Answer by John Mackay There are several issues here that must be thought through: How do we know when words are symbolic? For example: one generation said: “That was great!” The next gen said: “That was wicked!”, which then became: “This is epic!” Did they mean the same thing? What clues tell us one word […]
Answer by John Mackay and Diane Eager. These questions arose from a longer criticism of the events described in Genesis 3, especially the verbal temptation of Eve and God’s judgment on the serpent. The main issues raised were: The serpent is described as a wild animal, and according to today’s scientific classification system it was […]
Answer by John Mackay and Diane Eager The short answer is that we are not specifically told in terms of days, months, or years, however, there are clues, which strongly indicate it wasn’t very long. The most obvious one is that Eve was not pregnant at the time they were sent out of the Garden. […]
Answer by John Mackay It’s true that some old earthers do argue that since we are not told how many days or weeks Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden, this leaves the door open to allow the possibility of an old earth. However, here is one aspect that most people do not […]
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 […]
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 […]
The original question was: Many of those who call themselves Evangelical Christians are increasingly accepting the idea that man evolved. Are there any problems if God created this way? Answer by Diane Eager Let’s start with the fact that it completely contradicts the Bible’s clear straightforward description of the origin of the first man and […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]