#STRask

Questions about how to deal with someone whose mission is to tear down everyone else’s beliefs about Jesus, how to help a child or teen who seems liable to turn away form God due to peer pressures, and how to reach a daughter who says she wouldn’t be a Christian even if it were true.   How do you deal with a Christian who has deconstructed and whose mission is to try to tear down everyone else’s beliefs about Jesus? What should parents do to help a child or teen who seems liable to turn away from God due to peer pressures? How can I reach my daughter, who professed to be saved as a child but now is out of church, in a relationship with a trans man, and says she would not be a Christian even if Christianity were true?

Questions about how we know God is who he says he is and isn’t lying about his character, how to trust God when it seems like he’s working against us, and how to respond when it feels like God hates you.   How do we know God is who he says he is and isn’t lying about his character? How does a person trust God when it seems like he’s working against us? How should you respond when it feels like God hates you?

Questions about what it means to be holy, how to fight your sins without slipping into a works-based mindset, and whether, as a Christian, it’s better to be humble, meek, and self-deprecating because none of us does good or bold and confident because we’ve been saved by the Creator.   What does it mean to be holy, and why is this important? How do I rest in Jesus’ completed work and still fight my sins without slipping into a works-based mindset? As a Christian, is it better to be humble, meek, and self-deprecating since none of us does good, or can we be bold and confident since we are saved by and loved by the Creator of the universe?

Questions about whether Genesis 1 indicates that humans are basically good and that we’ve emphasized sin too much, and how, if the heart is “desperately wicked,” anyone could believe in their heart that God raised Jesus from the dead and be saved.   Since, in Genesis 1, God made humans in his image and called us “very good,” does that mean humans are basically good and we’ve emphasized sin too much? If the heart is “desperately wicked,” why does God search the heart, and why does Romans 10:9 say, “Believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, and you will be saved”? How could a desperately wicked heart do this?

Questions about how to respond to someone claiming the Quran is the true word of God and how one can discuss the gospel with a Baháʼí.   How would you respond to someone claiming the Quran is the true word of God? How can I discuss the gospel with a Baháʼí?

Questions about inspiration when the New Testament writers quote the Septuagint rather than the original text, whether we could add books to the Bible if new letters from the apostles were found, and how to handle passages like John 7:53–8:11 that were added to the original biblical text.   Can you explain verbal plenary inspiration with regard to the New Testament writers quoting the Septuagint in places where it’s different from the original Hebrew text? Would it be inappropriate to add books to the Bible if new letters from the apostles were found? How should we handle passages like John 7:53–8:11 and Mark 16:9–20 that seem to have been added to the original biblical text?

Questions about whether Christians are complicit in abortion if they shop at companies whose health plans cover it, the claim that putting up Christmas decorations at work discriminates against other religious holidays, and an employer that won’t work around an employee’s religious obligations.   Many are appalled by Christians who lived near World War II concentration camps who failed to resist them or even profited from their evils, yet how are we any different if we invest in or use companies like Amazon that offer health care plans that cover abortion? What is a polite response to the claim that putting up Christmas decorations at work “discriminates” against other religious holidays? How do we navigate a hostile work culture that denies us the hours and funds we need simply because we have church obligations that limit our availability?

Questions about where Jesus went when he “ascended into Heaven” in Acts 1, the idea that Jesus has already returned, whether we’ll see or hear from Jesus after we die, and whether Jesus would have ceased to exist at the cross if annihilation is the punishment required for our sins.   Where did Jesus go when he “ascended into Heaven” in Acts 1? What do you think about the idea that Jesus has already returned? If I won’t see or hear from Jesus while I’m alive, is it going to be like that after I die too? If annihilationism is true, then wouldn’t Jesus have ceased to exist at the cross since he was receiving God’s judgment for us?

Questions about what we make of the eyewitnesses to Joseph Smith’s golden plates, our thoughts on the Book of Mormon itself, and why we consider Latter-day Saint theology to be “another gospel.”   What do you make of the eyewitnesses to the golden plates, what do you make of the Book of Mormon itself, and why do you consider it “another gospel”?

Questions about how to respond to the claim that the Bible is full of contradictions, and how to answer a Jewish person who knows and speaks Hebrew and says our Bibles weren’t translated properly and the New Testament is made up.   How would you respond to the claim that the Bible is full of contradictions? How would you answer a Jewish person who knows and speaks Hebrew and says our Bibles weren’t translated properly and the New Testament is made up?

Questions about the idea that “Satan” is merely the propensity of humankind to commit evil acts, why Satan and the demons would want to keep storing up wrath for themselves if they know they’ll be defeated, and whether a “spirit of divorce” can be carried from generation to generation.   What would you say to someone who believes that Satan is not a being but rather the propensity of humankind to commit evil acts? If Satan and the demons know they’ll ultimately be defeated and tormented, why would they want to keep storing up wrath for themselves? I’ve heard Christians talk about a “spirit of divorce," but is that biblical, could it be carried from generation to generation, and does Exodus 20:5 support that view?

Questions about how right a person’s theology needs to be to enter the kingdom, whether it’s okay to baptize a cognitively challenged person who isn’t able to explain salvific concepts, and whether an intellectually disabled person can be saved if they can’t understand the theology of salvation.   Considering there are a lot of Christians who say they’re right that don’t agree with each other, how “right” do I need to be to enter the kingdom? Is it okay to baptize a young man who really wants to be baptized but who has cognitive challenges and isn’t able to explain salvific concepts like God’s grace or why Jesus needed to die on the cross? Can my intellectually disabled daughter be saved if she can’t understand the concepts involved with Jesus personally dying for her sins?

Questions about claiming to know the one and only perfectly true denomination on earth and how a person can know they are going to Heaven.   Are you about to tell me you know the one and only perfectly true denomination on earth? How can a person know they are going to Heaven?

Questions about whether confidence in a belief should be informed by how long the belief has been held or by how many have held it, and whether it’s irrational and illogical to believe in God and one has to go against reason to believe in him.   Should confidence in a belief be informed by how long the belief has been held or by how many have held it? Is it irrational and illogical to believe in God, and does one have to go against reason to believe in him?

Questions about how to tell the difference between someone who is righteously offended by homosexuality and a bully, and how to challenge cultural Christians to think more deeply about the Christian worldview when they complain about men wearing women’s dresses in public.   How do you tell the difference between someone who is righteously offended by homosexuality and a bully? How can I challenge my cultural-Christian friends to think more deeply about the Christian worldview when they complain about people dressing in bizarre ways in public (like men in women’s dresses)?

Questions about what to do if your child came home and told you they were gay, and whether it’s strategically wiser to set emotionally charged sexual ethics aside at first and begin with other sins when evangelizing.   What would you do if your child came home and told you they were gay? Given how emotionally charged sexual sin is today, is it strategically wiser to set sexual ethics aside at first and begin with less identity-loaded sins (lying, theft, etc.) to establish repentance and regeneration—letting sexual ethics follow as a result of new birth?

Questions about what happened with Germany in World War II if the idea of intrinsic human value came from the Christian worldview, and how to explain the fact that Christians on both sides of World War II slaughtered each other while claiming to fight in the name of God.   If the idea of intrinsic human value came from the Christian worldview, then what happened with Germany in World War II? How do you explain the reality that World War II saw roughly 40 million Christians slaughtering other Christians—both sides claiming to fight in the name of God?

Question about what Christians should think about capitalism.   What should a Christian think about capitalism?

Questions about the benefits of holding Greg’s view on not expecting to hear special messages from God, and how the ideas of God putting something on someone’s heart and prompting someone to pray a certain thing fit with Greg’s theology.   What are the positive benefits of holding Greg’s view on not expecting to hear the voice of God and using more appropriate language for describing how the Holy Spirit interacts with us? In light of your view on hearing the voice of God, what did Greg mean when he talked about God putting something on someone’s heart, and what did Amy mean when she said God might prompt someone to pray a certain thing? How do these ideas fit with your theology?

Question about what Hebrews 7 means when it says Jesus became a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.   What does Hebrews 7 mean when it says Jesus became a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek?

Questions about what Jesus meant in the passage where he says, ”It is written that you are called gods” (John 10:34–36), and why he would compare himself to those who are merely called gods.   Can you give a more detailed explanation of the passage where Jesus says, “It is written that you are called gods” (John 10:34–36)? It seems like he’s downplaying the fact that he’s God by comparing himself to those who are merely called gods.

Question about where Scripture teaches unambiguously that Jesus is God.   Where does Scripture teach unambiguously that Jesus is God? Jesus also said he wasn’t God when being called a blasphemer, so when you say “unambiguously,” what do you actually mean?

Questions about how the new earth ties in with the the teaching that we go to Heaven after we die, whether the Isaiah 65:17–25 passage about the new earth is metaphor, whether people in Heaven are aware of things happening on earth, and the prohibition against communicating with the dead.   How does the new earth and the new Jerusalem mentioned in Revelation tie in with the teaching that we go to Heaven after we die, how can we be taken directly into God’s presence if we’re not as worthy as Elijah and Enoch, and are we misleading people about the afterlife because of unbiblical assumptions? Is the Isaiah 65:17–25 passage about the new earth metaphor, especially the part about having babies? Are people in Heaven and Hell aware of things happening on earth? Is the prohibition against communicating with the dead merely against our trying to get them to respond, or should we not talk to them at all, even if we’re not expecting a response?

Questions about responding to the claim that someone who died saving the life of another shouldn’t be punished with Hell, and answering someone who says they don’t need a relationship with God and that if there’s a just God, then we should all be judged according to our deeds.   How would you respond to the claim that someone who died saving the life of another shouldn’t be punished with Hell? What would you say to someone who says they don’t need a relationship with God and that if there’s a just God, then we should all be judged according to our deeds?

Questions about how God’s divine prerogative in Romans 9 differs from the capriciousness of Allah, why we should bother with evangelism if God draws those whom he draws and no one has a choice, and the role of faith in the elect in Reformed theology if God guaranteed their salvation.   How is God’s divine prerogative shown in Romans 9 different from the capriciousness of Allah? If God already knows who goes to Heaven, and he draws those whom he draws, then why bother with evangelism since it isn’t like someone can have the choice to choose God? In Reformed theology, what’s the role of faith in the elect if God guaranteed their salvation?

Questions about whether or not a human clone would have a soul, when each identical twin receives a soul, whether anencephalic babies have a soul, and whether the fact that scientists can use AI to decode people’s thoughts by analyzing their brain activity disproves the soul.   Would a human clone have a soul? When identical twins form from a single-cell fertilized egg, when does each receive a soul? Do anencephalic babies have a soul? Does the fact that scientists have been able to decode people’s thoughts by using AI to analyze their brain activity disprove the idea that the soul is real and that consciousness is an immaterial, private experience?

Questions about advice for parents whose daughter was turned away from the faith by the culture, and what to do when you’ve been a Christian for 35 years and are feeling cold to evangelism and a deeper understanding of Scripture.   Do you have any advice for us after this culture turned our dear daughter away from the faith she grew up in? As someone who’s been a Christian for approximately 35 years, I'm feeling very cold to evangelism and a deeper understanding of Scripture, and I’m looking for some advice on where to get started.

Questions about why people are using the Old Testament laws to condemn people if we’re not under those laws, thoughts on Christians celebrating the feasts of the Law out of obedience to the Lord, and whether we should keep the feasts so we’ll recognize Christ at his second coming.    If the Old Testament laws were not even meant for us, then why are so many using the old laws to condemn people now? What do you think about my friends insisting that Christians celebrate and honor the various feasts of the Mosaic Law—not out of a spirit of legalism, but merely out of obedience to the Lord who saved them? Just as part of the purpose of the Mosaic Law and sacrificial system was to teach God’s people how to recognize Jesus when he came, should Christians be keeping the Feast of Tabernacles and other commands so we can recognize Christ at his second coming?

Questions about how to answer someone who says, “Everyone deserves love and happiness,” in response to objections to same-sex weddings, and how to think about same-sex adoption when looking through the lens of the greater good.   How would you answer someone who said, “Everyone deserves love and happiness,” in response to my objections to same-sex weddings? How should I think about same-sex adoption when looking through the lens of the greater good? If same-sex marriage is legal, what is the greater good in terms of children—giving a child a home or fighting against same-sex adoption ever occurring?

Questions about how to make a biblical case for God’s good design in creating two genders and the rightness of submitting to his design for our own bodies, and how “gender-affirming” care can be wrong if it’s not discussed in the Bible.   Would you make a biblical case for God’s good design in creating two genders and the rightness of submitting to his design for our own bodies? My trans, Episcopal brother is asking why “gender-affirming care” is wrong and harmful if it’s not discussed in the Bible.

Questions about whether the despair portrayed in Psalms and Job is descriptive, prescriptive, or something else, whether the Beatitudes are descriptive or prescriptive, how to meditate on God’s Word, and whether reading the Bible gives us information about God or a relationship with him.   Should we view the despair of believers portrayed in Psalms and Job descriptively, prescriptively, or some other middle way? Are the Beatitudes found in Matthew 5 descriptive, prescriptive, or both? How do we meditate on God’s Word just by reading it, and how is meditating on God’s Word different from yoga? How should I respond to someone who says, “The Bible gives us information about God. You can’t read it again and again and say you have a relationship with God.”

Questions about the difference between believing and knowing from a biblical perspective, why it’s considered bad manners to ask for testable, repeatable evidence for the existence of gods, and why Christians don’t prove God exists by asking him to change carbon dioxide into hydrogen.   How would you understand the difference between believing and knowing from a biblically informed Christian perspective, with knowing from a secular perspective being that which one can see, smell, touch, or demonstrate empirically? Why is it considered very bad manners to ask for testable, repeatable, consistent evidence that gods and goddesses do exist? What prayer can anyone say over a small amount of baking soda so that when vinegar is poured onto it, the bubbles test positive for hydrogen instead of carbon dioxide, thereby giving evidence that the supernatural being to whom the prayer is offered does exist?

Questions about our best answer when an atheist asks us to prove God exists, how God can be merciful and forgiving without the existence of fallen humanity, and why, if God is complete in himself and already receives glory from the angels, he would create us to witness his glory.   What is your best answer when an atheist asks you to “prove God exists”? Since God is a Trinity, he can be love without needing creation, but how can he be, by nature, merciful and forgiving without fallen humanity, and wouldn’t that make us necessary? If God is complete in himself, he didn’t need to create us, and if his angels are there, he already receives glory, so why is it to the benefit of an uncreated creation that they should be created and witness the glory of God?

Questions about why the Sadducees and Pharisees wanted to kill Jesus and why God doesn’t say anything when we pray to him.   Why did the Sadducees and Pharisees want to kill Jesus? Why doesn’t God say anything when we pray to him?

Questions about whether 1 Corinthians 3:15 indicates that a person can be saved but have nothing to show for it in the way they live, and whether a lack of good works after salvation means the person is not really saved.   Does 1 Corinthians 3:15 indicate that a person can be saved but have nothing to show for it in the way they live, and if so, how does this fit with passages like James 2 and John 15? If good works demonstrate/follow salvation, does that mean I’m not saved since I still fail so much when it comes to selfishness, not helping others much, not giving much, etc.?

Question about the questions we need to answer for our youth to help keep them from walking away from the faith.   What questions do we need to answer for our youth to help keep them from walking away from the faith?

Question about how to love those who hate us.   How would you answer the question my former professor says is the most pressing question his students are asking right now: How do we love those who hate us?

Questions about whether biblical fasting is food specific or could include things like social media, how the “faith” listed as a gift of the Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12:9 differs from the saving faith given to all believers, and whether it’s biblical for people with a prophetic gift to predict suffering and death.   Is it biblical to abstain from something like social media as a form of fasting to pray for a specific thing, or is fasting food specific? Is the “faith” listed as a gift of the Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12:9 somehow different from the saving faith given to all believers? Is it biblical for people with a prophetic gift to predict seasons of suffering or when a person will die?

Questions about what to say to a confused four-year-old grandson whose father is telling him there are hundreds of gods, why it’s difficult to persuade a Mormon or Jehovah’s Witness, and how to engage someone who claims to be Christian yet attends a Unitarian Universalist church.   How do I respond to a confused four-year-old grandson whose father is telling him there are hundreds of gods? Why is it so hard, when having a discussion with a Mormon or Jehovah’s Witness, to help them understand and set them free with the truth of the gospel? How do I engage someone who claims to be a Christian yet attends a Unitarian Universalist church?

Questions about evidence in Scripture that identifies the Holy Spirit as a person rather than the transforming power of God, whether Mark 13:33 means that the Holy Spirit doesn’t know the day of Christ’s return, and thoughts on contemplative prayer and other popular spiritual formation practices.   Aside from translators’ use of the male pronoun, what evidence in Scripture identifies the Holy Spirit as a “person” as opposed to the transforming power of God? Does Mark 13:33 mean that the Holy Spirit does not know the day of Christ’s return? Can you comment on popular spiritual formation practices such as contemplative prayer, lectio divina, and the need to explore our past in order for the Spirit to work in us to remove sin?

Questions about whether perfect justice requires that the penalty be paid by the offender rather than someone else, and whether the references in Scripture to sharing in the sufferings of Christ are only about persecution for one’s faith or include things like sickness and financial hardship.   For “perfect justice” to be accomplished, doesn’t the penalty have to actually be paid by the offender rather than someone else? Are the references in Scripture to ”sharing in the sufferings of Christ” only about persecution for one’s faith in Christ, or are they also about sickness, financial hardship, emotional pain, etc.?

Questions about whether to attend the wedding of someone who is into the New Thought movement and will have New Age items at the wedding location, whether one should not listen to hymns sung by Latter-day Saints, and how to respond to the Buddhist “Walk for Peace.”   Should I attend the wedding of my sister, who is into the New Thought movement and will have a meditation yurt, a drum circle, and other New Age items at the wedding location and is very outspoken against Christianity? I’ve found that Latter-day Saint singers sing hymns that I like, and I get disturbed by that. Should I not listen? How should Christians respond to the Buddhist “Walk for Peace” and the people and churches excited to see and support it?

Questions about which Bible translation to recommend to an adult who’s new to the Bible, and what resources to recommend to an unbeliever who’s interested in reading the Bible with her son.   Which Bible translation would you recommend to an adult who’s new to the Bible? What resources would you recommend to an unbeliever who’s interested in reading the Bible with her son?

Questions about how to respond to the criticism that Christianity is narrow-minded and dangerous, and what to say to someone who thinks Christianity is a cult.   How would you respond to the criticism that Christianity is narrow-minded and dangerous? What would you say to someone who thinks Christianity is a cult?

Questions about whether God’s primary object is to not be found, how one can say God doesn’t make mistakes if the percentage of Christians in the world is so low, and whether the fact that not everyone will be in Heaven is proof that God doesn’t win every battle.   Would you say God’s primary object is to not be found? If God doesn’t make mistakes, how do you explain the fact that Christians have reached an all-time low percentage of the world’s population? If the common belief that God wins every battle were true, then no one would be in Hell.

Questions about whether the fact that the truth about one’s age changes over time is an argument for relativism, and how to ground virtues like courage in objective reality without relying on circular definitions.   I’ve heard truth doesn’t change and doesn’t contradict itself, but how does yearly change fit into that—e.g., I’m 38 one year and 39 the next. Does this create an argument for relativism? If “cowardice” is defined as failing to do what’s right, then calling it “wrong” is just a tautology. How do we ground virtues like courage in objective reality without relying on circular definitions?

Questions about what gives modern Christians confidence that they’ve inherited the Jews’ covenant with God if Scripture explicitly says it was with Israel and not the Gentile nations, and why the Jews were chosen.   The covenant in Scripture is explicitly with Israel and not the Gentile nations, so what gives modern Christians confidence that they’ve inherited that covenant? Why were the Jews chosen?

Questions about why there is no effort towards a neutral interpretation of Scripture that doesn’t take denominational preferences into account, and how so many people in different denominations that believe different things can all claim to be followers of Christ.   Why is there no effort towards a neutral exegesis—i.e., without taking denominational preferences into account—in light of the fact that there are so many denominations divided over hundreds of topics? Which inspiration theory and which explanatory system do you use? Considering there are so many denominations that all believe different things, how can they all claim to be followers of Christ?

Questions about how one person could trust another person on the topic of God, how STR obtained information about God that others haven’t obtained, and whether God only matters for the purpose of the afterlife.   How could one person trust another person on the topic of God, and how did you obtain information about God that I haven’t obtained? Aside from Heaven and Hell, does God matter? Atheists and Muslims experience the same world you do.

Questions about responding to an LGBTQ person who says he feels good about who he is, and whether—since we all have sin in our life we don’t consider to be sinful—a practicing homosexual can be born again as long as he sincerely believes his behavior isn’t sinful.   What would be an appropriate response to an LGBTQ person saying, “I feel good about who I am”? Since we all have sin in our life that we don’t consider to be sinful, and will only learn about it when we get to Heaven, doesn’t that mean a practicing homosexual can be born again as long as he sincerely believes his behavior is not sinful?