- How is a person saved, according to the Bible?
- What is the difference between the kind of faith people often think of today and biblical faith?
- Why do religions typically encourage their adherents to follow specific ethical teachings such as don’t steal, lie, or murder?
- What is unique about ethical teachings in Christianity? See Exodus 20:1-20; Deuteronomy 5; Matthew 5:17-48; Galatians 3:10-29.
- Why is Jesus Christ the central focus of Christianity?
- When someone says, “The Bible is not primarily a book of science, history, philosophy, or moral teachings, but a book of faith,” why does this diminish the Bible’s authority, even though this may not be what the speaker intended?
- What is the Bible?
- What do we mean when we say God has revealed Himself in history?
- When we read and interpret the Bible, what do we need to remember about the various literary forms we find in it—literary forms like poetry, prose, metaphors, and so forth?
- How has God revealed Himself? See Psalm 19:1-6; Romans 1:18-23; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21; Psalm 19:7-11; John 1:1-5,14; Hebrews 1:1-4.
- The above passages demonstrate that God has revealed Himself in nature, the written Word—the Bible, and His Son, Jesus Christ. Included in the second of these, the Bible, are historical accounts of God’s interacting with real people in history.
With whom did God interact in these passages?
- Genesis 12:1;
- Genesis 15:1;
- Genesis 17:1-2;
- Genesis 22:1-19;
- Genesis 28:10-22;
- Exodus 3:1-6;
- 1 Samuel 15:10;
- 1 Kings 6:11-13;
- 1 Kings 17:8-9;
- 1 Kings 21:17-18;
- Luke 1:5-13;
- Luke 1:26-29
- Matthew 1:18-25
- John 1:1-4,14
- John 1:10-13
- Acts 9:1-5
- 1 Corinthians 15:3-8
- 2 Peter 1:21
- 1 John 1:1-4
- Revelation 1:1-2
Of course, the above represents only a partial list, a mere fraction of interactions we know about from the Scriptures.
In addition the people represented in the passages in the list above, you’ll find that many Bible books bearing the names of specific people record encounters those very people had with God. All of these are real events that happened in space-time history. Here are some examples.
- Job 38:1
- Isaiah 38:4;
- Jeremiah 1:1-10;
- Ezekiel 1:3;
- Daniel 2:14-19;
- Hosea 1:1;
- Joel 1:1;
- Amos 7:8;
- Obadiah 1:1;
- Jonah 1:1; 3:1; 4:1-11;
- Micah 1:1;
- Nahum 1:1,12;
- Habakkuk 1:1; 2:2-4;
- Zephaniah 1:1;
- Haggai 1:3;
- Zechariah 1:1;
- Malachi 1:1
For answers, go here.
top image: Daniel in the Lions’ Den
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