Category Archives: Common Questions

Q&A – What is Modalism and Why is it a Mistake?

Modalism is a mistake because, in the name of preserving the simplest possible concept of God’s unity and defending the totality of God’s presence in the Incarnation, it subjects God to time and space.

Is God’s Love Unconditional?

God’s unconditional love does not imply that what we do doesn’t matter. Nor does believing that what we do matters imply that God’s love is conditional. The biblical truth is that God loves us unconditionally, and that is precisely why what we do matters.

Our Painful Salvation

As we become aware of just how sinful we really are, the voice of condemnation may spin this awareness as a sign that we are not truly saved. But as painful as this awareness is, it is actually part of the process of sanctification and evidence of the Holy Spirit’s activity in our lives, the reproof of a loving Father. It is important that we realize that though sometimes our salvation is a painful one, it is a good kind of pain.

Q&A – Why Do Some Christians Have Longer/Shorter Bibles?

Question: AH! I just discovered that some Christian groups have more/fewer books in their Bible, and now I’m afraid I can’t believe anything anymore! What do I do? Short Answer: DON’T PANIC! We all agree about the New Testament. In the Old Testament … it’s complicated, but the positions are all reasonable.

A Response to the Accusation of “Apolitical Privilege”

To say “Jesus is Lord” is the most political thing you can say, but not because it implies a political agenda. When we declare that Jesus is Lord and not Caesar, we are saying that the realm of life and death is not politics but the throne room of Jesus.

Q&A – Are the Nephilim the Basis for the Hercules Stories?

Are the Nephilim of Genesis 6 the Basis for the Greek Legends of Hercules? First, we have to examine this question and see if it is asking the right thing. Second, we need to consider what Genesis is trying to accomplish in chapter 6.

Understanding Bible Translation Methods

Because virtually all Bible translations strategically use the word-for-word and thought-for-thought methods where necessary based upon a threshold of difficulty unique to that translation, we shouldn’t fall into the error of thinking that there are “word-for-word” translations over here and “thought-for-thought” translations over there, and one category is automatically better than the other. It just doesn’t work that way.