#STRask

Questions about whether a person can be truly repentant while simultaneously having no hope they won’t commit that sin again, how we can “let the Lord work in us” and know he’s truly Lord in our lives despite our continuing sin, and whether mixed motives make otherwise good actions sinful.   Can a person engage in genuine repentance while simultaneously having zero confidence that it will be the last time they commit that sin? How can we know if Jesus is truly Lord in our lives? Aren’t we always falling short of God’s standard? I’m trying not to “try” and to “let the Lord work in me,” but how does one even do that? I seem to always find some kind of non-virtuous reason for why I’m doing anything, including reading the Bible and going to church. If whatever is not from faith is sin, can mixed motives make otherwise good actions sinful?

Questions about what to ask someone who claims Christianity is an organized religion to control the masses, and why God didn’t tell us about quantum mechanics.   What question would you ask someone who claims Christianity is an organized religion to control the masses? Why did scientists tell us about quantum mechanics, not God or you?

Questions about why we discuss evidence for God—who requires it and whether it’s necessary—and whether or not it’s inappropriate to use apologetic methods such as classical apologetics that argue for less than a triune God.   Why do we discuss evidence for God? Who requires it, and why must we provide it? Is this necessary, or is apologetics a wing of the faith that enjoys arguing for sport? Since the only true God is triune and there is no salvation with general theism, is it inappropriate to use apologetic methods such as classical apologetics that argue for less than a triune God?

Question about tips on how to remain humble and teachable.   Can you please provide tips on how to remain humble and teachable?

Question about the behind-the-scenes work that has to be done to write a book, an article, or an in-person talk.   Would Greg mind pulling back the curtain a bit and talking about all the behind-the-scenes work that has to be done to write a book, an article, or an in-person talk?

Questions about why God would give us an unclear book that condones awful practices, and how we can know that commands for the Israelites to kill all the inhabitants of a city were truly commands from God rather than from men who falsely attributed their own commands to God.   If Christianity is true, why would God deliver it to us in a book left up to so many interpretations and that condones so many awful practices? How can we know that commands for the Israelites to kill all the inhabitants of a city, including women and children, were truly commands from God rather than from men falsely attributing their own commands to God?

Questions about what to say to those who refuse to engage with a “script” and questions to ask someone who doesn’t care about spiritual things to get them to care about eternity now.   What do you say to those who refuse to engage with a “script”? What questions or info can you give someone who doesn’t care about spiritual things to get them to care about eternity now?

Questions about whether God’s moral laws are merely subjective if he can command us to break them, and whether contrasting the Torah with barbaric Near Eastern laws to show moral improvement proves anything since you can’t justify bad laws by comparing them to worse ones.   Are God’s moral laws objective, or can they be broken if God commands us to break them? Aren’t his laws merely subjective if we can go against them when he sees fit? In Is God a Moral Monster, Paul Copan often contrasts the Torah with barbaric Near Eastern laws to show moral improvement, but if I kill an adult and justify it because others kill children, aren’t I still a monster?

Questions about why God went ahead with creation if he knew about all the suffering that was going to happen, why Christians say God is responsible for all the good that happens but not the bad, and whether there’s a more satisfying answer to the problem of evil.   How should I respond to a Buddhist who asks why God went ahead with creation if he knew about all the suffering that was going to happen? Why do Christians say everything good that happens is from God but he’s not responsible for the bad things? According to the Bible, didn’t God create all things? Why is the problem of evil the biggest issue non-believers seem to have, and is there a more satisfying answer to be had?

Questions about whether quantum mechanics disproves an objective reality and indicates we can’t perceive true evidence that God exists, and whether an infinite, intelligent, loving designer would have designed logic to exclude the possibility of suffering.   I’ve been struggling with the idea that quantum mechanics disproves an objective reality. Does God exist, or is the evidence we perceive actually fake and we can’t make sense out of the physical world? If logic was created by an infinite, intelligent designer, and that designer is a loving God, wouldn’t he have designed logic to exclude the possibility of suffering without interfering with his goals?