Interracial marriages

GE 24:3-4,66-67, GE 41:45, EX 2:21, RUTH 1:4, RUTH 4:10, EST 2:17, 2CO 6:14

See also racism below and AIG article here. By the way, if we want a [racially] integrated church, we have to be willing to let our kids marry their kids, otherwise it's not going to happen.

Jesus is God

EX 3:14, JN 8:58, JN 10:30-33, JN 14:1-11

When He claims to be one with the Father that means He's claiming to be one in essense, of the same substance, of the same nature, different from all of humanity. Similar to how a son has (can have) a unique relationship to a father (both biologically, phyically, emotionally, etc.) compared to a neighbor or distant stranger.

Jesus is the only way to Heaven/God the Father

MK 13:21-23, JN 14:6, AC 4:11-12, RO 6:23, RO 10:9-10, COL 2:8, 1TI 2:5, 1JN 2:22-23, 1JN 5:3-5, 1JN 5:12

This is a black and white issue, no gray. What people do with this truth is a different matter.

Jesus was real

LK 1:2, 1CO 15:3-8, 2PE 1:16-18, 1JN 1:1-3

Eyewitnesses...

Living together before/outside of marriage

GE 2:24, GE 4:7, EX 22:16, NUM 25, DT 23:17-18, PS 119:9, PR 4:14-15, PR 6:27, PR 16:2, SS 2:7, SS 8:6-7, JN 4:16-18, RO 6:11-14, 1CO 5:9-13, 1CO 6:9-20, 1TH 4:3-5, HEB 13:4

Notice in the original law that as soon as a man had sex with a woman he was commanded to marry her. This is not to say that "two wrongs make a right" (note that sex is a consecration of marriage, not the other way around) but to minimize the effects of the sin and to inform people of how significant sexual relations are. Not that I need to add to scripture, but for those of us who still don't get it, let's read between the lines. Surely this is bad for at least five reasons:

1. In the modern western world marriages are initiated by love but in the grand scheme they are (should be) more about commitment than they are about love. Sex out of marriage undermines the absolute commitment of marriage (instills the "try it before you buy it" mentality) which irrevocably taints the presence of unconditional love which was intended to be fully present,
2. It is a bad example for your inevitable children and/or all other children (people) in your lives,
3. It encourages child conception outside of an absolutely committed marriage and allows for the parents to easily separate thereby (a) destroying the family unit that God designed and (b) damaging the parent/child relationship that is intended to model the God/human relationship. These problems give children a desire to say "if God could not keep my parents together then he can not do anything for me either",
4. It is especially a bad witness to non believers if believers do this because it allows a non believer the opportunity to say "your morality is no better than mine so your God must be no better than mine",
5. At its highest level and at its core, this idea is exclusively the conclusion of a belief (whether active or passive) that "yeah, God may have said marriage first is the best way, but I am willing to bet my life that I can do it better, or at least different and still end up just as good." When God calls you on this, what will you say?

If we want to talk about economic exceptions, etc, then granted maybe there are a few examples where it is justifiable to live together, but most people use this as an excuse not a last resort. We also should be clear we are talking in PPM (people per million) not percent of the population where this exception honestly applies and sex of any kind should not be involved outside of marriage. Finally, I sincerely hope all marriages last a lifetime, no mater how they start off, because that is the way God created it. But regardless of what we want to believe this practice is no less dangerous than playing with fire (PR 6:27.)

"Losing" our salvation

EX 32:33, EZE 18:20-28, MT 24:24, MK 13:22, LK 12:4, LK 22:3, JN 10:24-30, RO 8:35-39, RO 11:19-22, COL 1:21-23, 1TI 1:19-20, 1TI 3:6, 1TI 6:10,20-21, 2TI 2:18, HEB 2:1, HEB 3:12-19, HEB 6:4-6, HEB 10:26-31, HEB 12:16-17, JAM 5:19-20, 2PE 2:20-21, 2PE 3:17, REV 3:11

We can not lose it (have it taken from us) but we can give it up.

Luck

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Marriage & poligamy

EX 21:10, DT 17:17, DT 21:10-14, 1KI 11:3-4, 2SA 5:13-16, 2CH 11:18-23, AM 2:7, MAL 2:15, 1CO 7, 1TI 3:2, 1TI 3:12, TIT 1:6

The original design was one man and one woman. No other option is offered us, we made up all the other options. Now let's just admit we're all hypocrits, so for a minute stop being judgmental of the people in the Bible who are too. Any time there is instruction about marriage it's clearly paterned after the GE 1 & 2 model, despite however many examples of people who deviate.

• For those thinking about it, be clear on Biblical roles of husbands, wives and parents (below).
• From the skip-it perspective, see Living Together Outside of Marriage (above).
• From the same-sex perspective, see Homosexuality (above). Note this doesn't mean two men or two women can't be better friends than some married couples can be, but it does mean we shouldn't pervert the concept of marriage to mean anything we want.
• From the poligamous perspective, Solomon was an example of his many wives leading him astray from his faith, and he was the smartest man who ever lived! If anyone should have been strong enough to stand up to his wives you'd think he'd be, but he wasn't.
• From the work-around perspective, see adultery (above).
• For those wanting out, remind yourself of the Biblical roles of husbands, wives and parents (below) and see divorce (above).
• Last but not least, I find no instruction nor explicit condemnation on the concept of concubines (although AM 2:7 gets really close). Either this is an indication that this topic is less black and white than some of us would like to believe, or it's an example of how God doesn't think He needs to tell us every little detail and we should be able to imply the right and wrong based on what He's already told us. The trick of course would be when we take the attitude of "what can I get away with to bring me the most pleasure?" versus "what will really create the healthiest people and bring the wholeness that comes with truly honoring the two greatest commandments and the rest of scripture?" (By the way, there are a few examples where the results of having concubines was very negative and no examples where having concubines was a true benefit.)

Mary

(x)

There are some who worship Mary, mother of Jesus, but the scripture they cite I just don't agree has any merrit (it has the resonance of people just picking scripture to back up their belief rather than getting their belief from the scripture). Additionally the Catholic Encyclopedia indicates that most of the basis for this belief is founded in tradition, so by definition it is a non-biblical concept and out of scope of this page.

Natural state of man (is he good or evil?)

GE 6:5, GE 8:21, 1KI 8:46, 2CH 6:36, PS 14:3, PS 19:12, PS 51:5, PS 53:1-3, PS 143:2, PR 27:19-21, EC 7:20,27-29, EC 9:3, ISA 64:6, JER 6:16-17, JER 17:9-10, MT 7:11, JN 2:24-25, RO 3:12, EPH 2:3, JAM 3:7-8

Clearly we are evil without God's help. Yes we are capable and aware of good, even from birth (see article), but just because we are intelligent enough to recognize good doesn't mean we will avoid committing evil when no one is watching. Our tendency as autonomous creatures is evil due to the human condition (see above).

One man can make a difference

(See conclusion to right)

More than once it was the faith of one man alone that changed the world. Consider: Adam (GE 1:26-5:5), Noah (GE 5:28-9:29), Jesus (MT, MK, LK, JN), & Paul (AC 9:1-28:31).

Sometimes one man changes the fate of a nation: Abraham (GE 11:26-25:8), Joseph (GE 30:23-50:26), Moses (EX 2:10-DT 34:7), Josiah (2CH 34-35), Joshua (EX 17:9-JOS 24:29), David (1SA 16:11-1KI 2:11), & Solomon (<2SA 12:24-1KI 11:43)

Sometimes one man affects the fate of his entire family (good or bad): Korah (NUM 16:32), Achan (JOS 7:24), Zacchaeus (LK 19:9), Jailer (Acts 16:34), & Crispus (Acts 18:8)

Is God a pacifist?

GE 20:3-7, EX 23:23, LEV 26:23-25, DT 20:10-18, DT 21:18-21, DT 32:40-42, JDG 3:2, 1SA 15:2-3, MT 5:17, MT 10:34, LK 12:49-53, LK 19:27, REV 3:19, REV 19:11-16

The smartest man who ever lived said in Proverbs that God disciplines (see keyword review above) those He loves, and God confirmed this himself in Revelation. The Deuteronomy passage seems harsh but I think the takeaway is how serious disobedience is, and the role of the strong leader to lead strongly at all costs, even if the price is your own Son and God modeled this for us by sending His Son to die on the cross for us. God does not appease evil in hopes it will simply go away because He knows the natural state of man (see above). Nor is He passive enough to simply ignore evil without punishing it (see God fights for Israel below). God is clearly in favor of capitol punishment (see above) so killing individuals because of heinous sin is not against God's character/will. On multiple occasions in the Old Testament God commands His people to go to war and He promises in the New Testament to someday wage war on Satan and Satan's followers (both angelic and human). Of course God would not seriously have to fight Satan because God has no equal nor anything even close but God has a master plan that involves this war He describes in Revelation, possibly for our benefit more than His. Another interesting practical look at scripture is how often angels, who are God's personal messengers, carry and even use swords: GE 3:24, NU 22:21-33, 1CH 21:12-17, 2CH 32:21

Should we be pacifists?

NU 15:14-16,29-31, EST 9:1-17, PS 82:3-4, PS 110:3, PS 118:10-12, PS 144:1, PR 3:11-12, PR 20:18, PR 21:31, EC 3:3,8, ISA 1:17, MT 5:9, MT 5:38-48, MK 12:28-34, LK 6:22-23 MSG, LK 6:27-38, RO 12:17-21, RO 13:1-5, 2CO 10:3-6, HEB 12:14-15, JAM 1:27

(See Is God a Pacifist above first.) This is a hard one since Old Testament precedence is overwhelmingly against this, but New Testament teaching could make us think so. And we know that God does not change, so how do we reconcile this? War is often referred to as "hell" by those who experience it, but is there such a thing as a "just war"? The Hebrews passage is interesting because it has seemingly contradictory sentences back to back, starting off making us think pacifism is the way to go but then doing a 180 at the end when it warns against allowing evil among you. The James passage is actually a fairly recurring theme which could be generalized as "protect the defenseless". So if we are all to embrace discipline, leaders are to administer discipline, the two greatest commandments in existence say to love (honor) God and love (treat) our neighbor (everyone else) like ourselves, we are to protect the defenseless, and discipline has no limits, then I believe this is the justification for the "just war". There is no contest that individuals and even organizations should exemplify love, peace, patience, etc., even to their enemies, but Paul reminds us that governments have a special role with an obligation to punish evil (wrongdoing) and the police and military forces who carry out that punishment must be allowed to do so. As followers of Christ's teaching we should never incite (unless our acting righteously infuriates, which it has a tendency to do) nor administer any violence, but we are to respect authority (see Government Submission above) so when our leaders call us to war, so long as it is for the reason described here, then we should obey and restrain our criticism.

Pleasing God by
 "being a good person" or
 "doing your best"

1SA 15:22-23, EC 9:10, EPH 2:8-9, JAM 1:22-26, JAM 2:14-26

While not all wrong, this is an incomplete concept. Yes God wants us to be good and yes He wants us to do our best, but what does it mean to be good and what are we trying our best at? Being lazy can never please God, but doing our best to be a good person without explicitly & educatedly following Christ is not going to make us right with God. If we truly have a biblical worldview and are trying to be an informed obedient servant of God then and only then do these two thoughts apply. (Consider my content differentiation below.) But at the same time, if we have an informed biblical worldview and are connected to the God of creation we aren't going to use these phrases the way most people do.

Predestination/ election

GE 2:16, ISA 38:5, MT 24:20-31, MK 13:20-27, RO 9:11-12, RO 11:7, RO 11:28-29, EPH 1:11, 1TI 5:21, 2TI 2:10, TIT 1:1, 1PE 1:1, 2PE 1:10

(See Freedom of Choice above first.) Since Jesus talked about the elect then whether we like it or not and whether we understand it or not it's a real thing. He didn't ever talk about predestination. Remember that God created time so He is outside of it. When humans elect someone we do so only knowing their potential and we don't know what they will actually do until they do it. God isn't like that. He knew everything we'd ever do before we were born. Considering God's obsession with free will and the lack of any verses predestination isn't supported by the Bible, but in the context of God's omniscience the concepts of election and free will aren't mutually exclusive.

Priests, Popes, and Pastors

MT 16:17-19, MT 23:1-12, HEB 7:23-25

Priests act as intermediaries between God and men. This job was essential in the Old Testiment but eliminated by Jesus. Popes head up an institution that God never asked for, exemplified, nor suggested. Pastors help us develop our own relationship with God...

Purgatory

PS 49:7-10, LK 16:22, LK 23:42-43, JN 5:28-29

Nope, it's not in here. This was invented by men as an excuse for a fund raiser for the orthodox church.

Racism

DT 7:3-4, DT 10:17-19, EX 22:21, EX 23:9,12, LEV 19:10,33-34, LEV 23:22, LEV 24:22, LEV 25:35, NU 9:14, NU 15:15-16,29-31, DT 5:14, DT 10:18, DT 24:14,17,19-21, DT 27:19, PS 146:9, JER 22:3, EZE 47:23, ZEC 7:10, LK 10:25-37, AC 11:1-18, AC 17:26, ROM 10:12-13, GAL 3:28, COL 3:11, JAM 2:1

Don't be stupid. No way, no how. Racism is the big brother of prejudice and both are the offspring of ignorance and fear. The closest thing we get to "racism" is "worldviewism", where God says don't intermarry because the beliefs of the other people will draw us away from Him, not because of any biological or other demographical excuse. (See interracial marriage above and God loves everyone below.)

Rebellion

NUM 14:18, 1SA 15:23, PR 17:11, EPH 6:12

In the context of the church this is often thought of negatively, and rightly so. However it can be used for good when directed not against God but against Satan, against sin, against complacency and ignorance. Find a way to channel the rebellious energy of teens (really all people) into something constructive, don't just force them to conform.

Reincarnation

JOB 14:1-12, PS 88:10, PS 103:15-16, PS 115:17, PS 144:3-4, 2CO 5:10, JAM 4:14, HEB 9:27

We only live once. We only get one chance at life. Memories of past lives can come from demons.

Slavery

EX 3:7, EX 12:43-44, EX 21:1-11, EX 21:20-27, EX 23:12, LEV 19:20, LEV 22:10-11, LEV 25:39-46, DT 23:15-16, DT 24:7, PR 22:7, MT 20:26-28, MK 10:43-45, JN 8:35, RO 6:15-23, 1CO 7:21-24, 1CO 12:13, GAL 3:28, EPH 6:5-9, COL 3:22-24, COL 4:1, 1TI 1:9-11, 1TI 6:1-2, TIT 2:9, 1PE 2:18-19

As an American the first thing I need to do is point out that slavery in the biblical context looked nothing like slavery did in this country. The Bible never allows us to define slaves as non-humans. I'm not lobbying for slavery here but I am pointing out that God has little interest in defining the structure of how humans relate, His main concern is our character & worship. Remember that it was evolutionary thought, not the Bible, that was the motivation behind the belief that people from one geography with a certain skin shade were less "evolved" and hence "inferior" and therefore worthy of life long, multigenerational slavery (see racism above). Slavery (defined simply as, and limited to, mandatory work without pay) as a temporary result of a temporal situation (including military conquest or economic hardship) is tolerable as long as we remember that when God tells us to be kind to each other He was including slaves, too.

Suicide

EX 20:13, DT 5:17, DT 30:19, JDG 9:54, JDG 16:30, 1SA 31:4-5, 2SA 17:23, 1KI 16:18, MT 5:21, MT 27:5, JN 15:13, RO 14:7-8, 1CO 3:16-17, 1CO 6:19-20

Seven people in the bible commit suicide (if we count Samson) but they aren't ever criticized. However murder is clearly wrong and it's not a stretch to say suicide is murdering ourself. Some people also dislike this practice because it implies that we don't think God can do anything further in our life so we take His place to end it. But if it were a black and white issue then surely it would be described as such in the scripture, and after reading the bible all the way through four times I just don't find it described that way. I'm not exactly experienced in this topic, but if I was counceling someone on when it is acceptable I would say not to do it for self-centered reasons. For example, if you think no one cares about you or that you are not good enough for the world then you are ill-informed and should not kill yourself. Either you don't know the right people or you're believing a lie. If you are trying to get out of problems (such as addictions or guilt) there is no reason to believe killing yourself will actually help anyone (even if you have life insurance). Now if you are a soldier and possess tactical information or your life will be used as a ransom in such a way that will harm the society you have sworn to protect, or you take a bullet for someone else (sometimes referred to as the 'ultimate sacrifice') that's actually commended by God. Suicide bombing is not the same thing as the ultimate sacrifice and is definitely wrong since it involves murdering other people. I'm sure this list could go on and I'm not trying to be exhaustive when the scriptures aren't. If you're reading this and have accepted Jesus but are trying to find a loop hole that will justify a premeditated decision to commit suicide and still allow you to go to heaven then you need to get help, both from God and from people around you. (See also health & wealth above.) If you haven't accepted Jesus as your Lord then this question isn't your first priority anyway (see above).

Tithing

GE 4:4-5, EX 13:1-2,11-16, EX 22:29-30, EX 23:19, EX 30:12, EX 34:26, LEV 27:30-33, DT 14:22-29, DT 26:1-15, NUM 18:25-32, PR 3:9, MAL 3:8-10, MT 23:23, LK 11:42, 2CO 8:13-15

See complex topic of Money below. But in short, always give at least our first 10% of our gross/total/before deductions income back to God. Remember, in a more broad context, there are many ways we can give sacrificially: time, talent, treasure, and testimony. Notice in GE 14:20 Abraham intuited the need/value in tithing, and in GE 28:20-22 his grandson Jacob (Israel) intuited it too.

The Trinity (God in three persons)

GE 1:1, GE 1:26-27, GE 3:22, GE 11:7, DT 6:4, ISA 6:8, ISA 9:6, MT 28:19, MK 12:28-34, JN 1:1, JN 5:18, JN 8:56-59, JN 10:30-33, 2CO 13:14, PHP 2:5-7, COL 1:15-19, TIT 3:4-6, HEB 1:3-14, HEB 2:9-10, 1PE 1:2, 1JN 5:7, REV 22:12-13

• It's not named as such, but the concept is accurate. Man made up the name but the concept came from God. Regarding Jesus, scripture is not self contradictory so no matter how many verses someone points out where Jesus refers to the Father as another entity they don't mean Jesus is not God nor that God the Father created Jesus in any way like He did angels or people. Those verses just elaborate on Jesus' character as described in Philippians. They just reinforce the mysterious concept of the trinity. Regarding the Holy Spirit, nothing God created is omnipresent, but the Holy Spirit is always referred to as a singular entity yet is given to all believers simultaneously (Luke 24:49, John 14:26, John 20:22, Acts 2:4). See also my closer look at the physical precidence for the Trinity (below.)
• I had some Jehovah's Witnesses stop by my door once and try to tell me Jesus was God's first creation, essentially the archangel, and I'll grant there are very few verses in the Bible that explicitly make the point that Jesus is God, but they are there and I was able to make my own reference which I have preserved here.
• The English word "God" in GE 1:1 is translated from the Hebrew word "Elohim" which is actually a plural word (reference).
• (Note the 1 John 5:7 verse won't display correctly with the "hover" feature on this website because NIV, NLT, MSG and others don't include a line that is only in a few very late Greek copies and the Latin Vulgate. Other translations like KJV, NKJV, NCV, GW and YLT have the line I am referring to.)

Universal rage

GE 4:3-15, EC 3:11

(Note this is different than specifically incited anger.) Hard rock and even rap music reaches a distinct harmonic resonance frequency within many people's soul that most Christians have repressed or try to repress. What I mean by "universal rage" is that whether we admit it or not we are furious that we are not God. Granted, some of us have come to terms with this fact better than others, but we all experience the annoyance that we are not the supreme being, the creator of everything, and that the universe doesn't have to bow to our wishes. (See the human condition above.) Similarly, we intuitively know that God made everything and we know God made it good yet the world around us isn't so good anymore and so we all get frustrated in that gap. We want to live in that perfect world God created (because we want everything to be easy like we assume it would be in paradise) but we can't so our frustration builds and eventually turns into rage.

Women in ministry?

EX 35:22,29, JDG 4:4, 1TI 2:11-14, 1TI 3:2, TIT 2:3-5

If we take the scripture at face value then we can see it discourages women from being in leadership positions over men, though it encourages women to be leaders to younger women. However there is plenty of room for debate on exactly what these passages were trying to say and what the unwritten context was of these statements. For example, all 3 of the passages I know that contribute to this controversy were written by Paul. And in the most critical one he says "I" rather "God". As far as I can tell there is no command to differentiate leadership based on gender in the old testament. There is an implied distinction though since God is almost always recorded as having any strategic talks with men and assigning roles (like the priesthood) to men. Deborah the prophet would be a good exception to this, seemingly proving that women as a gender can be as successful and as divinely blessed with leadership as any man. See my complex topics on men and women below for related verses.

Does our worldview matter as long as we've accepted Jesus?

GE 3:12, HOS 4:6, MT 12:1-5, MT 12:22-24, MT 12:36-37, MT 25:24-30, JAM 2:19

We might think that since sin (evil) is such a big problem that it must have taken a huge event to cause it to enter the world. We might think that there must have been some sort of huge battle between the forces of good and the forces of evil, but humanity was just tragically overpowered. But here's the story according to the man who was in charge of it all: "she gave me the fruit and I ate." Adam knew God. Perhaps as well as we do, even though we have a multi-thousand page book to read. The implications of his thoughtless and unprepared answer are exactly why it is so important to explicitly have a well informed biblical worldview. (See also losing our salvation above.)

How should we worship?

DT 8:19, 1SA 15:22-23, JN 4:23-24, RO 12:1, 1CO 14:21-25

Lots of people confuse or blend the two concepts of doctrine and style. Doctrine comes from God and is what this webpage is dedicated to clarifying. Style is a personal choice. Scripture never once defines any specific physical definition of worship, but does multiple times describe it as a matter of the spirit/heart.

What day do we worship on?

MT 12:6-8, MK 16:9, AC 1:14, AC 2:44-46, AC 5:12, AC 20:7, RO 14:4-6

It's all or nothing. There is no command nor special benefit to worship on Sunday, and Saturday is technically (was originally) the Sabbath. We are supposed to worship God every day. (One way of defining worship is how we spend time, money, or effort to give glory, honor, or recognition to someone or something.) By the way, there is a reason Jews worship on Saturday, Christians worship on Sunday and Muslims worship on Friday, and it's less holy than we might think. The Jews at least have the original command (EX 20:8-10) but then the other two just needed an excuse to be different.

Why is there evil in the world?
Similarly, why do bad things happen (to good people) or worse, why do good things happen to bad people?

GE 1:31, ISA 24:5-6, ISA 64:9-65:12, JER 6:16-19, JER 7:1-29, JER 16:9-13, 2CO 12:8-9, RO 8:28, 1CO 3:10-15, JAM 1:12-15

God made everything good but the sad truth is we messed it up and continue to mess it up. Consider the natural state of man (above) and the freedom of choice God gives us (above). God did not create mindless zombies to worship Himself, he created fully intelligent people with a freewill. He allows us to choose to honor Him or not. All suffering is caused by sin and there are four notable sources of sin: our own, our ancestors, other unrelated people, and Satan (or his demons). Evil could actively be described as intentionally doing wrong (sinning) and passively as the absence of active good. God does not cause suffering, but He certainly allows it either when it is the consequence of bad choices or simply to test us (test as in "see if we make the good choice" not "see if we make the bad choice", DT 30:19) and then He uses it to help us align ourselves with Him. Once we are aligned the suffering will be relieved, though perhaps not as soon as we would like.

Zodiac

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