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No, I explained that Jesus actually meant something different

I don't see how that makes Jesus a liar. It's true - if we don't forgive, we suffer consequences.

The New Testament was written in Greek because Greek was the "lingua franca" of that part of the Roman Empire (everyone spoke it, a bit like English today), and the New Testament was written for all nations - not just the Jews. By that time even the Jews no longer spoke Hebrew as a first...

Why?

Will a Christian who can’t or won’t forgive another person lose their salvation and end up in Hell? I’m pretty certain that the answer is NO. And that’s because the servant’s fate doesn’t match up with Hell as Jesus describes it elsewhere. He has a particular stock of phrases that He likes to...

2 Let’s begin at the beginning… Read Genesis 1:1-2:3 Is the universe just a bizarre accident? Or did Somebody make it? It isn’t possible to prove that there is a God. However, we know that nothing in the universe happens without a cause, so it’s not unreasonable to believe that the...

1 Introduction: The Bible Read Luke 1:1-4 The Shoah Foundation was founded in 1994 to collect, record and preserve the testimonies of those who survived the Holocaust. It was feared that otherwise, with the passing of time and the deaths of these witnesses, those terrible events would...

I've been writing a short Bible study course aimed at new Christians and possibly unbelievers interested in the Christian faith. I have tried to assume very little pre-existing knowledge, and have tried to avoid using jargon and clichés as far as possible (in other words, 'traditional' language...

Everyone is descended from Noah. The list of nations in Genesis contains 70 names (if I remember rightly) which is a representative number.

No film or drama, however good, should be used as a source for theology. But dramatisation has other uses. Especially now that we are 2000 years removed from the time and culture of the New Testament, it's easy to make wrong assumptions about 'how things were'. A good drama can correct these...

I would simply ask the undertaker for their advice. They will know what the normal practice is for your area. Whatever you choose, it needs to be easy to put on.

I used to work in a sexual health clinic. Yes, it's quite possible. We had lots of clients who had got so drunk that they had no memory of what they had done, let alone who they had done it with - but they couldn't be sure that they hadn't had sex, so they wanted check-ups.

Thanks Aunty. I have also been studying the Scriptures intently for 50 years, and I have learned both Greek and Hebrew - enough to have great respect for the modern translators.

Fish have a "swim bladder" connected to the gut which contains air and helps them to control their buoyancy. It's possible that Jonah ended up in that part of the fish's anatomy. But the Hebrew of chapter 2 suggests that Jonah did actually die (at least for a time). He speaks of being "in the...

The simplest explanation is that Leah was veiled for the ceremony and that Laban made sure that Jacob was very drunk (the "feast" is emphasised, and that part of the proceedings was probably just for the men). We don't know how much the bride was expected to speak during the marriage, and it's...

Very strange comment - I find both doctrines in my NIV.

The Jews would say that the entire Old Testament was written by prophets. The books that we call "historical", they refer to as "the former prophets". The books that we call "prophets" being "the latter prophets". A prophet is indeed someone who speaks God's word. So if it's God's word, then it...

Luke's gospel is inspired in exactly the same manner as other NT writings. None of them were "dictated" (and very little of the Old Testament was dictated either - only those passages beginning "thus says the LORD" or something similar). They are suffused with God's Breath (the Holy Spirit)...

This is the flaw in your logic. Sin and imperfection are not equivalent. Sin is rebellion, disobedience. An object or creature is not sin in and of itself.

That's a very big IF