#STRask

Questions about how to respond to someone who rejects God because he didn’t save her from her childhood trauma when she prayed for help and whether it’s wrong to respond to the psalm that says, “What can man do to me,” by thinking, “They can do a lot!”

• Can you help me respond to someone who rejects God because he didn’t save her from her childhood trauma when she prayed for help?
• Is it a sin that when I read the psalm that says, “What can man do to me,” my response is to think, “They can do a lot—rape, torture, kill, abuse, manipulate, and intimidate.”

Question about whether or not we would kill a baby if God commanded us to do it.

• If God commanded you to kill a baby, would you do it—yes or no?

Questions about Christians making use of the concept of meditation, advice for discussions with panentheists, and how to not be discouraged when pastors don’t use apologetics when it would be the perfect time to do so.

• How might Christians appropriately make use of the concept of meditation, or should this sort of thing be avoided?
• Do you have any tips or questions for discussions with New Age spiritualists—in particular, panentheists?
• How can we not become discouraged when pastors or teachers do not use apologetics when it would be the perfect time to do so?

Questions about whether it’s okay to pray for the destruction and downfall of our enemies, how to reconcile the idea that God doesn’t tempt people with the fact that he led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted, and why believers need to ask forgiveness for their sins.

• We use psalms in worship and model our prayers after them, but is it okay to pray for the destruction and downfall of our enemies like we see in the imprecatory psalms?
• How do we reconcile the idea that God doesn’t tempt people and isn’t the “author of evil“ with the fact that he led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted in Luke 4?
• If God sees believers as blameless, why do we need to ask forgiveness for our sins?

Questions about whether you can be acting on godly wisdom if your choice is giving you deep pain, how a combat vet who has difficulty going to church due to PTSD can find peace with who he is, and whether a Christian can be a public defender and represent criminals.

• Can I be acting on godly wisdom if my choice is giving me deep pain?
• I am a combat vet with PTSD who has difficulty connecting with people and doesn’t do well in crowds, which makes it difficult to go to church and have friends and fellowship and leads me to question my faith. How can I find peace with who I am?
• Can a Christian be a public defender and represent people charged with a crime?

Questions about whether humanity’s justice is better than God’s, what to say to a Muslim who asks why God’s justice requires him to punish sin instead of just forgiving without punishment, and why so much blood, torture, and slaughter for Jesus.

• God is not just. Humanity’s justice attempts to fit a punishment to the crime and aims for rehabilitation and restoration to the community rather than eternal damnation.
• What would you say to a Muslim who asks why God’s justice requires him to punish sin instead of just forgiving without punishment?
• Why so much blood, torture, and slaughter for Jesus?

Questions about why God didn’t start humanity over right away by destroying Adam and Eve instead of waiting for the flood, whether another fall will be possible in the new creation (and what that means for our free will), and why God didn’t make us “fall-proof” from the beginning.

• Why didn’t God start humanity over right away by destroying Adam and Eve if he knew he was going to have to destroy an evil generation with the flood later on?
• In the new heavens and earth, will another fall of humanity be possible, and could this create an infinite loop of creation and fall? If not, does this mean there will be a lack of free will in the new creation, and why wouldn’t this “fall-proof” design have been God’s original choice for creation?

Questions about what the Bible means by “boasting in our weaknesses” (2 Cor. 12:7–10), what it means to “sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts” (1 Pet. 3:13–15), and whether giving our lives to Christ means we can’t have other interests besides God.

• What does the Bible mean by “boasting in our weaknesses,” and what does this look like in our lives?
• In 1 Peter 3:15, what does it mean to “sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts”?
• We’re to give our lives to Christ, but how much living do we get to do outside of Christ? Can we have hobbies, jobs, relaxation time, further education, or other interests besides God?

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?