Dr. Michael J. Svigel @Svigel Twitter profile | Pikagi

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Dr. Michael J. Svigel

@Svigel

16,824

Followers

3,705

Following

1,558

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27,374

Statuses

Theology professor, department chair, patristic scholar, writer, husband, father. Passionate about the church and her one Lord.

Texas

https://t.co/CwlSsixjRf

Joined September 2011

Don't wanna be here? Send us removal request.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

1 month

Fathers on the Future 100-Day Countdown July 28 marks 100 days from the release of The Fathers on the Future (Nov 5, 2024). In anticipation, I'm posting a very brief excerpt each day. Make sure you don't miss any by clicking the BELL on my profile to receive notifications.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

6 months

@Robert_E_Kelly This made a lot of people—especially PARENTS—laugh to tears. Pure gold!

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

4 years

Theology 101: It is blasphemy and idolatry to say the “survival of the Christian faith” depends on any politician’s election.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

2 years

Theology 101: My wife doesn’t know Hebrew, Greek, or Latin, and she doesn’t know much about Irenaeus, Augustine, Aquinas, Calvin, or Spurgeon. But she puts me to shame in the areas of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

2 years

Theology 101: To people who claim Jesus never married, I want to point out that Jesus has had the most high-maintenance bride in human history for nearly 2000 years.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

2 years

Theology 101: No passage of Scripture directs Christians to prep for the antichrist, but numerous passages instruct them to await Christ’s return. It’s a problem if your end-times expectations are antichrist-centered (FEAR) rather than Christ-centered (HOPE). (1 Thess 1:9-10)

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

3 years

Theology 101: If you run your church like a business, don’t be surprised if you members complain like customers then go shop somewhere else.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

4 years

Theology 101: The American church’s failure was not in losing the battle for American culture, it was believing their task was to preserve and promote American culture—a cause for which the true church of Christ has no calling.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

2 years

New Testament scholars now believe Paul's metaphorical "thorn in the flesh" may have been a Lego brick lying on a hard floor in a dark room—the ultimate test of one's sanctification.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

3 years

Reminder: the real mark of the beast would never need a booster.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

3 years

Theology 101: You’ll never convince me that singing a hymn in praise of a nation belongs in the church on the Lord’s Day.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

3 years

Theology 101: The real mark of the beast won’t need a booster.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

4 years

Theology 101: Your body is not a shell from which you will emerge, not a cage from which you will escape, not a prison from which you will flee. Your body is an essential part of who you are, part of being human. And it will one day be redeemed and raised anew.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

3 years

Theology 101: If your progressivism is a vehicle to advance sin and unrighteousness, it has to go. If your conservatism is a vehicle to preserve sin and unrighteousness, it has to go. If your centrism is a vehicle to be neutral on sin and unrighteousness, it has to go.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

2 years

Theology 101: Spiritual gifts are not what the Spirit gives to you. They are what the Spirit gives to the church through you.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

3 years

How you treat the custodian tells me more about your character than how you treat the CEO.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

2 years

Theology 101: I fear many evangelicals would prefer the bear-arms, overpower-your-enemy, topple-the-government revolutionary, Barabbas, over the turn-the-other-cheek, love-your-enemies, pay-your-taxes Jesus. Alas, I fear they would trade away Jesus for the brigand in a heartbeat.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

3 years

Theology 101: America-themed, patriotic, and nationalistic “church services” have no place in the Sunday morning worship of the church. Rule of thumb: if you couldn’t hold the same service in Germany, Mexico, Australia, India, or Kenya, you’ve crossed the line into idolatry.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

3 years

Theology 101: The question should never be, “Is this action liberal or conservative…socialist or capitalist…woke or anti-woke?” The question should always be, “Does this honor God by loving my neighbor, putting their interests before mine, and living the fruit of the Spirit?”

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

4 years

Theology 101: After decades of treating our congregations as audiences, we shouldn’t be surprised when they act like critics.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

4 years

Theology 101: Remember, for every famous pastor who is a public spectacle of moral failure, there are hundreds—nay, thousands—of unknown pastors faithful to the end.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

4 years

Theology 101: Look, no matter how you read Revelation, there’s NO scenario in which you will inadvertently receive the “mark of the beast.” If you’re striving to worship and serve Christ alone as Lord—and refusing to worship and serve anyone or anything else as Lord—you’re safe.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

5 years

Theology 101: When I say, “I disagree with you,” I do not mean “I hate you” or “I fear you.” I mean “I disagree with you.” I’m just not that complicated.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

3 years

Theology 101: No passage of Scripture directs Christians to prep for the Antichrist, but numerous passages instruct them to await Christ’s return. It’s a real problem if your end-times expectations are Antichrist-centered (fear) rather than Christ-centered (hope) (1 Thes 1:9-10).

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

2 years

Theology 101: America-themed, patriotic, and nationalistic “services” have no place in the church’s Lord’s Day gathering. Rule of thumb: if you couldn’t hold the same basic service in Germany, Mexico, Australia, India, or Kenya, you’ve crossed the line.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

2 years

Theology 101: Spiritual gifts are not what the Spirit gives to you. They are what the Spirit gives to the church through you.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

1 year

Theology 101: Cheesevangelical phrases I could do without: 1.“Love on them.” 2.“And all God’s people said…” 3.“It’s not a religion, it’s a relationship.” What are your least favorite clichés that make you go:

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

3 years

When I say, “I disagree with you,” I do not mean “I hate you” or “I fear you.” I mean “I disagree with you.” I’m just not that complicated.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

3 years

Theology 101: Bible-onlyism is a smokescreen for Bible-plus-me-as-the-final-arbiter-of-its-interpretation. It may seem noble and bold, but it is naive and backward.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

3 years

Theology 101: Christians who do not hold to a literal six-day, young-earth creationism are not enemies of the gospel. They are Christians who do not hold to a literal six-day, young-earth creationism.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

4 years

Theology 101: Please stop calling passages of Scripture written to particular people in a particular place at a particular time for a particular purpose “eternally binding.” Do the hard work of contextualization, interpretation, and application.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

2 years

Theology 101: Even if you’re right, hold your theology with humility. There will be no gloating in the new creation and no “I told you so” on the lips of the glorified saints.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

3 years

Stupid me! I wasted over 15 years in undergrad, grad, and doctoral work in biblical, theological, and historical studies in 8 languages, when all I had to do to become an expert was open a Twitter account, pick up my smart phone, and start typing!

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

3 years

Theology 101: If your church preaches politics from the pulpit, walk away. If it puts politicians in the pulpit, run. Don't look back. Run.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

2 years

Theology 101: If you’ve ever sung a song in church with lyrics that brought you to tears, then you’ve proven that reciting written prayers or praises can be just as heart-felt as your unscripted words.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

4 years

I’m going to be vulnerable here. It hurts when former students who once regarded me as scholarly, rational, careful, and godly choose to trust unverified sources that suddenly render me stupid, irrational, foolish, and godless if I disagree with them. That hurts.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

3 years

Confession: whenever somebody posts a picture and there are books lying on a table or a bookshelf in the background, I zoom in to see what books they have. Am I the only one? #Nerd

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

4 years

Lost a bunch of follows for my Trump comments. Every one worth it.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

4 years

Make no mistake. Trump’s lies and deception are to blame for this. And those who have continued to support him are complicit. There will be an accounting. It will not be forgotten.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

4 years

Theology 101: It is close to blasphemy and devilish idolatry to say the “survival of Christian faith and values” depends on any politician’s election.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

3 years

Theology 101: When the church of Laodicea turned lukewarm, Christ didn't tell them to attract young families. He told them to repent.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

2 years

Theology 101: The “Jesus-never-mentioned-X” ethic is dumb.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

3 years

Hmmm. Every time I mention I’m a Calvinist, I lose a few followers. :)

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

2 years

Theology 101: To people who claim Jesus never married, I want to point out that Jesus has had the most high-maintenance bride in human history for nearly 2000 years.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

3 years

Theology 101: No Trinity-denying religion has the same God as Christianity. Any god who is not Father, Son, and Spirit is a different god.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

4 years

Theology 101: Reminder—the church has survived emperors, critics, heretics, schismatics, infidels, antichrists, false prophets, tyrants, and the very gates of hell. It will survive 2020.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

3 years

"Do your own research" is good advice if: 1) You have access to PRIMARY sources; 2) You know how to do research; 3) You can sort and evaluate evidence; 4) You can identify logical and rhetorical fallacies; 5) You have peers who can hold you accountable to 1-4.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

4 years

Theology 101: If you can't imagine how your form of Christianity could possibly survive under socialism, communism, monarchy, imperialism, or dictatorship, it may not be Christianity.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

1 month

It’s bad for Christians to sell out to any political candidate, party, or movement, actually.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

4 years

Theology 101: I’m not quite convinced that refusing to wear masks or insisting on large gatherings is really the Church’s “Dare-to-be-a-Daniel” moment.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

11 months

The Book of Revelations is not part of the canon.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

4 years

Theology 101: If you can't imagine how your form of Christianity could possibly survive under socialism, communism, monarchy, imperialism, or dictatorship, it may not be Christianity.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

4 years

Theology 101: Just a thought—is it possible that the perception of a drift toward the theological "left" among many evangelicals is actually a correction toward a more solid, balanced center after decades of unhealthy drifting toward a radical fundamentalistic right?

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

4 years

I am completely free to promote pro-life views on @Twitter . I am not free to promote violence against pro-choice people or institutions. I am completely free to promote pro-Christian views on @Twitter . I am not free to promote violence against non-Christian people or religions.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

11 months

Theology 101: Nobody in the early church ever had to wonder when the next communion Sunday would be.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

1 year

Theology 101: They say the book of Revelation is scary. You know what’s scarier than the book of Revelation? Half the books written about the book of Revelation.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

3 years

Theology 101: For people who point out that Jesus was never married, I want to point out that He's had the most high-maintenance spouse in human history for 2000 years.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

3 years

Theology 101: God doesn't share His throne with my Free Will.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

3 years

Theology 101: In many evangelical circles, it’s totally fine to teach “Love your neighbor.” But then you need to stop there. Because the moment you give practical examples of how we might actually do this today, you may be called liberal, progressive, or woke—whatever that means.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

4 years

Theology 101: If a false teacher tells you the word 'Trinity' isn't in the Bible, remind them that the word 'Bible' isn't in the Bible.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

2 years

Theology 101: No, Church History is NOT "the story of how everybody misinterpreted the Bible until we came along."

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

4 years

Theology 101: If your “gospel” continually puts you on the side of oppressors, power-grabbers, liars, war-mongers, and profiteers instead of the oppressed, meek, truth-tellers, peace-makers, and poor, it’s not the Gospel of the Kingdom of God.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

2 years

Theology 101: The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three Persons of the Trinity, not three parts of the Trinity.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

3 years

Theology 101: Neither COVID-19 nor the vaccine has anything to do with the Antichrist, the mark of the Beast, or the Tribulation. Stop listening to peddlers of propaganda and dealers of deception. They are hacks and quacks, nothing more.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

4 years

Theology 101: When the early Christians were forbidden to assemble in public worship, they didn’t take up arms and fight for their right to gather. They huddled in homes or congregated in caves and employed pen and paper to appeal for the Faith.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

6 years

Worship 101: Unfollow me if you want, but there is no room in the Christian faith for something called “patriotic worship.”

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

3 years

Theology 101: If you’re not a trinitarian, I really don’t care about your doctrinal positions on anything else.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

4 years

Theology 101: No church is 100% perfect. But being a member of no church is 100% imperfect.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

3 years

Theology 101: Nobody in the early church ever had to wonder when the next communion Sunday was.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

3 years

Theology 101: The question should never be, “Is this action liberal or conservative…socialist or capitalist…woke or anti-woke?” The question should always be, “Does this honor God by loving my neighbor, putting their interests before mine, and living the fruit of the Spirit?”

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

4 years

Theology 101: I refuse to believe the church labored for centuries to free herself from the State only to ensnare herself by a Party.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

3 years

Theology 101: Christians who do not hold to a literal six-day, young-earth creationism are not enemies of the gospel. They are Christians who do not hold to a literal six-day, young-earth creationism.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

2 years

Theology 101: “Murder being once for all forbidden, we may not destroy even the fetus in the womb.” (Tertullian, Apology 9, c. AD 200)

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

3 years

Theology 101: Jesus paid it all. All to Him I owe. And He paid that, too.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

3 years

Theology 101: “Sola Scriptura” wasn’t meant to reject other sources of truth as aids in our understanding and application of Scripture. It was meant to remove other sources from the status of authority equal to or above Scripture as inspired and infallible.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

11 months

Tonight my 17-year-old son, who almost never asks me biblical or theological questions, asked me who wrote the Book of Hebrews. My response:

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

1 year

Nice to hold this in my hands finally. It was years in the making.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

4 years

Evangelicalism needs an exorcism.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

3 years

Theology 101: It's wrong to expect unbelievers to think, speak, and act like Christians, but it’s right to expect Christians to think, speak, and act like believers.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

3 years

Theology 101: I refuse to accept that the church labored for centuries to free herself from the State only to enslave herself to a Party.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

2 years

Theology 101: The Christian faith survived heathen and heretical emperors. It will survive heathen and heretical tweeters.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

2 years

Theology 101: My fear is not so much that heresy will be preached from our pulpits, but that nobody in our churches will notice.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

4 years

Theology 101: I’ve looked up the Greek word for “Shepherd/Pastor” in several lexicons. Not a single one defines it as “bully.”

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

6 years

Sanctification 101: You can’t grow if you only hang around people who confirm your prejudices.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

2 years

Theology 101: The American evangelical churches have almost totally failed to teach their people how to think carefully and critically about sources, authorities, and discernment of logical and rhetorical fallacies. What happened to loving the Lord or God with our minds?

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

3 years

Having done homeschool, private school, hybrid, and public school, I’ve discovered that all successful schooling involves “homeschooling.” Schools can’t (and shouldn’t) teach our children everything they need to learn. We must be actively engaged in our kids’ lives and education.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

2 years

Theology 101: Pastors and teachers, when it comes to the basics of Christianity, if we don’t continually “state the obvious,” one day soon they will no longer be obvious.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

2 years

Theology 101: Those who proudly claim “Bible only” in their theology by rejecting any use of Tradition, Reason, and Experience have almost always replaced these classic aids to interpretation and application with Preference, Opinion, Feeling, and Expedience.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

3 years

Theology 101: Remember back in AD 155 when a celebrity pastor was somebody who served the Lord 86 years, prayed for hours, confronted heretics, fed soldiers who came to arrest him, and was burned alive and stabbed to death for his faith? Times have changed, I guess.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

2 years

Theology 101: For every pastor who becomes a spectacle of moral failure, there are thousands of unsung pastors who are faithful to the end.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

2 years

Theology 101: I refuse to believe that a world with the coffee bean, the cocoa bean, and the vanilla bean is the result of blind chance.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

4 years

Theology 101: It seems many evangelicals define “church history” as “a chronological account of how everybody misinterpreted the Bible until I came along.”

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

3 years

Theology 101: “Sola Scriptura” wasn’t meant to reject other sources of truth as aids in our understanding and application of Scripture. It was meant to remove other human sources from the status of authority equal to or above Scripture as inspired and infallible.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

2 years

Theology 101: Orthodoxy often involves holding several truths in tension. Heresy relieves the tension.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

4 years

Theology 101: The question should never be, "Is this action leftist or right-wing...liberal or conservative...socialist or capitalist?" The question should be, "Does this action love my neighbor...look out for their interests more than my own...manifest the fruit of the Spirit?"

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

5 months

Theology 101: Remember back in AD 155 when a celebrity pastor was somebody who served the Lord 86 years, prayed for hours, confronted heretics, fed soldiers who came to arrest him, and was burned alive and stabbed to death for his faith? Times change, I guess.

Tweet media one

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

3 years

Theology 101: The American evangelical churches have almost totally failed to teach their people how to think carefully and critically about sources, authorities, and discernment of logical and rhetorical fallacies. What happened to loving the Lord our God with our minds?

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

3 years

Theology 101: Christians need to stop trying to restore a golden age of the past that never really was… and instead start living in light of a golden age of the future that certainly will be.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

2 years

Theology 101: There’s 1 God (Dt 6:4). The Father is God (Jn 6:27). The Son is God (Jn 1:1). The Spirit is God (Ac 5:3-4). The Father is not the Son (Jn 20:17). The Son is not the Spirit (Jn 14:16). The Spirit is not the Father (Jn 14:26). There’s 1 God, not 3 gods (Js 2:19).

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

2 years

Theology 101: My fear is not so much that heresy will be preached from our pulpits, but that nobody in our churches will notice.

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@Svigel

Dr. Michael J. Svigel

3 years

Theology 101: The Bible isn't a guide for dieting, a leadership and management manual, a guide for "biblical economics," a handbook for political action, or a collection frame-worthy quotes to hang in your office.

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