ARS Evidence For Christianity Newsletter

Letters to the editor

Sun 4/9/2006 12:41 AM

Letter to the editor

Greetings to you all.

May God continue to bless you for your love for us all.  The site is very helpful.  I
?lead our church in Warri, Nigeria.  Please can you help me with the series
of the I AM in the gospel of John. I hope to do this series in May.

God bless;

Wasiu Ajao

 
?

Fri 4/7/2006

Mr.Oakes, thank you for taking so much of your personal time recently answering
some of my questions. I find it very spiritually uplifting to have the ability
to communicate and learn from you. Recently I have come across a few new questions;
however they are a little different than usual. Instead of historial/science accuracy,
it is more spiritually based. Regardless, I think you may be able to help me
with this one. I was recently told that the original Hebrew word for Satan is
in fact a different word completely, when compared to the word "devil" which
is used in the New Testament. (Satan=Adversary) Essentially, there has been
claims that Satan, and the devil are actually two different entities so to speak.
What do we actually know about Satan and the Devil from the Bible? It seems
that there is lack of information concerning Satan, especially in the Old Testament.
(Most stories of him that we are familiar with do not seem to appear in the
Bible.)  Recently I have been in discussion with Christians from all different
denominations. Recently I have spoken to a number of Catholics, concerning a
range of topics, but especially miracles. They believe that miracles are still
occurring today just as they were when Jesus was on earth. I do not really dispute
this, but certain "miracles of theirs are suspicious to me. For example, they
were actually telling me very detailed stories concerning things such as stigmata,
or holy statues/paintings that would cry a form of "holy oil" which could heal
people. This is not the first time I have heard of these things. However now
I am hearing it first hand from people I know and trust. Mind you, they are
not relaying stories, but they have witnessed these things, and they proven true
to them. What disconcerns me though is if these things are all true and real,
and are they from God? How can we tell what is Holy and from God, and not just
a trick by the devil? Personally I believe that the devil is indeed very real,
and that he is looking for any way possible to get into our lives. Even though
these things are claiming to be good, and healing people, I cannot help but
have a sense of fear, for I think that this is not from God, rather a form of
evil. I don’t see anything in the bible that says these things can’t happen, but
I don’t see anything that indicates they will. Obviously this is a question
up for debate I think. However, I believe there are true things that must be
realized concerning them. I hope you will be able to shed some light on things
I do not yet know. Once again though, thank you for helping answer my questions
so thoroughly.

Sincerely,

Charles