#STRask

Questions about whether other religions are different expressions of the same God, and how to reconcile the idea that people who have never heard the gospel are guaranteed to go to Hell with the fact that God is a good judge who shows mercy on whom he chooses to show mercy.

 

• Are other religions different expressions of the same God? If the Bible centers on one region, how did isolated people come to know him? Could their native religions have been another way God revealed himself?
• How do you reconcile the idea that people who have never heard the gospel are guaranteed to go to Hell (per Romans 10) with knowing God is a good judge who shows mercy on whom he chooses to show mercy?

Questions about how to reconcile 1 Corinthians 13:5, which says that love doesn’t keep a record of wrongs, with God keeping a record of everything we have done and judging us by it, and how the idea that people are condemned for their sin, not for lack of belief in Jesus, squares with John 3:18.

 

• How do we reconcile 1 Corinthians 13:5, which says that love doesn’t keep a record of wrongs, with Revelation 20, which says that God keeps a record of everything we have done and will judge us by it?
• How does your idea that people who haven’t heard of Jesus are condemned for their sin rather than for not believing in Jesus square with John 3:18, which says that anyone who does not believe in him is already condemned?

Questions about what to say to someone who finds it hard to believe in a God that lumps non-criminals in with murderers and rapists when he sends them to Heaven or Hell, and whether all receive the same punishment in Hell.

 

• What could you ask a non-believer who finds it hard to believe in a God that lumps non-criminals in with murderers and rapists when he sends them to Heaven or Hell?
• Do all receive the same punishment in Hell? Does Hitler receive the same eternal punishment as a Buddhist?

Questions about why God gave Moses the Ten Commandments instead of sending Jesus, and what it means to call Jesus Christ the “Lamb of God.”

 

• What are your thoughts on why God gave Moses the Ten Commandments instead of sending Jesus?
• What does it mean to call Jesus Christ the “Lamb of God”?

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?