Three Key Principles of Biblical Interpretation

There’s one thing you can do as a Christian that’s more important than anything else. Study the Bible. But sometimes it can feel overwhelming. Here are three key principles of interpretation to help you study the Bible with confidence. Jonathan Noyes

A Right Understanding of the Bible Is Essential for Navigating a Hostile Culture

#STRask: Were Jesus’ Commands in the Gospels for the Jews Only or for the Present-Day Body of Christ?

New STR U Course Available

The Invisible Man

But What If Aliens Exist?

#STRask: The Concept of God’s Omniscience Is Just a Fear Tactic to Control Your Mind

Are Prayers Pointless If God Knows What Will Happen?

If God Knows Everything, Why Did He Change His Mind?

#STRask: How Could God Be Perfect If He Regrets Something He Did?

#STRask: The Idea That I Won’t Be Married to My Wife in Heaven Makes My Heart Hurt

What Would You Say to an Apathetic Person?

Why Even Atheists Are Reconsidering Jesus

#STRask: What Is the Definition of Inerrancy?

Can We Use the Word “Allah” to Refer to God?

#STRask: If Christians Believe God Answers Prayer, Then Why Do They Buy Health Insurance?

Articles

The Invisible Man

Though it’s fashionable nowadays for “enlightened” people tutored in scientific materialism to sniff with contempt at the antiquated idea of the “ghost in the machine,” here are four powerful reasons for you to be confident that not only do souls exist, but you are a soul.

But What If Aliens Exist?

What would it mean for the Christian if aliens were found to exist? Here are five possible explanations theologians have offered in response to the hypothetical discovery of intelligent alien life.

Can Same-Sex Couples Stay the Night?

If a homosexual couple asks to spend the night, do you allow them? You want to be kind and welcoming, but your conscience is telling you that something is amiss by allowing them to sleep together in one of your bedrooms. What should you do?

Inerrancy: What It Is and Why It Matters

What if you can’t trust the Bible? What if the biblical authors got it wrong? They’re only human, after all, and people make mistakes. What if the Bible has errors?

Are We Alone in the Universe?

Considering the vastness of the cosmos, many conclude there must be life out there, yet the more data we have, the more we find that the best location for life to exist in the vast cosmos is exactly where Earth is located.

Jesus Did Condemn Homosexuality

People who insist that Jesus was silent about homosexuality are simply wrong. Alan Shlemon explains where his teachings on this topic can be found.

A Firm Foundation in an Uncertain World

A fire reminded Jon that nothing in this life is guaranteed—not our homes, not our possessions, not even tomorrow—but God’s love and faithfulness remain constant, a foundation we can stand securely on even as the world around us is in flames.

What Is a Man? What Is a Woman?

In spite of the current confusion over who is a man and who is a woman, the technical criteria for determining a person’s sex have been in place for over 100 years, providing definitive answers even for those who have atypical genetics or ambiguous sexual anatomy.

The Top Ten Posts of 2024

The year is coming to a close, which means it’s time to take a look back at the ten most popular posts we wrote in 2024. See if you missed any of them the first time around!

He Really Is Working All Things After the Counsel of His Will

We think of God as being sovereign over the big things, forgetting that it’s the little things that add up to the big things in the end. Here’s a reminder from John Newton that God is always working, even through the seemingly insignificant details.

Why Is Nature Intelligible?

Why is it that the natural world is ordered, and why is it that the human mind is able to comprehend it? Not every worldview can account for these facts.

CNN Repeats Andy Stanley’s Conference Falsehoods

Three falsehoods promoted by Andy Stanley’s Unconditional Conference threaten the integrity of church doctrine and jeopardize the destiny of children who adopt an LGBT identity. Now they’re being repeated by CNN.

Videos

If God Knows Everything, Why Did He Change His Mind?

Other Worldviews

Why Even Atheists Are Reconsidering Jesus

Other Worldviews

Can God Have a God?

Other Worldviews

Are You Ready to Talk to a Muslim About Jesus?

Podcasts

#STRask: The Concept of God’s Omniscience Is Just a Fear Tactic to Control Your Mind

Questions about whether the concept of God’s omniscience is just a fear tactic to control your mind and what to say to someone who thinks it’s possible for God to lie and that Jesus’ coming might have been an elaborate scheme to make us think he loves us.

Are Prayers Pointless If God Knows What Will Happen?

Greg answers questions about whether prayers are pointless if God knows what will happen, why we would be held responsible for Adam and Eve’s decisions, how John 3:13 could say no one has ascended into Heaven, and interactions between non-physical things and physical things.

#STRask: How Could God Be Perfect If He Regrets Something He Did?

Questions about how God could be perfect if he regrets something he did, whether there’s a difference between God’s sovereignty and God’s providence, and what Nehemiah meant when he said God “put it into his heart” to do certain things.

#STRask: The Idea That I Won’t Be Married to My Wife in Heaven Makes My Heart Hurt

Questions about what the absence of marriage in Heaven will mean for you and your spouse, thoughts regarding two Christians signing a prenup, whether it’s okay to want to get married because you want to have sex, and a wife taking over spiritual leadership.

What Would You Say to an Apathetic Person?

Greg answers questions about what Deuteronomy 13:11 means when it says that “all Israel will hear and be afraid,” whether we should “leave our offering at the altar” to reconcile with a bully, apathetic people, leading an Outpost as a woman, and accepting vs. resisting difficult situations.

#STRask: What Is the Definition of Inerrancy?

Questions about the definition of inerrancy, whether or not Mark and Luke were associates of Jesus, and whether or not Mark and Luke wrote Mark and Luke.

Can We Use the Word “Allah” to Refer to God?

Alan explains why the word “Allah” is not a general term for God.

#STRask: If Christians Believe God Answers Prayer, Then Why Do They Buy Health Insurance?

Questions about why Christians buy health insurance if they really believe God answers prayer and whether or not one should end all prayers about desires for a spouse with “If it be your will.”

Isn’t Animal Death a Result of the Fall?

Greg answers questions about animal death before the fall, reaching adult children who are caught up in the culture’s political movements, whether Greg illegitimately dismisses claims of supernatural intervention, and advice for finding a Bible-believing, traditional church.

#STRask: If God Created Everything, Doesn’t That Mean He Created Evil?

Questions about whether God creating everything means he created evil too, and how a grief counselor can answer a question about whether God causes or allows death and sickness.

What Things in Heaven Were Reconciled to God on the Cross?

Greg answers questions about what “things in Heaven” were reconciled to God through Jesus’ blood, numbers in the Bible, pro-choicers who won’t acknowledge the unborn is human, what approach to take with people who don’t think they need God, and a fallacy.

#STRask: Does Scripture Support a Christian Church Joining in Worship Services with an LDS Church?

Questions about whether there’s Scripture to support a Christian church joining in worship services with an LDS church, whether it’s a genetic fallacy to say we shouldn’t sing any songs created by bands from NAR churches, and whether it’s a sin not to fast.

Solid Ground

The Invisible Man

Though it’s fashionable nowadays for “enlightened” people tutored in scientific materialism to sniff with contempt at the antiquated idea of the “ghost in the machine,” here are four powerful reasons for you to be confident that not only do souls exist, but you are a soul.

Sexuality and Gender

What Is a Man? What Is a Woman?

In spite of the current confusion over who is a man and who is a woman, the technical criteria for determining a person’s sex have been in place for over 100 years, providing definitive answers even for those who have atypical genetics or ambiguous sexual anatomy.

The New Testament Canon: Which Books and Why?

The church’s recognition of the inspired canon proceeded in stages over time under God’s sovereign guidance, a mysterious mixture of divine intention and human effort. Here’s what happened.

Christian Living

Suicide—When Hope Runs Out

When we rely on everything the world can give us, when we trust in our individual effort to make our lives meaningful or to deliver us from trials and loss, we will ultimately be consumed with despair. But if we focus on fearing God and following him, we will find hope.