#STRask

What Would You Say to an Atheist Who Claims to Lack a Worldview?

Questions about how to handle a conversation with an atheist who claims to lack a worldview, and how to respond to someone who accuses you of being “stubborn and dogmatic” because you defend your views and don’t capitulate to their arguments.

 

• How would you handle a conversation with an atheist who claims to lack a worldview and denies holding every belief atheists usually hold?
• How would you respond to someone who accuses you of being “stubborn and dogmatic” simply because you defend your views with facts and reason and don’t capitulate to their arguments?

No One Wrote About Jesus During His Lifetime

Questions about how to respond to the concern that no one wrote about Jesus during his lifetime, why scholars say Jesus was born in AD 5–6 rather than AD 1, and what Paul meant when he said God sent his son “when the fullness of the time came.”

 

• What should I say to someone who is hung up on the fact that no one wrote about Jesus during his lifetime?
• If Jesus’ birth started AD 1, why do scholars say he was born in AD 5–6?
• Paul says in Galatians 4:4–5 that God sent his son “when the fullness of the time came.” What was “just right” about that point in history, and is God doing anything special in our day?

Is It Problematic for a DJ to Play Songs That Are Contrary to His Christian Values?

Questions about whether it’s problematic for a DJ on a secular radio station to play songs with lyrics that are contrary to his Christian values, and what approach a musician should take toward royalties he’s still receiving from music that had less-than-Christian lyrics.

 

• As a DJ on a secular radio station that plays music from the ’60s through the ’90s, is it problematic for me to play music with lyrics that are contrary to my Christian values?
• What approach should I take toward the monetary royalties I still collect from music that had less-than-Christian imagery and lyrics?

Could Inherently Sinful Humans Have Accurately Recorded the Word of God?

Questions about whether or not inherently sinful humans could have accurately recorded the Word of God, whether the words about Moses in Acts 7:22 and Exodus 4:10 contradict each other, and why we’re told to say, “If it is the Lord’s will,” in James 4 but not James 5.

 

• How should I respond to the objection that humans, who are inherently sinful, could not have accurately recorded the Word of God?
• How do we reconcile the seeming contradiction between Acts 7:22, which says Moses was mighty in word and deed, and Exodus 4:10, where Moses says he is slow of speech and tongue?
• James 4:13–16 instructs us to qualify our plans by saying, “If it is the Lord’s will,” but his words in the next chapter about our prayers healing the sick include no qualifiers regarding God’s will. How does James 5 fit with James 4?

What Are the Top Five Things to Consider Before Joining a Church?

Questions about the top five things to consider before joining a church when coming out of the NAR movement, and thoughts regarding a church putting on a production of Jesus Christ Superstar as a means to draw non-Christians into the church.

 

• I’m coming out of the Word of Faith and New Apostolic Reformation movements. What are the top five things I need to consider before joining a church?
• What are your thoughts regarding a church putting on a production of Jesus Christ Superstar as a means to draw non-Christians into the church?

Are Works the Evidence or the Energizer of Faith?

Questions about whether faith is the evidence or the energizer of faith, and biblical support for the idea that good works are inevitable and always demonstrated in the life of someone who has true faith.

 

• Works appear to be the “engine oil” that keeps faith alive. Without them, faith is dead. Therefore, aren’t works the energizer of faith, not the evidence? Can you please provide biblical support that “good works” are inevitable and always demonstrated in the life of someone who has true faith?

Is Morality Determined by Society?

Questions about how to respond to someone who says morality is determined by society, whether our evolutionary biology causes us to think it’s objectively wrong to torture babies for fun, and whether someone with multiple personality disorder could both trust and reject Christ.

 

• How should I respond to someone who is unpersuaded by the moral argument for God, who insists people just do what makes them happy and doesn’t offend people or the law, and who says morality is determined by social structures that have evolved?
• Can the idea that it’s objectively wrong to torture babies for fun actually be explained by our evolutionary biology making us want to protect the babies in our group?
• Would it be possible for someone with multiple personality disorder to trust Christ with one personality and reject him with another? If so, how would we make sense of their eternal state?

What Evidence Can I Give for Objective Morality?

Questions about how to respond to someone who’s asking for evidence for objective morality, what to say to atheists who counter the moral argument for God by rejecting the necessity of objective morality, and the definition of intuition.

 

• An atheist who’s debating me about objective morality ignores what I say about our just knowing it deep inside and keeps pressing me for evidence. What should I do?
• What should I say to atheists who counter the moral argument for God by rejecting the necessity of objective morality?
• What is intuition?

If Sin Is a Disease We’re Born with, How Can We Be Guilty When We Sin?

Questions about how we can be guilty when we sin if sin is a disease we’re born with, how it can be that we’ll have free will in Heaven but not have the ability to choose to sin, and whether morality and logic are correct because God says so or he says so because they’re correct.

 

• If sin is a disease we’re all born with, how can we be guilty when we sin?
• Can you explain how we will retain free will in Heaven but will not have the ability to choose to sin?
• Is morality correct because God says so, or does he say so because it is correct? Is logic correct because God says so, or does he say so because it is correct?

Do People with Dementia Have Free Will?

Question about whether or not people with dementia have free will and are morally responsible for the sins they commit.

 

• Do people with dementia have free will? Are they morally responsible for the sins they commit, like their hurtful words and aggressive actions towards others?