#STRask

Questions about whether the claim in 1 Corinthians that “no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except in the Holy Spirit” is a black-and-white tool for discernment, and how to have a better relationship with Jesus when reading the Bible feels like a chore and you can’t remember to pray.

 

• Since First Corinthians 12:3 says that “no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except in the Holy Spirit,” if TV evangelists who seem to preach another gospel and act overtly un-Christlike claim Jesus is Lord, is that evidence the Holy Spirit dwells in them? Is this a black-and-white tool for discernment?
• How can I have a better relationship with Jesus when reading the Bible feels like a chore and I can never remember to pray? I feel like I don’t know him at all.

Questions about whether or not it’s reasonable to worry that some of our current doctrines were influenced by the fallen nature of the apostles, and how to defend sola Scriptura to Roman Catholics who argue that oral tradition carries as much weight as Scripture.

 

• How much of the apostles’ fallen nature influenced their choice of words and how they communicated? Is it reasonable to worry that some of our current doctrines came from their just getting annoyed or impatient with someone and wording something too harshly?
• How do I defend sola Scriptura to my Roman Catholic family members in light of passages like 1 Thessalonians 2:13 and 2 Thessalonians 2:15, which seem to imply that oral tradition carries as much weight as Scripture?

Questions about how to reconcile the image of God as a judge with his love, grace, and kindness, why our sins are considered to be sins against God, and whether the idea that our debt was paid by Christ means we escape the penalty for our sins by right, not grace.

 

• For most of my life, God has been portrayed to me primarily as a judge—watching closely, ready to point out where I fall short. But I’m learning there’s more to him than that. How do I begin to reconcile that image with the reality of his love, grace, and kindness?
• If I commit a sin against someone but then make amends and ask for forgiveness, how is it that I’ve also sinned against God, and why would God still need to punish me?
• If Christ was literally punished for our sins and our debt was paid, then how can it be said we are “forgiven”? Wouldn’t we escape the penalty by right, not grace?

Questions about how to respond to someone who asks, ”How does it affect you if a gay couple gets married, or a woman makes a decision about her reproductive health, or someone chooses a different faith system than yours?”

 

• How would you respond to someone who asks, ”How does it affect you if a gay couple gets married, or a woman makes a decision about her reproductive health, or someone chooses a different faith system than yours?”

Questions about how to respond to the critique that Christians care more about ideology than people, and whether we have freedom in America because Christians are more civilized or because the Constitution doesn’t allow Christians to enforce their laws.

 

• Can you respond to the critique that Christians care more about ideology than people?
• Do you think we enjoy freedom in America because Christians are more civilized or because the Constitution doesn’t allow Christians to enforce laws like in Saudi Arabia?

Questions about how the similarities between Krishna and Jesus could be a coincidence and whether there’s any proof to substantiate the idea that Jesus studied Buddhism during his “missing years.”

 

• How could the similarities between the Krishna story and the Jesus story (e.g., a star at his birth, his father traveling to pay taxes, a transfiguration, etc.) be a coincidence?
• Is there any proof to substantiate the idea that Jesus studied Buddhism during his “missing years”?

Question about how you can improve your informal writing (e.g., blog posts) when you don’t have access to an editor.

 

• Do you have any thoughts or advice on how best to improve my informal writing (e.g., blog posts) when I don’t have access to an editor?

Question about the top three pitfalls to watch out for when you start using apologetics in conversations with others.

 

• What are the top three apologist pitfalls—i.e., if you’ve just read Tactics, you’re ready to go, and Jehovah’s Witnesses show up at your door or your atheist coworker starts asking you about God, what are the top three things to watch out for?

Questions about whether “God the Father” is a sexist term that demeans women in general and mothers in particular, how long Hell has been there, whether God created it, and how to explain the kind of anger that would lead to the creation of Hell.

 

• Can you respond to the critique that “God the Father” is a sexist term that demeans women in general and mothers in particular?
• How long has Hell been there, and did God create it? I can’t imagine that kind of anger.

Questions about whether you should believe things you can’t fully comprehend, whether it’s just an arbitrary escape hatch to say God doesn’t require a cause, and how to respond to an atheist who grounds objective morality in an objective rule or criteria.

 

• Should one believe things they can’t fully comprehend, and if not, at what level of comprehension of certain biblical truth statements ought they begin believing?
• Why would God be immune to the infinite regress dilemma? It’s arbitrary to simply describe an object as needing no cause. It’s the escape hatch to a question you’ve been trapped by, but that doesn’t make it real or true.
• How would you respond to an atheist who defends the existence of objective morality by grounding it in an objective rule or criteria like “Do to others as you would want them to do to you”?