In the Bible, ‘belief’ and ‘faith’ are the same thing (see the answer to ‘What is the difference between faith and belief?‘), so we can’t really say that someone believes but doesn’t have faith because belief is faith. Having said that, the Bible does make a distinction between a living faith and a dead faith: a living […]
Was anyone in the Bible saved but later lost their salvation?
There are examples in the Bible of people being saved but then losing their salvation. Perhaps the biggest example — the one involving the most people — is that of the Children of Israel who were saved out of Egypt: most of them lost their salvation because they rebelled against God, and so they died […]
Why is Mark 7:16 left out of the NIV?
To understand why some translations omit Mark 7:16, first we need to understand a little bit about a process known as “textual criticism”. In brief, the original versions of the NT books (known as the “autographs”) are no longer available (they no doubt disintegrated many centuries ago). The Greek text we have today is based […]
Why should Christians attend church when it doesn’t seem to help anyone and the church isn’t getting anywhere?
The key verses on this topic come from Hebrews 10: “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. ” (Hebrews 10:24-25) These […]
What were ephahs, homers, shekels and gerahs? (Ezek 45:10-12)
You shall have just balances, a just ephah, and a just bath. 11 The ephah and the bath shall be of the same measure, the bath containing one tenth of a homer, and the ephah one tenth of a homer; the homer shall be the standard measure. 12 The shekel shall be twenty gerahs; twenty […]
What was the purpose for circumcision?
Original reason for circumcision in the Old Testament Genesis 17 states that God required that Abraham and those of his house to be circumcised as a sign (NET “reminder”) of the covenant between God and Abraham and those who succeeded him. Why did God initiate this specific procedure? What was its meaning? The Bible does […]
Was everyone in the Bible white in the beginning? Where were the black people?
The colour of your skin, the shape of your ears, the flexibility of your tongue and many, many more things about you are determined by your genes. Our bodies are made up of trillions of cells, and the DNA in each cell contains all the genes that make everyone different. Each gene comes in a […]
How do we get all nationalities, like Native Americans, from Adam and Eve?
Native Americans, Egyptians, Jews and everyone else are all descended from Adam and Eve. In fact, we’re all descended from the family of Noah, who were the only survivors of the flood (1 Peter 3:20). God divided the nations of the world soon after the flood (Genesis 10:32). The rationale for this arose from the building […]
Did Adam and Eve have a sexual relationship while in the garden of Eden?
We don’t know for sure as the Bible does not say. However, there is no reason to think that Adam and Eve did not have a normal relationship as husband and wife while in the garden of Eden. They were told to “be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:28) which suggests that they engaged in sexual […]
Who were Gehazi’s descendants?
Gehazi was a servant of the prophet Elisha. When Elisha healed Naaman the Syrian of leprosy, Gehazi lied to Naaman in order to receive a large reward (2 Kings 5:20-24). Elisha confronted Gehazi over his deception and said: Therefore the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and to your descendants forever.” So he went out […]