An argument one sometimes comes across for the idea that Jesus, a man, is somehow also actually God as well is this:
Only God can atone for sins; ergo Jesus, who atoned for sins, must, in addition to being a man, also be God.
I do not find this argument compelling for a number of reasons. Continue reading
Recently, an old friend of mine, upon reading some of what I have written on this site, expressed his concern that some of the things I have written are a “departure from orthodoxy.” He asked what happened to me since he knew me last that had led to these views. Copied below are the two emails I wrote him in response to his email. I have edited the emails, removing things of a more private nature. Continue reading
Below is what I regard a most apt description of what has happened to the doctrines of the Christian religion as taught by Jesus and those whom he designated his apostles. It comes from the unitarian Christian scholar Andrews Norton (1786 - 1853), one-time professor at Harvard University and author of several books including the classic A Statement of Reasons for Not Believing the Doctrines of Trinitarians
: Continue reading
I recently reached out to a Calvinist friend of mine imploring him to reconsider whether Calvinism is true or not. In reply my friend told me something interesting and significant. He told me he had become a Calvinist reluctantly, indeed that he had fought against it “tooth and nail,” that he had ultimately only converted to Calvinism because he believed he “saw it plainly in the scriptures.” Continue reading
A little while back a friend asked me to explain my belief that God made Jesus Lord at his resurrection until Jesus turns over the lordship to God in the end. Here is what I wrote in response: Continue reading
The following is a lecture, which I have abridged and edited, on “The Divine Nature” delivered by Andrew Preston Peabody, an American unitarian Christian minister of the 19th century. Peabody graduated from Harvard University in 1826 at the age of 15, the youngest graduate of Harvard with a single exception. He was pastor of South Parish of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, from 1833 to 1860. From 1860 to 1881 he was preacher to Harvard University and the Plummer professor of Christian morals, and he was professor emeritus from 1881 until his death. Continue reading
