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Christian Life
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Ten Commandments in Reverse

1.  You shall not have any other Gods before me. 1 in Reverse: You shall place ultimate trust in me alone to provide you with all that you need. You shall look toward me as...

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Credo House Ministries
Uncategorized
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Selling Fetal Body Parts is NOT the Primary Moral Issue

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Abortion is Murder
Ethics and Morality
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Selling Fetal Body Parts Is NOT the Primary Moral Issue

It’s gone viral, and there’s no undoing it. The hidden camera exposé of Planned Parenthood’s tiny “chop shop” side operation is one “baby” they couldn’t prevent coming to full...

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Credo House Ministries
Apologetics
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Joseph Smith’s Seer Stone and Mormon Origins: A Matter of Transparency

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Joseph Smith's Seer Stone
Apologetics
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Joseph Smith’s Seer Stone and Mormon Origins: A Matter of Transparency

I actually heard it on my car radio on NPR the other day—August 4, 2015. Melissa Block introduced the segment by saying that the way in which Joseph Smith had translated the...

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Apologetics
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Apologetics Unplugged – Gender Identity – Part 2

Listen in as Michael, Clint and Carrie wrap up their series covering issues surrounding gender identity. Is gender determined by the individual? If not, and someone identifies...

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Doubt
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A Plea to Have Mercy on Those Who Doubt

Over the years, I have written much about Christian doubt. One of my life-verses is Jude 22, “Have mercy on some who doubt.” Christian doubt is a terrifying...

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The Cross and the Sword: How Christianity and Islam Spread
Apologetics
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The Sword or the Cross? How Islam and Christianity Grow

Doctrine drives all religions, theistic and non-theistic. God makes for a more compelling religion. Following God’s will, sacrificing for God, hoping in God compels believers...

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Stop the Madness. End Discrimination Against Discrimination.
Ethics and Morality
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I’m Pro-Discrimination and so Are You

You want to hear a confession? Today I committed blatant discrimination. I did it knowingly and on purpose. And it wasn’t the first time. In fact I practice discrimination...

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Theology Unplugged

Theology Unplugged
Theology Unplugged

Get your weekly dose of one of the longest-running theology podcasts there is.

86. Through Theology in a Year: Biblical Docetism
byC. Michael Patton

In this episode, Michael introduces a new term for an old interpretive problem: Biblical Docetism. Borrowing from the ancient Christological heresy of Docetism—which denied the true humanity of Christ while affirming His deity—Michael argues that many Christians approach the Bible in a remarkably similar way. They affirm the divine origin of Scripture but neglect its genuinely human character, treating the Bible as though it simply dropped from heaven rather than being written through real authors in real historical contexts.

Michael explores how this tendency manifests itself in everyday Bible study. Whether it is randomly opening the Bible to see what God has to say, assuming every verse applies directly to us, searching for hidden meanings and secret codes, neglecting the personalities of the biblical writers, or ignoring literary genre and historical context, these approaches often bypass the human element of Scripture altogether. The result is a view of the Bible that functions more like a magical object than a divine-human book.

Along the way, Michael examines a variety of common hermeneutical mistakes that arise from this perspective, including over-literalization, misunderstanding progressive revelation, treating chapter and verse divisions as inspired, and assuming that everything recorded in Scripture is therefore endorsed by Scripture. He argues that many of these errors stem from the same underlying problem: an inability to appreciate the role of the human authors in the process of inspiration.

Ultimately, Michael contends that a faithful doctrine of Scripture must mirror a faithful doctrine of Christ. Just as Christ is fully God and fully man, Scripture is both divine and human. To neglect either dimension is to distort the nature of God’s revelation. Understanding this balance not only protects us from interpretive errors but also helps us hear more clearly what God intended to communicate through the human authors He inspired.

Get involved:
Michael’s public blog: https://credohouse.org
Courses and Manuscript Reproductions from Michael and other scholars: https://credocourses.com
Join us as we go through the great Fathers of the Faith in a year: https://throughthechurchfathers.com
Support me and get A LOT more stuff from C. Michael Patton: https://patreon.com/cmichaelpatton

86. Through Theology in a Year: Biblical Docetism
86. Through Theology in a Year: Biblical Docetism
2026-06-16
C. Michael Patton
85. Through Theology in a Year: Can Scripture Mean More Than Its Author Intended?
2026-06-11
C. Michael Patton
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  • 86. Through Theology in a Year: Biblical Docetism 2026-06-16
    In this episode, Michael introduces a new term for an old interpretive problem: Biblical Docetism. Borrowing from the ancient Christological heresy of Docetism—which denied the true humanity of Christ while affirming His deity—Michael argues that many Christians approach the Bible in a remarkably similar way. They affirm the divine origin of Scripture but neglect its […]
  • 85. Through Theology in a Year: Can Scripture Mean More Than Its Author Intended? 2026-06-11
    In this episode, Michael explores one of the most fascinating questions in biblical interpretation: Can Scripture mean more than its human author intended? If God is the ultimate Author of Scripture, is it possible for Him to communicate truths that transcend the conscious awareness of the biblical writers while remaining faithful to their intended meaning? […]

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