#STRask

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?