#STRask

Questions about how we know that God is one being instead of three distinct divine beings in perfect unity, and why God would give notable miracles to Oneness Pentecostals if their theology is truly heretical.

 

• I see real distinctions between the persons of the Trinity—Father, Son, and Spirit interacting, speaking, and acting in different roles—but what specifically makes God one being instead of three distinct divine beings in perfect unity?
• Why would God give such notable miracles to Oneness Pentecostals if their theology is heretical? I can’t help but wonder if they’re seeing this kind of power because they know who Jesus really is.

Questions about suggestions for a book to give a strong pantheist who’s a fan of Neale Donald Walsch, and how karma is different from the parable of the sower in Matthew 13 or the teaching about reaping what you sow in Galatians 6.

 

• My neighbor, who is a strong pantheist, gave me Conversations with God by Neale Donald Walsch. Do you have any suggestions for what I could give him in return?
• How is karma different from the parable of the sower in Matthew 13 or the teaching about reaping what you sow in Galatians 6?

Questions about how the unity of the Bible can be evidence it’s from God if the books could have been cherry-picked later, whether the fact that some passages in our Bibles aren’t canonical means every part of the Bible can be called into question, and why the Gospels don’t tell who wrote them.

 

• How would you argue that the unity of the Bible is evidence it’s from God? Couldn’t a skeptic object that one could come up with any unified story given enough ancient sources and a good deal of cherry-picking?
• If certain passages in our Bibles are not true, canonical, or inspired, doesn’t that mean every part of the Bible can be called into question?
• When I’m asked why the Gospels don’t tell who wrote them, what is the best way to answer?

Questions about the claim that science explains things that happen and that’s why it can’t explain the supernatural, whether there will be morality in Heaven, and reconciling the idea that we all intuitively know morality with the argument that Christianity gave our culture its morality.

 

• If science explains things that happen, then the reason it can’t explain the supernatural is that the supernatural doesn’t happen, for if the supernatural happened, then science would explain it.
• Will there be morality in Heaven? If there are no bad choices, would it only be free will and not morality?
• How do we reconcile the idea that morality is objective and we all just know it with the idea that Christianity gave us our Western moral values—i.e., if we all intuitively know morality, why do we argue Christianity gave it to our culture?

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?