graduate of Abilene Christian University (1981: B.A. In Biblical Studies, New Testament emphasis; 1984: M.A. in Bible and Related Studies, stressing New Testament text). He has served churches as a Youth Minister in Nevada, Kansas, and California. He has also served as a Campus Evangelist with churches in discipleship ministries with students at Virginia Tech, UCLA, and USC in Los Angeles. In May of 2009 he graduated with a Master of Education in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages from Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Arizona. As a minister Danny was sent a copy of Anthony Buzzard's The Doctrine of the Trinity: Christianity's Self-Inflicted Wound and as a result began to question whether or not the doctrine of the Trinity was biblical. He was surprised when two of the elders at the church where he served adamantly discouraged him from even investigating this subject. Nevertheless, the other two elders supported him and Danny pressed on to... To read the rest of the description visit http://www.christianmonotheism.com/php/media_center/media_displayer.php?mode=display_one#38;data=292

Patrick Navas has been a Bible student for the last fourteen years--ever since one of the Gideons handed him a free pocket New Testament and he was gripped by John 3.16. In his quest to understand Christianity he quickly learned that there were quite a few differences between various groups which all claimed to have the truth. This propelled Patrick into long years of study as he researched the biggest question of all--who is God? The result of that work was his 2006 book titled Divine Truth or Human Tradition?: A Reconsideration of the Roman Catholic-Protestant Doctrine of the Trinity in Light of the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures. His book not only lays out the clear biblical teaching about God, but it also interacts with top trinitarian defenders such as Dr. James R. White, John MacArthur, Dr. Wayne Grudem, Robert Bowman Jr., Dr. Robert Morey, Dr. R. C. Sproul, and others. Patrick defends his position with cogency and humility as he enumerates the reasons why the Trinity... To read the rest of the description visit http://www.christianmonotheism.com/php/media_center/media_displayer.php?mode=display_one#38;data=291

Nathan Crowder of Schenectady, NY, has bachelor degrees from the University of Florida in Political Science and Zion Bible Institute in Theology and Pastoral Ministry. Throughout his Christian life he has diligently searched to discover biblical truth. This quest began when he discovered that the Bible taught that the destination of the redeemed was the kingdom of God on earth in fulfillment of the promises made by God to Abraham and David. He was surprised to learn while at Bible College that they did not teach this simple truth but instead ascribed to the mythological view that at death righteous souls escape the body to go to heaven. This first discovery prompted more investigation and more skepticism in regard to other teachings commonly accepted in mainstream Christianity. As time went on, Nathan came to see that the phrase "Son of God" in the Bible did not in any way imply deity, but rather this was a title for the Messiah. He learned that the Hebrew concept of Messiah... To read the rest of the description visit http://www.christianmonotheism.com/php/media_center/media_displayer.php?mode=display_one#38;data=290

During over three decades of ministry, Tennessee pastor J. Dan Gill has observed a tendency within evangelicalism to preach the gospel without telling people about the doctrine of the Trinity. In fact, large crusades that Billy Graham preaches at do not inform people about these matters at all. Is this modern tendency good news or bad news? Some, in their zeal to uphold their church's traditions have declared that those who do not believe in the doctrine of the Trinity or the dual natures of Christ are not Christians. Who is right? In his authentic and endearing southern style, pastor Gill brings us to the Scriptures, especially the book of Acts, in order to decipher an answer based on the evangelism of the first Christians. In the end, Dan assures us that we are not stuck between loosing our mind or loosing our soul as the famous quip has it: "If you try to understand the Trinity, you lose your mind; if you don't believe in it, you lose your soul"

Alex Hall of London tells the story of how the church vacillated between Arius and Athanasius during the fourth century. By focusing on the dueling councils during that period (a.d. 318-381) Alex paints a picture, which, although disturbing to those of us who would like to think that such matters as the deity of Christ were always clear, accurately describes how politics heavily influenced the development of theology during that time. A good deal of Alex's work was influenced by When Jesus Became God by Richard Rubenstein. If this conversation has piqued your interest in this subject I highly recommend reading Rubenstein's book as it fills out the details in a readable manner. Alex's conclusion is that we should not trust either side since both used ungodly means to achieve their goal of winning the debate, rather, we should practice the Berean exercise of searching the Scriptures to see whether these things are so (Acts 17.11).

Alex Hall of London, UK, describes with gusto and detail how the early Christian movement shifted away from the Hebrew mindset as it was persecuted in its native land and driven out into the Greco-Roman world. Alex bases his commentary on volume one of the German church historian Adolf Harnack's tome called History of Dogma. (Accessible online at ccel.org) Listen in as Alex discusses the major reasons why Christianity began to shift its thinking towards Greek philosophy and how important it is that we be informed about this great shift.

Brian Kelly has been studying the Bible for over three decades and leads a home fellowship in Syracuse, NY. On this show he talks about the importance of the core creed of the Bible: the Shema. The word "Shema" means "Hear" or "Listen up" and it is the shorthand way of referring to Deuteronomy 6.4-5. "Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might." When a Jewish scribe asked Jesus what the foremost commandment was, Jesus immediately quoted this text. This tells us that the God Jesus worshiped is the same as the God of Moses and the Old Testament. In this show, Brian leads us to consider the two parts to the Shema. (1) To recognize that Yahweh alone is our single God (2) to love this God with everything (holding nothing back). Download this file to learn more about biblical monotheism and how to avoid the pitfalls of ancient Israel's idolatry.

Ray Faircloth was a Jehovah's Witness (JW) for 36 years and served as both a ministerial servant and as an elder. Over his lengthy sojourn among the JWs, he sometimes came across doctrinal issues which he quietly logged in the back of his mind. He also noticed that the Watchtower Society (the organization name of the JWs) was increasing its control over the people. He observed that more and more in meetings loyalty to God's organization was being emphasized whereas loyalty to Jesus was not really talked about. Listen in to this show to hear the insider perspective of a committed Jehovah's Witness, who never wanted to leave the fold, but who God led to see that the most fundamental doctrine of the Watchtower--that it was God's one true organization--was baseless. Ray has suffered greatly, and two of his three daughters no longer speak to him (JWs practice an extreme form of shunning). If you would like to contact Ray, especially if you have questions related to... To read the rest of the description visit http://www.christianmonotheism.com/php/media_center/media_displayer.php?mode=display_one#38;data=285

Patrick Navas, author of Divine Truth or Human Tradition defends the notion that the Father of Jesus is the only true God. Brian Garcia, former Jehovah's Witness apologist and now Christian apologist, defends the classic doctrine of the Trinity. The show is hosted by Rick Fearon, moderator of the forum In Search of Truth from the website SixScreensOfTheWatchtower.com (a ministry focused on Jehovah's Witnesses and ex-JWs). Although the conversation degrades with time as others call in, the beginning portions of the show are well worth their time to hear both sides of the discussion.

A detailed exegesis of Isaiah 9.6 in light of its immediate context. Is Jesus prophesied to be the mighty God or is he being spoken of as the mighty God's supreme representative?

A study of the origin of Jesus from Matthew and Luke reveals that Jesus is originated as a human being in the womb of his mother via the miracle of the holy spirit.