
Restitutio
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!
Latest episodes

Mar 25, 2022 • 43min
436 Salt and Light (Sean Finnegan)
In a world where self-identifying as a Christ-follower draws criticism, exclusion, and persecution, it's important for us to remember the words of our Lord. He said we are salt and we are light. But, what does it mean to be salty and shining? In this message, my hope is that you'll be challenged to stick with Jesus even when others pressure you to conform to new ways of thinking and living. Today is your day. You are who God has in your home, your neighborhood, and your workplace. Be salt. Be light.
Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts
https://youtu.be/4z20Ou6qzkI
Matthew 5:10-12 Jesus fully expected that his followers would suffer persecution. The world reviles, persecutes, and utters evil against us because of righteousness’ sake and because of our association with Jesus. We do not seek negative attention, but when it comes, we can take comfort knowing that the world persecuted the prophets before us in much the same way. What’s more, Jesus tells us to “rejoice and be glad” since our reward is great.
Matthew 5:13 Based on the concern for losing its taste, we can conclude that Jesus’ point here is that his follows should retain their distinctive salty flavor. We should not blend in with the world too well. Swapping out Christ’s teachings for the world’s fads and whims results in a comprised Christianity that is as useful as flavorless salt. We need not seek to be weird in the eyes of the world but instead endeavor to follow Jesus’ teachings, and let the chips fall where they may.
Matthew 5:14 Unlike monasteries and hidden communes, Christ’s followers have an important role to play as the lights of the world. God’s ultimate goal for His city on a hill is to draw all nations to Himself (Isaiah 2:2-4; 42:6; 49:6; 60:1-3, 18-22). We seek to embody God’s future Kingdom in the present by how we live now, both individually and communally. As the city on the hill, our goal is to attract and invite.
Matthew 5:15-16 A light exists to illuminate. Putting a lamp under a basket doesn’t make any sense. Likewise, we cannot limit our faith to the privacy of our homes and churches. We also have an illuminating, prophetic, public role to play, just like Jesus did. Our goal is for others to see our good deeds so that they give glory to God. In the end, God will wipe away our tears and remove our reproach (Isaiah 25:6-9).
—— Links ——
Read the article that goes with this message here
To join Salt & Light Study Night via Zoom, visit their facebook page or email them here
For more about the teachings of Jesus see Podcast 30: Rabbi Jesus and Podcast 78: The Insidious Dangers of Self-Righteousness
See more episodes on Christian living
Support Restitutio by donating here or designate Restitutio as your charity of choice for Amazon purchases
Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow us on Twitter @RestitutioSF
Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air

Mar 18, 2022 • 57min
435-Holistic Biblical Unitarian Christianity (Theophilus Josiah)
Have you heard of the Integrity Syndicate? No, not a crime syndicate, the Integrity Syndicate--the online ministry of Theophilus Josiah, my guest today. Abused and neglected by his parents and raised in a California orphanage, Josiah met God in his youth resulting in a new course for his life. Through a series of providential events, he went to college and became a mechanical engineer. His career included working on devices to aid hearts in their work to pump blood throughout the body. Now, he's bringing his analytic mind and passion to disseminate truth throughout the body of Christ via his 27 websites, his YouTube channel, and his conversations on Discord.
Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts
https://youtu.be/qqtVn1OxU_Y
—— Links ——
Check out the Integrity Syndicate website, YouTube channel, and Discord server
Watch Josiah's interview with Sean about Matt Slick's case for the Trinity
If you’d like to support Restitutio, you can donate here or designate Restitutio as your charity of choice for Amazon purchases
Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow us on Twitter @RestitutioSF
Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air
Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library.
Who is Sean Finnegan? Read his bio here.

Mar 11, 2022 • 46min
434 Son of David 6: Jesus’ Reign (Victor Gluckin)
Last time we looked at Solomon's glorious reign as an archetype. Today Pastor Victor shows five parallels between Solomon's golden era and Christ's coming kingdom.
Eliminate rivals and enemies
Appoint new leaders
Peace and prosperity
Nations flowing to Jerusalem
Worship of God central
This last episode of this Son of David class ties together everything nicely, providing us with a wonderful description of the Christian hope in the age to come. As it turns out, in every category the ultimate Son of David outperforms the original Son of David.
Download the notes for this session
Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts
—— Links ——
Read the pdf notes for this teaching
Check out these other Restitutio episodes featuring Gluckin
To watch Pastor Victor's sermons, visit his church website or follow him on YouTube
For another class by Gluckin, see Kingdom Story
If you’d like to support Restitutio, you can donate here or designate Restitutio as your charity of choice for Amazon purchases
Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow us on Twitter @RestitutioSF
Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air
Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library.
Who is Sean Finnegan? Read his bio here.

Mar 5, 2022 • 35min
433 Son of David 5: Solomon’s Reign (Victor Gluckin)
In many ways, Solomon was the greatest Israelite king of all time. Abundance, security, and vastness characterized his long reign. Pastor Victor surveys Solomon's prodigious reign, tying it in to both the promises God made to Abraham before him and those he made regarding a future son of David after him. Solomon's fabulous wealth, unrivaled wisdom, and magnetic reputation serve as an archetype for the greater son of David whose reign will outshine even Solomon's majesty.
Download the notes for this session
Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts
—— Links ——
Read the pdf notes for this teaching
Check out these other Restitutio episodes featuring Gluckin
To watch Pastor Victor's sermons, visit his church website or follow him on YouTube
For another class by Gluckin, see Kingdom Story
If you’d like to support Restitutio, you can donate here or designate Restitutio as your charity of choice for Amazon purchases
Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow us on Twitter @RestitutioSF
Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air
Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library.
Who is Sean Finnegan? Read his bio here.

Feb 25, 2022 • 29min
432 Son of David 4: Jesus Comes as King (Victor Gluckin)
As we saw last time, Solomon's coronation set a precedent as the first son of David. By learning to recognize this archetype, we can spot intentional enactments later on. In this episode, Pastor Victor explores the striking parallels between Solomon's anointing and Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Next he considers how the first coming of our Lord into Jerusalem in peace on a donkey differs from his second coming, which will be on a war horse, ready for battle.
Download the notes for this session
Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts
—— Links ——
Read the pdf notes for this teaching
Check out these other Restitutio episodes featuring Gluckin
To watch Pastor Victor's sermons, visit his church website or follow him on YouTube
For another class by Gluckin, see Kingdom Story
If you’d like to support Restitutio, you can donate here or designate Restitutio as your charity of choice for Amazon purchases
Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow us on Twitter @RestitutioSF
Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air
Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library.
Who is Sean Finnegan? Read his bio here.

Feb 17, 2022 • 36min
431 Son of David 3: Solomon Becomes King
Today we begin looking at the original son of David--Solomon. Although his brother, Adonijah had crafted a master plan to take the throne, he was not God's choice. As a result, Bathsheba acted quickly to impose upon her elderly husband so that Solomon would be anointed. Pastor Victor shares the story of how this all happened, ending with the son of David riding into Jerusalem on a donkey with crowds shouting "Long live the king."
Download the notes for this session
Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts
—— Links ——
Read the pdf notes for this teaching
Check out these other Restitutio episodes featuring Gluckin
To watch Pastor Victor's sermons, visit his church website or follow him on YouTube
For another class by Gluckin, see Kingdom Story
If you’d like to support Restitutio, you can donate here or designate Restitutio as your charity of choice for Amazon purchases
Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow us on Twitter @RestitutioSF
Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air
Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library.
Who is Sean Finnegan? Read his bio here.

Feb 11, 2022 • 49min
430 Son of David 2: Jesus the Christ, Son of David, Son of God
This is part 2 of the class, Son of David.
Today our focus is on Jesus. What do terms like “son of God,” “Christ,” and “messiah” mean? How does Jesus fit into the promises God made to King David a millennium before his birth? Victor Gluckin answers these questions through copious texts from the New Testament, driving home the point that Jesus’ primary identifier is messiah, God’s anointed one to rule on the throne of David.
Download the notes for this session
Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts
—— Links ——
Read the pdf notes for this teaching
Check out these other Restitutio episodes featuring Gluckin
To watch pastor Victor’s sermons, visit his church website or follow him on YouTube
For another class, see Kingdom Story
If you’d like to support Restitutio, you can donate here or designate Restitutio as your charity of choice for Amazon purchases
Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow us on Twitter @RestitutioSF
Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air
Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library.
Who is Sean Finnegan? Read his bio here.

Feb 4, 2022 • 42min
429 Son of David 1: Davidic Covenant (Victor Gluckin)
This is part 1 of the class, Son of David.
Today we're beginning a new class called "Son of David," which explores the rich biblical parallels between Solomon and Jesus. Our teacher is Victor Gluckin, pastor of Living Faith Christian Church in Warwick, Rhode Island. Over more than two decades of friendship, I've been repeatedly impressed by Gluckin's ability to bring scripture alive when he teaches. Truth be told, he's one of my favorite preachers of all time. You can find out more about him at his church's website: livingfaithri.org.Today our focus is on the covenant God made with David to be a father to one of his descendants and to establish his throne forever. This seminal promise shaped Israelite history in good times and bad until ultimately Jesus came on the scene in the Gospels.
Download the notes for this session
Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts
—— Links ——
Read the pdf notes for this teaching
Check out these other Restitutio episodes featuring Gluckin
To watch pastor Victor's sermons, visit his church website or follow him on YouTube
For another class, see Kingdom Story
If you’d like to support Restitutio, you can donate here or designate Restitutio as your charity of choice for Amazon purchases
Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow us on Twitter @RestitutioSF
Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air
Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library.
Who is Sean Finnegan? Read his bio here.

Jan 28, 2022 • 57min
428 Looking for the Historical Jesus between Evangelical and Liberal Scholarship (Sean Finnegan)
Did you know that scholars who work on Jesus divide starkly into two major camps? On the one hand, the evangelicals do such great work on the existence of God, the historicity of the resurrection, and the reliability of Scripture. But, then they read the Gospels through the filter of their theological commitments, always coming away with a Jesus that looks suspiciously like the second person of the Trinity. On the other hand, liberal scholars tend to get the message of Jesus about the kingdom right, but then due to their anti-supernatural presuppositions, deny the resurrection and end up with a failed prophet.In this presentation, recorded way back in 2008, I share about my own quest to benefit from both evangelical and liberal scholarship to identify the genuine Jesus of the first-century.
If you'd like to delve deeper into this, you can get the paper here.
Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts
—— Links ——
access the full-length paper here
Check out the Historical Jesus class (available both as podcast episodes and on YouTube)
If you’d like to support Restitutio, you can donate here or designate Restitutio as your charity of choice for Amazon purchases
Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow us on Twitter @RestitutioSF
Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air
Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library.
Who is Sean Finnegan? Read his bio here.

Jan 21, 2022 • 59min
427 Why Did Jesus Die? Exploring Atonement Theories (Sean Finnegan)
Why did Jesus die? Why couldn't God just forgive all our sins? How did Jesus' death pay for sin? How can someone else die for my sins? Questions like these are what atonement theories strive to answer. Throughout the history of Christianity a half dozen prominent theories have vied for adherents. In what follows I begin by surveying what the bible says about atonement before moving to briefly cover seven atonement theories. I originally released this presentation as two separate talks a while back (Theology 17 and Theology 18), but due to continued interest and inquires about this subject, I thought it would be a good idea to rebroadcast this talk.
For those who would like to go more in depth, you can access the full-length paper here.
Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAox3ELuVwY
—— Links ——
access the full-length paper here
More posts on atonement here
If you’d like to support Restitutio, you can donate here or designate Restitutio as your charity of choice for Amazon purchases
Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow us on Twitter @RestitutioSF
Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air
Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library.
Who is Sean Finnegan? Read his bio here.