If God is so good, why does evil exist? Did God create evil? If evil is inevitable, why didn’t God just kill Satan after he rebelled?
Continue readingCategory Archives: Philosophy
Trying to understand God’s decisions and view of reality from a biblical lens.
Stoning in the New Testament
Are people supposed to be getting stoned to death in the New Covenant? The Moral laws of the Old Testament still apply because they preexisted in the Sinaitic covenant (law of Moses). Adultery, murder, stealing, etc, were sins in Genesis, so rather than being specific to Israel, these laws apply to all people, through the Adamic (Adam’s) and Noahide (Noah’s) covenant. However, it was only after Noah that murder was punishable by death. Furthermore, the laws given to Moses, which required stoning for various violations, could only be executed within the nation of Israel, as those rules were given directly to them only at Mount Sinai. However, under the New Covenant, judgment for moral laws is reserved until final judgment (Matt 13:24-30). This is why Jesus didn’t engage in immediate supernatural judgment (such as calling fire from heaven) when the Samaritans rejected Him in the first century, even though James and John suggested it (Luke 9:51-56). Christians don’t stone people in the New Covenant because Jesus will judge them at the end; until then, they have time to repent and get saved by receiving the Holy Spirit.
Continue readingThe Cost of Jesus’ Sacrifice
Most religions in the world teach that one must work for one’s salvation by overcoming sin. We are expected to do this by following a system of laws alone (Quran, Dharma, Talmud, etc.) to qualify as a “good person.” Christianity is different in that we are rescued from slavery to sin (John 8:34, Rom 6:6-20) because we cannot escape it on our own. It’s the Holy Spirit that was promised to circumcise our hearts (Deut 30:6, Jer 4:4, Ez 36:25-27, Joel 2:28-32, Acts 2:16-21, Rom 2:29, and Col 2:11) so that we can accomplish the task of keeping God’s commands. Lastly, the Holy Spirit is only available to those who have received Jesus as Lord (John 14:15-17, Rom 8:5-11).
Continue readingProof of God Won’t Save People
Some Christians may believe that different categories of unbelievers (Muslim, Atheist, Wiccan, etc) get saved more easily than others, depending on what the barriers are. Still, it’s a heart issue, not a mind issue. Proof of God is not the problem; no amount of intellectual debate will win someone over. Many former atheists have testimonies about God simply revealing his love to them through a believer’s actions.
Continue readingJephthah’s Sacrifice of his Daughter
Was Jephthah’s sacrifice of his daughter to God in Judges 11:29-40 legitimate? Isn’t child sacrifice forbidden? Why would God accept a sacrifice of a girl from a man if he is against child sacrifice?
Continue readingGod’s Sovereignty and Free Will
Some thoughts on the fate vs free will (Calvinism vs. Arminianism) debate. Calvinism teaches that people are predestined to be saved and those who are not elected are pre-determined to be damned. Arminianism teaches the opposite, that everyone has a choice and that God is not 100% in control. There is more to this, and both are true on different levels. God’s “elect” people are known from the beginning because God can see the past, present, and future, and therefore knows who will choose life and receive Jesus. Meaning that God didn’t cause our choices but allowed the circumstances for the choices he knew we would make. Thus, his elected people are simply those whom he knew would receive the New Covenant, but he didn’t make them believers directly. We can predict the behavior of a child because their behaviors are more easily predictable compared to those of an adult. Having that knowledge doesn’t mean we can make the child behave in a certain way.
Continue readingA Lesson from Micah’s Idol
The Bible was written by people who were the minority (mainly prophets), so in essence, it is a “minority report”. The prophets were a heavily persecuted minority by both the Israelites and their leaders. Israelites throughout ancient times held different views from those taught in the Bible and did what they felt was right. Often, leaders even created new rules that gave them power and control. In Matt 15:3-9, Jesus called out Israel’s leaders for this in the 1st century when he said they “substitute god’s laws with man-made traditions” and when he said this he quoted Isaiah 29:13. Throughout the Bible itself, we can see how the people casually worship idols and don’t reverence God’s covenant, meanwhile the authors are always trying to get people to go back to the covenant they are in. Let’s examine one example from Judges, chapters 17 and 18, with Micah’s promotion of idolatry.
Continue readingThe Bible and the Death Penalty
Is the death penalty fair? Why would a loving God tell people to stone each other to death? What happened to “turn the other cheek?” Why is there a “life for a life” clause? Doesn’t God believe in forgiveness and second chances?
Continue readingA Biblical Summary of Christianity
Romans 8:1-39 sums up what Christianity is in a nutshell. It is worth reading for a general overview of what Jesus and his disciples taught about salvation and deliverance from sin, which allows people to avoid condemnation and death on judgment day.
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