explore these questions related to authority

You may be wondering why this is even a question? Obviously, Christmas is a religious holiday for Christians all over the world. In fact, it is probably considered to be the de facto religious holiday on the Christian calendar. However, [more]

The apostle John records Jesus telling the apostles that they would be guided into “all truth”¹. A casual reading of this might lead some to conclude that the apostles literally received all truth. It is, after all, what the verse [more]

It seems more and more the case that the prerequisite to accurate Bible interpretation requires special training. In fact, this condition or restraint that accurate Bible interpretation requires special training can take many forms. For example, many churches require [more]

Sola scriptura, meaning scripture alone, originated as a doctrinal position of Martin Luther’s movement away from and out of the Catholic Church. As a Christian theological position, sola scriptura stands opposed to the elevation of authority above that of God’s [more]

In his first letter to Timothy, Paul makes a statement that deserves a closer look. When he says in 1 Timothy 2:15³ that women should be saved through childbearing some immediate questions might arise. For example, is Paul saying that [more]

Determining how church is defined in the Bible could be done a few different ways. If we were to simply look up the word “church” in our modern dictionaries we would get something like, “a building [more]

Defining salvation according to the Bible is yet another instance in which simply getting out a dictionary or “going to the Greek” is useless.  Knowing the Greek word for “salvation” (“soteria” – rescue or safety either physically or morally, deliverance, [more]

Preterism is a Christian doctrine teaching that the second coming of Jesus and all Bible promises occurred by or before AD70. Among other things, several that the Bible Study Framework addresses, it requires a Christian to take a position [more]

The use of instrumental music in worship has become a staple in much of modern religious life. Not offering it is an automatic turn-off for many when choosing their church affiliation. In fact, instrumental music in worship is arguably the [more]

When it comes to the thief on the cross, it’s usually only raised as the “textbook” example of God’s saving grace. Specifically, it’s raised to counter the necessity of baptism. The popular response is something like, “What about the thief [more]

Becoming a member of the church can mean a couple of different things. Depending on where you live, there are probably many different “local” churches. Within the Christian faith, these “churches” meet at a certain place, at certain designated times, [more]

This site is dedicated to answering Bible questions, but can we really answer every Bible question? This is potentially an important baseline or boundary for our faith. For [more]

Many of the cultural norms regarding marriage are under assault today. As a result, it’s important to reflect on how Biblical marriage is defined and described. United States marriage trends published from Pew Research (February, 2019) [more]

There are many in the religious world today that claim to be an apostle. More than simply “a messenger” (Greek meaning of the word “apostle”), a title of “Apostle” is given or assumed by individuals wishing to mimick the authority [more]

1 God’s word builds up and prepares one for “the inheritance”. His word is the agent for all that are holy^5,8 (e.g. sanctified). 2 [more]

In today’s religious vernacular, a preacher is a pastor.  In fact, the word pastor is used almost exclusively as a title in religious organizations.  Most dictionaries would list synonyms for “preacher” to be “pastor” or “minister”.  Effectively, in the religious [more]

Dual fulfillment in prophecy is something that Wikipedia defines as a, “mainly Christian idea that some prophecies in the Bible have both a short-term and long-term fulfillment.” That’s an adequate definition, but requires [more]

Before we attempt to understand the purpose for miracles, we should probably be clear about what a miracle actually is…at least according to Scripture. A good definition for Bible miracles would be, “an extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in [more]

The idea of Jesus establishing His kingdom comes from Jesus Himself, but was Jesus’ kingdom established when He walked on earth in the first century? The question of “When?” regarding Jesus’ kingdom is debated. Some even say that Jesus [more]

Many today live as though they will never come before God in judgment. But Jesus said, “Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (Matthew 24:44) In the [more]

Did Jesus perform miracles because He was compassionate? This is the typical reason given by many. Possibly influenced by the popularity of the “social gospel” in modern Christianity, it’s often assumed that Jesus performed miracles purely as [more]

Attempting to understand the Bible can be difficult. For many centuries, the Catholic Church taught that the Bible could only be understood by an ordained priest. In modern times, people like N.T. Wright and other [more]

Scripture is clear that Christians are no longer under the “Ten Commandments”^{1,2,3,4,5,6,7}. During his ministry, Jesus taught that the kingdom of God was replacing the Old Covenant¹. The “Ten Commandments”, as a representative part of the Mosaic Law or [more]

Roman Gladius

The Roman soldier’s gladius was a double edged sword used for stabbing and slashing. It was highly effective in its day. The ‘double edged sword’ is also [more]

The question about Priscilla teaching Apollos seems to get raised when dealing with women’s roles in the church. As more and more Christians are influenced by social and cultural trends, the idea that women might be subjugated or limited in [more]