#STRask

“Christians Care More About Ideology than People”

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?

How Could the Similarities Between Krishna and Jesus Be a Coincidence?

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”?

How Can I Improve My Informal Writing?

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?

What Are the Top Three Apologist Pitfalls to Watch Out For?

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?

Is “God the Father” a Sexist Term That Demeans Women?

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.

Should You Believe Things You Can’t Fully Comprehend?

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”?

Is Doing the Right Thing a Sin If You Truly Believe It’s Wrong?

Questions about whether Romans 14:23 means that doing the right thing is a sin if you truly believe it’s wrong, and how to reconcile Hebrews 10:16, which says God will put his laws on our hearts, with Romans 7:7, which says that if it weren’t for the Law, we wouldn’t know sin.

 

• How should we view Romans 14:23 when it comes to people whose consciences have become twisted to the point where they start believing right things are actually wrong? Would doing the right thing become sin for them if they do it while truly believing it's wrong?
• How do you reconcile Hebrews 10:16, which says God will put his laws on our hearts, with Romans 7:7, which says that if it weren’t for the Law, we would not know sin?

How Did a Fisherman Write the Book of Peter?

Questions about how a fisherman could have written the book of Peter, why people say that not mentioning the destruction of the temple indicates an early date for the Synoptic Gospels when John doesn’t mention it either, and why one should think the Bible is special.

 

• How did Peter, being an uneducated fisherman, write the book of Peter, which seems levels above what someone with no education could do?
• People reason that the Synoptic Gospels should be dated earlier than the destruction of the temple since it isn’t mentioned, but John doesn’t mention it either, and that book is dated AD 80–90.
• Why should I pay any heed to the Bible when it’s just one of many ancient “holy” books? How can I trust it is special?

How Do These Passages Fit with Your View on How God Speaks?

Questions about why, if it’s impossible to miss God’s voice, the disciples incorrectly told Paul “through the Spirit” not to go to Jerusalem, people mistook God’s voice for thunder, the Bible says God speaks in riddles, Daniel had to ask for an interpretation, and more.

 

• If it’s impossible to miss God’s voice, why did the disciples incorrectly tell Paul “through the Spirit” not to go to Jerusalem in Acts 21:4–14?
• Why did people mistake God’s audible voice for thunder in John 12:28–30?
• Numbers 12:6–8 says that God speaks to prophets in dreams, visions, and riddles, so clarity is the exception here.
• Even Daniel and Zechariah had to ask for interpretations (Dan. 7:15–16; Zech. 4:2–4), and James 4:2 says we do not have because we do not ask.
• Scripture shows examples like Samuel, Revelation 3:20, and Jesus’ “ears to hear” sayings where God speaks clearly yet not all recognize it, suggesting that our attentiveness is needed. How do passages like these fit in with your view on how God speaks to believers today?

If We Don’t Need to Learn to Hear God’s Voice, How Do You Explain These Verses?

Questions about why, if we don’t need to learn to hear God’s voice, there’s a command to earnestly desire the gift of prophecy, why we would need to learn how to use other spiritual gifts but not this one, and why there are men who don’t perceive God’s voice in Job 33:14.

 

• You say we don’t need to learn to hear the voice of God, but we’re commanded to “earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy” (1 Cor. 14:1) and to “earnestly desire to prophesy” (1 Cor. 14:39), and passages like these seem to be prescriptive texts (1 Cor. 14:37; 1 Thess. 5:20; Rom. 12:6).
• Just as someone who has been given the gift of teaching by the Holy Spirit has to learn how to exegete a passage, so those with the gift of prophecy have to learn how to hear God’s voice.
• If it’s impossible to miss God’s voice, why are there men who don’t perceive his voice in Job 33:14?