The original question was: If you claim homosexuality is a sin, then why don’t you refrain from eating seafood, working on Saturdays, shaving your beard, and all the other things found in the Old Testament law? Answer by John Mackay This question is referring to the Law of Moses concerning homosexuality, where it is forbidden […]
Category: Bible
MAN FROM DUST? My sceptical friends say it is impossible for God to create Adam as a living adult from non-living dust.
The original question was: I’m trying to obtain some information/evidence that could prove that God created an adult man (Adam) from dust. I’m also trying to get information on answering the sceptics. They ask how could God create living Adam out of non-living dust? It is not possible they say. Answer by John Mackay There […]
KETURAH is called a concubine and a wife. When did Abraham marry her and when were her children born?
The original question was: Abraham had a concubine called Keturah and the Bible records he also married her. (1 Chronicles 1:32, Genesis 25:1-2) What is the time frame of these events and were Keturah’s children born before or after Sarah’s death? Answer by John Osgood and Diane Eager What is a concubine? In a polygamous […]
POLEMIC? The early chapters of Genesis are a moral polemic against ancient pagan stories, so why do they have to be real history?
The original question was: My evangelical theological college teaches the early chapters of Genesis were written as a moral polemic against the multi-god, violent, and sexually immoral creation stories of the pagans, therefore we don’t need to regard Genesis 1-11 as real history. What do you think? Answer by Diane Eager and John Mackay To […]
GIANT ANIMALS are dangerous by their size alone. Was giantism an effect of the curse?
The original question was: While studying animals of the past such as the 15 meter long (48’) gigantic serpent Titanoboa cerrejonensis, who could have swallowed a man whole, I’ve discovered that many animals were of gargantuan dimensions. I can’t believe such animals were part of God’s original very good creation. If God created animals so […]
CAIN’S OFFERING: Why did God reject it, yet He accepted Abel’s offering?
The original question was: Why was Cain’s vegetable offering not accepted by God? We know that offerings of grain and other plant products were allowed under the Law of Moses, so wasn’t Cain’s attitude the problem, rather than the type of offering? Answer by John Mackay The account of Adam’s two sons Cain and Abel, […]
MAUNDY THURSDAY: Why is the Thursday before Easter called Maundy Thursday?
Answer by John Mackay The word Maundy is an English devolution of the old Latin word ‘mandate’. It’s connection with the Thursday before Easter is found in John 13:31 onwards where we read that at the Last Supper, Jesus told his disciples that “A new commandment I give unto you, That you love one another; […]
ANGEL OF DEATH: Was the Passover angel of death a created being?
Answer by John Mackay Perhaps first, a little on angels in general will help. The word translated angel in English is from the NT Greek aggelos. It’s a masculine noun, so forget all those pretty female angels on the Christmas trees. They are fakes and frauds. Aggelos is best defined as ‘a messenger’, and generally […]
CAIN is described as being of the wicked one. As he was Adam’s son does this mean Adam was wicked?
1 John 3:11-12 (NKJV) states: “For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous.” Since Cain was born from […]
POLYGAMY: If God designed one man for one woman for life, why did many godly men, even Abraham, have many wives?
Answer by John Mackay The first clue in this situation is the common and generous use of the word “godly” that many of us apply to Abraham (originally Abram). It is really eye opening to discover the when, where and by whom Abraham was raised. He was a descendant of righteous Noah via Shem across […]