Results 1 - 20 of 115
|
||||||
Results from: Answers On or After: Thu 12/31/70 Author: Parable Ordered by Verse |
||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Stumpped by my son | Bible general Archive 3 | Parable | 191796 | ||
These are important questions. I found the following books helpful. God of the Possible, by Dr. Gregory Boyd. God at War, by Dr. Gregory Boyd. Satan and the Problem of Evil, by Dr. Gregory Boyd The Genesis Question, by Dr. Hugh Ross Finding Darwin's God, by Dr. Kenneth Miller |
||||||
2 | Stumpped by my son | Bible general Archive 3 | Parable | 191808 | ||
My apologies for the duplicate post, but I hope to ensure the original author is notified of the reply.... Regarding your son's question about evil, here's my summary of Boyd's explanation, as found in "Satan and the Problem of Evil: Constructing a Trinitarian Warfare Theodicy". Boyd's development of this is heavily referenced with extensive scripture, so I refer you to the book for his support. Basically, Boyd suggests evil is a necessary possibility in a world in which the following realities make love possible: 1. Love entails freedom. Freedom to choose otherwise is what gives meaning to choosing love. 2. Freedom entails risk. The risk is that someone may actually choose not to love. 3. Risk entails moral responsibility. People are responsible for their choices because of the consequences they bring. Choices other than love often lead to evil. 4. Moral responsibility is proportionate to the power to influence others. If you are powerful, you have more responsibility than someone who is inconsequential. In Christian theology, Satan was the most powerful agent, so he carries the most responsibility for rebelling against God. 5. The power to influence is irrevocable. God's gifts are genuine, not taken back if abused. 6. The power to influence is finite. God has established boundaries within which we operate, so the consequences of our poor decisions are not infinitely bad for everyone everywhere. Thus, if you experience evil, it is because someone, including possibly yourself, chose to follow something other than God, and that choice was close enough to you that the consequences were within your sphere of influence. Parable |
||||||
3 | Are Deacons limited to serving communion | Bible general Archive 2 | Parable | 114199 | ||
Every member of the church has an obligation to confront sin, especially when it threatens the community of believers and jeopardizes the witness of our faith to the world. | ||||||
4 | documented, biblical justification | Bible general Archive 2 | Parable | 114236 | ||
I guess it depends on your theory. What are you trying to establish? As for the example set by leaderss, see 1 Tim 3:2a "Now the overseer must be above reproach...", Titus 1:6 "An elder must be blameless..." As for what to do about sin in the church, see Matthew 18:15-17 "If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.' If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector." The final step means to remove from the fellowship. Regarding legal action, because we are called to submit to the authority of the state, see Romans 13:1-7, especially verse 4, your suspicions of financial impropriety should be reported to the police or IRS. Does this help? |
||||||
5 | Is the role of deacon limited? | Bible general Archive 2 | Parable | 114240 | ||
"Deacon" in biblical times may not have meant what it means today, i.e. grunt or peon. If your church is trying to apply biblical principals, it needs to get away from legalistic questions like this (which try to derive doctrine from one or two verses) and instead, address issues through meaningful fellowship, accountability, honesty, openness, trust, corrective discipline and proper lines of authority. In my church, there is a board of directors who oversee the senior pastor. In others, it might be that a bishop oversees the priests. In any case, matters of conscience and integrity must be addressed or the church will be infected and it will spread like leaven in the dough. | ||||||
6 | why does God allow evil to exsit | Bible general Archive 2 | Parable | 138097 | ||
Dr. Gregory Boyd addresses this question in his book "Satan and the problem of evil". He defends his thesis on scriptural grounds and has answered this question to my satisfaction. I will summarize his argument in my next post. (I'm out of town and I don't have those notes with me.) Peace, Parable |
||||||
7 | why does God allow evil to exsit | Bible general Archive 2 | Parable | 138911 | ||
According to Dr. Gregory Boyd, in his book, "Satan and the problem of evil", evil is a necessary possibility in a world in which the following realities make love possible: 1. Love entails freedom. (freedom to choose otherwise is what makes choosing love so special) 2. Freedom entails risk. (the risk is that someone may actually choose not to love) 3. Risk entails moral responsibility. (people are responsible for their choices because of the consequences they bring. Sometimes those consequences are evil) 4. Moral responsibility is proportionate to the power to influence others. (if you are powerful, you have more responsibility that someone who is inconsequential. Satan was the most powerful, so he carries the most responsibility for rebelling against God) 5. The power to influence is irrevocable. (God's gifts are genuine, not taken back if abused.) 6. The power to influence is finite. (God has established boundaries within which we operate, so the consequences of our poor decisions are not infinitely bad for everyone everywhere.) If you experience evil, it is because someone, including possibly yourself, chose to follow something other than God, and that choice was close enough to you that the consequences were within your sphere of influence. Boyd derives his point from scripture. A good summary of his ideas are available in "God of the Possible" and at his website www.gregboyd.org/gbfront/ |
||||||
8 | How did sin originate | Bible general Archive 1 | Parable | 43851 | ||
Pride, manifested as the desire to be God, was the sin of Satan. Pride is idolatry, with self as the idol, placed first, above God. For an example of Satan's obsession with himself, see Matthew 4:9-10 "All this I will give you," he (Satan) said, "if you will bow down and worship me. Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'" |
||||||
9 | Help. Someone's testamony has me upset | Bible general Archive 1 | Parable | 45518 | ||
Here's a fable as told by Watchman Nee, a noted Chinese evangelist who was falsely imprisoned for 20 years in China until his death, in his book "The Normal Christian Life". Fact, Faith and Experience, were walking along the top of a block wall with Fact leading the way. Fact walked steadfastly forward. So long as Faith remained focussed on Fact, Faith did not falter. But as soon as Faith turned around to look at Experience, Faith lost balance and stumbled and Experience soon followed. The facts of God, as revealed in His Word, most expecially His incarnation in Christ Jesus, will not fail you. The facts of God, as revealed to you by the Holy Spirit, will not fail you. 1John 4:12 "No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. 13We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit." On the other hand, feelings or experiences are fickle, changing like the the colors on a chameleon to match its surroundings. Remember, the fact is, you are in Christ; keep this foremost in your heart and your colors will reflect Him. We should seek to understand ourselves from God's perspective, and we should not seek to understand God from ours. Pray that He will keep you through these hard times and that He will use them to help you grow ever more abundantly in Him. He is REAL! |
||||||
10 | Where does Jesus say He is God? | Bible general Archive 1 | Parable | 46000 | ||
Sometimes actions speak louder than words. To me, the following historical facts (or actions by God) clarify and confirm all the verses in which He describes Himself, which you suggest are lacking absolute certainty: All the "types" of Christ in the OT that foreshadow His Incarnation. His miraculous birth. His sinless life. His sacrificial, undeserved death. His resurrection. His ascension. His glorification. The Holy Spirit, as per Jesus' promise. and finally, I expect His return in glory will be the loudest, clearest statement He will ever make. You said "Jesus seems to let listeners/readers THINK what they want". I agree, that's why He asks "Who do YOU say I am?" -- Matthew 16:15 |
||||||
11 | Is it wrong to use condoms? advise | Bible general Archive 1 | Parable | 47162 | ||
I agree with Searcher56 that the answer given by Makarios on 03/11/02 is excellent. I would only add that we may be confident in his interpretation by also knowing that God gave us sexual relations not just so we could reproduce, but also that we could enjoy pleasure and intimacy, i.e. profound relationship, with our mate. Biblical support for this may be found throughout the Song of Solomon, one of the most beautiful books of the Bible and one that demonstrates the scope and magnitude of what is possible in a Godly marriage. Parable |
||||||
12 | A hypothetical question | Bible general Archive 1 | Parable | 47774 | ||
Perhaps another possibility is this, although my answer no doubt is problematic, as I will demonstrate. Offer to take the place of the unbeliever. This what Christ did for us and if we are to be like Him, this is what we should be prepared to do. see John 13:34 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." On the other hand, Jesus' work on the cross is completed, once for all. Romans 6:10 "The death he died, he died to sin once for all..." and 1 Peter 3:18 "For Christ died for sins once for all..." Also, in Luke 16, the story of the rich man and Lazarus, "31He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.' Hence, it is unlikely the unbeliever will repent even if another volunteers to take their place. I note that Christ did volunteer with no guarantee that anyone would believe. |
||||||
13 | Luvconquers, do you confess Jesus..... | Bible general Archive 1 | Parable | 48320 | ||
Perhaps 1 John 4:20 is the best answer to Luvconquers' historically based objections to the authority of Scripture. Those who did violence and justified it in the name of the Lord were not acting according to the command from Him to love others, as indicated by srbaegon's response. Parable |
||||||
14 | READ ALL THAT YOU CAN GET YOUR HANDS ON! | Bible general Archive 1 | Parable | 48329 | ||
Perhaps the Bible agrees with you...about knowledge, that is. "Test everything. Hold on to the good." -- 1 Thessalonians 5:21 So, here are some things to hold on to! "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him." -- James 1:5 "But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice." -- James 3:14-17 "To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his" -- Job 12:13 "Where then does wisdom come from? Where does understanding dwell? It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing, concealed even from the birds of the air." -- Job 28:20-21 "God understands the way to it (wisdom) and he alone knows where it dwells, for he views the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens." -- Job 28:23-24 "For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength." -- 1 Corinthians 1:25 and perhaps most significantly, "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." -- 1 Corinthians 1:18 Parable |
||||||
15 | what are mormans beliefs | Bible general Archive 1 | Parable | 48356 | ||
heresy? | ||||||
16 | What is the most used word in the Bible? | Bible general Archive 1 | Parable | 52553 | ||
What is NOT the most used word in the Bible. What is on second. Who is on first and I Don't Know is on third... |
||||||
17 | What is the most used word in the Bible? | Bible general Archive 1 | Parable | 52555 | ||
Sorry, I couldn't resist :) To answer your question better....wouldn't it depend on which translation you picked? If you were interested in the original Hebrew or Greek, you probably aren't interested in the articles or pronouns, but rather the "meaningful" words, right? This makes counting more difficult. Also, some words that you might consider to be the same might appear in different forms, e.g. hear, heard, see, saw, etc. It seems your question could be very easy or very difficult to answer, depending on what you mean. In any case, the way to go about it would be to do a word count with a digital version using a computer. Parable |
||||||
18 | big-bang theory | Bible general Archive 1 | Parable | 66606 | ||
You should discuss this with an astro-physicist or astronomer, not bible forum expositors. But, since you ask....yes, the theory of the Big Bang is a reasonable projection into the past, a logical extrapolation based on well-established astromical data. It's generally accepted by those in the field, although like any healthy academic discipline, there is continuing debate and revision whenever some new observation comes to light, no pun intended. To me, BB confirms the universe was created from nothing, on a scale commensurate with the magnificence of God and with beauty commensurate with His holiness. The theory suggests that before the event, absolutely nothing physical existed, i.e. no matter, space, energy nor time. Yes, it is theorized that time and space themselves were created at the BB; it is not correct to say that before Creation there was just empty space. Then, at the beginning, our universe appeared in an infinitely dense, infinitely hot, zero-dimensional singularity. This is the point where the equations break down. As a committed Christian, I know God created the universe, as revealed in His Word. As a scientist and educator at a university, I accept the understanding of Creation afforded by modern science. There are some who suggest these two views are mutually exclusive, perhaps because their understanding of science does not fit with their understanding of scripture. I note that there are also some, whom we rightly call heretics, who say that Jesus cannot be both God and man. |
||||||
19 | Are injury lawsuits okay with God? | Bible general Archive 1 | Parable | 81604 | ||
I concur that you should seek counseling elsewhere, perhaps from your pastor and an attorney. Given that, your situation is worthy of comment here in that how we apply biblical principles to our lives is an important part of understanding God's Word. Here's my view: Those who failed to obey the law are accountable for their actions. If you do nothing, they will still be accountable to God. Yet, you have suffered as a result of wrongful acts and are entitled to just compensation. The bible prescribes such terms in several places as a means to preserve social justice. God has ordained the authorities so they may adjudicate situations like yours. You are called to act according to love for God and others, as the Spirit leads you. It may be that the loving thing to do is hold someone accountable. On the other hand, mercy is always an option, but there is always a cost. Only you can decide if the cost is something God wants you to bear for those who hurt you. I believe you are free to pursue legal action, but I also believe that you are not required to do so. |
||||||
20 | Can the Bible be taken literally? | Bible general Archive 1 | Parable | 86702 | ||
I suggest "Biblical Hermeneutics: A comprehensive introduction to interpreting scripture", 2nd ed. by Corley, Lemke and Lovejoy This is a scholarly treatment and quite demanding, but worth the effort. A simpler approach is this: suggest that your brother read the bible on its own terms, i.e. accepting that it is the word of God because that's what it's authors intend. Then, simply go with that idea and see where it leads, reading without prejudice. If, after reading it fairly, he is not convinced, he can always go back to his previous opinion. I suggest he start with the NT. Also, I recommend The Message, Eugene Peterson's paraphrase because it integrates text with interpretive commentary so the reader need only read it naturally to get the point. It seems that at this point, your brother needs milk, not meat. Parable |
||||||
Result pages: [ 1 2 3 4 5 6 ] Next > Last [6] >> |