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Stand to Reason’s Greg Koukl and Amy Hall answer questions on ethics, theology, apologetics, and culture from a Christian perspective. Submit your questions on Twitter using the hashtag #STRask.
648 Episodes
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Questions about Christians condemning LGB people just because of how they love, how God can expect someone to be celibate when others are free to marry and have happiness, and why Christians seem to hate people today.
If God sent Jesus to die for our sins, and all who believe in him are accepted into Heaven, why are so many Christians condemning LGB people just because of how they love someone?
How can God expect you to be celibate when others are free to marry and have happiness?
Can you explain the hate I see from Christians today?
Questions about how to answer the challenge that God doesn’t need a “pound of flesh” to forgive sins but can simply forgive, and whether the claim in Romans 10:13 that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved contradicts Matthew 7:21.
How do you answer the challenge that God doesn’t need a “pound of flesh” to forgive sins but can simply forgive?
Romans 10:13 says everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, but Matthew 7:21 says not everyone who says “Lord, Lord” will be saved. Can you help me understand this contradiction?
Questions about whether two logical people can come to conflicting conclusions on a topic without committing a fallacy, how Greg, as a public figure, deals with criticism, and whether or not criticism gets to him.
Can two people come to conflicting conclusions on a topic while holding true to logic and reason without committing a fallacy?
As a public figure, how do you deal with criticism, and does it get to you?
Questions about how to determine which topics at work are worth commenting on, and a good way to respond when you’re in a group Bible study and hear earnest, lifelong Christians talk excitedly about books or content creators that aren’t orthodox.
As someone who works in an open room with six others, where topics shift quickly and it’s hard to interject with multiple people chiming in, how do I determine which topics are worth commenting on and asking questions about?
What is a good way to respond when you’re in a group Bible study and hear earnest, lifelong Christians talk excitedly about books or content creators that aren’t totally orthodox?
Questions about whether Jesus proved he wasn’t sinless when he overturned the tables, whether Jesus’ response to the Pharisees in Mark 3:22–26 was a bad argument, why Jesus was known for associating with sinners, and to what extent we should follow his example.
How would you respond to someone who said Jesus lacked self-control, got angry, and had a violent temper tantrum when he overturned the tables in Matthew 21:12–13, proving he wasn’t sinless?
Is Jesus’ response to the Pharisees in Mark 3:22–26 a bad argument?
Why was Jesus known for associating with sinners, and to what extent should Christians follow his example?
Questions about what will happen to those who never heard of Jesus or were brought up in a different faith, whether there’s biblical warrant to think a humble, repentant attitude can save people who don’t know Jesus, and where the souls who lived before Jesus go.
We’re taught that the only way to Heaven is through belief in Jesus, but what about those living on this planet who never heard of him, those brought up in another faith, or those of a Jewish faith?
Is there any biblical warrant for thinking that those who haven’t heard of Jesus will nevertheless be saved due to a humble, repentant attitude?
Where do the souls who lived before Jesus go since they couldn’t be baptized or saved?
Questions about how one can justify calling Jesus the Messiah when he didn’t fulfill the Hebrew messianic prophecies, and whether the reason for the virgin birth was just to set Jesus apart as unique or there was a deeper meaning.
How do you justify calling Jesus the Messiah when he didn’t fulfill the Hebrew prophecies the Messiah was required to complete?
Is the reason for the virgin birth just to set Jesus apart as unique, or is there a deeper meaning?
Questions about whether anyone who tithes is not a Christian and is accursed since Paul says that if you obey one part of the Mosaic Law you’re obligated to obey all of it, and the claim that tithing preceded the Law and therefore remains a principle for the church today.
Since Paul says that if you obey one part of the Law to please God you’re obligated to obey all of it, does that mean that anyone who tithes is not a Christian and is accursed?
How would you respond to the claim that tithing preceded the Law of Moses, as evidenced by Abraham giving a tenth to Melchizedek in Genesis 14, and therefore remains a principle for the church today?
Questions about whether references to demon possessions and exorcisms in the New Testament are literal, how to talk to young children about ghosts, and whether it’s arrogant to think Satan knows your name when he’s a single entity with bigger fish to fry.
Are references to demon possessions and exorcisms in the New Testament literal, or are they cultural references to physical or psychological conditions that they didn’t understand?
How do you talk to young children about ghosts? It’s tempting to say they aren’t real, but I don’t want to deny the reality of “spiritual forces of evil” (Eph. 6:12).
Is it misguided or arrogant to think Satan even knows my name when he’s a single entity with bigger fish to fry than me and can only be in one place at a time?
Questions about why any rational person would have to use any religious book, whether apologetics would be redundant if there were actually a good, unrefuted argument, and how to get enough people interested in apologetics to start an apologetics group.
Why would any rational, thinking person have to use any religious book, including the Bible, unless they don’t really think with reason or comprehend logic and logical fallacies such as circular reasoning?
If there were a single good, unrefuted apologetics argument, then apologetics would be redundant. Outside of faith, can we really say we know? If we can’t, then why do apologetics?
If, as Greg says, “you can’t start a fire with wet wood” when starting an apologetics group, how can someone keep “wet wood” from putting out their fire?
How can I get others interested in apologetics and the importance of being able to have fruitful conversations with anyone who disagrees with their Christian beliefs?
Question about what tools of reasoning help us determine whether something is true or false, right or wrong, good or bad before bringing Scripture into it.
How do you determine whether something is true or false, whether an action is right or wrong, or whether something is good or bad? Before you bring in Scripture, what tools of reasoning help you recognize these categories in daily life?
Questions about whether having a recurring thought is an indication God is speaking to you, what to say to someone who says they sinned because “God told them to do something” and they didn’t do it, and whether God speaks to us through premonitions.
Would you characterize not being able to stop thinking about something as God speaking?
What would you say to someone who says they sinned because “God told them to do something” and they didn’t do it?
Does God speak to us through premonitions?
Questions about how to explain modesty to a nine-year-old in a way that won’t cause shame about her body, and when and how to tell a child about a previous marriage and divorce.
How can I explain modesty to my nine-year-old daughter without causing shame about her body?
When and how should I tell my son about my previous marriage and divorce?
Questions about why we say someone was saved on a particular date if it was part of an eternal plan, the Roman Catholic view of the gospel vs. the Bible’s, and why Paul circumcised Timothy but rebuked the Galatians for saying Gentiles needed to be circumcised.
Since God had a plan from all eternity to redeem a people for himself, why do we say someone was saved on a particular date or moment in time?
Can you suggest some tactical questions to ask a Roman Catholic relative who doesn’t see the distinction between the Catholic view of the gospel and the one in the Bible?
Why did Paul circumcise Timothy but rebuke the Galatians for saying the Gentiles needed to be circumcised?
Questions about how to advocate for Christian policy without making the government interfere in every area of life, and the differences between the modern environmental movement and the Christian perspective on caring for the earth.
How do we advocate for Christian policy without making the government interfere in every area of life?
Can you compare and contrast the modern environmental movement’s view with the Christian view regarding caring for the earth?
Questions about how to convince someone that evil exists, whether Charlie Kirk’s murder was part of God’s plan, whether that would mean the murderer didn’t have free will, and whether or not God is responsible for that plan.
How would you respond to an atheist friend who doesn’t believe evil exists and thinks “evil” actions are done by people who are just trying to get by with the circumstances they’ve been given?
If God is sovereign and has a plan, then he knew Charlie Kirk would be murdered. But if it was God’s plan, does that mean the murderer didn’t have free will, and is God not responsible for his plan?
Question about why it seems like the Bible teaches you how to be a proper slave owner rather than than saying, “Stop it. Give them freedom.”
It seems like the Bible teaches you how to be a proper slave owner rather than saying, “Stop it. Give them freedom.”
Question about providing verifiable, non-religious evidence that a supernatural Jesus existed.
I am an atheist and militantly anti-god-belief. However, I do have an open mind, so could you please provide verifiable, non-religious evidence that a supernatural Jesus actually existed?
Questions about whether it’s a sin to feel let down by God and whether it would be easier to have a personal relationship with a rock than with a God who hasn’t spoken in over 2,000 years.
Is it a sin to feel let down by God?
It would be easier to have a personal relationship with a rock than with a God who hasn’t actually spoken in over 2,000 years. What kind of God would be that way?
Questions about whether God created us so he wouldn’t be alone, what he had before us, and a comparison between the Muslim view of God and the Christian view of God.
Did God create us so he wouldn’t be alone, and what did he have before us?
Can you compare and contrast the Muslim view of God with the Christian view of God?
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I recommend this podcast. It is full of great information to use on atheists 🙏
🙏Thank you Mr Koukl. Your answers are always enlightening. You are a great teacher. I really appreciate you.