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Credo House Ministries
Christian Life
62Comments

Ten Reasons Good Christians Go Bad

One of the most discouraging (and blindsiding) things in life is to follow the Lord for some time, feel like you’re on the right track, be involved in the His work, and...

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Credo House Ministries
Roman Catholicism
42Comments

Theology Unplugged: Roman Catholicism – Part 14 – Sacraments

[display_podcast] Join Michael Patton, Tim Kimberley, JJ Seid and Sam Storms as they continue their series on Roman Catholicism by discussing the Sacraments. Theology...

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Credo House Ministries
Christian Philosophy
17Comments

Believing for No Reason

One of the earliest signs of the healthy development of the mind of a child is that he or she starts responding to everything with a simple question: Why?  Every parent knows...

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Credo House Ministries
Uncategorized
36Comments

Superman: Man of Steel Review (Spoiler Free)

As most of you know, it is hard for me to write an unbiased review about any superhero movie. Either I go in with too many expectations, get my hopes dashed, and kick dirt all...

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Credo House Ministries
Hermeneutics
34Comments

John Shelby Spong on the Gospel of John

John Shelby Spong’s newest book, The Fourth Gospel: Tales of a Jewish Mystic, was released this week. For those unfamiliar with Spong, he is a retired Episcopal bishop of...

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Credo House Ministries
Church History
207Comments

The Great Reformation in a Nutshell

There used to be a time when your loyalty to the Protestant cause was judged by how much you hated Catholics. But today, with all the ecumenical dialogue, the Manhattan...

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Credo House Ministries
Roman Catholicism
3Comments

Theology Unplugged: Roman Catholicism – Part 13 – Indulgences

[display_podcast] Join Michael Patton, Tim Kimberley, JJ Seid and Sam Storms as they continue their series on Roman Catholicism by discussing Indulgences. Theology Unplugged:...

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Credo House Ministries
Credo House of Theology
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Just 24 Hours Left! – Credo Course – #1 Reason to Love Textual Criticism: The Enemies of the Gospel know Textual Criticism

Yesterday I was on an atheist forum. It was amazing to me what I saw. It was a discussion about textual criticism. These atheists were discussing how the text of the Bible had...

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Credo House Ministries
Folk Theology
81Comments

Folk Theology: Twenty Urban Legends in Theology

Folk theology describes beliefs, generally shared by a large group of people, which said adherents have rarely thought through in a critical way. These beliefs are normally...

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Theology Unplugged

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Theology Unplugged

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88. Through Theology in a Year: Why the Gospels Are Embarrassing
byC. Michael Patton

Why do the Gospel writers preserve stories that appear awkward, damaging, or even embarrassing to the earliest Christians? If the Gospels were invented to persuade people to follow Jesus, why did their authors include details that made Jesus’ family, His disciples, and some of His most important witnesses appear doubtful, confused, and unreliable?

In this episode of Theology Unplugged, Michael continues developing the cumulative case for the historical reliability and inspiration of Scripture by examining the criterion of embarrassment. Historians recognize that people who fabricate stories normally avoid including material that damages their credibility. Nations celebrate their victories, movements polish the reputations of their founders, and religious communities generally portray their earliest leaders as courageous and faithful. The Gospels repeatedly do the opposite.

Michael considers Jesus’ baptism by John, whose baptism was associated with repentance and the forgiveness of sins. Why would the sinless Messiah submit to a baptism intended for sinners? He also examines the unbelief of Jesus’ brothers, the claim that His family thought He was out of His mind, and John the Baptist’s question from prison about whether Jesus truly was the one who was to come.

The Gospel writers are equally candid about the failures of the disciples. Matthew records that some doubted even while standing before the risen Christ. Mark preserves Jesus’ statement that no one knew the day or hour of His return—not even the Son. The Gospels place women at the center of the empty-tomb testimony despite the limited public and legal standing often given to women’s testimony in the ancient world. They also preserve the strange account of Jesus cursing the fig tree when it was not the season for figs.

Most significantly, the earliest Christians proclaimed a crucified and bodily risen Messiah. Crucifixion represented weakness, shame, rejection, and apparent divine curse. Bodily resurrection also sounded foolish to many within the Greco-Roman world. These were not culturally convenient beliefs created to make Christianity easier to accept. As Paul acknowledged, Christ crucified was a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.

The criterion of embarrassment does not prove that every Gospel account is historical, nor should it be applied mechanically or in isolation. Nevertheless, these embarrassing details contribute to a powerful cumulative argument when considered alongside the historical context, eyewitness characteristics, incidental details, manuscript evidence, and other marks of authenticity. The Gospels do not read like carefully sanitized propaganda. They preserve the story in all its difficulty because the writers believed these events actually happened.

Get involved:
Michael’s public blog: https://credohouse.org
Courses and Manuscript Reproductions from Michael and other scholars: https://credocourses.com
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Support Michael and receive exclusive podcasts, courses, and much more: https://patreon.com/cmichaelpatton

88. Through Theology in a Year: Why the Gospels Are Embarrassing
88. Through Theology in a Year: Why the Gospels Are Embarrassing
2026-07-16
C. Michael Patton
87. Through Theology in a Year: Evidencing Inspiration
2026-07-15
C. Michael Patton
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  • 88. Through Theology in a Year: Why the Gospels Are Embarrassing 2026-07-16
    Why do the Gospel writers preserve stories that appear awkward, damaging, or even embarrassing to the earliest Christians? If the Gospels were invented to persuade people to follow Jesus, why did their authors include details that made Jesus' family, His disciples, and some of His most important witnesses appear doubtful, confused, and unreliable? In this […]
  • 87. Through Theology in a Year: Evidencing Inspiration 2026-07-15
    How can we be certain that the Bible is inspired? What evidence supports the Christian claim that the Scriptures are uniquely the Word of God? In this episode of Theology Unplugged, Michael begins examining the cumulative case for biblical inspiration, including Scripture's self-attestation, its uniqueness, its historicity, its prophetic character, the testimony of Christ, its […]

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