Answers to Questions Listed by Topics Beginning with the Letter "R"
Unless otherwise noted, all answers were written by Jeff Hamilton.
Race, Racism
- Are Jews a race or a religion?
- Are we all descendants of Adam and Eve and all related?
- Aren't you dancing around the issue of racism?
- Doesn't Genesis 4:14 prove that there were other people than just the descendants of Adam and Eve?
- How did the different races come about?
- How were the nations scattered and was the world one continent, divided in the days of Peleg?
- Is homosexuality a race?
- Is it wrong to marry a person from a different race?
- Is it wrong to marry a person of a different nationality?
- Is racism a sin?
- Should a church not hire a preach because he and his finacee are different skin colors?
- The pastor in the church we are in slapped my wife and called her a derogatory name. What should we do?
- What is meant by "nations" in Revelation?
- Who was the first negro convert?
- Will only black people and Israelites be saved?
- Would it be wrong to not want my daughter to marry an African-American?
Rape
- Are there any examples of a woman being forced into a marriage that she objected to?
- Can you help me with a report on rape?
- Did God condone rape?
- Does rape within a marriage lead to divorce?
- Does God condemn pedophilia, rape, or self-defense?
- How can past sexual abuses be dealt with today?
- I don't believe a woman gives up her body when she marries.
- Is a woman who was raped still a virgin?
- Is abortion wrong except in the case of rape?
- Is it rape when a husband is influenced by alcohol, drugs, or pornography?
- Is the Bible male oriented?
- Should a wife leave because of sexual assault?
- The idea that a husband cannot rape his wife is a gross misrepresentation of what the Bible says.
- To say rape can't happen in a marriage is wrong!
- Was a woman forced to marry her rapist?
- Were the man's actions in Judges 19:22-24 wrong?
- When was the spousal rape law passed?
- Wouldn't it have been a sin for Tamar and Amnon to marry?
- You don't know what rape is.
- Your statement that a husband can't rape his wife really bothered me.
Rapture
- Can people receive Christ after the Rapture?
- Since Jesus returns with the saints, doesn't this mean there will be a rapture first?
- What does the Bible say about the Rapture?
Rashness
Reading the Bible
- I want to read the Bible daily, but I have a hard time digesting what I have read.
- Is reading the Bible the best place to start if you have never been religious?
Reasoning
- Can money be used from the church treasury to do good for non-Christians?
- Even though there is falsehood in an article, can't you read it to find some truth buried in it?
- How do I get someone to believe the truth about homosexuality?
- I don't like the answers you give about sexual sins.
- Is everything in the Bible applicable today?
- Isaiah 1:18 seems out of place. Can you explain what it is saying?
- Must a member of the church follow the truth?
- What do you think about my thesis?
Rebellion
Rebuke
- Can a woman correct a man who is sinning directly?
- How do I tell someone they are sinning?
- How do you love a neighbor who doesn't want you in their life?
- How does the warnings about correcting scoffers in Proverbs 9:7-9 affect our understanding of Matthew 18:15-20?
- I missed an opportunity to tell someone that their life is not right with God. What do I do now?
- Is it ever OK to tell someone they are going to Hell if they don't repent?
- "It isn't Christian-like to publish negative things about the Coptic church."
- My friend is committing adultery. Must I say something?
- Should it be acceptable for a preacher to reprimand an individual in front of the church?
- Shouldn't you balance your rebukes regarding fornication with love?
- Was it wrong of me to tell my friend that he didn't deserve his girlfriend?
- When I see someone sinning, is it wrong not to say anything?
- "You didn't tell the man in adultery how much God loves him."
- You should apologize for your answer!
- "You shouldn't mention names or say why groups are wrong."
Reconcile
Reference Works
- Is Thayer's Greek Lexicon bad?
- What lexicon would you recommend?
- Why does Thayer say that "world" can mean "believers only?"
Regeneration
- See: Born Again
Reincarnation
- Can you have an out of body experience or be reincarnated?
- Do people feel like they lived past lives because of demon possession?
- Do stillborns or children who die at at very young age get a second chance at life?
- Does an old lover reappear as a man's daughter?
- What do you think about reincarnation?
Relationships
- A co-worker isn't speaking to me. Should I ask her what is wrong?
- How do you handle misunderstandings?
- Is Paul talking only about unequal yoking in II Corinthians 6:14?
- Some people are treating me as if I'm not welcomed anymore. Should I leave or put up with them?
- What do I do about a lady who takes advantage of me?
- What should I do about a person who harmed me but hasn't asked for forgiveness?
Religion
- Could Jesus have been flawed like other men?
- Does religion save people?
- Jesus only followed Judaism because he was born in it. Doesn't Jesus want his followers to remain in whatever religion they were born into?
- What religion did the Arabs follow prior to Islam?
- Why do you feel the need to say that other religions are wrong?
Repentance
- Can a Christian come back after falling several times?
- Can God be fair if He doesn't give a sinner another chance to repent?
- Can I get back my life after I repent of my sins?
- Can two non-Christians, involved in adultery, be baptized?
- Can you repent from your sins right before you die and still go to heaven?
- Do I have to divorce my husband in order to be baptized?
- Do I have to make restitution?
- Do I need to turn myself in for crimes I did before I became a Christian?
- Do I need to confess every sin I committed?
- Do I need to fix all my past sins in order to repent? Must I confess sins I did years ago before the church?
- Do we die to sin at the point of repentance?
- How can I be sure I repented?
- How can I come across as sincere in my apologies?
- How can I feel forgiven?
- How can the prodigal son come back when it is supposed to be impossible for the fallen to come back?
- How could God repent for creating man when the Bible also says God is not like man to repent?
- How do I know if I've truly repented?
- How do I know my repentance is genuine?
- How do I make restitution when I no longer know how much I stole?
- How do I repent of adultery when I don't feel sorry for doing it?
- How do I repent for getting drunk?
- How do you change to be a Christian? It seems so hard.
- How do you repent of having sex out of wedlock and a baby is on the way?
- How much repentance is needed before baptism?
- How soon should I forgive someone?
- I decided to be baptized, but I'm not getting married for two years and we're having sex. Can I ask for forgiveness after we get married?
- "I don't think a preacher caught in adultery should continue without some disciplinary action."
- I love the Lord, but I must be grieving Him so much.
- I ruined my reputation, and now I can't move past it. What am I to do?
- If a brother had an affair for five years and says he repented, should he be used in service to God?
- If a Christian commits adultery and dies without repenting of his sin, will he go to hell?
- If a person is in an unscriptural marriage, must the person divorce before becoming a Christian?
- If a person sins, must they be kicked out of the church, even if they had repented?
- In order to repent, do you need to find the people to whom you set a bad example?
- Is repentance all I need to do to be saved?
- Is repentance necessary to be saved?
- Is sin causing God to be sad because we turned away from Jesus?
- Isn't repentance and faith the same thing?
- I'll spend my youth enjoying sin and then turn to God when I am old.
- I'm sorry for the adultery I've done, but my wife is leaving me and I don't know what to do.
- I've sinned a lot and I'm tired of repeating the same mistakes. How can you make a new start?
- Must each person I sinned against be contacted before I can be forgiven?
- Must I ask forgiveness from the person I wronged before I can repent?
- Should I turn myself in for the sins I did in the past?
- What does it mean "there is no one who does not sin"?
- What does it mean to be a fornicator?
- What if I can't repent?
- What if I did not repent before I was baptized?
- What if you continued with your sin after baptism?
- What if you didn't know something was sinful before you were baptized?
- What is godly sorrow and how can a wheelchair bound person be baptized?
- What is repentance?
- When does repentance take place?
- Why can't I feel repentance?
- Why can't my sister get baptized?
- Why did Peter say that perhaps God would forgive Simon?
- Will God forgive me if I continue to sin?
Reputation
- Do you have more verses on the importance of being respectable?
- I ruined my reputation, and now I can't move past it. What am I to do?
- I want to go to a good university, but my reputation as a student is poor.
- Why can't one teach someone of the opposite gender?
Resources for Bible Study
- See also Links to Bible Study Resources
- How can I tell when a word in the New Testament actually has an article in front of it?
Respect
Responsibility
- Am I responsible for my boyfriend turning from Christ?
- Can one person put a curse on another?
- Ever since I committed adultery and lost my marriage, it seems like I've been stuck.
- How can past sexual abuses be dealt with today?
- How do I find balance in my life?
- Is there any spiritual work that an individual Christian may do that the church may not?
- What does personal accountability mean?
- What is our responsibility or accountability to God and ourselves?
- What is the age of accountability for a child?
- What kinds of debt are permissible?
- What would have happened if Satan wasn't in the Garden?
- When a child is raised to be violent, who is responsible, the parent or the child?
- Why don't my parents treat me as an adult?
- Why is God holding us responsible when it is He who made us?
Restoring a Brother
Resurrection
- Are there any other mentions of the saints rising from the dead at Jesus' death?
- Did Jesus physically arise?
- How could Jesus be in the grave three days and nights if he died on Friday and rose on Sunday?
- What will our spiritual bodies be like?
- Will our dead bodies be physically raised on the last day?
Revelation
- Are the problems in Israel and wars in Iraq what Revelation talks about?
- Can you explain the description of Jesus in Revelation 1:13-15?
- Could Hegesippus have been mistaken and John was sent to Patmos in A.D. 70?
- Did Domitian persecute Christians?
- Did Laodicea have cold and hot water?
- Did the Jesuits develop preterism and futurism?
- Did the rider on the pale horse appear in Egypt?
- Does Revelation 2:17 mean we will have a new name in heaven?
- How can Satan be bound if he is walking about like a roaring lion?
- How can you teach that Revelation has already happened?
- How could Revelation be about the fall of Rome when Rome didn't fall until AD 476?
- How do I explain the second coming?
- If there are no warnings for the second coming of Christ, then what about the signs in Revelation?
- Is Revelation 14:10 referring to judgment on a place or to the final judgment?
- Is the harlot in Revelation 17-18 the Roman Catholic Church?
- Is the reference to a new earth given so we can understand heaven better?
- Isn't there a distinction between the 144,000 and the great multitude?
- What are the seven spirits of God in Revelation?
- What do you think the book of Revelation refers to?
- What does it mean that John was "in the spirit?"
- What does Laodicea mean?
- What imagery in Revelation do you find does not fit the destruction of Jerusalem?
- What is meant by a new heaven and new earth?
- What is meant by "nations" in Revelation?
- What is meant by "the measure of a man, that is, of an angel?"
- What is the morning star in Revelation 2:28?
- When was the church in Smyrna established?
- Where does it talk about souls asking how long must we wait?
- Who are the 144,000?
- Who is the rider on the white horse in Revelation 6?
- Why are there musical instruments in Revelation?
- Why does Revelation 5:1-6 contain changing symbols?
Revenge
- Did people really do an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth to people?
- How do I put God first in my life?
