#STRask

Question about an objection to grounding objective morality in God that states that if God has a morally perfect nature, and he either engaged in or directly allowed genocide, slavery, and torture, then that means genocide, slavery, and torture are objectively good.

• How would you address this atheist challenge to grounding objective morality in God: If God has an unchanging, morally perfect nature, and he either engaged in or directly allowed genocide, slavery, and torture, then doesn’t that mean genocide, slavery, and torture are objectively good?

Questions about how concerned one should be and what to do about a spouse who now believes in annihilationism and how to navigate differences in doctrine with those who take strong stands on their distinctives.

• My wife has changed her view on Hell to annihilationism, and I feel betrayed and worried for her and how she’ll influence our kids. How should I think about this and deal with it?
• How do you navigate differences in doctrine with those who take strong stands on their distinctives?

Question about whether Romans 5:18, 1 Corinthians 15:22, and 1 John 2:2 support the idea that everyone will be saved (universalism) as a New York Times opinion piece by David Bentley Hart claims.

• Do Romans 5:18, 1 Corinthians 15:22, and 1 John 2:2 support universalism (i.e., the idea that everyone will be saved and the doctrine of Hell is incorrect) as a New York Times opinion piece by Dr. David Hart claims?

Questions about how to respond to the claim that consent to sex is not consent to pregnancy and what to say to a Christian who argues that the law should give women a choice about abortion because God allows us to have free will and doesn’t force us to follow his commands.

• How would you respond to the claim that consent to sex is not consent to pregnancy?
• How should I respond to a Christian who argues that the law should give women a choice about abortion because God allows us to have free will as human beings and doesn’t force us to follow his commands?

Questions about how to respond to someone who says we should stop saying that attempting to speak to ancestors is demonic, how to answer a Sikh who doesn’t understand why a Christian wouldn’t marry a non-Christian, and a response to the claim “God is not out there; he is in here.”

• How would you respond to someone who says from an African spirituality perspective we should stop saying that listening to or attempting to speak to ancestors is demonic?
• How would you answer a Sikh who is questioning why a Christian wouldn’t marry a non-Christian if all gods are the same?
• What would be a tactical way of responding to someone who says, “God is not out/up there; he/it is in here” (pointing to himself)?

Questions about whether we should provide our preferred pronouns during jury duty when a judge asks for them and how to respond to a Christian who says it’s kind to use a person’s preferred pronouns and that not using them is unkind, unloving, and judgmental.

• When a judge asks me to provide my preferred pronouns in a courtroom during jury duty, is that the wrong place to resist providing them?
• How should I respond to a Christian who says it’s kind to use a person’s preferred pronouns, that by not doing so I’m being a hypocrite, unkind, unloving, and judgmental, and that not all translations of the Bible say God made male and female?

Questions about whether the Christian liberty described in Romans 14 is the same thing as making up our own rules, weaker and stronger Christians in Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 8, and the claim that once a person accepts Jesus as Savior, he is redeemed and no longer a sinner.

• How can we explain the idea of Christian liberty as found in Romans 14 to someone who claims it’s just the same thing as making up our own rules?
• Regarding the “weaker” and “stronger” Christians Paul talks about in Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 8, should weaker Christians eventually mature in their faith and understanding, and is it the stronger’s job to help correct the weaker’s theology?
• How should I respond to the claim that once a person accepts Jesus as Savior, he has been redeemed and is no longer a sinner?

Questions about whether Jesus thought Moses was wrong for giving a law to accommodate the hard hearts of the people, whether our civil laws should reflect the ideal or take into account man’s brokenness, and how to counsel someone who has “lost his joy in the Lord” because of sin.

• In Mark 10:2–9, is Jesus reprimanding Moses or claiming Moses was wrong for giving a law regulating divorce to accommodate the hard hearts of the people? Should civil laws reflect God’s good will or take into account man’s brokenness?
• How would you counsel someone who made some poor choices recently and “lost his joy in the Lord”? He is repentant and is fervently seeking to restore his relationship with God, but he has not regained his joy.

Questions about whether feelings should have any epistemological weight in our decision making and how to interpret several verses in Acts in light of Greg’s views on being led by the Spirit.

• Should feelings have any epistemological weight in our decision making? For example, should a pastoral candidate who has a “check in his spirit” reject a church job even if there are no objective biblical or wisdom reasons to do so?
• In light of your views on being led by the Spirit in your decision making material, how would you interpret the following verses: Acts 8:29, 10:19–20, 11:12, 13:2, 13:4, 16:6, and 20:22? Are we to follow these by example, and what does that look like?

Questions about how to respond to a formerly Muslim friend who is unwilling to pay the price for becoming a Christian and doesn’t want to respond to challenges or discuss differences and whether Acts 17:23 implies that people who never hear the gospel will be judged differently.

• How should I respond to a formerly Muslim friend who is unwilling to pay the price for becoming a Christian and doesn’t want to respond to challenges because his philosophy in life is to love and help, not discuss differences?
• Does Acts 17:23 imply that people who never hear the gospel will be judged differently?