Claim Ownership#STRask
Subscribed: 1,212Played: 84,789
Subscribe
© Copyright 2021 All rights reserved.
Description
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.
633 Episodes
Reverse
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?
Questions about how to start a conversation about God with non-Christian family members, how to keep from becoming emotional when discussing faith issues with family, and the best way to alert people to the fact that they’re members of a cult.
What are some good ways to begin (and have) a conversation about God with non-Christian family members?
How can I keep from becoming so emotional when discussing faith issues with extended family members whose salvation is at stake?
What is the best way to alert people to the fact that they’re members of a cult rather than a church that follows Jesus?
Questions about whether the claim in 1 Corinthians that “no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except in the Holy Spirit” is a black-and-white tool for discernment, and how to have a better relationship with Jesus when reading the Bible feels like a chore and you can’t remember to pray.
Since First Corinthians 12:3 says that “no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except in the Holy Spirit,” if TV evangelists who seem to preach another gospel and act overtly un-Christlike claim Jesus is Lord, is that evidence the Holy Spirit dwells in them? Is this a black-and-white tool for discernment?
How can I have a better relationship with Jesus when reading the Bible feels like a chore and I can never remember to pray? I feel like I don’t know him at all.
Questions about whether or not it’s reasonable to worry that some of our current doctrines were influenced by the fallen nature of the apostles, and how to defend sola Scriptura to Roman Catholics who argue that oral tradition carries as much weight as Scripture.
How much of the apostles’ fallen nature influenced their choice of words and how they communicated? Is it reasonable to worry that some of our current doctrines came from their just getting annoyed or impatient with someone and wording something too harshly?
How do I defend sola Scriptura to my Roman Catholic family members in light of passages like 1 Thessalonians 2:13 and 2 Thessalonians 2:15, which seem to imply that oral tradition carries as much weight as Scripture?
Questions about how to reconcile the image of God as a judge with his love, grace, and kindness, why our sins are considered to be sins against God, and whether the idea that our debt was paid by Christ means we escape the penalty for our sins by right, not grace.
For most of my life, God has been portrayed to me primarily as a judge—watching closely, ready to point out where I fall short. But I’m learning there’s more to him than that. How do I begin to reconcile that image with the reality of his love, grace, and kindness?
If I commit a sin against someone but then make amends and ask for forgiveness, how is it that I’ve also sinned against God, and why would God still need to punish me?
If Christ was literally punished for our sins and our debt was paid, then how can it be said we are “forgiven”? Wouldn’t we escape the penalty by right, not grace?
Questions about how to respond to someone who asks, ”How does it affect you if a gay couple gets married, or a woman makes a decision about her reproductive health, or someone chooses a different faith system than yours?”
How would you respond to someone who asks, ”How does it affect you if a gay couple gets married, or a woman makes a decision about her reproductive health, or someone chooses a different faith system than yours?”
Questions about how to respond to the critique that Christians care more about ideology than people, and whether we have freedom in America because Christians are more civilized or because the Constitution doesn’t allow Christians to enforce their laws.
Can you respond to the critique that Christians care more about ideology than people?
Do you think we enjoy freedom in America because Christians are more civilized or because the Constitution doesn’t allow Christians to enforce laws like in Saudi Arabia?
1Questions about how the similarities between Krishna and Jesus could be a coincidence and whether there’s any proof to substantiate the idea that Jesus studied Buddhism during his “missing years.”
How could the similarities between the Krishna story and the Jesus story (e.g., a star at his birth, his father traveling to pay taxes, a transfiguration, etc.) be a coincidence?
Is there any proof to substantiate the idea that Jesus studied Buddhism during his “missing years”?
Question about how you can improve your informal writing (e.g., blog posts) when you don’t have access to an editor.
Do you have any thoughts or advice on how best to improve my informal writing (e.g., blog posts) when I don’t have access to an editor?
Question about the top three pitfalls to watch out for when you start using apologetics in conversations with others.
What are the top three apologist pitfalls—i.e., if you’ve just read Tactics, you’re ready to go, and Jehovah’s Witnesses show up at your door or your atheist coworker starts asking you about God, what are the top three things to watch out for?
Questions about whether “God the Father” is a sexist term that demeans women in general and mothers in particular, how long Hell has been there, whether God created it, and how to explain the kind of anger that would lead to the creation of Hell.
Can you respond to the critique that “God the Father” is a sexist term that demeans women in general and mothers in particular?
How long has Hell been there, and did God create it? I can’t imagine that kind of anger.
Questions about whether you should believe things you can’t fully comprehend, whether it’s just an arbitrary escape hatch to say God doesn’t require a cause, and how to respond to an atheist who grounds objective morality in an objective rule or criteria.
Should one believe things they can’t fully comprehend, and if not, at what level of comprehension of certain biblical truth statements ought they begin believing?
Why would God be immune to the infinite regress dilemma? It’s arbitrary to simply describe an object as needing no cause. It’s the escape hatch to a question you’ve been trapped by, but that doesn’t make it real or true.
How would you respond to an atheist who defends the existence of objective morality by grounding it in an objective rule or criteria like “Do to others as you would want them to do to you”?
Questions about whether Romans 14:23 means that doing the right thing is a sin if you truly believe it’s wrong, and how to reconcile Hebrews 10:16, which says God will put his laws on our hearts, with Romans 7:7, which says that if it weren’t for the Law, we wouldn’t know sin.
How should we view Romans 14:23 when it comes to people whose consciences have become twisted to the point where they start believing right things are actually wrong? Would doing the right thing become sin for them if they do it while truly believing it's wrong?
How do you reconcile Hebrews 10:16, which says God will put his laws on our hearts, with Romans 7:7, which says that if it weren’t for the Law, we would not know sin?
Questions about how a fisherman could have written the book of Peter, why people say that not mentioning the destruction of the temple indicates an early date for the Synoptic Gospels when John doesn’t mention it either, and why one should think the Bible is special.
How did Peter, being an uneducated fisherman, write the book of Peter, which seems levels above what someone with no education could do?
People reason that the Synoptic Gospels should be dated earlier than the destruction of the temple since it isn’t mentioned, but John doesn’t mention it either, and that book is dated AD 80–90.
Why should I pay any heed to the Bible when it’s just one of many ancient “holy” books? How can I trust it is special?
Questions about why, if it’s impossible to miss God’s voice, the disciples incorrectly told Paul “through the Spirit” not to go to Jerusalem, people mistook God’s voice for thunder, the Bible says God speaks in riddles, Daniel had to ask for an interpretation, and more.
If it’s impossible to miss God’s voice, why did the disciples incorrectly tell Paul “through the Spirit” not to go to Jerusalem in Acts 21:4–14?
Why did people mistake God’s audible voice for thunder in John 12:28–30?
Numbers 12:6–8 says that God speaks to prophets in dreams, visions, and riddles, so clarity is the exception here.
Even Daniel and Zechariah had to ask for interpretations (Dan. 7:15–16; Zech. 4:2–4), and James 4:2 says we do not have because we do not ask.
Scripture shows examples like Samuel, Revelation 3:20, and Jesus’ “ears to hear” sayings where God speaks clearly yet not all recognize it, suggesting that our attentiveness is needed. How do passages like these fit in with your view on how God speaks to believers today?
Questions about why, if we don’t need to learn to hear God’s voice, there’s a command to earnestly desire the gift of prophecy, why we would need to learn how to use other spiritual gifts but not this one, and why there are men who don’t perceive God’s voice in Job 33:14.
You say we don’t need to learn to hear the voice of God, but we’re commanded to “earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy” (1 Cor. 14:1) and to “earnestly desire to prophesy” (1 Cor. 14:39), and passages like these seem to be prescriptive texts (1 Cor. 14:37; 1 Thess. 5:20; Rom. 12:6).
Just as someone who has been given the gift of teaching by the Holy Spirit has to learn how to exegete a passage, so those with the gift of prophecy have to learn how to hear God’s voice.
If it’s impossible to miss God’s voice, why are there men who don’t perceive his voice in Job 33:14?
Download from Google Play
Download from App Store
United States
👍👍🙏
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.