Restitutio Sean P Finnegan

This is part 11 of the Read the Bible For Yourself.
The Gospels are evangelistic biographies of Jesus. In today's episode you'll learn the basic storyline of the four biblical Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Then we'll go through them from shortest to longest to see how each brings a unique and helpful perspective in telling the life of Christ. We'll also hit some important concepts like the kingdom of God, parables, and the word of God. Lastly, we'll ask about application. How can you figure out which sayings of Christ apply to you today and which ones do not?
Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts
https://youtu.be/0iHhidbL4e8?si=3rs4fGGtQjsJAObB
—— Links ——

See other episodes in Read the Bible For Yourself
Other classes are available here, including How We Got the Bible, which explores the manuscript transmission and translation of the Bible
Get the transcript of this episode
Support Restitutio by donating here
Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF
Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air
Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library.
Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read his bio here

—— Notes ——
The Four Gospels

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John
Gospel = good news
The Gospels are biographies about Jesus which seek to convince readers about the good news that he is the Messiah.

Basic Storyline of the Gospels

Birth narratives
John’s ministry
John baptizes Jesus.
Jesus calls the twelve.
Teachings of Jesus
Miracles of Jesus
Conflict with critics
Triumphal entry
Intensified conflict
Last supper
Arrest, trial, execution
Resurrection appearances
Great commission

Mark (11,305 words)

Papias: “And the elder used to say this: ‘Mark, having become Peter’s interpreter, wrote down accurately everything he remembered, though not in order, of the things either said or done by Christ. For he neither heard the Lord nor followed him, but afterward, as I said, followed Peter, who adapted his teachings as needed but had no intention of giving an ordered account of the Lord’s sayings. Consequently Mark did nothing wrong in writing down some things as he remembered them, for he made it his one concern not to omit anything that he heard or to make any false statement in them.’”[1]

John (15,633 words)

Purpose statement: John 20:30-3130 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

Matthew (18,348 words)

Five blocks of teaching

5-7 Sermon on the Mount
10 Missionary Instruction
13 Parables of the Kingdom
18 Discourse on the Church
24-25 Olivet Discourse



Luke (19,483 words)

Luke’s method: Luke 1:1-41 Since many have undertaken to compile a narrative about the events that have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as they were handed on to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, 3 I, too, decided, as one having a grasp of everything from the start, to write a well-ordered account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 so that you may have a firm grasp of the words in which you have been instructed.
Luke’s historical precision: Luke 3:1-21 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, 2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.

The Synoptic Gospels

Matthew, Mark, and Luke
Matthew and Luke quote Mark extensively.
Both quote another source of sayings as well.
Still, much of

This is part 10 of the Read the Bible For Yourself.
We've taken our time working through the Old Testament, section by section. Before we tackle the New Testament and look at the Gospels, we need to talk about the time between the Old and New Testaments. In the gap of roughly four hundred years, massive political and cultural changes occurred. Nowhere in the Old Testament do we see anything about the Romans, Pharisees, Sadducees, or the Sanhedrin. In today's episode I'll catch you up on what happened after the OT and before the NT so you can better understand the world in which Jesus functioned.
Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3humYIVYho&list=PLN9jFDsS3QV2TrdUEDtAipF3jy4qYspM_&index=10
—— Links ——

See other episodes in Read the Bible For Yourself
Other classes are available here, including How We Got the Bible, which explores the manuscript transmission and translation of the Bible
Get the transcript of this episode
Support Restitutio by donating here
Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF
Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air
Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library.
Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read his bio here

—— Notes ——
Recent History

Persians: Cyrus the Great
Greeks: Alexander the Great, Antiochus Epiphanes
Hellenization (2 Maccabees 4.7, 10-15; 1 Maccabees 1.41-53)
Maccabean Revolution: Mattathias, Judah the Maccabee, Jonathan Apphus, Simon Thassi, John Hyrcanus, Aristobulus I, Alexander Jannaeus, Salome Alexandra, Hyrcanus II, Aristobulus II
Romans: Pompey the Great annexed Judea in 63bc
Herodian Dynasty: Herod the Great and his descendants

Geographical and Political Setting

Roman Empire: Augustus (27bc-ad14), Tiberius (14-37), Caligula (37-41), Claudius (41-54), Nero (54-68)
Provinces: every region outside of Italy
Galilee: Herod the Great (37-4bc), Herod Antipas (4bc-ad39), Herod Agrippa I (37-44)
Judea: Herod the Great (37-4bc), Herod Archelaus (4bc-ad6), Coponius (6-9), Marcus Ambivulus (9-12), Annius Rufus (12-15), Valerius Gratus (15-26), Pontius Pilate (26-36), Marcellus (36-37), Marullus (37-41), Herod Agrippa I (41-44)
Samaria: under Judean jurisdiction; Samaritans and Jews conflicted with each other

Jewish Groups

Sadducees

controlled the temple
partners with Roman governors
wealthy aristocrats
chief priests were the leaders
only accepted the Torah as scripture
didn’t believe in resurrection or angels


Pharisees

focused on obedience to Torah
accepted the law (Torah), prophets (Nevi’im), and writings (Kethuvim)
oral tradition & fence laws
not in power at the time of Jesus, except those in the Sanhedrin


Sanhedrin

Romans established 5 councils over 5 districts
most important council was in Jerusalem
had temple police at their disposal to arrest people
could meet out punishments except capital punishment, which was reserved for the Roman governor


Scribes

every group had scribes
even Paul used scribes to write his letters (Tertius in Rom 16.22)
writing was a skill
copy scripture to preserve it
called lawyers or experts in the law


Revolutionaries

wanted to overthrow Roman occupation
Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews23 “But of the fourth sect of Jewish philosophy, Judas the Galilean was the author. These men agree in all other things with the Pharisaic notions; but they have an inviolable attachment to liberty; and say that God is to be their only Ruler and Lord. They also do not value dying any kind of death, nor indeed do they heed the deaths of their relations and friends, nor can any such fear make them call any man Lord”


John’s Renewal Movement

called people to repent
baptized them in the Jordan River
possible connection with the Essenes



Importa

This is part 9 of the Read the Bible For Yourself.
The 17 books of the prophets comprise 27% of the Old Testament. Although some parts can be difficult to comprehend, they reveal the heart of God with raw pathos and brutal honesty. To read the prophets, then, is to draw near to God. No other section of scripture so beautifully and tragically reveals God's feelings. In this episode you'll learn about the major time periods, how to read the prophets within their context, and some of the major themes. As always, this brief survey should help you read and understand the bible for yourself.
Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nOkfIUxJJw&list=PLN9jFDsS3QV2TrdUEDtAipF3jy4qYspM_&index=9
—— Links ——

See other episodes in Read the Bible For Yourself
Other classes are available here, including How We Got the Bible, which explores the manuscript transmission and translation of the Bible
Get the transcript of this episode
Support Restitutio by donating here
Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF
Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air
Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library.
Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read his bio here

—— Notes ——
Canonical Arrangement

5 Major Prophets


Isaiah
Jeremiah
Lamentations
Ezekiel
Daniel


12 Minor Prophets


Hosea
Joel
Amos
Obadiah
Jonah
Micah
Nahum
Habakkuk
Zephaniah
Haggai
Zechariah
Malachi

Chronological Arrangement

early pre-exilic: Amos, Hosea, Jonah, Micah, Isaiah
late pre-exilic: Nahum, Zephaniah, Obadiah, Joel, Habakkuk, Jeremiah
exilic: Ezekiel, Daniel
post-exilic: Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi

Setting

The historical context is helpful
In Jer 1.1-3, Jeremiah prophecies during the last days of the kingdom. He’s the last chance for the people to repent. Since they go into exile anyhow, it’s easy to anticipate that the people will not respond to Jeremiah.

The Prophet

God calls prophets into his service (Jer 1.4-6)
oftentimes, the prophet has access to the king and speaks to him
competition with false prophets (Jer 28.1-3, 15-17)

Acting out prophecies

Ezekiel

built a model of Jerusalem and acted out a siege against it (Ezek 4.1-3)
lay on his side for 390 days (Ezek 4.4-5)
cooked his food over animal excrement (Ezek 4.12, 14-15)


Jeremiah

shattered a piece of pottery (Jer 19.10-11)
wore an oxen yoke around (Jer 27.2)
bought a property while city is under siege (Jer 32.24-25)


Isaiah

walked barefoot and naked for 3 years (Is 20.2-4)


Hosea

married an unfaithful prostitute to illustrate God’s relationship w/ Israel who kept cheating on him with idols (Hos 1.2)



Preaching to the People

fidelity to the Torah, the covenant
justice in business dealings and courts
take care of the vulnerable quartet (Jer 22.11-16)
practice moral and ritual aspects of religion (Jer 7.4-10)
avoid fake righteousness and hypocrisy (Jer 9.8)
do not worship idols (Jer 7.16-18)

Prophesies of the Future

near judgment or restoration

judgment upon nations (Edom, Egypt, Syria, etc.)
use Assyrians/Babylonians to judge Israel/Judah
return to the land and enjoy covenant blessings
be faithful or lose the land again


eschatological judgment and restoration

a Davidic king will rule wisely and execute justice
healing for the lame, deaf, blind, etc.
healing for the land, especially the deserts
abundance and prosperity
peace among the nations
no need for militaries or even training for war
peace among the animals
elimination of death itself



Prophets Reveal God’s Heart

God is a lover
prophets express God’s emotions
lots of colorful language
God provides hope for the remnant

Review

The prophets make up a huge portion of the Old Testament (17 book

This is part 8 of the Read the Bible For Yourself.
The Book of Psalms is an eclectic collection of poetry that you can use to connect to God. In today's episode you'll learn about the different kinds of psalms, who wrote them, and how Hebrew poetry works. The goal, as always, is to equip you to read and understand on your own. Whether you've been reading the Psalms for years or are brand new to them, this episode should empower you to get more out of them than ever before. Also, I conclude by recommending a method of reading, called Lectio Divina, which you can use to meditate on the Psalms.
Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2lJMxFR7n4
—— Links ——

Check out All 150 Psalms Categorized
See other episodes in Read the Bible For Yourself
Other classes are available here, including How We Got the Bible, which explores the manuscript transmission and translation of the Bible
Get the transcript of this episode
Support Restitutio by donating here
Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF
Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air
Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library.
Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read his bio here

—— Notes ——
Basic Facts

Phenomenal for devotional reading, emotional connection
150 total psalms
Called psalms, not chapters (Psalm 50:4 not Psalms 50:4)
Authors: David (73), Asaph (12), Sons of Korah (11), Heman the Ezrahite (1), Ethan the Ezrahite (1), Moses (1), Solomon (2), Anonymous (49)
Book 1: 1-41
Book 2: 42-72
Book 3: 73-89
Book 4: 90-106
Book 5: 107-150
David reassigned the Levites to develop a music ministry to worship God (1 Chron 16:4-6, 41-42).

Chesed

כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ (1 Chron 16:41) for his chesed (is) forever.
הוֹדוּ לַיהוָה כִּי־טוּב כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ (Ps 118:1) O give thanks to Yahweh for (he is) good for his chesed (is) forever.
chesed is an extremely important word in the Psalms.
“EVV [English versions] translate chesed by expressions such as ‘steadfast love’ and ‘constant love.’  It is sometimes described as covenant love, though in the OT it rarely appears in the company of the word ‘covenant.’  It is used in two connections: when someone makes an act of commitment for which there is no reason in terms of prior relationship, and when someone keeps their commitment when they might be expected to abandon it (e.g., because the other person has done so).  It is the Hebrew equivalent to the Greek agape.”[1]

Walter Brueggemann’s Three Kinds of Psalms

Orientation: celebrate order in creation and in morality (Psalm 8)
Disorientation: complaints about injustice and God’s inactivity (Psalm 88)
Reorientation: renewed sense of trust; thanksgiving for deliverance (Psalm 30)


The psalms nicely compliment the various types of wisdom literature we covered last time.

14 Types of Psalms
 

Praise Psalms
Historical Psalms
Torah Psalms
Creation Psalms
Royal Psalms
Enthronement Psalms
Wisdom Psalms
Prophecy Psalms
Trust Psalms
Petition Psalms
Complaint Psalms
Repentance Psalms
Imprecatory Psalms
Thanksgiving Psalms

 
Hebrew Poetry

Word play
Acrostic psalms
Thought rhyming instead of word rhyming
Synonymous parallelism
Antithetical parallelism
Synthetic parallelism

Transliterated Terms

Selah (71x) may mean a pause (perhaps for a musical interlude).
Maskil (13x), miktam (6x), gittith (3x), alamoth (1x), higgaion (1x), and shiggaion (1x) were probably musical instructions of some sort.

Lectio Divina (Divine Reading)

First reading

Read the psalm or a section of it twice.
Pause to reflect on what you read.


Second reading

Read text once.
Look for a verse or phrase that sticks out to you.
Pause and reflect on that phrase turning it over in your mind


Third

As the dust continues to settle from last week's debate between Dale Tuggy and James White, reviewers are coalescing on a rather exciting conclusion. Tuggy handedly won the debate! Rumor has it that James White has even requested a rematch! We'll have to wait and see if anything happens on that front, but requesting a rematch is not something the winner typically does.
In today's episode, I bring on Dr. Dustin Smith of the biblical unitarian podcast to respond to James White's arguments, not only in his opening statement, but also in his rebuttal, cross-examination time, and conclusion. Yes, he introduced new arguments in every single phase of the debate. One wonders why he didn't respond to any of Tuggy's arguments. Let's see what Dustin Smith has to say.
Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts
—— Links ——

Watch the original debate between Dale Tuggy and James White
Check out Dale Tuggy's review of the debate
See Sean Finnegan's paper and video presentation "The Deity of Christ from a Greco-Roman Perspective"
See the video responses of Dustin Smith on Hebrews 1.10-12, Sean Finnegan on 1 Peter 3.15, Jerry Wierwille on Philippians 2.6-11, and William Barlow on John 12.41
Get the transcript of this episode
Support Restitutio by donating here
Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF
Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air
Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library.
Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read his bio here

We're taking a break this week from our class on Reading the Bible for Yourself. By the way, did you know that there's a separate podcast just for classes without any interruptions like this? You can find it if you search your podcast app for Restitutio Classes. Anyhow, I had an opportunity to speak with Dr. Dale Tuggy about his recent debate with Dr. James White and wanted to share that conversation with you now rather than waiting until the end of this class.
On March 9, 2024 in Houston Texas at the First Lutheran Church, Dale Tuggy debated James White on the question, "Is Jesus Yahweh?" White affirmed and Tuggy denied. Just to give you a little background on these two scholars, James White is a professor of Apologetics at Grace Bible Theological Seminary and has a bachelors from Grand Canyon University, a masters from Fuller Theological Seminary, and a doctorate of ministry from Columbia Evangelical Seminary. He has participated in over 180 public moderated debates and has written the book The Forgotten Trinity in which he presented his case that the Trinity is biblical. Dale Tuggy is an Analytic Theologian who has a bachelors from BIOLA, a masters from Claremont School of Theology, and a Ph.D. from Brown University. He's the chair of the Unitarian Christian Alliance and the author of What Is the Trinity?, which explains the major Trinity theories and the problems each faces. In what follows, I ask Tuggy how he thought the debate went.
Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts
The debate lasted over two hours and is accessible on YouTube. The format of the debate was as follows:

Opening Statement (25 min each)
Rebuttal (10 min each)
Cross Examination (10 min each)
Concluding Statement (5 min each)
Audience Questions (20 min total)

Here's the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ky2SaHscSIo
—— Links ——

More interviews with Dale Tuggy here
Visit Tuggy's website at trinities.org
Check out his books on Amazon, especially What Is the Trinity?
Get Philip Kapusta's book on Hebrews
Read Thomas Gaston's article on Hebrews 1.10-12
Get the transcript of this episode
Support Restitutio by donating here
Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF
Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air
Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library.
Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read his bio here