Theology

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.

Greg encourages us to explain to others that Christianity is about an objective reality outside of us, then he talks to callers about how to remain hopeful even though we could potentially live through the tribulation, and what the Bible says about healing and our health problems.

“Peace on earth, goodwill toward men”? Really? What do we do when life seems anything but peaceful this time of year? The answer is neither to pretend that life is more peaceful than it really is nor to get “Bah, humbug!” cynical. The answer is to see Christmas—and the kind of peace it brings us—accurately. 

Greg talks about God’s wills and praying for his will to be done, then he answers questions about citing the story of the rich man and Lazarus to someone who rejects Christianity because of unsaved loved ones who passed away, and whether Moses changes God’s mind in Numbers 14.

Greg and Amy discuss why people treat beliefs about God as merely personal and explain that if God exists, claims about his nature must be objectively true or false.

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.

Greg answers questions from callers about whether abortion is ever necessary to save the life of the mother, how to respond to someone who thinks Genesis 6:5–7 indicates that our Creator makes mistakes, and who the “gods” are that God presides over according to Psalm 82.

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.

Greg examines a passage that’s often used to support the idea of generational curses, then he talks to a caller about whether the Nicene Creed indicates that we’re saved by baptism and how we can have an expectancy for Christ if there’s no rapture.

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.

Greg talks about how the phrase “word of God” is used in a surprising way in the book of Acts, then he responds to a caller’s questions and challenges regarding Greg’s claim that “God doesn’t try.”

Progressive Christians often highlight the parts of Jesus’ ministry that fit their emphasis on social reform, identifying him as a kind of social justice warrior, but does this present an accurate picture of his mission?

Greg says there’s no equal to Christianity as a coherent worldview, then he answers questions about reconciling justification with the final judgment, whether Jesus was being literal in Luke 22:36 and Peter was in the wrong in John 18:10, and whether we can know how the universe began.

Greg answers questions about whether it’s possible for a true Christian to lose his salvation, advice for starting an Outpost without having leadership experience, how to get more comfortable praying in public, and whether the Great Commission is for the whole church or just the apostles.

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.

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.

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.

Questions about how to reconcile 1 Corinthians 13:5, which says that love doesn’t keep a record of wrongs, with God keeping a record of everything we have done and judging us by it, and how the idea that people are condemned for their sin, not for lack of belief in Jesus, squares with John 3:18.

Greg answers questions about whether Christian schools ought to accept children with non-Christian parents, whether both Christians and non-Christians will stand in the judgment, and how to be as charitable as possible without weakening your position tactically. 

Questions about what to say to someone who finds it hard to believe in a God that lumps non-criminals in with murderers and rapists when he sends them to Heaven or Hell, and whether all receive the same punishment in Hell.