iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Theology 101: The same depravity that sparked millennia of sin and suffering—and the same demons that stoked those fires of chaos and catastrophe—are still setting this world ablaze. Suit up, people of God, and extinguish the flames of the flesh and the devil!

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Theology 101: Both walking on water and walking in righteousness require the enabling power of God. The moment you forget that, you’re sunk.

Theology 101: The only things preventing me from calculating the times, seasons, day, or hour of Christ's return are sanity, and…[checks notes]…oh yeah, THE BIBLE!

Theology 101: Would I be surprised if someone found Noah’s Ark? No. Would I be disappointed if no one found Noah’s Ark? No.

Michael J. Svigel @svigel.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Theology 101: No system of church polity—congregational, episcopal, or presbyteral—has prevented theological or moral degeneration.

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Michael J. Svigel @svigel.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Me, after a few days of social media posts claiming the Noah’s Ark site is “100% confirmed”:

static.klipy.com

Kramer's Iconic Thumbs Up in Seinfeld

ALT: Kramer's Iconic Thumbs Up in Seinfeld

Michael J. Svigel @svigel.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Wait! Didn’t Indiana Jones already find the Ark and hide it at Area 51?

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Michael J. Svigel @svigel.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

I could care less if someone says “I could care less” instead of “I couldn’t care less.”

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Michael J. Svigel @svigel.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Theology 101: “Lack of education exposes men to a strong inclination to dishonesty.” (Clement of Alexandria) Agree or disagree?

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Michael J. Svigel @svigel.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Theology 101: When the church in Ephesus lost their first love, Christ didn’t tell them to study the five love languages. He told them to repent.

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Michael J. Svigel @svigel.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Theology 101: In Christian service, you’re never “over-qualified for that.”

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Michael J. Svigel @svigel.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Theology 101: Jesus is coming to get you. How that sits with you depends on where you stand with him.

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Michael J. Svigel @svigel.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Theology 101: Sarcasm and ridicule are not sustainable objections to arguments for the existence of God.

Michael J. Svigel @svigel.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Theology 101: From God’s perspective, humanity’s greatest accomplishments look like a baby’s first steps.

Michael J. Svigel @svigel.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Most science fiction was written to envision a future we should try to avoid, not to imagine a future we should try to achieve.

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Michael J. Svigel @svigel.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Theology 101: “In the original formation of Adam all of us were tied and bound up with death through his disobedience.” (Irenaeus)

Michael J. Svigel @svigel.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Theology 101: I was born a sinner and went downhill from there. If Jesus hadn’t stepped in to save me from sin, I would have just kept descending toward self-destruction.

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Michael J. Svigel @svigel.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

No. No explanation can explain this. This kind of thing just has to stop.

Michael J. Svigel @svigel.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Theology 101: It is a half-baked Christianity that affirms the baptismal confession of faith without embracing the baptismal pledge of repentance and life of discipleship.

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Michael J. Svigel @svigel.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Theology 101: No Trinity-denying religion, sect, or cult worships the same God as Christians.

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Michael J. Svigel @svigel.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Theology 101: Some of the most theologically formative classes in my formal education were Logic, Ethics, Political Philosophy, and Philosophy of Economics. The last two made me work through implications of my anthropology and hamartiology. The first two helped me do it well.

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Michael J. Svigel @svigel.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Theology 101: The early-twentieth-century battle between Modernist and Fundamentalist theologies did not actually result in a split between two opposing camps. It resulted in the creation of modernistic Fundamentalists and fundamentalistic Modernists.

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Michael J. Svigel @svigel.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Theology 101: When someone says that for believers, death is resurrection, the proper Christian response is to recoil, then run.

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Re-reading “Töpia” and “Eligy” to prepare for writing “Skyon.” I just finished the infamous chapter 63 of “Töpia.” I still feel a bit guilty for writing it. Many readers were angry with me for it. But writers don’t have complete control over their characters and their stories.

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Me, after watching a video ten times on how to tie an easy, effective fishing knot and then trying it myself once:

static.klipy.com

Tangled Courage

ALT: Tangled Courage

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Theology 101: As Christians, we’re called to support others in their struggle against sin, not to encourage others to embrace sin.

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Theology 101: As you share the truth, keep in mind the “buoy effect.” The unregenerate heart and mind will buoy above an ocean of evidence and flood of facts regardless of how persuasively or passionately you present them. If people don’t want to believe the truth, they won’t.

Theology 101: Two decades of seminary teaching has taught me that one of the greatest obstacles to sound doctrine is sentimentalism.

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Theology 101: Your view of God’s grace is too small if it justifies and glorifies but doesn’t sanctify.

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Theology 101: Too many men who begin their ministries with bravado, grow their ministries by bullying, and defend their ministries with brawling… …will end their ministries as buffoons.

Michael J. Svigel @svigel.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Theology 101: When second-century “gnostics” claimed “secret oral apostolic tradition” as the source of their doctrines, Irenaeus of Lyons didn’t counter that they had the wrong secret oral apostolic tradition; he argued that there was no such thing.

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Michael J. Svigel @svigel.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Theology 101: “Public opinion has changed” is not a viable principle of ethics or standard of moral judgment.

Michael J. Svigel @svigel.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

In so many ways Enlightenment brought darkness; industrial revolution, laziness; and scientific progress, ignorance.

Michael J. Svigel @svigel.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Theology 101: One of the biggest challenges in ministry is identifying, avoiding, and defeating the “Wormtongues”.

Michael J. Svigel @svigel.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Theology 101: The true work of theology—like the Christian life itself—is impossible to do alone.

Michael J. Svigel @svigel.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Theology 101: My great fear is not that heresy will be preached from our pulpits, but that nobody in the church will notice.

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Michael J. Svigel @svigel.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Theology 101: Revelation 21–22 is not a depiction of heaven, but a depiction of “heaven on earth” after God makes his dwelling with us forever.

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Michael J. Svigel @svigel.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Theology 101: The obscure theology isn’t necessarily the right theology of the “remnant.” Quite often you need to keep the classic status quo for Christ.

Michael J. Svigel @svigel.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Theology 101: The coolest theology at the moment isn’t necessarily the right theology. Sometimes you need to be a theological outcast for Christ.

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Theology 101: The role of government is to promote and enforce moral law—the law of nature “written on the heart” (Rom 2:14-15; 13:1-6). As such, it may restrain false religions that conflict with moral law. But the role of government is not to promote or enforce “true religion.”

Theology 101: “From of old it has been the custom for vice to make war on virtue.” (Athenagoras)

Theology 101: Flashy, emotional revivalism results in “glow-in-the-dark” commitments that fade when removed from the artificial light.

Theology 101: When I teach or preach, I prefer to quote from departed saints because they won’t suddenly disappoint me one day.