Episodes
Thursday Feb 01, 2024
Is Christianity Really a Story of Reality?
Thursday Feb 01, 2024
Thursday Feb 01, 2024
Questions about whether Christianity is about following Jesus rather than a story of reality, what John the Baptist meant when he said, “He must increase, but I must decrease,” and why John the Baptist seemed confused about whether or not Jesus was the Messiah after he had already confessed he was.
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You said Christianity is a story of reality, and I agree that the Bible is a story of reality (it helps lead our lives), but isn’t Christianity about following Jesus?
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What did John the Baptist mean when he said, “He must increase, but I must decrease,” and how does that apply to us?
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In John 1:34, John the Baptist acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God after baptizing him, so why does he seem confused in Luke 7:19 and Matthew 11:3?
Monday Jan 29, 2024
Monday Jan 29, 2024
Questions about how one can use the moral argument and also say we can’t impose a moral standard from one period of time on another and responding to someone who says she would never follow a God who killed his own son.
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If you say we can’t impose a moral standard from one period of time on another, then how does the moral argument fit into this way of thinking?
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How would you respond to someone who says she would never follow a God who killed his own son?
Thursday Jan 25, 2024
Does This Prove We Can’t Ground Objective Morality in God?
Thursday Jan 25, 2024
Thursday Jan 25, 2024
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.
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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?
Monday Jan 22, 2024
How Concerned Should I Be about My Spouse Believing in Annihilationism?
Monday Jan 22, 2024
Monday Jan 22, 2024
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.
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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?
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How do you navigate differences in doctrine with those who take strong stands on their distinctives?
Thursday Jan 18, 2024
Do These Verses Support the Idea That Everyone Will Be Saved?
Thursday Jan 18, 2024
Thursday Jan 18, 2024
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.
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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?
Monday Jan 15, 2024
Is Consent to Sex Consent to Pregnancy?
Monday Jan 15, 2024
Monday Jan 15, 2024
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.
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How would you respond to the claim that consent to sex is not consent to pregnancy?
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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?
Thursday Jan 11, 2024
Should I Stop Telling People That Attempting to Speak to Ancestors Is Demonic?
Thursday Jan 11, 2024
Thursday Jan 11, 2024
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.”
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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?
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How would you answer a Sikh who is questioning why a Christian wouldn’t marry a non-Christian if all gods are the same?
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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)?
Monday Jan 08, 2024
Monday Jan 08, 2024
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.
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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?
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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?
Thursday Jan 04, 2024
Is Romans 14 Saying That Christians Can Just Make up Their Own Rules?
Thursday Jan 04, 2024
Thursday Jan 04, 2024
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.
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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?
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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?
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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?
Monday Jan 01, 2024
Was Moses Wrong for Giving a Law That Regulated Something God Hates?
Monday Jan 01, 2024
Monday Jan 01, 2024
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.
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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?
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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.
Version: 20240320