The second part of the Christian Biblical canon, dealing with the life of Jesus and the teachings and history of the early church.
25
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4answers
498 views
How were the books of the New Testament chosen?
I'm interested in finding out what the process of choosing the books of the New Testament was, when and who did the choosing
14
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1answer
158 views
Is the Israel of the NT the modern country?
The Israel talked about throughout the Old Testament is fairly clearly a specific people group and later a country. The New Testament also makes references to Israel. Are these references comparable? ...
13
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3answers
2k views
Are inter-faith marriages prohibited by the Bible?
Setting aside marriages of couples from two different Christian faiths, does the Bible address whether a Christian may marry a non-Christian?
I believe that the Old Testament prohibits Jews from ...
13
votes
8answers
3k views
Does the New Testament override the Old Testament?
Throughout the Old Testament there have been many laws laid down by the Lord, that are perhaps more harsh then we, as Christians, follow today. Many times in the New Testament it has been found to ...
13
votes
2answers
316 views
Identity of Christ's Bride
I've always believed (like Christians around me) that Christ's Bride is the church. However, I recently met two guys that claimed that the Bride is actually the new Jerusalem that comes down from ...
12
votes
3answers
501 views
Should husbands submit to wives?
There has been a lot of discussion in the news lately about the passage in Ephesians 5:22 instructing wives to submit to their husbands as unto the Lord. But no one ever seems to bring Ephesians 5:21 ...
12
votes
1answer
145 views
Who is the young man mentioned in Mark 14:51?
In Mark 14:51-52, there is this reference to a man:
51 A young man, wearing only a linen cloth, was following Jesus, and the people also grabbed him. 52 But the cloth he was wearing came off, and ...
11
votes
2answers
99 views
What person(s) of the Trinity were the people of the Old Testament interacting with?
When a someone or groups of people were interacting with God, as recorded in the Old Testament, in general were they simply interacting with person of 'God the Father' within the Trinity? Or were they ...
10
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3answers
195 views
What does “scripture” mean in NT writing?
This is slightly a take-off from:
What does it mean that all scripture is God-Breathed?
The Bible as we know it today wasn't canonized and compiled into a single volume until much later. In ...
10
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2answers
811 views
What was the difference between the Pharisees and Sadducees?
Jeusus often encountered these two groups:
34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 ...
10
votes
2answers
332 views
Is the Talmud compatible with Christianity?
If I'm not misunderstanding anything, Jews usually follow the Tanakh (more or less the Old Testament) and the Talmud, but definitely not the New Testament, whereas Christians follow the Old and New ...
10
votes
4answers
912 views
Why does Jesus speak of himself in the third person?
There are a number of places where Jesus refers to himself in the third person. The most common is when he uses the title 'Son of Man' (by my count, there are some 78 times Jesus uses that title in ...
8
votes
2answers
709 views
Multiple wives and concubines | male and female “original” intent
Matthew 19:1-6 New International Version (NIV)
1 When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and
went into the region of Judea to the other side of the Jordan. 2 Large
...
8
votes
2answers
780 views
Is Levi from Luke 5:27 and Mark 2:14 referring to the apostle Matthew
Both Luke 5:27 and Mark 2:14 mention a tax collector named Levi:
27 After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name
of Levi sitting at his tax booth. "Follow me," Jesus said to ...
8
votes
4answers
176 views
What does the Good News refer to?
What is the Good News?
Is there a different meaning when Jesus mentions it and when Paul does?
Edit:
I'll clarify my question. Jesus mentions the Good News (or "gospel" in some translations) in ...
8
votes
1answer
704 views
Where did the idea of the Trinity come from?
As noted here about 1 John:
The passage is called the Johannine Comma and is not found in the
majority of Greek manuscripts.
Which implies that this has been recently added to scripture. It ...
8
votes
1answer
186 views
Why was Jesus able to silence his critics simply by pointing out that the Messiah was both Lord *and* son?
In Matthew 22, after basically frustrating the Pharisees and the Saduccees by answering some really tricky questions, Jesus finally turns the tables on them and asks this question:
41 While the ...
7
votes
5answers
238 views
Was Jesus a poor man, in economic sense?
I saw a video of Cesar Vidal and he said, that probably, Jesus was a middle-high class in economic sense, during the period of life before public ministry. I need historical references.
7
votes
1answer
56 views
What is the basis for the claim that the entire New Testament can be reconstructed apart from original and copied manuscripts?
Bit of a mouthy title, but I remember reading a few years ago that the entire New Testament (perhaps with the exception of very few verses) and most of the Old Testament could be reconstructed from ...
7
votes
4answers
926 views
Why did God create a new covenant?
Why did God create a new covenant? It seems as if he had a covenant set in place in the Old Testament and provided a means for Israel to follow the covenant and offer sacrifices to atone for their ...
7
votes
1answer
323 views
What does it mean to test God?
I remember that while Jesus was being tempted in the desert by the devil, the devil had asked Him to jump down from a height, because the angels would be sure to rescue Him. But Jesus answered that ...
6
votes
4answers
429 views
New Testament inconsistency - opening of Jesus' tomb
As it was mentioned in this topic, reading the New Testament side by side, one can pick up apparent inconsistencies in the Gospels by various Disciples. As it was suggested that they should be ...
6
votes
2answers
287 views
What language did Jesus speak?
As a young believer I was quickly turned on to the idea of learning some things about the "original languages" of the Bible. After all, how could you understand John 21:15-17 without understanding ...
6
votes
3answers
1k views
What happened to Ananias and Sapphira after death?
Acts 5:1-11 (NIV)
1Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. 2With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but ...
6
votes
7answers
444 views
Can all sin be categorized as selfishness? [closed]
Is all sin selfishness? From the structure of the 10 commandments it can be determined that there is only 1 commandment: Have no other god before him. Each commandment after that seems to be expanding ...
6
votes
2answers
146 views
How does spiritual maturity affect our hermeneutic (how we interpret the Bible)?
The are various Bible passages that compare learning to the phase of infancy to adulthood. I assume children and adults have a similar hermeneutic, in terms of logic, yet they do not see things the ...
6
votes
1answer
77 views
What is the difference between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven?
I did a search and saw that the phrase "Kingdom of Heaven" appears exclusively in the Gospel according to Matthew. However, the phrase "Kingdom of God" appears a few times in Matthew, but is also ...
6
votes
1answer
84 views
How many people are killed by Sanhedrin around the Paul era?
Sanhedrin condemned:
Jesus
James the Just
Stephen
Well, however Jews opposed death penalty. A Sanhedrin that condemn one man to death in 75 years is bloody.
Yet they killed at least 3 and those ...
5
votes
5answers
616 views
Does the Bible support the concept of 'balance' between 'two extremes'?
Any Christian at some point will be labeled an extremist. Also every Christian at some point will call other Christians extremists.
Even in any given local church, some will label each other this way.
...
5
votes
5answers
435 views
Do Old Testament individual, family and social laws and guidance apply to Christians or did Jesus come to discard OT laws and guidance?
If OT laws are to be ignored by Christians, does God/Jesus provide substitute laws in the New Testament texts? I.e., if God thought it important to provide laws (in addition to requiring certain ...
5
votes
2answers
144 views
Why did Jesus keep some in the dark by using parables?
I once heard someone say that parables are the best way to teach, because Jesus used them. Of course this makes no sense because parables are very difficult to understand unless explained.
Jesus ...
5
votes
1answer
884 views
In what order were the books in the New Testament written?
I'm just curious as to the actual timeline and known dates of the New Testament books. I know the version fo the Bible I read had the letters from Paul ordered by their size, and not when they were ...
5
votes
1answer
225 views
Why does the Bible say that people no longer need to ‘feel guilty’ under the gospel, as compared to the Old Testament?
There is the verse from Hebrews that makes me pose the question:
10 The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the ...
5
votes
1answer
99 views
What is the New Testament basis for the idea the God is a God of judgment and vengeance?
The New Testament is frequently seen as presenting a God of love, compassion and mercy, while the Old Testament is often viewed as presenting a God of judgment and vengeance. However, the Bible ...
5
votes
1answer
82 views
Premillennialist view of 1 Thessalonians 4:16
I've read books on Premillennialism (including Left Behind) and heard many people preach on the topic but I've never heard an explanation of 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17:
16 For the Lord himself will ...
4
votes
2answers
128 views
Why did early Christians in Acts still go to the Jewish temple every day?
In the Acts of the Apostles we find that the early believers were every day visiting the temple and afterwards meeting in each others homes.
Every day they continued to meet together in the temple ...
4
votes
3answers
217 views
Were the Gospels considered Scripture when the rest of the New Testament was written?
When the New Testament was written1, were the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John already considered Scripture?
1 Acts - Revelation. Obviously there is overlap in when these were written (they are ...
4
votes
1answer
414 views
What denominations don't believe in fasting? And Why?
There is a question on here about the importance of fasting.
But this is different because I want to know what denominations don't believe in fasting and why they think that its not important. I ...
4
votes
1answer
55 views
What is that passage in the Bible where Peter hopes that all will be saved?
When a child I was an avid Bible reader, now I don't do it anymore, and there are things still lingering in my mind from that time.
Anybody knows what is the passage when Peter hope and says that ...
4
votes
1answer
39 views
Does the word 'testament' in the titles OT and NT imply the death of the testator in both covenants?
A will or testament is a legal declaration by which a person, the testator, names one or more persons to manage his estate and provides for the transfer of his property at death. This property an ...
4
votes
2answers
67 views
How long was Jesus's ministry?
I've always heard, over in over, in Church and elsewhere that Jesus's ministry on Earth was only three years. However, it doesn't seem that there is much supporting Biblical evidence for this, or at ...
4
votes
2answers
62 views
Why Jesus taught differently on “sin and treating sinners” as compared to Old Testament?
In the book of Joshua, just before attack on Jericho, Joshua told his men not to take any riches for themselves which was meant for God. Joshua 6:18 . In spite of this Achan hides some of the riches ...
4
votes
1answer
58 views
Different Bibles and Religions [closed]
First of all I would like to state that this is not an attempt to disprove religion, or the existence of God. There is just a lot of confusion, due to many contradictions.
According to some people, ...
3
votes
4answers
151 views
Old Testament and Christiantiy
I've seen different pastors use the Old Testament to fill gaps and sometimes to override information in the New Testament. However, the New Testament is supposed to be part of the new deal which is ...
3
votes
3answers
362 views
What is meant by the expression “living in darkness”?
At my church (Calvary Chapel) we have guest speakers from time to time. Many of them mention the same phrase "living in darkness", refering to the time before they were saved.
Are there Biblical (or ...
3
votes
4answers
111 views
Why no specific names of false apostles and false brothers in Acts and epistles?
Why is it so that while we are told in the Acts and epistles of many false-apostles and false brothers, there are no specific names mentioned? Has this matter ever been considered in Christianity?
3
votes
3answers
126 views
Do the people God sends to challenge His people (for His Glory) have salvation?
Romans 9:17
17 In the Scriptures God says to Pharaoh: “I made you king so that you
could do this for me. I wanted to show my power through you. I wanted
my name to be announced throughout ...
3
votes
1answer
244 views
Was there a sacrifice in the Old Testament for intentional sins?
When reading through the law in the Old Testament it seems that there are only sacrifices for unintentional sins. Is this true? How does the New Testament handle intentional sins such as drunkenness, ...
3
votes
3answers
163 views
From what biblical basis can it be argued 'God heals damaged emotions or physiological problems through the Bible'?
Clarification: By damaged emotions or physiological problems I am not referring to unusual things like the fear of the outdoors, but more common problems that many of us have including: excessive ...
3
votes
1answer
33 views
Why is it said that the Gospel of Matthew presents Jesus as the King of the Jews?
I have heard it stated that the Gospel of Matthew presents Jesus as, specifically, the King of the Jews, rather than the Messiah, the Incarnate Word, or anything else.
What is the basis for this ...
