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Correct. But we know from the other gospels that although they didn't tell anyone and everyone, they did in fact report their discovery to the other disciples. (The last section of Mark 16 reads very much like a summary of the other gospels, added to 'round off' Mark's abrupt ending) Compare the...

The English looks ambiguous here, but it's impossible for the Greek to mean that Salome was Mary's daughter ('Salome' would have to be in the genitive case). But it was normal practice to use terms like these ("the mother of X"; "the mother of Y") to distinguish between different women of the...

Joanna was married to a man who worked for King Herod (Luke 8:3) Mary was "the mother of James the younger and Joseph" (Mark 15:40) I don't think we know anything more for certain about Salome, but she may have been the wife of Zebedee and the mother of Jesus' disciples James and John. This...

Not democracy but mob rule Yet have you noticed that Mary Magdalene uses the word "we" when reporting her/their discovery? (John 20:2)

My favourite version is the Muppets one

We will go to Hell because we are, at heart, rebels against God and don't want to acknowledge His authority over us. How 'good' or 'bad' we are is irrelevant. Only by acknowledging our sin and throwing ourselves upon God's mercy can we escape this fate, because of what Jesus has done (He...

Well, you can use them as proof-texts - but the risk is that your opponent will just say that they are not valid. It's better to use other texts - and there are other texts to use. We don't need I John 5 to establish the Trinity, or Mark 16 to validate speaking in tongues.

Just two - Gabriel and Michael. The name "Lucifer" (Isaiah 14:12) is Latin, not Hebrew; it must have got attached to Satan after the Old Testament was translated into Latin. The Hebrew of Isaiah 14:12 says (literally) "O shining star, son of the morning." It probably isn't a name at all.

In the latest edition of the NIV both John 8:1-11 and Mark 16:9-20 are in the main text, but printed in italics. We need to be aware that they probably aren't "original" (and so shouldn't be used as "proof-texts"), but most people still regard them as part of the Bible. Preachers still preach on...

That's way off target. Jesus wasn't talking about Bible versions.

No - obviously they washed things that were physically dirty. The point is, that the Pharisees washed even clean things (and people) if there was even the possibility that they might have been touched by Gentile hands. It doesn't matter. Many many Christians use modern versions, and it...

The washing of the Pharisees described here was not for personal hygiene, but a ritual they went through to rid themselves of spiritual 'contamination' that they might have picked up while rubbing shoulders with other people who were not as obsessed with ceremonial purity as they were. They...

My personal faith is non-denominational. However, in order to fellowship with other Christians I belong to a church, which is part of a 'denomination'.

The gospel writers often include different details when talking about the same event. In particular, Matthew tends to be much briefer than Mark and Luke, so he must leave out a lot of detail. Mark says that Jesus was "indignant" - but why do you assume that He was angry with the leper himself...

Hi there, and welcome to God's Kingdom! The Bible is a big collection of books, and it takes time to learn your way around it. Don't be surprised if a lot of things don't make sense to start with - and it's absolutely fine to ask questions. The first three gospels were written at around the...

The sacraments (baptism and communion) are not essential for salvation. We are saved by faith, through the preaching of the word (I Peter 1:23-25; Romans 10:13,14); and our salvation is confirmed by our confession of Christ as Lord (Romans 10:9), not by participating in sacraments (although such...

In my opinion, the article is a load of rubbish. It sounds impressive, but is a mish-mash of truth, half-truth and pure invention. I note that the author doesn't identify him/herself, which always raises suspicions... Yes - there are some "vowel letters" in Hebrew - but why should their...

Never. That's probably because I live in the UK, and we are far less hung up on the details of the End Times here.

It's not difficult to reconcile these two. Remember that Acts was almost certainly written before Matthew's Gospel, and that Luke is reporting what was said by Christians right at the beginning. Christian baptism had to be distinguished from John's baptism (which was still fresh in everyone's...

Faith and obedience are inseparable. As Bonhoeffer put it, “Only the one who believes is obedient, and only the one who is obedient believes.” (Bonhoeffer: Discipleship) This is because faith (in the Biblical sense) isn’t an abstract concept but a concrete one: it does not exist unless put into...