#STRask

Questions about whether a person can be truly repentant while simultaneously having no hope they won’t commit that sin again, how we can “let the Lord work in us” and know he’s truly Lord in our lives despite our continuing sin, and whether mixed motives make otherwise good actions sinful. Can a person engage in genuine repentance while simultaneously having zero confidence that it will be the last time they commit that sin? How can we know if Jesus is truly Lord in our lives? Aren’t we always falling short of God’s standard? I’m trying not to “try” and to “let the Lord work in me,” but how does one even do that? I seem to always find some kind of non-virtuous reason for why I’m doing anything, including reading the Bible and going to church. If whatever is not from faith is sin, can mixed motives make otherwise good actions sinful?

Questions about what to ask someone who claims Christianity is an organized religion to control the masses, and why God didn’t tell us about quantum mechanics. What question would you ask someone who claims Christianity is an organized religion to control the masses? Why did scientists tell us about quantum mechanics, not God or you?

Questions about why we discuss evidence for God—who requires it and whether it’s necessary—and whether or not it’s inappropriate to use apologetic methods such as classical apologetics that argue for less than a triune God. Why do we discuss evidence for God? Who requires it, and why must we provide it? Is this necessary, or is apologetics a wing of the faith that enjoys arguing for sport? Since the only true God is triune and there is no salvation with general theism, is it inappropriate to use apologetic methods such as classical apologetics that argue for less than a triune God?

Question about tips on how to remain humble and teachable. Can you please provide tips on how to remain humble and teachable?

Question about the behind-the-scenes work that has to be done to write a book, an article, or an in-person talk. Would Greg mind pulling back the curtain a bit and talking about all the behind-the-scenes work that has to be done to write a book, an article, or an in-person talk?

Questions about why God would give us an unclear book that condones awful practices, and how we can know that commands for the Israelites to kill all the inhabitants of a city were truly commands from God rather than from men who falsely attributed their own commands to God. If Christianity is true, why would God deliver it to us in a book left up to so many interpretations and that condones so many awful practices? How can we know that commands for the Israelites to kill all the inhabitants of a city, including women and children, were truly commands from God rather than from men falsely attributing their own commands to God?

Questions about what to say to those who refuse to engage with a “script” and questions to ask someone who doesn’t care about spiritual things to get them to care about eternity now. What do you say to those who refuse to engage with a “script”? What questions or info can you give someone who doesn’t care about spiritual things to get them to care about eternity now?

Questions about whether God’s moral laws are merely subjective if he can command us to break them, and whether contrasting the Torah with barbaric Near Eastern laws to show moral improvement proves anything since you can’t justify bad laws by comparing them to worse ones. Are God’s moral laws objective, or can they be broken if God commands us to break them? Aren’t his laws merely subjective if we can go against them when he sees fit? In Is God a Moral Monster, Paul Copan often contrasts the Torah with barbaric Near Eastern laws to show moral improvement, but if I kill an adult and justify it because others kill children, aren’t I still a monster?

Questions about why God went ahead with creation if he knew about all the suffering that was going to happen, why Christians say God is responsible for all the good that happens but not the bad, and whether there’s a more satisfying answer to the problem of evil. How should I respond to a Buddhist who asks why God went ahead with creation if he knew about all the suffering that was going to happen? Why do Christians say everything good that happens is from God but he’s not responsible for the bad things? According to the Bible, didn’t God create all things? Why is the problem of evil the biggest issue non-believers seem to have, and is there a more satisfying answer to be had?

Questions about whether quantum mechanics disproves an objective reality and indicates we can’t perceive true evidence that God exists, and whether an infinite, intelligent, loving designer would have designed logic to exclude the possibility of suffering. I’ve been struggling with the idea that quantum mechanics disproves an objective reality. Does God exist, or is the evidence we perceive actually fake and we can’t make sense out of the physical world? If logic was created by an infinite, intelligent designer, and that designer is a loving God, wouldn’t he have designed logic to exclude the possibility of suffering without interfering with his goals?

Questions about whether feeling uncomfortable when people see you pray means you’re ashamed, and advice for a single person who feels like church is pointless since it’s set up for couples and families. I have no problem talking to people about Jesus and my faith, but I am very uncomfortable with people seeing me pray. Is that wrong, and does it mean I am ashamed? Church seems pointless to me since it’s all set up for couples and families and I don’t have any of that. Do you have any advice for me?

Questions about how to balance hating evil and protecting the innocent with loving our enemy, and how we can be salt and light in the world while also resting in the fact that God is in control. How should we balance hating evil and wanting to protect the innocent with loving our enemy? How can we be salt and light in the world but at the same time rest in the fact that God is in control—i.e., how much should we be involved in the world around us, and is self-care a sin?

Questions about how Christians should regard the argument that the family structure should change and we should have fewer babies since the world is overpopulated, and whether charitable works like feeding the poor are acts of justice as well as love. How should Christians regard the argument that the family structure should change and we should have fewer babies since the world is overpopulated? Are charitable works like feeding the poor and rescuing victims of abuse acts of justice as well as love?

Questions about how to respond to a pro-LGBTQ pastor who says we can’t really know what Scripture says about homosexuality or other controversial topics since we’re not apostles or prophets, and how to understand and apply prophetic books of the Bible like Jeremiah and Ezekiel. How can I respond to a pro-LGBTQ pastor who says we can’t really know what Scripture says about homosexuality or other controversial topics since we’re not apostles or prophets? How do I study the prophetic books of the Bible? I’m struggling to understand—let alone apply—books like Jeremiah and Ezekiel.

Questions about how to respond to an unbeliever who says the belief that we’re all broken is a sad way to view life, how to reconcile Zechariah and Elizabeth being blameless with Jesus being the only sinless man, and whether the psalms about delighting in God’s Law are outdated and legalistic. What’s the best way to respond to an unbeliever who says the belief that we’re all broken and need a Savior is a very sad way to view life? If Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous and observed all the the Lord’s commands blamelessly (per Luke 1), how can we say Jesus was the only sinless man? Is all the talk in the Psalms about delighting in God’s Law and meditating on it and doing things to help you follow it better outdated and legalistic?

Questions about how we know that God is one being instead of three distinct divine beings in perfect unity, and why God would give notable miracles to Oneness Pentecostals if their theology is truly heretical. I see real distinctions between the persons of the Trinity—Father, Son, and Spirit interacting, speaking, and acting in different roles—but what specifically makes God one being instead of three distinct divine beings in perfect unity? Why would God give such notable miracles to Oneness Pentecostals if their theology is heretical? I can’t help but wonder if they’re seeing this kind of power because they know who Jesus really is.

Questions about suggestions for a book to give a strong pantheist who’s a fan of Neale Donald Walsch, and how karma is different from the parable of the sower in Matthew 13 or the teaching about reaping what you sow in Galatians 6. My neighbor, who is a strong pantheist, gave me Conversations with God by Neale Donald Walsch. Do you have any suggestions for what I could give him in return? How is karma different from the parable of the sower in Matthew 13 or the teaching about reaping what you sow in Galatians 6?

Questions about how the unity of the Bible can be evidence it’s from God if the books could have been cherry-picked later, whether the fact that some passages in our Bibles aren’t canonical means every part of the Bible can be called into question, and why the Gospels don’t tell who wrote them. How would you argue that the unity of the Bible is evidence it’s from God? Couldn’t a skeptic object that one could come up with any unified story given enough ancient sources and a good deal of cherry-picking? If certain passages in our Bibles are not true, canonical, or inspired, doesn’t that mean every part of the Bible can be called into question? When I’m asked why the Gospels don’t tell who wrote them, what is the best way to answer?

Questions about the claim that science explains things that happen and that’s why it can’t explain the supernatural, whether there will be morality in Heaven, and reconciling the idea that we all intuitively know morality with the argument that Christianity gave our culture its morality. If science explains things that happen, then the reason it can’t explain the supernatural is that the supernatural doesn’t happen, for if the supernatural happened, then science would explain it. Will there be morality in Heaven? If there are no bad choices, would it only be free will and not morality? How do we reconcile the idea that morality is objective and we all just know it with the idea that Christianity gave us our Western moral values—i.e., if we all intuitively know morality, why do we argue Christianity gave it to our culture?

Questions about whether other religions are different expressions of the same God, and how to reconcile the idea that people who have never heard the gospel are guaranteed to go to Hell with the fact that God is a good judge who shows mercy on whom he chooses to show mercy. Are other religions different expressions of the same God? If the Bible centers on one region, how did isolated people come to know him? Could their native religions have been another way God revealed himself? How do you reconcile the idea that people who have never heard the gospel are guaranteed to go to Hell (per Romans 10) with knowing God is a good judge who shows mercy on whom he chooses to show mercy?