77 FAQs About God and the Bible

Josh Mcdowell

Description

Real-life, on-the-street Christian apologetics is what readers expect from Josh McDowell. Here, he and his son, Sean, reflect their ongoing research and close engagement with our culture in answers to classic questions such as...Is there scientific proof God exists?How can a loving God send people to hell?Why does God allow suffering?Is the New Testament historically reliable?Aren't there errors and contradictions in the Bible?...and questions that arise from today's culture:If God is so loving, why can't he be more tolerant of sin?Is God sexist?Is religion the real cause of violence in the world?How can teachings from the ancient cultures of the Bible be relevant to our culture?What's the difference between the Bible and the Koran?77 FAQs offers the concise, accessible presentations that readers want and need in an apologetic resource--answers they'll turn to for help in everyday life.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• Christian theology

Informations

• Publié par: Harvest House Publishers, Inc.
• Date de parution: 01 août 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780736949255
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS
EUGENE, OREGON
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the second edition of Holy Bible , New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189 USA. All rights reserved.
Verses marked NIV are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version NIV . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com
Verses marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible , 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by Permission ( www.Lockman.org )
Verses marked NLT are taken from the first edition of the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaten, IL 60189 USA. All rights reserved.
Verses marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Cover by Koechel Peterson Associates, Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota
Cover photo Design Pics / Ron Nickel / Getty Images
77 FAQS ABOUT GOD AND THE BIBLE
Copyright 2012 by Josh McDowell and Sean McDowell
Published by Harvest House Publishers
Eugene, Oregon 97402
www.harvesthousepublishers.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
McDowell, Josh.
77 FAQs about God and the Bible / Josh McDowell and Sean McDowell.
p. cm.-(The McDowell apologetics library)
ISBN 978-0-7369-4924-8 (pbk.)
ISBN 978-0-7369-4925-5 (eBook)
1. God (Christianity)-Miscellanea. 2. Bible-Miscellanea. I. McDowell, Sean. II. Title.
BT103.M325 2012
239-dc23
2011050764
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means-electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any other-except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We wish to recognize the following individuals for their valuable contribution to this book.
Dave Bellis , my (Josh s) friend and colleague for 35 years, for collaboration with us on the questions for the book, researching answers, writing the rough draft, and folding in all our edits and revisions to create the final draft. We recognize Dave s insights and general knowledge on the topics in this book and are deeply grateful for his contribution.
Eric Johnson and Alan Shlemon for providing helpful insight in their areas of expertise.
Becky Bellis for laboring at the computer to ready the manuscript.
Terry Glaspey of Harvest House for his vision and guidance in shaping the direction and tone of this work.
Paul Gossard of Harvest House for the expert editing and insight he brought to the manuscript completion.
Josh McDowell Sean McDowell
C ONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
INTRODUCTION
1. Can I Have All My Questions Answered?
QUESTIONS ABOUT GOD
2. Why Does God Seem Hidden from Us?
3. Doesn t Believing in God Require Faith?
4. Is It Wrong to Have Doubts About God?
5. What Kind of Proofs Are There that God Exists?
6. What Is the First-Cause Argument for God s Existence?
7. What Is the Design Argument for God s Existence?
8. What Is the Moral Law Argument for God s Existence?
9. What Is the Personal Experience Argument for God s Existence?
10. If God Caused Everything, Then Who or What Caused God?
11. What Is God Really Like?
12. Who Is the Holy Spirit?
13. What Does It Mean that God Is a Trinity?
14. Is God Male or Female?
15. Can God Do Wrong, Such As Get Jealous?
16. Where Did Evil Come From?
17. What Is Evil Exactly?
18. What Causes People to Sin Today?
19. If God Is So Loving, Why Can t He Be More Tolerant of Sin?
20. Why Did God Create Humans?
21. Did God Create Intelligent Beings Other Than Humans?
22. Is It Really Even Possible to Know Truth?
23. Is Some Truth Just Personal Preference?
24. Is God Sexist?
25. Is God Racist?
26. Is God Legalistic?
27. Is God Violent?
28. Is Religion the Real Cause of Violence in the World?
29. Is God Genocidal?
30. How Can a Loving God Send People to Hell?
31. Does God Punish People Through Natural Disasters?
32. Why Does God Allow Suffering?
33. Why Doesn t God Stop the Suffering Now?
34. Does God Have Feelings and Emotions?
35. Does God Love Everyone Regardless of Sexual Orientation?
36. Does God Get Involved in Politics?
37. How Can We Know God s Will in Our Lives?
38. Did Jesus Really Claim to Be God?
39. Isn t It Arrogant to Claim that Christianity Is the Only True Religion?
40. How Do We Know that Jesus Actually Lived?
41. How Did Jesus Back Up His Claim to Be God?
42. What Proof Is There that Jesus Was the Messiah?
43. Is There Proof that Jesus Was Born of a Virgin?
44. Is There Proof that Jesus Rose from the Dead?
45. Why Did Jesus Need to Die?
46. Why Is Jesus Resurrection So Central to Christianity?
47. How Did People Get Right with God Before Jesus Died for Sin?
48. What Is God s Church?
49. What Is Jesus Going to Do at His Second Coming?
50. How Do I Personally Experience a Relationship with God?
QUESTIONS ABOUT THE BIBLE
51. Where Did the Bible Come From?
52. What Does It Mean that the Bible Is Inspired?
53. Is the Bible a Product of God, Humans, or Both?
54. Isn t the Bible Full of Errors and Contradictions?
55. Does the New Testament Misquote the Old Testament?
56. How Do We Know that the Bible We Have Today Is Truly God s Word?
57. Were Some Inspired Books Excluded from Our Current Bible?
58. How Can Teachings from the Ancient Cultures of the Bible Be Relevant to Us Today?
59. How Is It that the Bible Gets So Misinterpreted?
60. How Do You Correctly Interpret the Bible?
61. Can Christians Hold Contradictory Teachings from the Bible and Still Be in Unity?
62. Are All the Old Testament Laws Binding on Us Today?
63. Are Any of the Jewish Festivals in the Bible Meaningful to Christians Today?
64. What Is the Real Purpose of the Bible?
65. Is the Old Testament Historically Reliable?
66. Is the New Testament Historically Reliable?
67. What Is the Difference Between the Christian Bible and the Jewish Bible?
68. What Is the Difference Between the Bible and the Qur an?
69. What Is the Difference Between the Christian Bible and the Book of Mormon?
70. How Is the Roman Catholic Bible Different from the Protestant Bible?
71. When Was the Bible Translated into Other Languages?
72. Have Any Translations of the Bible Been Inspired?
73. If Bible Translators Made Mistakes, Wouldn t That Make the Bible Inaccurate?
74. How Do I Choose an English Translation that Is Accurate?
75. Why Are There So Many English Translations of the Bible?
76. What Are the Resources I Need to Accurately Interpret the Bible?
77. How Do I Personally Experience the Bible?
Notes
About the Authors and the Josh McDowell Ministry
About the Publisher
1.
C AN I H AVE A LL M Y Q UESTIONS A NSWERED ?
T houghtful answers to the most frequently asked questions about God and the Bible are sometimes difficult to find. We (Josh and Sean) are attempting to provide you with them. All together, we have spoken over 15,000 times to youth and adult audiences. We have sought to research the issues and questions Christians and non-Christians alike have asked. We have studied what scholars and theologians of the past have said. And it would be nice to say we have found all the answers. But that is simply not the case.
The subject of God and his divine Word is so immense and deep that we have to confess there are far more questions than there are answers. In fact, the more we study and learn about God and the Bible, the more we realize how little we actually do know. Yet this doesn t mean we are left without good reasons for what we believe.
There are many questions on the subjects of God and the Bible that have satisfying answers. But to some people they may not be satisfying-in fact, they may seem foolish to those who do not believe. Even the apostle Paul said the message of the cross is foolishness to those who don t believe (1 Corinthians 1:18)! Many of the questions we are answering are spiritual questions that require spiritual answers. If you accept only secular answers, you may be disappointed.
So on many occasions we will be asking you to see the answer from God s perspective, because that is when we receive true insight and wisdom. When we see life and its dilemmas from a godlike viewpoint we gain insight and direction. Our hope is that you will find such answers in this book. At the same time we are dealing with some very difficult questions-questions that have been contemplated for centuries. And some of these answers, while satisfying to a point, remain incomplete. Sometimes we must accept that there are issues and situations God knows but that remain partially or wholly a mystery to us humans. This does not mean Christianity is a matter of blind faith. But it is important to recognize our own human limitations.
So no-not all of your questions about God and the Bible can be answered in this or any other book. But we will do our best to address every question honestly and provide answers that are as clear and practical as possible. However, the key in getting real answers to the tough questions of life is in the approach. In his wisdom, King Solomon understood this approach, and he shared it with us in the second chapter of Proverbs. Real answers come from gaining understanding and wisdom from God.

My child, listen to me and treasure my instructions. Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding. Cry out for insight and understanding. Search for them as you would for lost money or hidden treasure. Then you will understand what it means to fear the L ORD , and you will gain knowledge of God. For the L OR