17
votes
Accepted
Are there theological explanations for why God allowed ambiguity to exist in Scripture?
In Matthew 13, Jesus reveals that it is God's will that some people understand and others be confused:
11 He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of
heaven has been given to ...
- 11.4k
14
votes
Believing that Christianity is "probably" true vs. being fully convinced that Christianity is definitely true?
Preliminaries
Having no philosophy / theology degree, but as an amateur aspiring to be a Christian epistemologist, I will share in this answer a way for a rational person who, after intellectually ...
- 22.2k
13
votes
Accepted
Is the global Christian population increasing?
To answer your first question, yes, the total Christian population is growing, by about 1.5% per year. This number comes from one of several excellent studies of Christian populations, a 2013 report ...
- 42.3k
12
votes
Bible with commentaries of the Church Fathers
The Catena Bible is freely available both at the linked website and as an app for Android and iOS, and provides related patristic commentaries for each verse.
- 221
11
votes
URLs for Christian Polemic Repositories
I saw this partial definition of polemics in a google search
"A polemicist is a person who attacks someone else with written or
spoken words. If you're a polemicist, you have very strong ...
- 14.6k
10
votes
Are there theological explanations for why God allowed ambiguity to exist in Scripture?
Why God allows ambiguities and what He does to help us
Most denominations hold that the Holy Spirit inspires not only the Biblical book authors but also
the Individual Bible reader, and/or
the ...
- 22.2k
10
votes
Accepted
Bible with commentaries of the Church Fathers
The Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture is the leading commentary series collecting the church fathers. At 29 volumes would be a big investment to buy, but most theological colleges/seminaries ...
- 19.7k
10
votes
What facts determine which Bible translation should be chosen?
Is it correct that there are different English translations of the Bible? And different publishers, different editions, or prints?
Yes. Even normal books sometimes have multiple editions. Books which ...
- 6,678
9
votes
Accepted
Where can I find the text of the documents produced at the Council of Quiercy (853)?
I've found two sources online for the Latin text, but unfortunately nothing in English. The Latin is available in Gousset's Les actes de la province ecclésiastique de Reims, page 233, as well as ...
- 42.3k
9
votes
Accepted
Looking for a website with the 1984 NIV Bible version
This appears to be what you are after here:
http://biblemegasite.com/outline-niv1984.html
As well as click through links (by book and then section) through to the NIV 1984 version hosted at ...
- 12.5k
7
votes
Accepted
Where can I find a complete set of Ante-Nicene Writings?
It's not free, and it's not complete, but The Fathers of the Church: A New Translation is the closest thing to a complete set of the writings of the church fathers that I've seen in English. It ...
- 42.3k
7
votes
Find Bible passages by keyword/ topic
Much to my surprise, when I keyed in the word ‘equilibrium’ into a Christian web site I frequently use, it came up with an article about ‘punctuated equilibrium’: https://www.gotquestions.org/...
- 29.7k
7
votes
Accepted
Has any Latter-day Saint published a very detailed description of how the Holy Spirit confirmed to them the truth of the BofM, as per Moroni 10:3-7?
Many times. Although it is possible that the details they provide are not the details this question specifically seeks.
One of my favorites is the account of Vincenzo di Francesca, who first read the ...
- 11.2k
7
votes
Is there any quiz or tool that identifies the denomination which is closest to my personal beliefs?
Is there any quiz or tool that identifies the denomination which is closest to my personal beliefs?
Absolutely, but the true problem here is that there are so many denominations and subsets of those ...
- 67.6k
7
votes
Believing that Christianity is "probably" true vs. being fully convinced that Christianity is definitely true?
There remains a type of epistemic distance, in the evidence for the Christian faith, that is sufficient but not exhaustive. That distance is there for a reason. It's to avoid coercion.
The evidence ...
- 3,447
7
votes
Refutation of Nailed: Ten Christian Myths That Show Jesus Never Existed at All (David Fitzgerald)
Fitzgerald's arguments are not academically accepted, even by fellow atheists :
Fitzgerald also charges that there is no physical archaeological evidence for Jesus. But this is unproblematic because ...
- 23.6k
7
votes
People connected to Jesus
Polycarp's only surviving writing is his Epistle to the Philippians, and the focus of his epistle is teaching the gospel rather than talking about himself.
We can glean much about Polycarp's beliefs ...
- 11.2k
6
votes
Complete list of versification differences in the Tanakh
I have been working on some software which converts between different versification systems. As part of that, I have a file listing the various differences: transformations.data. There is no single "...
- 19.7k
6
votes
Accepted
Are St. Maximilian Kolbe's writings available in English?
The writings of St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe are now available in English, published by Nerbini International. See the official web site of the MI: http://mi-international.org.
In the U.S. the two-...
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6
votes
How to go about learning about Christianity for someone from a non-Christian background?
A very readable overview of Christian history may be found in Church History in Plain Language by Bruce Shelley.
A deeper dive into more recent history is Eerdman's Handbook to Christianity in ...
- 11.4k
6
votes
Accepted
Recommendations for Ancient Greek NT "versions"
The Nestle-Aland/UBS text is standard. This is an edited text which shows what the editors think the original text was most likely to be based on the evidence they have researched. The NA and UBS ...
- 19.7k
6
votes
Accepted
Who won the Leipzig Debate between Martin Luther and Johann Eck?
I only know of one source, which I have here, on the table, in the form of a published book. I will extract quotes from it, to give a flavour of what the author says about the Leipzig debate between ...
- 26.8k
6
votes
Refutation of Nailed: Ten Christian Myths That Show Jesus Never Existed at All (David Fitzgerald)
I'm not going to answer the Question, per se. Instead, I'm going to go a step beyond Ray's Answer and respond to some of the absurd allegations being made by the OP in comments. As these are ...
- 6,678
6
votes
What facts determine which Bible translation should be chosen?
Originally, the Bible was written in the common language of the people at that time. With regard to English translations, there is a bewildering array to choose from!
Choosing a Bible translation ...
- 29.7k
5
votes
What are the meanings of the abbreviations used in the Hatch/Redpath Concordance to the Septuagint?
One place to start would be with the first edition of the work, which is available on Wikimedia Commons (only the 2nd volume and supplement are on Google Books). From what I can tell, the second ...
- 42.3k
5
votes
Accepted
Where can one access Aland's 23rd edition which was used for the first edition of the New American Standard Bible (NASB)?
The 23rd edition of Nestle-Aland was published in 1957, and unfortunately, Google Books often does not have preview available for books of this age. This edition is no exception, at least right now. ...
- 42.3k
5
votes
Introduction to Greek Texts; Byzantine vs. Alexandrian
The above resources are indeed excellent surveys of the issues surrounding textual criticism of the bible. A couple of extra points are worth noting:
(1) The question asks about the textual history of ...
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