Question: It says in Deut12:21 “…you may slaughter from your cattle and your flocks that the Creator has given you, as I have commanded you, and you may eat it in your cities…”. The question is: This verse explicitly says that animal slaughter shall be done in the manner “as I have commanded you”, yet […]

Read More

Question:,I had a question regarding (Acts 7:15-16), (Matthew 9:18 / Mark 5:22-23) and (Matthew 27:8-10). In the Acts passage, it says that Abraham bought the tomb from the sons of Hamor, but it seems to conflict between what Genesis says. In the first Matthew passage compared with Mark, did the daughter die or was she […]

Read More

Question:,Why was it such a sacrifice for God to lose his only son Jesus, when he has the power to tell the future and knew he would be resurrected?,Answer:,I am guessing that you are not a parent. For me, to imagine watching my one and only son (I actually have one son by the way) […]

Read More

Question:,You have made the statement that “God designed evolution” or something close to that. I wanted to know what you meant by that. I believe that there is evidence for adaptation within a species but that there is no evidence for one species (“kind” in the Bible?) turning into another. I also believe that the […]

Read More

Questions:,1. Why did Jesus give the care of his mother to John? Why wouldn’t that,responsibility have fallen to one of his many brothers? James was,apparently close by as Paul refers to the resurrected Jesus appearing to,him.,2. It is said that the first churches met in homes and synagogues because it,was illegal for crowds to gather […]

Read More

Question: My wife is taking a astronomy class this semester so I have stolen her textbook and am reading up on the Big Bang and other stellar topics. If a GUT is discovered to explain the process during Planck Epoch it still won’t explain what initiated Creation. Therefore, a GUT would have no effect on […]

Read More

Question:,Do you think that from the Bible one can infer some Church governance patters with hierarchy, roles, tasks? What should be the model of church governance? ,Answer:,I believe that one can infer a broad and general pattern for church leadership and organization in the New Testament. However, this is only a broad and general pattern. […]

Read More

Question/Comment: I have a question about the word pharmakea which appears in the sin list in Galatians 5:19-21. Probably because of the problems I see personally with people taking pharmaceuticals. Especially psychological (which are mind altering) drugs. I don’t know of anyone who does well spiritually who take these medicines. I also believe that God […]

Read More

Question: Are playing certain video games not fit for a disciple of Christ? I am specifically talking about violent video games that involve elements of murder, magic, good vs. evil, etc, all in a fictional fantasy story. Are there any biblical principles that one should consider before involving themselves in these fantasy type video games? […]

Read More

Question: I noticed something interesting while contrasting the gospels of Mark and Luke the other day. The passages specifically were Mark 16:5-7 and Luke 24:4-7. On the surface these two passages appear to conflict in their stories. Mark tells that when they entered the sepulcher they saw a young man sitting inside clothed in white. […]

Read More

Question; Is the quality of the lives of believers sufficient evidence of the truth of Christianity? Answer: I do not know what you mean by “sufficient evidence.” Sufficient to whom? I know from experience that for some people, seeing the life of Jesus Christ lived out in individual followers of Jesus is sufficient to convince […]

Read More

Question; Why did the Christian Church begin to use a single pastor, elder, or leader in the second century, as opposed to the original leadership model used by the first church where several leaders, pastors, or elders governed each church? Was this switch a prelude to the clerical system? It appears likely. My search for […]

Read More

I’m studying bible with a friend but my friend is adventist. Please send me the real message about the “sabbath” and the day to worship God, because my friend is convicted that the day is sunday.what can i do? Answer: My advice is that you avoid a big debate over the Sunday issue. Bottom line, […]

Read More

Question: You have spoken about the 2nd law of theromdynamics and entropy. I understand this specifically applies to chemical reactions, but the principal that things move from a more ordered to a less ordered state seems to be the overriding nature of everything in the post-fallen world. Governments, societies, our bodys, everything we put our […]

Read More

Question: Has there been any scientific analysis on the Book of Enoch that will prove it is unbiblical? Answer: I am not an expert on the book of Enoch. I doubt science will have anything to offer on the book of Enoch. Science generally has little if anything to offer in analyzing literature. However, scholars […]

Read More

Question: Has there been any scientific analysis on the Book of Enoch that will prove it is unbiblical? Answer: I am not an expert on the book of Enoch. I doubt science will have anything to offer on the book of Enoch. Science generally has little if anything to offer in analyzing literature. However, scholars […]

Read More

Question: I recently discovered that the Greek word “pharmakeia” was used in Galatians 5:19, the main definition of which is “the use or the administering of drugs”. And yet the NIV translated it as “witchcraft”. What do you think could be the reason for that? Also, which Bible translation do you find to be the […]

Read More

Question: There are two questions that have been troubling me. 1) The Ark – how could such a modest sized boat keep so many creatures alive for so long? 2) Why is the book of Enoch not part of the Bible. Surely if the apostles could quote from it it should carry some weight? Answer: […]

Read More

Question: I am curious about the Biblical explanation of homosexuals and omnisexuals as advanced by Paul in Romans chapter 1. Paul claims that homosexuality is a punishment for idolatry. However, homosexual behavior is exhibited in over 1500 species of animals with roughly the same percentages as human beings across the globe. If it caused by […]

Read More

Question: Many theologians and teachers say that the Leviathan is a mythical sea creature yet you state within your book that the Bible never resorts to myth. I know that there is much picture language in the book of Job, but this has often troubled me. I would really love to hear your thoughts. Answer: […]

Read More

Question I think this a perfectly rational question, so please don’t think that I’m trying to be insincere. What are the afterlife experiences like of aborted fetuses, children who die very young or at childbirth, or people who die with mental retardation? I’ve discussed this with friends, and we cannot rationalize how these “people” would […]

Read More

Question: My pastor preached a sermon suggesting that we should not believe that the Bible is without error. I happen to disagree with his assertion however, he said that the numbers in the book of Numbers do not add up and used this as proof of his belief. He did not go into detail on […]

Read More

Question: I am interested in your perspective that you considerus part of the Church of Christ, not the ICOC. I wonder if they agree. I am personally confused about church relations especially with Kip McKean?s new movement and establishment of churches. Response:I am, by nature, but also by biblical conviction, a believer in unity wherever […]

Read More

Question: Should Christians allow themselves to watch movies that have sinful activities such as sex scenes, cursing, violence, etc? Answer: There is no simple answer to this question. We need to look at Bible passages which give principles to answer such quesions. One helpful passage in in Psalms 102:3; “I will set before my eyes […]

Read More

Comment: 1) The Medes became Zoroastrian before the Persians 2)Daniel 6;9 has King Darius signing a decree that no prayer should be directed to anyone except the king. This would be unthinkable for a Zoroastrian and therefore the account cannot be historical. 3) The word for king is totally separate from the word for governor […]

Read More

Question: What are Leviathan and Behemoth? I have books that say they are the hippo and crocodile, I have books that say they are dinosaurs and I have books that say they are mythical creatures. Answer: Leviathan and Behemoth are certainly not dinosaurs and they probably are not a hippo or a crocodile either. In […]

Read More

Question: The NLT of Genesis 7:20 says the water was “standing more than 22ft above the highest peaks” What may I ask is ambiguous about that? You cannot be “agnostic” about the Word of God. It is perfectly clear in what sense it covered the mountains. The depth of the water matters as much as […]

Read More

Question: Are you aware of the Church “Iglesia ni Cristo” or the Church of Christ? This Church believes that Jesus Christ is just a “mere man” with extraordinary power given to him by God the Father and that Felix Manalo the founder of this Church is the fulfillment in Rev.7:2. What can you say about […]

Read More

Comment: I notice that you do not include deutero-Isaiah in the list of books that were completed after the Persian conquest. In this, you differ from modern scholars of the Old Testament and I would be interested to know your reasons for so doing. I am currently in the process of reading through the old […]

Read More

Question: Why the change from “God incited” to “Satan incited” in 2 Sam 24 and in 1 Chronicles 21? Ponder also on the theological change from “ha-satan” a helper of God who sometimes asked people hard questions to test their faith such as Job, into “the Prince of this World” and an adversary of God, […]

Read More

Question: Ezekiel 26;14 says that Tyre will never be rebuilt but it is there to this day and HAS been rebuilt. Can you explain this? Answer: Yes, but not on the original site. The original site is still basically a bare rock, even today. It has been excavated. The rock Tyre stood on lies just […]

Read More

Comments: What is interesting about the Gospel writers is the way in which they fit the details of the story to match the “prophetic” passages which are pre-existent to the story and are already selected as “must be” parts of the story. How for example do you know that Jesus was born in Bethlehem? The […]

Read More

Question: What are the churches from which the four text types of the Greek New Testament (Alexandrine, Western, Caesarean and Byzantine) circulated? Answer: The Western text type will have circulated in the West. Generally, the Western churches are taken to mean North Africa, Spain, Gaul and Italy. The North African churches were very strongly influenced […]

Read More

Comment: One of the benefits of reading Essene interpretations of Scripture written 100/200 years before the Gospels, is that it enables one to see how religious Jews of the period would happily wrest any passage of Scripture from its clear ancient context and apply it allegorically either to the present or the future. The evangelists […]

Read More

Question: My question is can you tell me where specifically did the four text types originate and when they originated and by whom or what local group are most likely to have done so? I understand by Bruce Metzger that using the fathers to locate a certain family of text or reading is also a […]

Read More

Question: Please explain to me the differences between the Septuagint and Masoretic text in relation to your belief in the faithful transmission of Scripture. How also does it impinge on your belief in the prophetic element in the OT ? Answer: I have found in my study that the transmission of the original has been […]

Read More

Question: (note, this is a long series of questions, followed by a general response to all the question) (1) Should the sacred texts of a religion be understandable to anybody that reads it (ex. Buddhist texts are fairly hard to understand in Chinese…even to those that know Chinese)? (2) Should there be a presence of […]

Read More