#STRask

How Can I Handle Persistent Feelings of Guilt over Past Sins?

Questions about how one can handle persistent feelings of guilt over past sins that remain despite repentance and forgiveness in Christ and how to help someone overcome her doubt that God can love her.

• How can one handle persistent feelings of guilt over past sins that remain despite repentance and forgiveness in Christ?
• What can I do to help my partner overcome her doubt that God can love her?

Why Is It Wrong to Have Surgery to Alter Your Sex?

Questions about why it’s okay to have plastic surgery to alter your appearance but wrong to have surgery to alter your sex, whether a tactical, winsome approach is still viable in a non-civil culture, and whether the time for winsome Christianity has passed.

• How is claiming to be a different gender different from claiming to be a blonde if you dye your hair, and why is it okay to have plastic surgery to alter your appearance but wrong to have surgery to alter your sex?
• Can a tactical, “winsome” approach still be viable in such a non-civil culture?
• Has the time for “winsome” Christianity passed, and is it now time for a more direct, hard-edged approach?

An Egg Is Not a Chicken, so an Embryo Is Not a Human?

Questions about whether it’s possible God doesn’t create souls for those who won’t be born due to miscarriage, abortion, etc. and how to respond to someone who says, “An egg is not a chicken, so an embryo is not a human.” 

• Are souls individually created by God at conception, and if so, is it possible he doesn’t create souls for those who won’t be born due to miscarriage, abortion, etc.?
• How would you respond to someone who says, “An egg is not a chicken, so an embryo is not a human”?

Why Would the Unity of the Bible Be Evidence of Divine Authorship?

Questions about why the unity of the Bible would be evidence of divine authorship and whether one can say proverbs are suggestions, not commands, since they’re principles, not promises.

• Why does the unity of the Bible qualify as part of the evidence that the Bible has a divine author?
• Since proverbs are principles and not promises, can we say they’re suggestions and not commands?

How Should I Respond When My Employer Asks Me to Wear a Pride Pin?

Questions about how to respond to an employer who asks why you’re not wearing the pride pin he gave you to wear and whether 1 Peter 3:15 is about hope in times of suffering rather than apologetics.

• How should one respond to an employer who asks why you’re not wearing the pride pin he gave you to wear on your lanyard?
• Isn’t 1 Peter 3:15 about hope in times of suffering rather than apologetics?

How Do We Determine Which Books Are Divinely Inspired?

Questions about how we determine which books are divinely inspired and how to explain inerrancy to a skeptic.

• How do we determine which books are divinely inspired and which are not?
• How do you explain inerrancy to a skeptic? 

Am I Childless Because I Don’t Fear God Enough?

Questions about whether the fact that God gave the Hebrew midwives families because they feared him indicates that childlessness is a sign of not fearing God enough and whether it’s a genetic fallacy to point out the eugenics philosophy of the founder of Planned Parenthood when arguing against abortion.

• Since God gave the Hebrew midwives families because they feared him, does my childlessness mean my husband and I aren’t fearing God enough?
• Is it a genetic fallacy to point out the eugenics philosophy of Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood, when arguing against abortion?

Why Does It Matter to Christians That Jesus Was Raised Bodily?

Questions about why it matters to Christians that Jesus was raised bodily and isn’t just living on as a spirit and whether Jesus had a fallen body while here on earth.

• Why does it matter to Christians that Jesus was raised bodily and doesn’t just live on as a spirit?
• Did Jesus have a fallen body while here on earth?

Can a Case Be Made against Homosexuality and Transgenderism without Using the Bible?

Question about making a case against homosexuality and transgenderism to non-believers who do not trust the Bible.

• How can I justify making a biblical case against homosexuality and transgenderism to non-believers who do not trust the Bible? 

Is It Wrong to Get a Job Instead of Volunteering My Time to Help Others?

Questions about whether it’s a sin to get a job for extra money instead of volunteering one’s time to help others and a biblical response to the phrase “I don’t want to put the Holy Spirit in a box.” 

• Would it be a sin to get a job for extra money instead of volunteering my time to help others?
• What’s a good biblical response to the phrase “I don’t want to put the Holy Spirit in a box”?