#STRask

Questions about how God could kill all the firstborn babies in the tenth plague, how to respond to someone who says God committed genocide when he destroyed the earth during the flood, and whether God still creates calamity today as it says in Isaiah 45:7.

• How could God kill all the firstborn babies in the tenth plague?
• How should I respond to someone who says God committed genocide when he destroyed the earth during the flood?
• Does God still create calamity today as it says in Isaiah 45:7?

Questions about whether the Bible says that someday everyone in the world will worship God, the purpose of worshiping God, and whether it might be the case that God has created another universe where that creation also gives him glory.

• Does it say anywhere in the Bible that someday everyone (all the world) will worship God? [Note: after recording this episode, we also came across Psalm 66:3–4, which says that “all the earth will worship” God, but also that his enemies will give him “feigned obedience.”]
• What is the purpose of worshiping God?
• If God maximizes his glory in this universe, is it reasonable to think he’s maximized his glory in another universe or in some other creative act that involves his creation giving him glory?

Questions about whether post-mortem salvation is an orthodox doctrine, reconciling a verse about God removing our transgressions from us with verses about each of us having to give an account to God on judgment day, and how to recognize true conviction of sin by the Holy Spirit.

• Is post-mortem repentance and salvation an orthodox doctrine?
• How do we reconcile Psalm 103:12, which says, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us,” with Matthew 12:36 and Romans 14:12, which speak of each person having to give an account of himself to God on the day of judgment?
• How do we tell the difference between conviction of sin by the Holy Spirit and feelings that are just either scrupulosity or the devil’s accusations?

Questions about why we should think the new believers in Acts 5:14 received the Holy Spirit when Acts seems to argue that not all believers necessarily receive the Spirit and whether “Holy Ghost” is a degrading term for the Holy Spirit.

• Why should we think the new believers in Acts 5:14 received the Holy Spirit when it doesn’t say so? Doesn’t Acts argue that not all believers necessarily receive the Holy Spirit, especially given 8:9–17?
• Is “Holy Ghost” a degrading term for the Holy Spirit?

Questions about how to show someone that relying on AI for answers is a flawed way of finding truth, the role personal testimony should play in apologetics, and whether it’s sinful to not be more like Ray Comfort when talking to people you might not see again.

• How can I show someone that entirely relying on AI for answers is a flawed way of finding truth?
• What role, if any, should personal testimony play in apologetics?
• I feel convicted that I’m not sharing the gospel enough. Is it sinful that I can’t be like Ray Comfort when I’m talking to people I might not see again?

Questions about whether you should stick with a decision you made that didn’t work out as you hoped if you prayed about it beforehand and how you can know for sure if God is calling you to do something.

• If a decision you made after much research and prayer didn’t work out as you hoped, is it okay to change direction, or should you stick with it since you prayed about it beforehand?
• How do you know for sure if God is actually calling you to do something?

Questions about how being with Jesus continually will be the highlight of eternity if he’ll only be able to interact with one person at a time since he has a physical body and how a scholarly Jewish rabbi would defend his position that Jesus is not the Messiah.

• It seems like being in Jesus’ presence continually will be the highlight of eternity, but since he has a physical body, won’t he only be able to interact with one person at a time?
• How would a scholarly Jewish rabbi defend his position that Jesus is not the Messiah?

Questions about why God the Father required a sacrifice (and whether Jesus’ short-term death was really a sacrifice), whether Jesus’ disciples ever offered sacrifices at the temple, and what it means to say that sin causes separation from God if God is omnipresent.

• Why did God the Father require a sacrifice, and if Jesus knew he would rise again in three days, was his death really a sacrifice?
• Did Jesus’ disciples ever offer sacrifices at the temple, and if not, why not?
• How can I explain the idea that “sin causes separation from God” to someone who believes that it denies God’s omnipresence and denies Jesus interacted with sinners?

Questions about how to reconcile the biblical model of marriage with polygamy in the Old Testament, why the Israelites weren’t explicitly forbidden to practice polygamy, and how we can gain wisdom from Solomon about marriage when he had 700 wives and 300 concubines.

• How can we reconcile the biblical model of marriage (one man, one woman, one flesh, one lifetime) with the deviations from this model in the Old Testament, especially involving polygamy?
• What are your thoughts on why the Israelites were not explicitly forbidden to practice polygamy?
• How is it that we gain so much knowledge and wisdom from Solomon regarding marriage and relationships when he had 700 wives and 300 concubines?

Questions about the best way to respond to someone who believes in double predestination and who dismisses many non-believers as lost causes and whether someone who believes they need faith plus works for salvation can still be saved by their faith.

• What’s the best way to respond to someone in the double predestination camp who vocally dismisses many non-believers as lost causes?
• Can someone who believes they need faith plus works for salvation still be saved by their faith?