Who made God?

According to the Bible, God created all things other than himself. These other things must include time, space and motion. The question "who made God?" contains an assumption that there was a time before God existed. As time is one of the phenomena created by God, then time cannot pre-exist God, so God was not made by anyone or anything.

What is eternity?

Eternity as referred to in the Bible cannot be restricted by our dimensions of time, space and motion. However, due to the limits of our language and thinking, we have to use that type of language when discussing eternity. Certainly eternity involves limitless time and space, but is of a "greater" dimension.

It is true also that some aspects of eternity can be experienced within the limits of our dimensions. In this way, the Bible is able to speak of people experiencing "eternal life" in part while still living within our familiar dimensions of time and space. The Bible speaks of eternal life being more fully experienced after the death of the believer.

What is eternal life?

Eternal Life is the description of the quality of life we experience when we are restored to fellowship with God. He has forgiven us, He no longer holds us eternally accountable for our sin, because Jesus has paid the price. Eternal Life will last beyond our physical death, and forever and ever, without ceasing. Within the present world we can experience the first fruits of eternal life while we still experience the problems of having a sinful nature. In heaven we shall no longer have the sinful nature, and our fellowship and joy with God will be complete and unending.

How do I receive eternal life?

Mark 1: 14-15 says that if we repent of our sin and place ourselves under the lordship of God, we shall receive eternal life from that point. John 3 says that this is brought about by the work of the Holy Spirit, who brings about within us a "new birth" or a "birth from above". We receive this by "believing in Christ". Believing in Christ means putting our trust in him.

Do I earn eternal life?

No! The earning has all been done by Jesus Christ, who lived a perfect life, and then died to take our punishment, by substitution. This is an undeserved gift. That is what is meant by the word "grace". Ephesians 2: 6-10 teaches that we are saved by grace through faith, and this is "not of works", so none can boast.

What is "salvation"?

Salvation means that we are delivered from the eternal consequences of being separated from God. Our sin has separated us from God. Christ paid the penalty for that sin on the Cross. In the present world order we experience the promise of eternal salvation. The Holy Spirit comes to live within us and to give us the inner assurance of that salvation. In the present order the Holy Spirit and The Bible are preparing us for the saved life of heaven, at least as far as we choose to grow. Our salvation n will be absolute and complete in heaven.

Can we prove the existence of God?

No! Many philosophers and theologians of the Middle Ages tried to do so, but were unable. The so-called "proofs" for the existence of God, e.g. that there must be a perfect designer to account for design, etc, are convincing only if we are already pre-disposed to believe them.

Does the Bible prove the existence of God?

No. The Bible assumes the existence of God. The Bible makes many assertions about what God has said and done. The Bible assumes the existence of God, but makes no attempt to give us proofs, except that it gives us evidence for statements about history, such as that Jesus rose from the dead.

What does the Bible prove about God?

The Bible aims to show us whatever it wants us to know about the character and plans of God. It aims to show us how God is towards us. The Bible does this through taking us through an understanding of five eras: the creation era before sin; the era of the Fall; the era of promise in which God prepares Israel for Christ; the inauguration of the Kingdom of God in Christ's first coming; the completion of the Kingdom and the full re-creation of all things at Christ's Second Coming (in the future).

Did Jesus really rise from the dead?

Yes. The New Testament states that he rose bodily, that the tomb was empty, and that he appeared on at least ten recorded occasions to different people at various times over a period of seven weeks. 1 Corinthians 15 teaches that his resurrection is not just a belief about the immortality of his soul. The Christian faith stands on the truth that Jesus rose and was seen. If it could be proved that he did not rise, then the Christian faith of the New Testament would collapse.

Was Jesus really conceived without his parents having sex?

Yes. Because God created all things, he created the processes by which procreation occurs. He therefore has the ability to create life by any process he chooses. His mother, Mary, married Joseph after the conception of Jesus. She and Joseph later had other children: James, Joses, Judas and Simon, and some daughters as well (See Mark 6: 3).

Why do the innocent suffer?

Since the fall of humanity, dating back to the account of Adam and Eve in Genesis 3, there has been a broken relationship between God and people. Indeed the fractures in creation occur between and among people, male and female, parents and children, tribe and tribe, between people and the environment, between the environment and God, and within the environment itself. Within this confusion many things go wrong. Unfairness is one of the characteristics of the fallen order.

God's plan to right the wrongs involved his beloved Son experiencing the worst of unfair suffering. His innocence under test became virtue, but yet he died in the context of Divine Paternal rejection. Jesus the innocent suffered for all the guilty. He also suffered to enable the ultimate eternal healing of all, whether young or old, who have died through the experience of illness and other tragedy which they had not brought upon themselves. He also died for the eternal healing of self-inflicted pain.

Has evolution disproved creation?

Science deals with questions that can be answered by conclusions drawn from experiments. It also deals with questions about "how".

The Bible deals with questions about the ultimate meaning g of life and about relationships between people and God, and relationships between people. The early chapters of Genesis are not intended to be a science textbook, and details such as "day" are not intended as 24 hour periods. Hebrews indicates that God is still in the "seventh day", and we are encouraged to "enter into that rest".

The Bible maintains that there is a difference between humans and other animals. By whatever manner the human race or other species came to be the way they are today, it would need to be maintained that God is the Creator, and that "man" (male and female) is made in the image and likeness of God. The Bible maintains that all are descended from the earliest truly human beings, and that our need for salvation lies in our inherited position of being born in a situation of alienation from God.

What about euthanasia?

The Bible teaches that people are not entitled to shorten the lives of other people, except in clearly specified cases, such as in war, or the death penalty (insofar as the Bible allows it). The termination of the life of an elderly or terminally ill person should be left in the hands of God's sovereignty.

At the same time, this means that there may come a time in the lives of some where a decision need s to be made as to whether artificially to prolong a person's life.

Are all faiths really the same?

God created all people for fellowship with himself. Humans chose to use their image-of God existence to compete with God, so they lost fellowship with him. (Genesis 3). They remained in the inage of God and continued to have a religious urge (Acts 17: 26-28). Romans 1 teaches that people have inverted the religious urge into worshipping self-made Gods in exchange for the glory of God the Creator. "Religion" is universal. There is true religion and false religion. People who worship false gods may have true insights, but that is attributable to God, not to the false religion. Jesus taught that there is only one way to the Father, and that is through himself. See John 14: 1-6.

If Jesus died on the Cross for our sins, how does it work?

Mark 10: 45 says that Jesus came to give his life as a "ransom instead of many". He lived a perfect life, and so was qualified to offer the only sacrifice acceptable to God to pay for our sin. Because he was sinless, he paid by exchange and substitution the price which we should otherwise have to pay for our sin, condemnation. He suffered rejection on the Cross (Mark 15:34). He satisfied the requirements of the justice of God, so that we could come to receive the benefits of the mercy of God.

How can we trust the Bible?

The Bible constitutes 66 books which were written over a period of about 1300 years or so, many of them b y eye-witnesses. There is much within it which provides the ring of inner coherence. The central factual claim in the New Testament is that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, rose physically from the dead, and that this challenges us to take seriously all his other claims. He will come again. There will be a day of accountability. The resurrection accounts are numerous, and the resurrection is (within documents) the best authenticated event of ancient history.

Also, the text of the documents has been remarkably preserved in the period of two to three thousand years between the events recorded and our own time. The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls indicate that the Hebrew text of the Old Testament prophets was accurately preserved over a 1200 year period. With regard to the New Testament Greek manuscripts, there are in museums and libraries up to 5000 texts (some complete manuscripts, and some fragments and portion) dating within 400 years of the writing of the authors' copies. By comparison, the trusted writings of Tacitus, Plutarch, and Julius Caesar rely on a handful of manuscripts which are no older that about 800 to 1000 AD.

Archaeology and ancient secular history offer many reinforcements of the authenticity of material discussed in the Bible.

Does God still heal?

Yes, when he chooses to do so. He often does so through the forces of nature, and the use of medicine and exercise, even if we do not know or even believe that he is doing so. He nowhere promises that all illness will be healed before the full experience of heaven. James 5: 13-16 encourages sick people to seek prayer for healing, but leaves in God's hands whether the answer is now, or at the return of Christ. Until the Parousia, or the Return of Christ, people who are healed totally of a condition will still eventually die physically. A healed person, where God chooses to move that way, is someone who can then bless others (2 Corinthians 1: 3-8). God can do a miracle of healing whenever he wants to. We are not in a position to demand that he do so.

Is the God of the Old Testament the same as the God of the New?

Yes. His character of love and mercy is revealed throughout the Bible. The Old Testament is a preparation for the saving work of Christ on the Cross. The fact that God moves in judgment is attested in both testaments. The Book of Revelation 21-22 clearly indicate that the God of mercy has not ceased to be able to move in judgment.

Is God only male?

Jesus Christ, the Son of God was, and is, in his human nature as much male and no less male than any other male person. His character is the same as that of the Father. Genesis 1: 26-27 teaches that male and female of the human species are equally created in the image and likeness of God. Therefore femaleness as well as maleness answers to something in God. We should use male pronouns for God, because the Bible does.

However, All the feminine qualities of tenderness and mercy are found within the Fatherhood of God. Read Isaiah 66: 7-13. Verse 12-13 reads in the NRSV, "For thus says the LORD… As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you…"

What about the discrepancies in the Bible?

Discrepancies are apparent when two or more witness write or speak about the same event. Often they can be resolved purely in terms of the angle from which something is observed and reported. The Bible does not risk falling prey to apparent "discrepancies" with regard to any doctrine or the reporting of a significant event. Apparent "discrepancies" reinforce our confidence in the authenticity of the Biblical documents, rather than otherwise, as fraudulent authorship would have "ironed them out" and made sure we were not left with such "problems".

Does God always answer prayer?

Yes, but his answer is not always what we seek. God will always do what he promises to do. The bible does not promise all that we might like it to promise. His answers will sometimes be "Yes!", "No!" or "Wait!" He can choose to answer whatever he way he decides, whether by intuition, direct guidance, circumstances, or verse in the Bible. He cannot be expected to answer by fortune-telling, necromancy, spiritualism etc, because these are things that the Bible prohibits. (Deuteronomy 8: 9-14), God encourages us to pray prayers of faith. See Luke 11: 1-13

Lindsay Johnstone July, 2001