Questions & Responses
- Posted 25th August, 2008
Our
Not Just Sundays series at Caversham Baptist Church finished yesterday with an 'Any Questions' session. Basically we put a big box at the front of church (see picture) and encouraged people to put any questions they had into it. Then during yesterday's sermon slot part of the preaching team gave brief responses to as many questions as there was time for, with the congregation adding their thoughts on some. We got through the first five questions (out of eighteen); it was obvious that we wouldn't get through them all, so in the week beforehand the pastor and myself came up with our own brief written responses to all the questions, which have been posted on a noticeboard. The two of us approach these sorts of questions in very different ways, so the hope is that people will be able to relate to at least one response to each question. Steve, another member of the team, sent me a response to a question on evil, which is also included.
Note that these are only brief responses to some difficult (and often interesting) questions. If you want to take a response further then comment or email me. Note also that a response is not necessarily the same thing as an answer.
The following is the full list of questions and responses:-
Q1:
Why does Christianity seem to be increasingly irrelevant to many people in the West today?
Phil:
Basically because our churches are full of religious people. I know this is a bit like saying the Vatican is full of Catholics, and I’m not saying there is anything inherently wrong with being religious. Religious people like to sing religious songs, to pray religious prayers, to read religious books, and to meet together for religious celebrations and ceremonies. These are perfectly good things to do in themselves, but they are all things that religious people emphasise, and that non-religious people, by and large, consider irrelevant. So long as churchgoers focus on such religious things, they present church, and by implication Jesus, as being irrelevant to everyone else.
It’s worth noting that, in a similar context, God said through the prophet Micah that what He requires of His followers is that they do what is right, that they love mercy, and that they walk humbly with Him. Jesus said that he wanted his followers to tell out good news to those who don’t know it, and that he wanted them to love one another. If churchgoers focussed more on these things, perhaps the relevance of Christianity might be more obvious.
Paul:
If I chose a book of the Bible which seems to mirror the west today it would be the book of Judges. After experiencing God’s blessing the nations have tended to reject God and His ways. There is now a widespread ignorance of who God is and what He actually stands for. Sadly the church has tended to follow the world.
However, the period of the judges came to an end when Samuel taught the word of God uncompromisingly. History also shows that God graciously raises up people who He uses to rescue the nation (e.g. Wesley). Let us pray that He does so again.
Q2:
What happens to a baby or young child who dies when they were too young to become a Christian? Do they have eternal life? Does it make a difference if they have a Christian mother (cf 1Cor 7:14)?
Paul:
1 Corinthians 7:14 can be taken to suggest that the children of at least one godly parent are sanctified (meaning ‘property of Jesus’). Scripture does not clarify at what age the child has to make the decision to be born again. However the attitude of God revealed in scripture towards children suggests that those who have lost infants need have no fear for their eternal security. (This cannot be applied to adults who have not heard the gospel - 1 Thessalonians 2:16).
Phil:
“Too young to become a Christian” is an odd concept to me. Too young to make a personal statement of faith seems reasonable, too young to make the sort of lifelong commitment implied by believers’ baptism is fair enough too, but too young to become a Christian?!? Does that mean that people whose mental development never goes beyond a certain age can’t be Christians? Does it mean that if we get old and senile we somehow lose our Christian status? I can’t think of anywhere in Scripture that implies an IQ test before God will accept us. Repentance is required, but is there a minimum age for turning away from evil and turning to God? Jesus expressed it in terms of light and our response to it (John 3): how old do we have to be to turn towards the light when we experience it?
When anyone we love dies, whatever their age, the simple truth is that we have to trust in God’s grace: their fate is in His hands. That’s why we call it ‘faith’.
Q3:
What’s the point of living on earth when you know you’re better off dead, in heaven with Jesus Christ?
Phil:
Christianity is about life: life before death as much as life after death. Jesus came to give us life to the fullest (John 10:10b), and that life starts when we turn to God through him, if we allow it to. That life is to be appreciated as a marvellous gift from God, even when times are tough, and is to be both enjoyed and used to serve others.
Paul:
God has left His people on earth to bear witness to Him. It is His intention that, having promised us eternal life and revealed to us part of what this will mean (Revelation 21: 1-7), we will live exclusively for His kingdom. The aim is to draw others to Him.
Q4:
Is a prayer more likely to be answered if a) it is prayed by more than one person; b) it is prayed more than once by the same person? If not, what is the point of a prayer meeting or of being persistent in prayer? If God knows what we need before we ask it, why do we pray about our needs at all?
Paul:
At the very least we pray because we are commanded to and these commands are accompanied by promises (e.g. John 14: 13-14). Answered prayer tends to be more about faith (and hence perseverance) than about styles or modes. God has chosen to involve us in His plans. He wants His people to seek His will, pray it in faith and enjoy answered prayer.
Phil:
This question is rather seriously missing the point: prayer is not mechanistic; it isn’t like a vending machine where if you put in the right coins you get out your chocolate bar; it certainly isn’t a way of manipulating God – that can’t be done. The essence of prayer is relationships: your relationship with God, your relationship with the people you are praying for, and, in the case of corporate prayer, your relationship with your fellow pray-ers. It’s a matter of love: love for neighbour that responds to their needs from the heart, and love for God that wants to take our heart concerns to Him.
Q5:
Why does a loving, caring God allow so much suffering in the world?
Phil:
People have been asking variants of this for at least 2,500 years, so I’m not sure we can get much of an answer into a couple of paragraphs. There are some basic approaches which can provide insight: eg what I call the
Jesus Approach, the
Job Approach and the
Groucho Marx Approach; but even these need more space to explain.
The basic point, though, is to start from where the world is – a mess, full of people who are suffering and people who are making others suffer – and to look at what God is doing about it. The world wasn’t made this way, and when Jesus returns it will all be fixed, but in the meantime, where is God? Hanging there on a cross, transforming the world through his sacrifice; and walking with those who will accept Him, through His Spirit – and carrying us when we are most in need. He is also at work in His people as they put love of neighbour into practice; imagine how much difference it would make if everyone who calls themselves Christian really worked at this.
Paul:
This needs a sermon (series). Most suffering is caused by humans, but not all. However even some so-called natural disasters are now known to be associated with our pollution of the environment.
Romans 8: 17-18 speaks of 2 kinds of suffering: that which comes to God’s people specifically because they are God’s people (v17) and that which is part of living in a corrupt world (v18). God’s promise to His people is that what He has for us after Jesus’ return will far outweigh the suffering of this life. However there is also suffering which Jesus wants to alleviate (through healing for example - Isaiah 53 gives the full list) and the eternal suffering of those who reject His offer of salvation. It is probably the latter that we should be most concerned about.
Q6:
Did God create dinosaurs? When? Isn’t there scientific proof they existed?
Paul:
Genesis 1:21 speaks of great sea creatures (which probably means more than just ‘whales’!) And Job 40:15-41:34 refers to two creatures which sound more like dinosaurs than the hippo and crocodile which some footnotes identify them as!
Phil:
Yes, He did create dinosaurs – and wonderful examples of His boundless creativity they were too!
There were many, many different species of dinosaur, living roughly between 240 million and 65 million years ago (the different species were spread out over that period, not all at once).
Scientists don’t really talk about ‘proof’ – that’s mathematics, which is a whole different ballgame. Instead they are more concerned with ‘falsifiability’ – which is why schemes such as ‘Creation Science’ and most formulations of ‘Intelligent Design’ are not science – and with evidence. There is an enormous weight of scientific evidence for dinosaurs and for evolution, so in that sense yes, their existence is ‘proven’. In my view this weight of scientific evidence for dinosaurs and for evolution is vastly great than any weight of supposed scriptural evidence against them. However, it is important to note that the evidence could equally well be explained by God creating the world a few thousand years ago, but doing so in a way that makes it look much older. Or, if your picture of God is big enough, you can say that, since God created both space and time out of nothing, He is quite capable of creating the universe a few thousand years ago, then creating around 14 billion years of history before that (and several thousands of years after).
Q7:
What do you think Christ would say to those who are dividing the church with debates about ordination of women, gay marriage within the church, etc?
Phil:
What Jesus has already said is that we are to love one another, for by our love people will recognise that we are his disciples. Many debates within the church are hardly characterised by much love. To be fair, though, the two biggies in the news recently – women bishops in the CofE, and homosexuality in the Anglican Communion – are actually very different in the way debate is being handled.
With women bishops there is a clear majority in favour, and the debate is mostly in love about how far this majority will bend over backwards to help the minority stay on board.
Over homosexuality, on the other hand, the Anglican Communion is divided in many directions – it’s not a simple pro and anti – and you have at least two major groups both trying to force their own agendas onto everyone else, no matter how much harm it does. It’s religious politics, and a real turn-off to anyone outside, most of whom don’t see what all the fuss is about but really don’t want to get involved with any organisation that indulges in such vicious infighting.
Paul:
It is significant that the third world bishops are holding to scripture while some western ones are wanting to depart. It is the truth which sets people free (John 8:32). Sadly whenever any group departs from truth they cause division (see 1 John 2:18-19). Which church is enjoying more of God’s blessing, the west or the third world?
Q8:
God commands the Israelites not to murder, but then commands them to kill large numbers of people in taking the Promised Land, including women and children. In Joshua, they are ethnically cleansing whole areas e.g. Jericho and Ai. How can this be reconciled?
Paul:
Israel are specifically commanded NOT to kill the nations which bordered their land (Deuteronomy 2: 17-23). The Canaanites were amongst the most wicked people who have ever lived. Deuteronomy 18:9-14 describes their occult activities which even included burning their babies. If God is not a judge then He is not just. However, Jesus has paid the price for all evil on the cross and no one should ever kill in God’s name. Nevertheless this age of grace will end and then there will be judgement on the wicked. That is why the church needs to make salvation known.
Phil:
‘Murder’ is not the same as ‘kill’, is the superficial answer to this. More seriously, though, the whole series of Bible books covering the Israelites’ entry into the Promised Land, and the associated genocide and ethnic cleansing, is pretty hard to stomach.
The most reasonable explanation that I have heard says that God always works with people where they are at, and in those days ethnic cleansing or mass enslavement was what people did when they moved into an area. I’m not sure I feel entirely comfortable even with this, but the key point to make is that Bible events of three thousand years ago do not provide a valid precedent for ethnic cleansing and its ilk today.
Q9:
Why do we use the name “God” with a capital ‘G’ and not Jehovah or Yahweh? The term “God” seems too general a term.
Phil:
There’s a long tradition, inherited from the Jews, of considering God’s name too holy for human utterance. Given the context of the Exodus account where God tells Moses His name, this seems strange to me; but for Christians the key factor about God is our relationship with Him. Therefore we tend to call Him ‘Father’ because of that, or ‘God’ for His job, or ‘Lord’ because he is Lord of the universe. The Yahweh/Jehovah confusion (caused by people misreading the vowel sounds, apparently), doesn’t help, but I don’t think Christians in general have much call for it. It’s a bit like my kids hardly ever call me ‘Phil’: there’s no reason why they can’t, but no particular reason why they should either.
Paul:
‘Jehovah’ is based on YHVH which is better pronounced: ‘Yahweh’. ‘God’ is the translation of ‘Elohim’ and is a general term. It is better to address YHVH as Jesus taught us: ‘Father’.
Q10:
How can we know that God exists?
Paul:
This also lends itself to a sermon. Romans 1:19 states that God has left evidence in creation. However, John 16: 7-11 says that the Holy Spirit in God’s people will make the world aware of Him. Even more challenging: John 17:21 says that church unity will cause the world to believe that Father sent Jesus. Sadly our own desires hinder this (James 3:13-4:3).
Phil:
This is a bit like saying how can we know air exists: we live, we breathe, we feel the wind and we see its effects. To really explore the properties of air, though, you need to see the difference between where air is and where it isn’t. That doesn’t work for God, who is everywhere.
Q11:
Several religions believe in one God. What is so special about the Christian God? Can all religions be different paths to the one God?
Phil:
I believe that God is everywhere, so I’m not sure that finding a path to Him necessarily gets you very far. More important is what happens when you get there. Some want to submit to Him (which is what ‘Islam’ means), others want to lose themselves into Him, others to bow down and worship Him, and so on. The distinctive Christian claim is that, because of what Jesus did on the cross, when we come to God through Jesus He forgives us, He cleanses us, He gives us His Spirit within us, and, over time, He changes us so that when Jesus returns to make all things new and perfect, we will be able to be a part of that.
Paul:
It is the nature of YHVH which makes Him unique. If two religions discover, through dialogue, that they worship different gods then only one can be the true one. The particular claim of Christianity is that the Lord is holy and cannot be reached through human efforts. Therefore He sent His Son so that through faith/trust in Him people may come to God.
Q12:
Where does evil come from? How can we say that God is in charge of the world when evil exists as it does?
Steve:
The Question could be turned on its head, what would it be like if there was no Evil in the world? What would our lives be like?
From the very second you woke up on Monday morning, you would experience no fear or worry, anger and bitterness would be out of the window. Pain and misery would be locked up in a cell where there was no possibility of it coming back to haunt you.
Without Evil in the world Mankind could not recognise the Good that's in the world. God Has allowed Evil in the world for a period of time only, and as each day goes by that period of time is getting shorter. Yes we get caught up, but God promises to fix the problem of Evil once and for all... When he returns to collect His Children...
Now that Sounds like God has a plan and is in total and complete control.
Paul:
Genesis 3 records how humans chose to disobey God. However, this was through the prompting of the serpent (identified in Revelation 12:9 as Satan). Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 are understood by some, including me, to be a reference to Lucifer choosing to reject God’s authority and becoming Satan. Hebrews 2:8 acknowledges that the world doesn’t always look as though God is in charge. However, this is now the age of grace when God offers salvation to all. When it closes, He will remove all that remains outside of His kingdom. Understandably He wants to delay this until everyone has had a chance to respond.
Phil:
Somehow evil comes from free will, and from humans being able to choose to turn away from God. The question then is how evil and fallen humanity are able to endure in a world ruled by God, rather than being instantly destroyed. That answer has something to do with the cross.
Q13:
How can we have free will when God already knows what is going to happen?
Phil:
Because God is beyond space and time, He knows what our free will choices are and will be. That doesn’t make them any less free. The challenge is to imagine a God so big that He can work with six billion people all making their free will choices yet still He remains in charge and ensures that His purposes work themselves out over time.
Paul:
Foreknowledge is not necessarily the same as predestination. However the concept of absolute free will is not necessarily a biblical one.
Q14:
Won’t all good people go to heaven? How can a loving God create and send people to hell?
Paul:
Only righteous people go to Heaven and no one is naturally righteous. We have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. (Isaiah saw this when he was called into God’s presence - Isaiah 6). Jesus not only took our sin, He gave us His righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21). We have not appreciated the holiness of God and our comparative evil. That is why we do not appreciate how just Hell is and how we all deserve it - except that through faith in Jesus we may be born again and escape (the meaning of ‘salvation’).
Phil:
The trouble with the terms ‘heaven’ and ‘hell’ is most people’s pictures of them owe a lot more to the medieval imagination than they do to what the Bible actually says. I expect that anybody who is wholly good and perfect would get to the New Earth, when Jesus returns. But that isn’t me, and it isn’t anybody I know, so we fallen humans need a helping hand to get there (Jesus).
The question then is what to do with those people who refuse that helping hand and who choose death over life? The New Earth will be free from sin and imperfection, so nobody who chooses not to be made perfect can go there, so where will they go? Most occurrences of ‘hell’ in the New Testament refer to the Jerusalem rubbish dump in the original. Many Christians see hell as a sort of dump where those who reject God are left to suffer forever. Personally, I take seriously the section toward the end of Revelation where it says: “The lake of fire is the second death. All whose names were not found written in the book of life were thrown into the lake of fire”.
Q15:
How do we know that there is a spiritual world, when we can’t see it?
Phil:
It depends rather on what you mean by ‘spiritual world’. In the Bible nearly all occurrences of ‘spiritual’ have an -ikos ending in their original Greek, which means they relate to things which are spirit-powered or coming from spirit, rather than saying what they are made of (like steam-ship or sailing boat rather than wooden ship or ironclad). Thus in Biblical terms the spiritual world relates to the Holy Spirit and evil spirits that influence people and drive their behaviours and attitudes. We can see people’s behaviours of course, but it is hard to distinguish how far these are a result of their own deliberate choices and how far they have simply allowed themselves to be driven by good or bad spiritual influences.
Paul:
If you don’t believe in the devil, try resisting him for a day!! The Bible speaks of angels and demons but makes it clear that they work unseen - though their effects are very visible!
Q16:
How do we know that the Bible can be relied upon? Doesn’t it contradict itself? Who decided what books would be included and why? How reliable are our modern translations? Why are there so many of them?
Paul:
It is through faith that we believe. The more I study the Bible the more I find that it agrees with itself. There is a running theme right the way through: the kingdom of God.
Phil:
Too many sub-questions for the space available, so I’ll focus on versions. There are a whole range of views about the Bible across Christian believers; mine is that the Bible we have was freely written by people guided by God’s Spirit and under His editorial control, so that we end up with a book which conveys God’s Spirit and His truth, and which is His gift to His followers. The authoritative version of the Bible is the original set of documents, in their original languages. Many translations of these documents are recognised by the wider church as also occurring under God’s control, but their authority is secondary, and they are given for a season.
Since the Reformation many English translations of the Bible have been produced. For most of these their season is long past, but those that are current now are spread across three main aims: to be as clear as possible to an ordinary English-speaking audience (eg the CEV and the NLT); to be as faithful as possible to the original language, including its ambiguities and uncertainties (eg the NRSV and the TNIV); and to conform to traditional understandings of doctrines. The NJB occupies a rather idiosyncratic middle-ground. All of these versions tell the same truths about God and Jesus: it is the minor details that vary.
Q17:
How do we know that re-incarnation is false, when many people seem to talk of past lives?
Phil:
Scientifically the current evidence is that memories are encoded in the brain, so if reincarnation was real there shouldn’t be any memory of it. Therefore I’d want much better evidence that these ‘past lives’ are more than just false memories. It is worth noting that the Bible tells us that those who enter eternal life when Jesus returns will get renewed bodies (and brains) when they do so.
Paul:
It is given to humans to die once and then comes judgement (Hebrews 9:27). This prospect is obviously unappealing to those who refuse the only way of salvation: through Jesus. Therefore they have accepted a number of different deceptions, including this one. The appealing part of reincarnation is that it still threatens judgement of a kind, but not as severe as the real judgement of God.
Q18:
Why is there no record of Jesus’ life as He grew up?
Paul:
Because we don’t need to know it. There are no reliable records of this. It is one of the issues covered by Psalm 131:1. The more important parts of Jesus’ life are the things we do know: That He is God, that He lived a perfect life and then paid the price for we who could not. He rose from the dead confirming that He had conquered death. He will return to earth to gather His people to Himself and punish the wicked who refused the only way of salvation.
Phil:
The only near-contemporary records of Jesus’ life come from the Gospel writers, who were more concerned with the three years of Jesus’ ministry – from around age 30 – because that is the time that was most relevant to the good news they were telling. Their intention was to write Gospels, not biographies.
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