Have I Blasphemed the Holy Spirit?
It is true that blasphemy of the Holy Spirit can never be forgiven. Although the Old Testament Law does not state this explicitly as such, this subject falls under the broader prohibition against…
What is the Purpose of Man?
The Bible tells the purpose of man, and Christian theologians have agreed for a very long time on what that purpose is. God created man (and everything else), but he did not do so out of need. God is…
Adam's at Bat, Satan Pitched, Adam's Out, Satan's Up, but how?
Excellent question. We may basically say there were three orders of beings that ruled in the beginning, or had power to rule the earth: (1) God, eternal, unchangeable, uncreated, the highest of all…
Gender Roles
I should begin by saying that there are some ways in which men and women are equal, and other ways in which they are not equal. For example, men and women are both made in the image of God -- this is…
Die without Hearing the Gospel
Unbelievers who die without having heard the gospel go to hell, and so do Jews who reject Christ. Paul made both these points explcitly in Romans 1-3 (e.g. Rom. 2:12). They are all sinners (Rom.…
Children and Sin
There are many reasons that harm befalls children. Some children are harmed or killed as part of a punishment on their parents (e.g., 2 Sam. 12:14). But not all children suffer for the same reason…
Origin of Races
There are different definitions of race, so there are different answers to your question. One definition is that a race is a group whose members are capable of breeding with one another. By this…
Suicide
Just as you thought, suicide is not the unforgivable sin -- blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is (Luke 12:10). At various times, some people have argued that suicide sends you to hell because you don't…
Problem of Evil
Religious folks try to fix that problem in a variety of ways. First, there is the free-will answer: Man/Satan chose by his own free will to be evil. Evil exists, but God had nothing to do with it.…
Age of Accountability
The "age of accountability" is a concept that appears in some Reformed arguments (it is part of the "old Princeton" view), as well as in many non-Reformed arguments. It is generally considered to be…
Old Man Dead?
I line up with the majority of Reformed thinkers in believing that the old self is still a part of us, co-existing in a less-than-peaceful relationship with the new self. That being said, many good…
Man and Animals Equal?
Actually, the Bible never teaches that man is equal to the animals. It does sometimes speak of things they have in common, such as the fact that both man and animals die (Eccl. 3:19). But really the…
Adam and Us
I don't think it does carry over into the broader context of community, generally speaking. I've got a Q&A addressing some of these issues: Women in Secular Leadership . The authority structure…
What is Hamartiology?
Hamartiology comes from the Greek word hamartia which means "missing the mark" and is the study of the doctrine of sin. It encompasses topics such as the Fall, degrees of sin, original sin, and human…
What does anathema mean?
An anathema is a curse or prohibition. You will find it used in the KJV of the Bible: "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha" (1 Cor. 16:22). The NIV reads, "If…
Flesh
In the Bible, the word "flesh" generally translates the Greek word sarx or the Hebrew word basar. These words quite literally mean flesh, as in the substance of one's body (sometimes especially…
Evil and Free Will
I suppose in some sense we can say that man's free will is the source of evil, but that language seems a bit misleading to me. Free will itself never did anything: man sinned, not man's free will.…
We All Are Divine
Because there are many different religions/groups which claim to follow the teachings of Jesus (e.g. Evangelical Christianity, Liberal Christianity, Islam, Christian Science, Mormonism, Jehovah's…
Taken Alive to Heaven
Enoch (Gen. 5:24) is the first one who comes to mind. Jesus was also taken up to heaven without dying, though he did die and rise prior to his ascension into heaven. Paul was also taken into heaven…
Missing the Mark
There are many words that the Bible uses for "sin," including the Greek noun harmartia and the verb harmartano. The most basic meaning of harmartia/ano historically, before the word group came to be…
Dead Men Don't Listen
Generally, we speak of being "dead in our sins and transgressions" as being "spiritually dead." Some people understand this to be a positional or legal status. Others see it as a lack of spiritual…