10
votes
Accepted
How do Calvinists explain God's wanting no one to perish and electing some to judgement?
The typical Calvinist response to this question is captured well by Wayne Grudem in his Systematic Theology:
[1 Timothy 2:4 and 2 Peter 3:9] speak of God's revealed will (telling us what we should do)...
- 42.6k
10
votes
The Mormon Church teaches that Joseph Smith saw God the Father and His Son. How do you reconcile this when the Bible says the Father cannot be seen?
To get this out of the way first, yes Joseph Smith indeed claims to have seen God the Father, and Jesus Christ, in what is called the First Vision:
Joseph Smith—History 1:17
17 [...] When the light ...
- 5,685
10
votes
Accepted
In what ways do Christian denominations reconcile the discrepancy between Hebrews 9:27 and its Biblical counter-examples?
There is no reason to insist that the Hebrews passage be interpreted as a categorial rule which is devoid of exceptions, especially in light of both the writer and the reader knowing of various people ...
- 554
8
votes
Who said "he would be called a Nazarene"?
Matthew's Aggadah
In his commentary on Matthew Rabbi Barney Kasdan explains Matthew is using a midrash:
And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might ...
- 1,156
7
votes
Isn't Israel the firstborn Son of the Lord?
Abraham's first-born son was Ishmael; but God referred to Isaac as Abraham's only son in Genesis 22:12:
Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me
your son, your only son.
...
- 71
7
votes
What evidence does the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints offer regarding claims of degradation of Biblical texts?
As noted in the OP, this is a very extensive subject. I'll offer a very high-level overview of key points, and then drill down specifically on one example.
Scriptural teachings
The most well-known ...
- 13.5k
7
votes
Accepted
How do Latter-day Saints respond to the claim that Alma 7:10 contradicts Micah 5:2 regarding the place of Jesus' birth?
How to give useful directions
If someone unfamiliar with the Dallas-Fort Worth area asked the location of AT&T stadium (home of the Dallas Cowboys), the most informative answer would be in Dallas, ...
- 13.5k
7
votes
In what ways do Christian denominations reconcile the discrepancy between Hebrews 9:27 and its Biblical counter-examples?
Even though it is a common sense understanding that, by and large, people only die one physical death, the main point of the passage in Hebrews 9 is not to delineate how many times a person may die. ...
- 18.9k
7
votes
Accepted
Apparent contradiction between Isaiah 44 and Psalm 82
If you interpret gods in Psalm 82 in the metaphorical sense, the contradiction evaporates. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:
Over the centuries, Israel's faith was able to manifest and ...
- 34.5k
6
votes
Did Jesus or any of the New Testament authors ever quote a textual variant?
First, I’d like to give a bit of background on the different OT manuscripts. The OT in English Bibles is almost always based off the Masoretic text and the Dead Sea Scrolls, but some use the ...
- 1,881
6
votes
How is Moses' and Jesus' contradictory teaching regarding oaths reconciled?
Various creeds and confessions can be utilized in answering a question like this one. A general view has been that Jesus is denouncing or correcting actions that were abusing oaths and the inherent ...
- 63
6
votes
Accepted
Did God accept a sacrifice that was against His own law?
Jesus was not 'burnt'.
Jesus was not offered to Molech or any other god.
Jesus offered himself, voluntarily. He was not 'offered' by another.
The "commandment of the Father is everlasting life&...
- 26.4k
6
votes
How could the Pharisees anticipate Jesus’ resurrection before the disciples?
The Pharisees did not believe that a crucified Jesus of Nazareth would ever rise from the dead. Had they believed he was the foretold Messiah, they would have taken the possibility of that seriously. ...
- 33.9k
6
votes
Are Christians children or brethren of Jesus?
Christians can properly be called brothers of Christ since the Lord does so Himself:
But he answering him that told him, said: Who is my mother, and who
are my brethren? And stretching forth his hand ...
- 679
6
votes
Why does God, according to his own words, "create evil"?
At the outset, we need to grasp the significance of the sentence preceding the one you quoted:
There is none beside me. I am the Lord, and there is none else.
This is the Lord God Almighty, creator ...
- 33.1k
5
votes
According to Catholicism, why does Paul spend so much time arguing that the law doesn't apply, when Jesus seems to indicate that it does?
Acording to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (as usual, emphasis is mine):
577 At the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus issued a solemn warning in which he presented God's law, given on ...
- 2,795
5
votes
Scientific contradictions in bible
Thanks for asking here. Christians believe the Bible does not in fact contain contradictions, and the people who say it does have mostly not studied it closely. The specific issues you raise are ...
- 32.3k
5
votes
Accepted
Do Protestants believe Jesus misquoted Psalm 8:2 in Matthew 21:16?
The issue of New Testament quotations of the Old Testament is broad and well-studied, so it's well worth reading a book like John Wenham's Christ and the Bible to get a feel for the complexities.
...
- 42.6k
5
votes
Accepted
Why does God not love Satan if He tell us to love our enemies to be as His Children (Luke 6:35-36)?
Here is my short answer. And please bear in mind, that when I (and others) disagree with some of your points, that is not us trying to "censor" you "just because you don't like my question". People ...
- 33.9k
5
votes
Is disagreement over Jesus' physical look a problem?
There is not as much disagreement over Jesus' appearance as your question indicates.
In fact there is near unanimity amongst Christians on the matter of his appearance - specifically virtually all ...
- 32.3k
5
votes
What are the strongest alleged contradictions between Luke-Acts and the Pauline letters in John Bowden's, "The Historical Jesus"?
Theissen & Merz (via translation by Bowden) advance 3 arguments against the possibility that Luke-Acts was written by a traveling companion of Paul. I will quote their central contentions and ...
- 13.5k
5
votes
How is the textual discrepancy between Exodus 20:8 and Romans 14:5 explained?
Without going into too great detail of a subject which is at the heart of the Gospel and, indeed, all of God's revelation to us, these two verses do not point up a discrepancy or contradiction but, ...
- 18.9k
5
votes
In what ways do Christian denominations reconcile the discrepancy between Hebrews 9:27 and its Biblical counter-examples?
Clearly Paul knew that some people do die more than once, having resurrected someone himself:
As Paul spoke on and on, a young man named Eutychus, sitting on the windowsill, became very drowsy.
...
- 9,853
4
votes
What does it mean that Jesus fulfilled the law but did not abolish it?
Very simply, it means that by dying as the sinless, perfect sacrifice for sin, that law (the Mosaic law) was fulfilled. It served its purpose, which was to convict sinners of their sinful standing ...
- 33.9k
4
votes
Did Peter fully enter the tomb?
Commentators who consider the Bible inerrant and attempt to resolve the apparent discrepancy agree that Luke is simply omitting details that John includes. For example, James Burton Coffman writes:
...
- 42.6k
4
votes
How could Satan be cursed to crawl on the ground, yet walk before God in Job?
I guess when you consider that Revelation clearly identifies the serpent in the garden as Satan, then this might appear to be a problem. However when you consider that Satan is a spiritual being that ...
- 12.6k
4
votes
Why does God not love Satan if He tell us to love our enemies to be as His Children (Luke 6:35-36)?
Why does God not love Satan if He tell us to love our enemies to be as His Children (Luke 6:35-36)?
The short answer is: God is love (1 John 4:7-21).
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is ...
- 73.9k
4
votes
How do the Jehovah's witnesses reconcile Isaiah 44:24 with their belief that Jesus is the only direct creation of God?
First, the Jehovah's Witness teaching that there was a time when Jehovah God was utterly alone, before he created - as the first and only direct creation he ever made - the Word of God, also known as ...
- 33.9k
4
votes
Did King James have any words put into the book of Deuteronomy in the translation of the Bible?
King James VI of Scotland (who later became King James I of England) tried to prove that witches existed and that the Bible said they must be killed. James developed an obsession with witchcraft from ...
- 33.1k
4
votes
Contradiction or translation problem with Moses in Exodus?
What Moses saw is described and defined in Numbers 12:8.
And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto ...
- 26.4k
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