Posts Tagged ‘God’
Why did God kill the Amalekites?
Question: I was wondering, for example, when the Israelites were attacked or they attacked someone else, Moses held up his staff and it helped Joshua’s army, but if the staff was held down then the war went for the enemy. Obviously, the power of the staff came from God, so that means that God was…
Read MoreDid God break His promise to Moses?
Question: In Moses’ time than God had promised him that he would go into the promised land right but then later when Moses strikes the rock twice and water comes out then god says that Moses will not Lead the people into the promised land because how can Moses be an example if he does…
Read MoreWhat would have happened if Satan wasn’t in the Garden?
Question: I was scanning around the web and found your article on the Tree in the Garden. Some brothers get together for breakfast and fellowship one day a week before work. This week we had both an elder and minister, two deacons, and another brother. We occasionally discuss issues that I would not normally talk about…
Read MoreDoes Genesis 1:1 say there was nothing except God before the beginning?
Question: Here’s another question and it may seem silly but all I want is you to answer it in the best way you can. Genesis 1:1 “in the beginning there was nothing except God.” or “in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (different versions of the Bible) and I am confused about…
Read MoreIs Job 36:26 saying we can never exhaust the knowledge of God?
Question: I would like to get your opinion to see if I am interpreting the Bible correctly on this one passage. Job 36:26 American Standard Version: Behold, God is great, and we know him not; The number of his years is unsearchable. Stated this way I believe it is telling me that God is greater…
Read MoreWhat was God doing before the earth was created?
Question: What was God doing before the earth was created? Answer: Beyond planning how He would save His creation, we are not told. “He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you” (I Peter 1:20). “Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation…
Read MoreDid God have a wife?
Question: Look at this article, “Did God have a wife? Scholar says that he did,” I discovered. Can you refute it? Answer: I saw this article when it was first published. It is a prime example that people will just about believe anything they are told. The article is really a promotion of Francesca Stavrakopoulou…
Read MoreWhy did God have some people killed if murder is wrong?
Question: in Judges, some people were risen up by God to bring Israel out of the hands of other nations. But why do so many of them murder other people? Ehud stabs a king and Jael drives a post through Sisera’s head. I thought God wasn’t allowed to lead people into murdering other people? Answer:…
Read MoreCould “Mighty God” in Isaiah 9:6 refer to a man?
Question: Can you look at these two websites for me and tell me your thoughts? Hopefully, you can refute them. http://muslim-responses.com/Isaiah_Prophecy/Isaiah_Prophecy_ http://www.jews-for-allah.org/Jews-and-Muslims-Agree/no-trinity.htm Answer: I generally don’t do reviews of other people’s writings. However, I will address a common point the two you selected brought up and show you how they are playing games. In both…
Read MoreHow can I love God when I fear hell?
Question: How does someone learn to love God? I know what the greatest commandment is, but I don’t think I love God. I fear going to hell. If I didn’t believe in hell, I don’t think I would have become a Christian. Could I have truly repented? Was my sorrow only of the world? I…
Read MoreIf God is sovereign, why does He express sorrow when men are bad? If God knows of everything, why did He repent?
Question: If God is sovereign, why does He express sorrow when men are bad? If God knows of everything, why did He repent in Genesis 6:5-7 and Exodus 32:12? Answer: People have a hard time dealing with the infinite. An age-old puzzle is “If God is so powerful, can He create a rock that He…
Read MoreIs only Yahweh God’s name?
Question: In “The Divine Name,” you did not explain the name YAHWEH/YHWH and how it was taken out of the Scriptures. God, Lord, Father are all titles(mother, daughter, son, worker), but not His true name. Please explain verse Psalm 68:4 Sing to God, sing praises to His name; Extol Him who rides on the clouds,…
Read MoreWhat Saves a Person?
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Since, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (II Peter 3:9), it would be sensible to understand that in order to get people saved, God would tell them…
Read MoreAre Allah and Yahweh the same God?
Question: Hi, Many people believe that Allah and Yahweh are the same God though they have very different characteristics that I don’t think they’re the same. However, since the Arabs are Ishmaelites they obviously know God. Could it be that Allah is a partial interpretation of Yahweh that came about because the founding fathers of…
Read MoreWhy did God order the death of children?
Question: The Bible identifies, describes, and labels God in many ways. God is love, He is the redeemer, the savior, the beginning, the all-knowing, etc. God is also perfect and the Bible also says that God is a Judge, a righteous Judge above all. A righteous Judge administers the most fair and the most just methods…
Read MoreHow can God judge me when I didn’t ask to be born?
Question: Let’s say I place you in a room and gave you a written exam where if you answered correctly you would have eternal life, if you answer wrong you would suffer eternal punishment if you didn’t answer by not taking the exam you still get a 0% and that is still a failing grade.…
Read MoreWhat is God doing for me now to prove His love?
Question: God taught us to love and loving is a daily process requiring lots of physical and conscious effort. To show I love my wife, I have to remind her, I have to shower her with gifts, I have to kiss, hold, caress her, and sacrifice to her daily. Sometimes I have to do the…
Read MoreDoes God hate anyone?
Question: Does God hate anyone? And if so, who? Answer: “These six things the LORD hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil, A false witness who speaks lies, And…
Read MoreIf God doesn’t tempt with evil, then why did He send Saul an evil spirit?
Question: Can you explain what the evil spirit is in I Samuel 16:14 that was from the Lord? I don’t understand what this could be in light of passages such as Romans 2:11, James 1:13, etc. Answer: “Now the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD terrorized him”…
Read MoreHow do you handle questions you can’t understand? Does it cause you to doubt that God exists?
Question: Have you ever doubted if God really exists? Have you ever been bothered about Eve coming from Adam’s rib or the apes theory? Or just anything science comes up with? Because I have. I don’t know how to get rid of it because I honestly don’t want to be an atheist. I think my Bible…
Read MoreWhen Jesus was dying on the cross and called out Father why have you forsaken me, how could Jesus be God at this time?
Question: I was given a question that I really don’t know how to answer or at least the young man doesn’t want to accept my answer. His question was: “When Jesus was dying on the cross and called out Father why have you forsaken me, how could Jesus be God at this time?” Please help…
Read MoreIs Jesus God or someone God sent to earth?
Question: So who exactly is Jesus Christ? Is he the God, or someone whom God had sent down to this earth? Answer: According to the Bible, the answer is both, which confuses a lot of people. Speaking of Jesus as “the Word” John said: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with…
Read MoreGod’s Name
by Netagene Kirkpatrick I call the name of Jesus, or Lord God when I pray. The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are not by-words to say! It bothers me to hear someone who takes God’s Name in vain. If I ever slip and do that, I know I’ll be ashamed. Some things are often cut,…
Read MoreGod Is Speaking to You
by Clem Thurman via Gospel Minutes, Vol. 58, No. 49, Dec. 4, 2009. One person claims that God revealed to her in a dream what she was to do with her life. A man says that God spoke to him, openly, telling him what he was to do religiously. Yet another sees signs in the…
Read MoreWhy Believe in God?
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/WhyBelieveInGod.mp3 by Bruce Irwin
Read MoreHow could God repent for creating man when the Bible also says God is not like a man to repent?
Question: The Bible says in Genesis that God repented for creating man. But then why does the Bible say “God is not a man to lie, and not a son of man to repent”? And if God repented, why did Paul said that God prepared the chosen ones to give fruits before the world was…
Read MoreWhat does the Bible have to do with God?
Question: What does the Bible have to do with God? I’ve been reading questions and answers on your site, and I really like how you stick with the Bible without adding any opinions that aren’t in there. You see, I have a problem, and I was hoping you would be able to help me. I’ve…
Read MoreFree Will and the Power of God
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Photo by Rock’n Roll Monkey on Unsplash A gentleman called me recently to discuss the idea of men having free will. He believed that if a person can choose his own destiny, then he is working against God’s will. Therefore he believes that a concept of free will is at odds…
Read MoreWhat is meant by the beauty of the Lord?
Question: In Psalm 27:4 and others when it states the beauty of the Lord, what do you think of? There are several different ways, I think, to look at this and I wanted someone else’s’ opinion to help me. Thank you. Answer: “One thing I have desired of the LORD, that will I seek: that…
Read MoreThe Justice of God
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/JusticeOfGod.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Habakkuk 1:1-4 I. The prophet Habakkuk was upset with God A. Wickedness and violence abounded in the world around him. 1. Jeremiah asked much the same question: Why do the wicked prosper? – Jeremiah 12:1-4 2. It is an old question. Job asked it – Job 21:7-15 3. Asaph too was troubled by…
Read MoreHow can God have the power to do anything but not be capable of doing wrong?
Question: How can God have the power to do anything but not be capable of doing wrong? Answer: While God is all-powerful, it does not mean He can do things that are contrary to His nature. He has told us that there are things He cannot do. God cannot sin (I John 1:5). God’s promises…
Read MoreIf God doesn’t show favoritism, then why was Abel’s sacrifice accepted and Cain’s was rejected?
Question: The Bible says that God does not show favoritism toward anyone. So how is it that He favored Abel over Cain, and accepted Abel’s offering while rejecting Cain’s? Answer: By saying that God is impartial (Romans 2:11), what is being said is that God doesn’t favor one person over another based on external attributes.…
Read MoreIs God’s greatness just as unsearchable as the number of His years?
Question: I have a question for you. I am researching a passage and I would like your input. “Behold, God is great, and we know him not, neither can the number of his years be searched out” (Job 36:26). Is Job’s friend, Elihu, telling us here that God’s greatness is just as unsearchable as the number of…
Read MoreWhat were the three things mentioned in the Bible that God wrote upon?
Question: What were the three things mentioned in the Bible that God wrote upon? Answer: “Now the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God engraved on the tablets” (Exodus 32:16). “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the…
Read MoreRelying on God
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/RelyingOnGod.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton I. The afternoon news and talk show featured a short debate over a recent story. The parents of eleven children had two of their children die. One died from untreated diabetes. The other died from complications of an untreated ear infection. The parents believed firmly in the power of prayer and…
Read MoreThree in One
Three In One Part 1Three In One Part 2 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: II Corinthians 13:11-14 I. Christianity, Judaism, and Muslims all believe in one God A. But their concept of “one” differs greatly B. In Judaism and Muslim beliefs, God is numerically one. To think of God as multiple beings smacks of polytheism and is…
Read MoreWas Jesus omniscient?
Question: I have a question that I hope you can answer for me. Last night I heard a man preach that Jesus was not omniscient while on earth. I asked him after the sermon to explain passages like John 16:30 where the disciples state that Jesus knew everything. He said that we should not proof-text…
Read MoreThe Trinity: God is Three in One
by Mark E. Larson Many critics of Christianity point to what they believe to be a fundamental flaw – the belief that God is three persons, yet one God (i.e., the doctrine of the Trinity). To the Jews and Muslims, this Christian doctrine appears to be a contradiction and a blasphemy against the one, true…
Read MoreHow can I know the God of the Bible isn’t a myth?
Question: How do I know that believing in God is the right thing to do? How do I know that the Bible isn’t something that is made for mankind to get by through life without worrying as much as non-believers do? I don’t know what to think about God and life and death. Just the…
Read MoreThe “Folly” of God
by Ethan R. Longhenry This was not the expected script. The time, of course, was right. Four grand empires had been prophesied (cf. Daniel 2, 7); Babylon and Medo-Persia were long gone, the age of the Greeks was over, and Rome was now in power. He was supposed to be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2);…
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