#STRask

Questions about responding to someone who says the church altered the Bible in order to control people and the difference between two kinds of inspiration.

• How would you respond to someone who says the church throughout history made up (or altered) the Bible to control others?
• How would you characterize the difference between the inspiration of the Scriptures and God moving to inspire a Christian hymn writer?

Questions about “the will of the Father” in Matthew 7:21–23 and how Christians can distinguish between the practice of “hearing God’s voice” and genuine prophecy.

• What is “the will of the Father” in Matthew 7:21–23, and what’s going on with the ones claiming to have done great works?
• How can Christians distinguish between the practice of “hearing God’s voice” and genuine prophecy?

Questions about God sending a lying spirit in 1 Kings 22:19–23 and whether or not this kind of thing still happens.

• How can we see God as completely truthful when he sends a lying spirit in 1 Kings 22:19–23?
• Do you think God still sends spirits to entice people?

Questions about why we needed a sinless man to pay our debt, Bible stories that seem unbelievable, and how to respond to postmodern interpretations of biblical texts. (Jon fills in for Amy.)

• Why did we need a sinless man who was more than a man to pay our debt?
• What should I think about Bible stories that seem unbelievable?
• How can I respond to someone who offers a postmodern interpretation of a biblical text, making it say things the author didn’t intend?

Questions about whether souls are created at conception, what the Scriptures teach about the immortality of the soul, and whether Christians “idolize” the Ten Commandments. (Jon fills in for Amy.)

• Are souls created at conception?
• What do the Scriptures teach about the immortality of the soul?
• In light of the Mosaic Law being for the ancient Israelites, how do you feel about Christians who “idolize” the Ten Commandments?

Questions about how to respond to skeptics who say prayer didn’t bring about a cure for a disease, whether the reapers and sowers in John 4 were both preaching the gospel, and how Satan fell. (Jon fills in for Amy.)

• What’s the best way to respond to skeptics who say prayers didn’t bring about a cure for a disease, people did?
• When John 4 refers to the reaper and sower, isn’t it referring to preaching the gospel in both cases?
• How did Satan fall if beings are morally perfect in Heaven?

Questions about why we’re responsible for Adam’s sin, whether God will restore creation to the way it was before the Fall, and whether the idea that “history is written by the winners” should affect our view of the historicity of the biblical record. (Jon fills in for Amy.)

• Why am I responsible for Adam and Eve’s sin?
• Will eternity be a restoration of how things would have been with Adam if he hadn’t fallen?
• Does the idea that “history is written by the winners” mean anything for the historicity of the biblical record?

Questions about why God forgives some and judges others, advice for those struggling with an overly critical spirit, and how to fight against apathy.

• Why did God seem to forgive and use people like David or Jacob but send His wrath down on others?
• What advice can you offer to those who struggle with an overly critical spirit?
• How can we fight against the apathy that is so prevalent around us?

Questions about what a relationship with God looks like, what the witness of the Holy Spirit is like, and how we can know we’ve experienced it.

• If your decision-making material is correct, has my relationship with God been all in my own mind?
• What is the witness of the Holy Spirit like, and how can we know we’ve experienced it?

Questions about whether Genesis 32:26 models how we should pray to God, the validity of using formal prayers, and how one can pray the Psalms when there are calls for God to strike down enemies.

• Does Jacob’s wrestling with God in Genesis 32:26 model how we should pray to God?
• Are the use of formal prayers less valid because I am not being spontaneous?
• How does one pray the Psalms when there is so often a call for God to strike down enemies?