Q. There are many people who are against abortion. I believe it is wrong, but shouldn’t women have the choice to choose between right and wrong? After all, don’t we have to choose to accept Christ?
This is an interesting question and of course a very controversial topic in our culture (secular or religious). The first thing we must address is whether the act of abortion is inherently right or wrong in God’s eyes.
Is Abortion Murder?
No matter what you try to call it, “abortion”, “choice”, or a woman’s “right”: having a baby in the womb killed voluntarily is murder. It is taking another life. Sure that life may not be full grown or be visible outside the mother’s belly, but it is medically and scientifically still a life that is being snuffed out.

The bible agrees that babies in the womb are considered valuable just like you and me. For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13). The Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name (Isaiah 49:1).

God even “knows” these babies before they are conceived: Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations (Jeremiah 1:5). And when you jump to the New Testament you see John the Baptist in Luke 1 leaping with joy while in his mother’s womb in the presence of Mary (pregnant with Jesus).

It is clear that God values babies in the womb as life. Therefor to end the life of an unborn baby is no different than to end the life of an adult. Both are murder, and murder is prohibited; not only in God’s word (Exodus 20:13), but in the US Justice system as well.
The Choice To Choose Right or Wrong?
The original question suggests women should have the right (or the freedom) to choose abortion, even it is wrong. I think if we asked that question about rape or murder we’d get a clear answer. Shouldn’t people be allowed to rape children if they want to, even if it is wrong? No! Shouldn’t people be given the freedom to steal a car from a dealership even if they know it’s wrong and most of us agree it’s wrong? Of course not! That just doesn’t make sense. It’s the same with abortion.

At the end of the day we can all make our own choices, good or bad. But in most countries you are not “allowed” do just whatever you want. Governments exist to protect the people. If there were no laws then there would be chaos. Thus we have US law to protect people from murder, but we also have God’s law which protects unborn babies from being murdered.

So the short answer is no. None of us should be given the “choice” to do whatever we please if it jeopardizes the life of another human being. It’s just that simple.

Q. The Bible is just a collection of letters and documents written by men.  How do we know that what they are writing is true? Does any scientific evidence exist to prove their validity?

Even if the Bible was just a collection of letters and documents that were written by men, it would be one of the most cohesive, unified, and historically accurate literary works ever compiled. The concept of 40 authors compiling information over the course of 1600 years to produce a literary work that is so consistent with itself is a literary wonder. No other book ever written can boast such consistency, comprehensiveness, and accuracy.

The Internal Test

The first step to take is to look at the Bible internally. What does it say about itself? Well, it says that “scripture” is literally God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16). It also says that its words never came by the will of man, but by holy men of God as they were moved by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21). It also claims to be perfect (the Law of the Lord is perfect – Psalm 19:7), pure (Your Word is very pure – 119:140), eternal (the Word of the Lord endures forever – Isaiah 40:8), and that God is preserving it (till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled – Matt. 5:18). Through the use of oral tradition (an ancient way of meticulously and carefully passing information along verbally) and manuscripts (written methods), God used holy men to be his stenographers.

Prophecy is also something that is evident in Scripture as well. Many things were written about in the Old Testament that wouldn’t happen for hundreds and sometimes over a thousand years. Some examples to note are: Isaiah 7:14 tells us that “Immanuel” will be born of a virgin. 700 years later, Matthew 3;14 records that event transpiring; Micah 5:2 tells us that Jesus will be born (out of the all the cities in the world) in Bethlehem some 700 years later. Matthew 2:1 once again confirms this fact that Jesus was indeed born in Bethlehem.
The External Test
Next, one should look at external evidence of the Bible. Many people, even though they are presented with sound argumentation regarding the Bible’s internal proof, need more than that.

Historians who lived in Jesus’ day wrote about the events that centered around Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection. For example, there are some that dispute the Jewish historian Josephus’ claims regarding Jesus but it is documented that he said in his work The Antiquities of the Jews…
“Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man; for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was the Christ. And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him; for he appeared to them alive again the third day; as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day.”
Josephus was born in 37 AD which makes him a contemporary of the early church Apostles. Seeing as though Josephus writes about the events that the entire Bible center around, and that he was an outsider (meaning he did not believe that Jesus was God, the Messiah, or the Son of God) leads one to deduce further that the Biblical authors were on to something and in fact inspired by God to write down what they did.

More external evidence lies in the historical names, dates, and locations of the Biblical stories. For example, Cyrus, the king Persia in the 6th century BC, is a historical figure who is mentioned more than 20 times in Scripture. Isn’t it also an interesting fact that the Bible was written in languages that are still spoken today? Many of the ancient languages are not spoken today but Hebrew and Greek are two that stood the test of time. Probably not a coincidence.
The Bibliographical Test
Finally, one should look at the Bible from a bibliographical stand point.
There are over 20,000 ancient Biblical manuscripts that exist today. No other ancient book can make that claim. In fact, the closest that a book comes to the number of manuscripts is Homer’s Illiad, in which there are 643 copies.

With the Dead Sea Scroll findings in the Qumran caves in the winter of 1946-47, there is more bibliographical evidence than ever before. Manuscripts were found that were dated before the time of Christ…these same manuscripts, such as an entire copy of Isaiah, foretell the coming of Jesus, which validates the prophetic nature of the Great Scroll (as it is called), which (as was alluded to) was written over a hundred years before Jesus even walked the earth.

There is so much more proof that can validate the validity of the Bible but in the end, it is a matter of doing the research ourselves in order to come up with further answers. This answer is not the comprehensive end-all, be-all to why the Bible is true in every way. We encourage you, our readers to do your own research and come to your own conclusions, because we believe in truth. We believe that it has been revealed to mankind. And we believe that it is possible to find clear answers.

Q. The Bible teaches that you have to believe in Jesus Christ to go to Heaven, but what about people in third world countries? What happens to them?
The premise of “The bible teaches that you have to believe in Jesus to go to heaven” is completely accurate.

Acts 4:12 states: “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men which we must be saved” That’s very clear.  The context for “in any other” includes Verse 10 which references “Jesus of Nazareth”.  Verse 11 references Psalms 118:22 which scholarship views as a prophecy about Messiah.  So the verse and context are clear.  Deliverance spiritually comes through “Jesus of Nazareth”.  The “no other” part is ‘oute’ in the Greek, which means neither, not.

Romans 10:4 states: “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes”.  The search for personal qualification, righteousness, and acceptance by God is through Messiah.  Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ (Romans 1:1-6). So the message is clear, John 14:6:  “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me“.

“But what about the people in third world countries? What happens to them?”
We Must Understand Our History
To understand mankind’s condition spiritually,  we must understand our history.  We generally view mankind in the past as basically primitive, and that they are ascending in spiritual awareness.  But that is not what God’s message to us teaches.

“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are with out excuse, because although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.  Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man–and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.  Therefore God also gave them up…”  Romans 1:20-24

So we can see, that mankind had a great start, a sufficient awareness of who God is.  According to scripture there is no excuse to not understand that God exists. Mankind is not primitive in this respect, but degenerative.  Mankind in general has lost the spiritual understanding and awareness that was once possessed.
Why Christians Are On Mission
But not everyone has heard the name of Jesus, and that is why the church has been given the mandate of the ‘Great Commission” (Acts 1:8).  We have been given the responsibility to retrieve global humanity, and bring them back into an accurate awareness of the true God and His design of salvation which is through “repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” Acts 20:21.

Verse 20 communicates that if we are willing to do this, we will be able to say as the Apostle Paul did, “how I kept back nothing that was helpful”.  Nothing that is helpful in assisting people to connect with God!

Q.  We are called to be peace-makers, so at what point, at what limit, at what offense do we carry our peace-making with a peacemaker?
When delving into the topic of when or if we should stand against the worlds violence in a physical way we must first state that evil is real, God is just, and the bible is the source of authority in which we are answering this question.

So lets look at the verse,

“Blessed the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God.”

So a Peace maker is called a son of God; these are individuals who trust God as their father and who by redemption have been given the inheritance of God (1 Peter 1:4, Gal 4:4-7). We see that our Father is a God of Justice and that he is the only one who can sentence a full Just Judgment, which is his perfect desire and nature (psalm 11:5-7. psalm 19:7-9, Psa. 89:14, Deut. 32:3, 4).

As sons of God we are the individuals who are “In Christ”. When in Christ, our thinking has changed on sin and evil in the world (Romans 12) and thus now we have a discernment in the world we live in.
Peacemaking Is Ultimately Up To God
We see God as a God which says he will fulfill full justice to everyone everywhere and for us to be patient (Isaiah 66:16, 51:5). We must understand that the reality of evil comes from the individual heart which does the evil.  No amount of physical war will ever end mans selfish ability to do evil. We are called to love our enemies. In true love comes true desire for Justice. When we see a situation of oppression we are called to have action against it (Isaiah 58). We are never to hate the sinner but true hate of sin is the desire to stop it and protect those that are being affected by it.

So we should strive to be peacemakers in all situations, even to the point of national peacemakers with movements like that of non-violent revolutions (Martin Luther King Jr, Ghandi, Paul, John the baptist). But there is a point when all else fails that action must be taken; not for our personal glory but for protection of the week, and for self defense according to God’s sovereign will.

If no possible way of peace can form, we are called to love; and loving through action is needed. As for self defense, we fight for our bodies because God has given these to us to take care of and rule, but we freely give them up for our faith, so we may witness to others even to the point of death. We must have the world view that God is the only one who can properly punish and judge people/nations, he is in sovereign control of nations and peoples so we must first connect with him and by this have a discerning heart to do his will. Knowing he will never cause us to hate.

Peace on earth will only come through Christ, not some utopic desire through certain human actions. In the end it is good to remind men it is our duty to oversee our family in protection and care (1 Tim 5:8).

(http://www.openbible.info/topics/taking_care_of_our_body)

Q. Why does Paul write such mean things about women?  Why can’t there be women teachers in the church?
In order to understand Paul’s view on women and their role in the church, one must understand the totality of the Biblical view of the value and worth of a woman. Remember, the Bible does not contradict itself. No where in the Bible will you see that women were created as the inferior gender. Genesis 1:27 states “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”
Not only are women not the inferior gender when it comes to creation, but also in Christ’s church. Galatians 3:28 says “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” In both areas of importance here, creation and within the church, everyone is equal.
God Used Many Women To Further His Kingdom
We also know that God worked through and used many great women in the Bible (i.e. Ruth, Naomi, Hannah, Esther, Sarah, Deborah, Hagar, Mary, Martha, Lydia). These women were all very esteemed and valued and are just a few of the many that God elevates in His Word.

This gives us a broader perspective and enable us to realize that Paul would not go against the rest of the Bible, seeing as though  the same God that inspired the Words of the other authors of the Bible is the same God that inspired Paul’s words would lead us to believe that Paul was not trying to be mean, to devalue, or to diminish the woman’s place within the church. In fact, it is the awesome woman Lydia, the seller of fine clothes, who was Paul’s first evangelistic contact and convert in Philippi, who ended up opening up her home to hold the worship gatherings in. Paul understood how important women were and that sometimes when men were no where to be found, as was the case in Philippi, it was a sweet business woman whom God used to help start the church.

The passages in question are probably 1 Timothy 2:11-12 “Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence.” and 1 Cor. 14:34-35 “Let your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak; but they are to be submissive…”

To get a grasp on what Paul is saying, we must understand the context. When he says “let a woman learn” that was a foreign concept in that day and age.” Women, for the most part, were not permitted to be “learned” or educated. This alone shows the sensitivity by Paul to go as far as to counteract ancient society and culture. When he says “in silence and submission” he is referring to roles. The word submission in the Greek language implies arranging oneself in a military formation (simply, finding one’s place). Within the church, a woman’s role is not to be the teacher.
Equal, But Different
This is backed up in 1 Timothy 3, Titus 1 where pastors (elders, shepherds, bishops – all of these words are interchangeable) who are called to teach, are supposed to be (rendered in the Greek language) “the male of one female.” It is referring to males. Just as men, according to Scripture are called to be the heads of their wives, they are likewise also called to be heads of the church, submitting of course to the Chief Head (or Shepherd) Christ as we see in 1 peter 5.

In other words, everyone is supposed to find their role. For women in a church setting, it is not to teach (actually to teach just men as is stated in 1 Timothy; it says nothing about teaching other women). But that doesn’t diminish their importance or cancel out the idea that they can have a position of prominence. Because as we know, women were used greatly in the NT church, as we have seen already with Lydia, as well as with Chloe in Romans 16, who was commended by Paul for her incredible service within the church. And there are others.

Q. Why do people say God is “loving” when he actually commanded Abraham to kill his own son as a sacrifice to him? How is that loving?
Viewed holistically, the story of Abraham’s life is one of the Old Testament’s greatest examples of God’s undeserved lovingkindness toward humanity. God chose this obscure man from a region of nature worshippers, and called him to become the patriarch of the Israelite nation. To understand the (near) sacrifice of his son Isaac, it must be looked at in the context of Abraham’s life from start to finish.
Before He Was Abraham
Abraham (then “Abram”, meaning “exalted father”) was born in a Babylonian city called Ur, in what is today southern Iraq. His inglorious ancestry and obscure history make him a very unlikely candidate to be the father of the Israelite nation. Yet, in Genesis 12:1 God initiates the relationship which would lead to Abram’s honored place in Biblical history.

“Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
The Unlikely Birth of Isaac
Isaac himself was the product of God’s loving, miraculous intervention in the life of Abraham and his wife Sarah. In Gen 17:15, he tells Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her.” Abraham laughed at God’s words (an understandable reaction, as he was nearly one hundred years old, and Sarah was ninety). But sure enough, Sarah conceived shortly after, and Isaac (whose name means “he laughs”) was born.
The (Near) Sacrifice
Genesis 22 is the account of God’s command to Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. “Take your son,” he says, “your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” Abraham rises early in the morning, and on the third day of travel, they reach the mountain. Abraham lays the wood for the offering on Isaac’s shoulders, and asks his servants to remain behind. When Isaac asks where the lamb to be sacrificed is, Abraham simply responds, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” After Abraham binds Isaac, and is about to “slaughter him,” God stays his hand: “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me” (Gen 22:12).

Several objections may now be raised. First, did God not know Abraham feared Him before the near sacrifice of Isaac? The simple answer is that He of course knew Abraham’s fear (or holy reverence) of Him. God did not learn anything, as if it were new information to Him. The real beneficiary of the incident was Abraham himself, who gained a new understanding of God’s providence, to the point that He named that very spot “The Lord will provide” (22:14).

Second, any objection that God was simply toying with Abraham in some cruel, sadistic way should be thwarted by examining the previous points, but also by remembering a much more familiar incident in the pages of the New Testament. There, God placed on Himself the same requirement He asked of Abraham. Laying the wood for the sacrifice on the shoulders of His only Son, He led Jesus to the hill where He would be sacrificed (it is possibly the same hill where Abraham led Isaac). The difference is that God did not stay His own hand, but again provided the sacrificial lamb “who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).

Q. Should hell as described in the Bible be taken literally? How about children and hell?

Hell as described in the Bible should definitely be taken literally. Why? Because of the literal, and not symbolic nature of the terms that are used in the Bible.
Jesus Took It Literally
When Jesus talked about “hell” he used the expression translated in Greek as geenna (or gehenna).  It is a contraction of “ge” valley and “Hinnom” (which means sorrow in Hebrew).

The Old Testament refers to this same place that Jesus mentions as Tophet (Heb. the place of burning bodies, the place of fire) in Is 30:33 and Jer 7:31.  It was a literal place where people burned their children as sacrifices to Molech, the hideous god of the Ammonites. (2 Chron 28:3).

This was all done in the Valley of Hinnom, out side of the dung gate of Jerusalem.  So Jesus would look at this place on the southeast end of the city of Jerusalem as he would talk about future judgment, where the smoke continually rose from burning trash and dead animals full of maggots…and he would say: “cast into geenna fire that never shall be quenched, where the worm dies not and the fire is not quenched” Mark 9:43, 44, 46, and 48 (he just kept repeating this for emphasis).

Matt 10:28 “destroy both soul and body in geenna” – Jesus speaks to His disciples about the extent of the punishment (soul and body). Rev 19:20 tells us that the beast and false prophet “both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone (flashing sulfur).” Rev 20:10 tells us that “tormented day and night for ever and ever” is the descriptive result.
Q. How about children and hell?
If one understands the Bible, then regarding this issue, one must think that there is some sort of theology of accountability. Romans 10:9 says that in order to be saved, one must “confess with (their) mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in (their) heart that God has raised Him from the dead.”

As we know, this is not possible for children under a certain age as well as those who suffer from certain mental disabilities. We see evidence of this in 2 Samuel 12:23 where David says after losing his infant son whom Bathsheba birthed: “I shall go to him.”

Q. Does being a devoted Christian guarantee you will go to heaven?
To answer this question we have to define what you mean when you say “being a devoted Christian.” Do you mean someone who is devoted to going to church and claiming to be a Christian to others? Or do you man someone who reads his or her bible constantly? What does a devoted Christian look like to you?

If by devoted Christian, you mean the biblical definition of a Christian, then the short answer to your question is, “Yes, you will go to heaven.” But let’s look at how the bible, God’s word, defines being a Christian.
Repentance and Faith
In the book of Mark, Jesus tells the public to “repent and believe in the Gospel” (Mark 1:15). The word to repent in the Greek means to literally “change your mind”. It simply implies that all of us, no matter who we are or where we come from, have done things wrong in our lives. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”

(Romans 3:23). None of us are perfect. But God actually IS perfect. So we have fallen short of his standard. To repent means to feel truly sorry for the things we’ve done wrong and that we want to change our lives and our way of thinking.

To believe in the Gospel means to believe in the “good news” literally. What is the “good news”? According to 1 Corinthians 15 it is that God himself came into human history (that’s Jesus) lived a perfect life that we couldn’t live, died the death we should have died, was buried in a tomb, and three days later raised himself from the dead. Jesus wants you and I to believe that actually did that as recorded in history and that he actually is God.
Jesus as Lord
Acts 20:21 tells us to have “repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.” So we must not only repent and believe that Jesus is God (like he said he was), but we must now make him the “Lord” of our lives, the manager if you will. We do what HE says and live for HIM, not ourselves. The bible reminds us that even the demons believe that Jesus is God (Luke 4:34) but that doesn’t get them to heaven.
We Can’t Earn Our Way
This is what the bible teaches about becoming a Christian. Repent and have faith in Jesus. Then and only then can you be assured a spot in heaven. We can never “work” to get to heaven, or be “good enough”. Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us that “by grace you have been saved, through faith. And this is not of your own doing. It is a gift of God, not a result of works. So that no one may boast.”

Basically you and I can’t be “devoted” enough to get to heaven. Just going to church or believing that God exists isn’t how we are saved. God freely gives that gift to those who repent and believe. We can however, spend the rest of our lives in devotion and pursuit of the things of God and what he calls us to.