#STRask

Questions about whether apologetics has had a positive effect on people and our culture, whether the longtime privatization of our Christian faith has led to churches becoming apathetic to the culture, and C.S. Lewis and Francis Schaeffer book recommendations.

• Do you believe apologetics has had a positive effect on people and our culture?
• Has the longtime privatization of our Christian faith led to local churches becoming apathetic to the surrounding culture, and if so, what is the solution?
• What top two books by C.S. Lewis and Francis Schaeffer would you recommend for getting started with each one?

Questions about how to articulate the beauty of the Christian worldview in a nutshell and whether “separation of church and state” requires public school teachers to not reference the Bible and government employees to remove anything Bible related from their offices.

• People are upset because a politician said he has a biblical worldview. How can we articulate the beauty of our worldview to others in a nutshell?
• What should I say to people who think public school teachers shouldn’t reference God or Scripture because of “separation of church and state”?
• What should we do when upper management in local government tells employees they need to remove anything Bible related from their offices?

Questions about how to know if we’re a “gardener” or a “harvester,” how to engage an apathetic person who says “I don’t know” to everything, and whether Christians are making an unfalsifiable claim and fruitlessly discussing something that can’t be proven or disproven.

• How do I know if I’m a “gardener” or a “harvester”?
• How do you engage an apathetic person who says “I don’t know” to everything?
• Are Christians committing a fallacy by making an unfalsifiable claim? What value is there in discussing something that can be neither proven nor disproven?

Questions about how to start conversations with postmodernists about the need for repentance and what question one can use to put a stone in the shoe of a Buddhist friend.

• In a postmodern world, what tools can believers use to start a conversation about the need for repentance?
• What question can I use to put a stone in the shoe of my Buddhist friend?

Questions about what constitutes a marriage, at what point God considers a committed relationship to be a marriage, whether the freedom to pursue marriage is a natural right (and what restrictions would be inappropriate), and how to decline an invitation to an unbiblical wedding.

• What constitutes a marriage?
• At what point does God consider a committed relationship to be “marriage”?
• Is the freedom to pursue marriage a natural human right, and are there any any inappropriate restrictions that should not be placed on marriage?
• Should I explain my reason for declining an invitation to a marriage ceremony that doesn’t reflect the biblical order or just address it when asked?

Questions about how to reconcile Romans 6:12–14 (where Paul talks about victory over sins) with Romans 7:21–25 (where Paul bemoans sins he still commits) and why Paul uses the Mosaic Law as a starting point for moral instruction if believers aren’t under any part of the Law.

• Please help me reconcile Romans 6:12–14 (where Paul seems to be saying we can have victory over our sins) with Romans 7:21–25 (which sounds like Paul is bemoaning sins he still commits).
• How do you reconcile Paul’s use of the Mosaic Law as a starting point for moral instruction with the idea that believers aren’t under any part of the Mosaic Law?

Questions about whether there is something a person can do to develop love for Christ if they are emotionally detached and whether one should stay in a church that is slowly drifting away from historic Christianity.

• How is a person supposed to love Christ if they are emotionally detached? Is there a way to do something about it?
• Should I stay in a church that is slowly drifting away from historic Christianity and seems to question basic beliefs such as the authority of the Old Testament, Heaven, Hell, evangelism, etc.?

Questions about why atheists get angry when someone brings up belief in God, how to reconcile God’s sovereignty and Satan being the prince of the world, and why the Lord’s Prayer says, “Lead us not into temptation,” when God would never lead us into temptation.

• What is the source of the anger I encounter from atheists when I bring up belief in God?
• How does one reconcile God’s sovereignty and Satan being the prince of this world?
• Why does the Lord’s Prayer say, “Lead us not into temptation,” when leading us into temptation isn’t part of his nature?

Questions about whether we’re only interpreting the Bible according to authorial intent because of our post-Enlightenment way of thinking and whether Zephaniah 3:17 is being taken out of context when someone takes comfort in it.

• How should I respond to someone who says, “The only reason you interpret the Bible by going back to authorial intent is that you live in a post-Enlightenment way of thinking, and others might interpret it differently”?
• Am I taking Zephaniah 3:17 out of context when I take comfort in it?

Questions about how to defend the claim that marriage was created by God and what to say to someone who doesn’t want her daughter to grow up Christian because she thinks Christianity is harmful to women.

• How can we defend the claim that marriage was created by God if marriage has been in non-Judeo-Christian civilizations throughout time?
• What should I say to someone who doesn’t want her daughter to grow up Christian because she thinks Christianity is harmful to women?