Restitutio

Sean P Finnegan
  • 4.8 (153)
  • Christianity
  • Updated Biweekly

Restitutio is a Christian theology podcast designed to get you thinking about biblical theology, church history, and apologetics in an effort to recover the original Christian faith of Jesus and the apostles apart from all of the later traditions that settled on it like so much sediment, obscuring and mutating primitive Christianity into dogma and ritual. Pastor Sean Finnegan, the host of Restitutio, holds to a Berean approach to truth: that everyone should have an open mind, but check everything against the bible to see how it measures up. If you are looking for biblical unitarian resources, information about the kingdom of God, or teachings about conditional immortality, Restitutio is the Christian podcast for you!

  1. 14h ago

    659. How Important Is That Doctrine? (Michael Hughes)

    Are all your beliefs equally important? If not, how do you rank them? By what standard do you say, “This belief matters” and “This one is less important”? My guest today is Michael Hughes who has been working on these very questions. He’s written a couple of papers addressing levels of evidence. In his more recent work, he’s enumerated a nine-level rating system by which you can judge a belief. At the top of it is “Level 1: beliefs that are essential to salvation” then comes “Level 2: practices that are related to salvation” then “Level 3: beliefs that are undoubtedly true,” then those that are probably true, then those that are possibly true, and so on. As we move down the levels we move from more importance to less. This is a fascinating and fresh approach to ranking beliefs and practices based on biblical confidence. Are they explicitly taught in Scripture? Are they merely implied? Are there many difficult texts or only a few? You get the picture. After Hughes explains his rating system, I pepper him with questions, including gay marriage, marijuana use, Torah observance, and wine vs. juice at communion. For each, he explains how he would approach the belief or practice from a “levels of evidence” perspective. (See below for brief explanations of all nine levels of evidence.)   Listen on Spotify   Listen on Apple Podcasts —— Links —— Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Facebook group, follow on X @RestitutioSF or Instagram @Sean.P.Finnegan or Threads @sean.p.finnegan Leave a 90 second voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play it out on the air Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read his bio here Get Finnegan’s book, Kingdom Journey to learn about God’s kingdom coming on earth as well as the story of how Christianity lost this pearl of great price. Get the transcript of this episode Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. —— Notes —— Level 1: Beliefs that are Essential to Salvation Beliefs and practices which the New Testament explicitly teaches as essential for salvation have the highest degree of certainty and importance, and are confidently emphasised by the church. Anyone who believes these is a Christian and eligible for membership in the church. Anyone who doesn’t believe them is not regarded as a Christian. Level 2: Practices that are Related to Salvation Beliefs and practices which the New Testament identifies as related to salvation but does not identify as fundamental. These have a high degree of importance and are confidently emphasised by the church. Anyone who is a Christian should not reject them. Level 3: Beliefs that are Undoubtedly True Beliefs that the Bible teaches unambiguously, but which are not specifically identified as essential for salvation. These beliefs are beyond reasonable doubt, having a high level of evidence that they are true. The church speaks of them often and with conviction. Anyone who is a Christian should not reject them. Level 4: Beliefs that are Probably True These beliefs are clearly taught in most but not all Scriptural passages on a particular topic. They are likely to be true on the balance of probabilities but not beyond reasonable doubt, because the evidence is not unanimous. The church with humility and honesty encourages people to hold these beliefs. It may be important for people in positions of leadership to hold these beliefs. Level 5: Beliefs that are Possibly True Beliefs are supported by a minority of passages which provide some grounds for people to hold these beliefs. These beliefs are less likely to be true on the balance of probabilities, because the evidence for an opposing belief is stronger. The church does not teach these beliefs but welcomes as Christians those who hold them. Level 6: Beliefs that are constructed There is no New Testament passage that clearly or directly teaches this belief. The only scriptural evidence comes from multiple passages that need to be combined in a particular way, which means that the level of evidence to support these beliefs is low. The church does not teach these beliefs but may encourage people who believe them to focus on beliefs that are directly taught in Scripture. Level 7: Speculation These beliefs have little or no Scriptural support either for or against. This includes beliefs that come from outside of Scripture, beliefs on which the Bible is silent, and beliefs that are not clearly taught in any passage. The church does not teach these beliefs and may encourage people who believe them to focus on the beliefs that are truly fundamental, undoubtedly true or strongly supported by Scripture. Level 8: Beliefs that are Undoubtedly False These are beliefs that directly contradict unambiguous Bible teachings. The church should strongly oppose these beliefs with a high level of confidence because the evidence is unanimous that they are unscriptural beyond reasonable doubt. If the church becomes aware that someone holds any of these undoubtedly false beliefs, the church needs to provide the opportunity to discuss with them the unanimous Scriptural evidence against these beliefs. Those people then need to reject these beliefs and embrace the clear teaching of the Bible. Level 9: Beliefs that are Fatally Opposed to Christian Teachings These beliefs either: – directly contradict essential Scriptural teachings, or – are specifically identified by Scripture as being fatally opposed to Christian beliefs and practices. The church should strongly oppose these beliefs with the highest degree of confidence and be prepared to present the Scriptural evidence to people who hold them. People who hold one or more of these beliefs are not regarded as Christian and are not eligible to be members of the church.

    1h 6m

  2. Jun 25

    658. Explore What We Believe (Will Barlow)

    Are you looking for a biblically-grounded albeit easy-to-read introduction to theology? Well, look no further, because I’m excited to announce the publication of Pastor Will Barlow’s book, Explore What We Believe. He goes through what the Bible teaches about God, humanity, covenants, the kingdom of God, Jesus, salvation, Israel, the church, the spirit of God, the spiritual realm, death, and immortality. He also includes appendices on foreknowledge, time periods, and baptism. Although you can certainly read this book on your own and benefit from it, Barlow designed Explore What We Believe as a discipleship tool for two or three people to work through together. This is perfect for helping Christians of other traditions to learn about what WE believe. It’s also ideal for training your teenagers in the faith. In this interview I ask Barlow about the content of the book and how he sees it being used.   Listen on Spotify   Listen on Apple Podcasts —— Links —— Get Will Barlow’s book, Explore What We Believe Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Facebook group, follow on X @RestitutioSF or Instagram @Sean.P.Finnegan or Threads @sean.p.finnegan Leave a 90 second voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play it out on the air Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read his bio here Get Finnegan’s book, Kingdom Journey to learn about God’s kingdom coming on earth as well as the story of how Christianity lost this pearl of great price. Get the transcript of this episode Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library.

    1h 2m

  3. Jun 18

    657. Read the Bible for Yourself (Sean Finnegan)

    I have a new book out and I’m excited to tell you all about it. In order to do that, Anna Brown is hosting Restitutio today and putting me in the hot seat. In this interview, she asks me about Read the Bible for Yourself, a book I’ve been working on for the last three years. In our conversation we talk about whom the book is for and how to use it most effectively. I share about the chapter you won’t want to miss, and I reveal a publishing error that inadvertently promoted marijuana. Wait I thought this book was about reading the Bible. Yes, it is. I guess you’ll just have to listen to the interview to find out the details on that one. Even if you’ve been reading the Bible for years, this book will help you read it better by providing you with key techniques and overviews to make sense of what you read. Anyhow, if you’d like to get my book, it’s out on Amazon.   Listen on Spotify   Listen on Apple Podcasts —— Links —— Get Sean Finnegan’s book, Read the Bible for Yourself Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Facebook group, follow on X @RestitutioSF or Instagram @Sean.P.Finnegan or Threads @sean.p.finnegan Leave a 90 second voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play it out on the air Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read his bio here Get Finnegan’s book, Kingdom Journey to learn about God’s kingdom coming on earth as well as the story of how Christianity lost this pearl of great price. Get the transcript of this episode Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library.

    58 min

  4. Jun 12

    656. Follow the Way of Jesus (Victor Gluckin)

    Jesus said, “Make disciples of all nations” (Mat 28:19). How are you doing on this? Are you currently mentoring someone in the faith? Are you under the impression that this work is only for pastors, those in church leadership, or those with the gift of evangelism? You may say to yourself, “I don’t have a Bible-college degree,” or “I don’t know enough to teach someone else,” or “I don’t even know where to start in discipling someone else.” These are totally understandable concerns and doubts. Victor Gluckin, lead pastor of Living Faith Christian Church in Rhode Island, has written a book called Follow the Way of Jesus to help you. Not only is this book easy to read (and enjoyable), but it’s also designed to enable you to disciple others. The idea is simple. Get the book and invite a friend, coworker, neighbor, or family member to work through it with you. Each of you take turns reading it aloud and answering the questions. It’s that simple. In what follows I ask Gluckin about this new practical Christianity book, including who he wrote it for and why he laid it out the way he did.   Listen on Spotify   Listen on Apple Podcasts —— Links —— Get Victor Gluckin’s book, Follow the Way of Jesus Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Facebook group, follow on X @RestitutioSF or Instagram @Sean.P.Finnegan or Threads @sean.p.finnegan Leave a 90 second voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play it out on the air Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read his bio here Get Finnegan’s book, Kingdom Journey to learn about God’s kingdom coming on earth as well as the story of how Christianity lost this pearl of great price. Get the transcript of this episode Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library.

    51 min

  5. Jun 5

    655. God Spoke to Himself in Genesis 1.26 (Sam Mansfield)

    To whom was God speaking in Genesis 1.26 when he said, “Let us make humanity in our image”? My guest today, Sam Mansfield of Adelaide, South Australia, has found six different answers to this question. In the following interview, I ask him about his recent presentation at the inaugural Australian Unitarian Christian Alliance conference, called “Wrought with Wisdom: How Solomon Understood Genesis 1:26, 3:22 & 11:7.” Mansfield puts forward the deliberative position with a twist.   Listen on Spotify   Listen on Apple Podcasts —— Links —— Read Mansfield’s paper here. Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Facebook group, follow on X @RestitutioSF or Instagram @Sean.P.Finnegan or Threads @sean.p.finnegan Leave a 90 second voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play it out on the air Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read his bio here Get Finnegan’s book, Kingdom Journey to learn about God’s kingdom coming on earth as well as the story of how Christianity lost this pearl of great price. Get the transcript of this episode Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library.

    1h 3m

  6. May 29

    654. The Plight of a Restorationist (Matt Lovegrove)

    Many Bible-believing churches are ridged keepers of tradition. They have a statement of faith, a historic confession, or old creeds that determine what people should and should not believe. There’s very little space for people to genuinely ask questions, investigate competing doctrines, and honestly change their minds over time. Today I’m speaking with Matt Lovegrove of New Castle, New South Wales. If you listened to the interview from last week with Paul Robson, he talked about Matt a bit, since he was the one that introduced Paul to a biblical unitarian perspective. Matt is a hardwired restorationist. You’re going to hear about his journey from one exploration to another. Sadly, it seems like each time he shed some falsehood and gained more truth, he ran afoul of church leadership. I think this episode is going to break your heart and make you angry–not at any one villain in Matt’s story, but at the system that continually crushes restorationists under its weight. Churches need to change. Rather than seeking to preserve the status quo at all costs, we need to seek truth whatever the cost.   Listen on Spotify   Listen on Apple Podcasts —— Links —— Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Facebook group, follow on X @RestitutioSF or Instagram @Sean.P.Finnegan or Threads @sean.p.finnegan Leave a 90 second voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play it out on the air Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read his bio here Get Finnegan’s book, Kingdom Journey to learn about God’s kingdom coming on earth as well as the story of how Christianity lost this pearl of great price. Get the transcript of this episode Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library.

    1h 28m

  7. May 22

    653. Why I’m Convinced That Jesus Is the Human Messiah (Paul Robson)

    Paul Robson was an upstanding Christian leader in a Bible-believing church when his friend upended his world by revealing that he no longer believed the Trinity was biblically true. Although Robson initially reacted negatively to such a departure from the norm, he eventually came to change his mind based on a thorough study of Scripture. What happened next was both tragic and all too common–he was asked the church where he was serving. Having left he is developing websites about doctrine and now has new Bible study app that can help you spot bias in translation.   Listen on Spotify   Listen on Apple Podcasts —— Links —— Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Facebook group, follow on X @RestitutioSF or Instagram @Sean.P.Finnegan or Threads @sean.p.finnegan Leave a 90 second voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play it out on the air Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read his bio here Get Finnegan’s book, Kingdom Journey to learn about God’s kingdom coming on earth as well as the story of how Christianity lost this pearl of great price. Get the transcript of this episode Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library.

    1h 16m

  8. May 17

    652. The Spirit as Christ’s Alter Ego (Sean Finnegan)

    One of the largest and most intriguing blocks of teaching in the Gospel of John is the upper room discourse in chapter 13-17. This block of time begins with the washing of the disciples’ feet (13) and ends with Jesus’s high-priestly prayer (17). In the middle chapters (14-16), we encounter Jesus preparing his followers for his departure. They still didn’t quite understand what was to happen with his arrest, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. Even so, Jesus laid out teaching that would make sense for them after he was gone. Much of that teaching centered on the spirit of truth, which was to come after Jesus ascended to the Father. In what follows we’ll explore three main theories about the holy spirit in John 14-16: (1) the spirit is a person other than Christ; (2) the spirit is a personification; and (3) the spirit is Christ’s alter ego in his heavenly ministry. After considering the first two options, I’ll explain why the last one–that the spirit is a way of talking about Christ’s activity among us while he is in heaven–fits the best. I originally presented this content in Australia where I had an unfortunate run in with a leech. I had told this story earlier to this audience and mentioned in the talk. I had gone on a “bush walk” and picked up the blood sucker without realizing it. After it had its fill, it released and I continued to bleed for hours, not realizing that leeches inject and anticoagulant. In this presentation, I refer back to this incident, so now you know what I was talking about.   Listen on Spotify   Listen on Apple Podcasts This talk was originally presented at a Unitarian Christian Alliance (UCA) event held at the Tops Conference Centre in Stanwell Tops, Australia on March 28, 2026. Thanks to the Australian UCA planning committee, especially Matt Bradley, for their hard work in putting on this event. —— Links —— Download the slides from this presentation Read the article that inspired this presentation Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Facebook group, follow on X @RestitutioSF or Instagram @Sean.P.Finnegan or Threads @sean.p.finnegan Leave a 90 second voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play it out on the air Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read his bio here Get Finnegan’s book, Kingdom Journey to learn about God’s kingdom coming on earth as well as the story of how Christianity lost this pearl of great price. Get the transcript of this episode Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library.

    1h 10m
See All (658)

4.8
out of 5
153 Ratings

About

Restitutio is a Christian theology podcast designed to get you thinking about biblical theology, church history, and apologetics in an effort to recover the original Christian faith of Jesus and the apostles apart from all of the later traditions that settled on it like so much sediment, obscuring and mutating primitive Christianity into dogma and ritual. Pastor Sean Finnegan, the host of Restitutio, holds to a Berean approach to truth: that everyone should have an open mind, but check everything against the bible to see how it measures up. If you are looking for biblical unitarian resources, information about the kingdom of God, or teachings about conditional immortality, Restitutio is the Christian podcast for you!

Information

  • Creator
    Sean P Finnegan
  • Years Active
    2015 - 2026
  • Episodes
    658
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Restitutio
  • Show Website
    Restitutio

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