Nate demolishes Jehovah's Witness objections with biblical precision while defending religious liberty

Is Jesus Jehovah? Court Bans Church & Unequally Yoked Marriage Advice

What happens when a Jehovah’s Witness calls your faith foolish and a Maine judge calls your church dangerous? Nate tackles the thorniest questions about defending the Trinity, religious freedom under siege, and whether a Calvinist can marry a Pentecostal without causing theological mayhem. From a bulletproof biblical argument that stops JW objections cold to a custody battle that banned a mother from taking her daughter to Calvary Chapel, this episode cuts straight to what matters: proving Jesus is God, protecting First Amendment rights, and understanding what “unequally yoked” actually means when your potential spouse thinks Romans 9 is a typo.

Is Jesus Jehovah? Proving the Trinity to Jehovah’s Witnesses

The biblical case for Jesus as Jehovah comes down to cross-referencing Psalm 102:24-27 with Hebrews 1:10-12, creating an airtight argument that even works in the Jehovah’s Witness New World Translation. When Psalm 102 identifies Jehovah as the one who laid the foundations of the earth and does not change, and Hebrews 1 applies this exact passage to Jesus Christ, the conclusion becomes unavoidable: Jesus is Jehovah, ending the argument. The strategy shifts from defending the Trinity to demonstrating Christ’s deity—proving Jesus is Jehovah collapses the entire Jehovah’s Witness theological framework.

For Christians wrestling with how to witness to JW friends who dismiss the Trinity as pagan philosophy, this approach bypasses complicated theological debates and goes straight to scriptural identification. The case strengthens further by showing Jesus possesses divine attributes like omnipresence, promising to be present wherever believers gather, which requires being God. Rather than getting trapped debating John 1:1 translations, believers can lead with this Psalm 102-Hebrews 1 connection that forces honest engagement with what Scripture actually says about Jesus’ identity.

For deeper exploration of apologetics and defending biblical truth, check out our Theology Unpacked category.

Maine Court Bans Mother From Taking Daughter to Church

A Maine District Court judge issued a custody order banning a mother from taking her 12-year-old daughter to Calvary Chapel, with the judge’s opinion endorsing the father’s claim that Bible-believing churches inflict psychological harm on children. The lower court ruling came after the non-religious father objected to his daughter attending church, claiming the biblical teachings about fallen angels, hell, and homosexuality were psychologically damaging, resulting in restrictive conditions on the mother despite no evidence or allegation of any type of abuse. The order effectively gave the father final say over all religious instruction, meaning even if the court didn’t ban all churches, if the parents disagreed on reading the Bible or attending any church, the father’s veto power made religious training practically impossible.

Liberty Counsel has appealed the case, arguing it violates the First Amendment’s protection for religious freedom and parental rights. The judge’s decision to refuse capitalizing “God” throughout the entire opinion revealed a level of personal animus toward Christianity that made this case particularly egregious. The broader implications raise serious questions about whether courts can designate certain churches as acceptable while banning others based on doctrinal content—a chilling development for religious liberty. As Nate points out in the episode, this creates a slippery slope toward state-approved churches, fundamentally undermining the separation of church and state.

Read the full Caldron Pool coverage: Appeal Launched Against US Court Ruling That Branded Bible-Believing Churches a “Dangerous Cult”

Newsweek’s take: Mom Battles Judge’s Order Banning Her Taking Daughter to Church

When Greg Suggests Faking Tongues to Keep the Wife Happy

The conversation took a hilariously unexpected turn when Greg, admitting he’s neither married nor a missionary, joked that if he married a Pentecostal as a Calvinist, he’d probably just fake speaking in tongues occasionally to keep her happy—prompting Nate to suggest he’d burst into flames and get hit by lightning, creating a biblical reason for her to be widowed. The exchange captured the tension many Christians feel about denominational differences in marriage: can theological opposites attract without combusting? The consensus landed on defining “unequally yoked” as Christian versus non-Christian, not denomination versus denomination, though practical challenges exist when a Pentecostal and Calvinist marry if both are passionate about secondary doctrines.

As long as both are genuine disciples of Christ according to John 8:31—remaining faithful to Jesus’ teachings—they’re equally yoked enough, even if they need to put blockers in their Bibles so no one accidentally reads Romans 9 and starts World War III at the dinner table. The real danger isn’t marrying someone from a different denomination but marrying someone who doesn’t follow Christ at all, creating fundamental spiritual incompatibility that no amount of couples counseling can fix.