Anonymous Asks (397)

“Is nagging a Christian tactic?”

Nagging is often associated with frustrated wives and mothers, perhaps unfairly. Passive aggressive men do it too. Try the words “If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a hundred times” with a little ‘Y’ chromosome on them, and you’ll quickly think of somebody male in your life with the habit of saying considerably more than is useful or necessary. I definitely did.

In any case, neither of my parents were inclined to nag. My early home life was happily unmarked by the irritation that persistent verbal harassment provokes.

Anonymous Asks (396)

“What does the Bible say about ice ages?”

Weather and climate are two different things, a fact deliberately obscured by the Global Boiling true believers and those who make financial use of them.

Weather is short-term. It’s the state of the atmosphere at a given time and place. It happens today, tomorrow or next week. Ask me what the weather has been like this winter and I’ll answer that it’s been close to normal temperatures with perhaps a little more snow than usual.

Anonymous Asks (395)

“Does Israel have a divine right to ‘much of the Middle East’?”

The shifting borders of modern Israel generate endless public debate. Last Friday, Tucker Carlson referenced a passage from Genesis in an interview with US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee. He asked the ambassador if Israel “had a right” to territory outside its current borders. Huckabee responded, “It would be fine if they took it all.”

From the standpoint of American interests, Huckabee was probably correct. But it was a bit of a foot-in-mouth moment. You can’t say that out loud these days. As usual, the media foamed at the mouth. Politico reported the exchange here.

Anonymous Asks (394)

“Hey, I’ve been trying to learn more about living in Christ. What books or resources do you personally read or follow?”

I almost posted photos of my bookshelves, but I’m not sure how useful a complete rundown of my collection or my regular online reading list would be as an example for a younger believer. I’m an older Christian and I write for online publication almost every day my life. I am at my sharpest when reacting to error, so I buy and read many books written by people I don’t agree with in whole or in part in order to get the view “from the other side”. I try to use the experience the Lord has given me to test good arguments and bad, and pick apart the ones that need it.

Then I often keep the books that contain them around for reference afterwards. I will leave most of these off my recommendation list. No pictures today!

Anonymous Asks (393)

“Is it biblical to choose the lesser of two evils?”

In the ancient Hebrew of the Old Testament, the word translated “evil” [raʿ] has two distinct meanings. One is wickedness, an ungodly moral choice made by a living being. The other is misfortune, a sad practical consequence of living in a fallen world, about which we often have little or no choice at all.

Anonymous Asks (392)

“What are the windows of heaven?”

We find the metaphor “windows of heaven” several times throughout the Old Testament. It describes how God responds to the actions of men in two very different ways.

What they have in common is abundance.

Open in Judgment

In the first book of the OT, the “windows of heaven” describes the outpouring of rain during Noah’s flood. In Genesis 7, the windows of heaven were opened. In Genesis 8, the windows of heaven were closed, and the rain ceased to fall. Forty days and forty nights of rain is what we might reasonably call an abundance, but it was an abundance of judgment. God used it to destroy a wicked world. Nobody wants that sort of abundance. You wouldn’t pray for it, and God has promised never to do it again.

Anonymous Asks (391)

“Is the ‘Name It Claim It’ philosophy biblical?”

I had to look up this phrase since I’m entirely unfamiliar with the concept. A Google Ngram search shows it began appearing in English literature just prior to 1980 and took off in popularity post-2000, peaking after 2020. Having established that, I looked for a book by that name in hope of finding a popular proponent of the teaching. The one that crops up most frequently is a 2008 publication by Dag Heward-Mills entitled Name It! Claim It!! Take It!!! (with all those crazy exclamation marks), available since 2024 as a free PDF online in what I think is its entirety.

Prosperity Gospel by Another Name

The book certainly falls within the Ngram timeframe, but late enough to suggest the phrase probably did not originate with Heward-Mills. TV evangelists like Kenneth Copeland have popularized the concept to the point that it may not be possible to figure out exactly where it came from. For our purposes, it hardly matters one way or another; the basic teaching has been around for centuries.

Anonymous Asks (390)

“Are religious icons idols?”

For readers with limited exposure to “high church” traditions, an icon is an artistic depiction of Bible persons or events in paint, mosaic or wood. Icons are common among the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholics and some Lutherans. The Lord Jesus, Mary, ‘saints’ and angels are the most frequent subjects.

Depending whom you ask, what makes an icon ‘iconic’ is that, rather than simply being decorative, it serves as an object of devotion.

Anonymous Asks (389)

“When did the Church begin?”

Two answers to this question are common among evangelicals. The Dispensational answer is “At Pentecost in the early first century AD.” The answer of Replacement Theology (“RT”) is “The people of God are one throughout the entire Bible.” Since “church” [ekklēsia] means a congregation (i.e., more than one person), the Church can then be said to have begun with the second human being ever saved, perhaps Eve or Abel. Others argue Abraham is “the father of us all”. Either position adds thousands of years to the age of the Church.

If you think the difference is a mere numeric technicality, think again.

Anonymous Asks (388)

“What is the Synoptic Problem?”

The word ‘synoptic’ refers to the gospels written by Matthew, Mark and Luke, coming from the Latin synopticus, literally “seeing all together”. Wikipedia describes the Synoptic Problem this way:

“The ‘synoptic problem’ is … the question as to the source or sources upon which each synoptic gospel depended when it was written.”

You too may have noticed passages from the three gospels that are similar to one another. I’m not quite sure why commentators describe it as a problem. I think of it more as a curiosity.

Anonymous Asks (387)

“Why does God allow deception?”

Google the phrase “Why does God allow”. Stop there. The number one answer by a long, long shot is “suffering”. Even my browser’s AI response assumes that’s what my open-ended question is really asking. Second highest is “evil”. Third is “tragedy”, which may or may not have a malevolent component. I often associate tragedy with natural events that hurt people, or things like dying young.

Way down the list is “Why does God allow me to struggle and fail?” Hey, I sympathize.

Anonymous Asks (386)

“Why did Job’s wife tell him to curse God and die?”

The day the Sabeans killed Job’s servants and took all his oxen and donkeys was the same day fire fell from the sky and killed all his sheep and shepherds. It was also the same day the Chaldeans stole his camels and the same day the house fell on his ten children during a party and killed them all. Job lost every outward sign of God’s blessing in a matter of minutes. Shortly thereafter, his entire body broke out in pustules.

The pustules apart, it should be obvious that everything that happened to Job also happened to his wife. We don’t think about that aspect of the story quite so much.

Anonymous Asks (385)

“What does the Bible say about the three wise men?”

The Christmas story as we know it is a composite of information passed on by the writers of two of our four gospels. (Mark and John begin the story of Jesus Christ roughly thirty years in, with John the Baptist.) Matthew’s gospel is where we find the only references in scripture to the wise men.

First things first: the popular formulation in the Christmas carol about them (“three kings of orient”) turns out to be incorrect in as many as three respects. It is certainly wrong in one.

Anonymous Asks (384)

“What does it mean that a friend’s wounds are ‘faithful’?”

The line comes from one of Solomon’s later proverbs. In full it reads, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.”

The wounds of a friend are not injuries he incurs on your behalf or in the process of defending you from others, though that might be your first thought, as it was mine. Taking a major hit for a pal is definitely a confirmation of friendship, but I don’t think that’s what Solomon was talking about.

Anonymous Asks (383)

“My (saved) parents seem uninterested in their grandchildren. Is there anything I can do?”

Anonymous, you have the opposite problem many of us encounter, and that is that our children (saved or unsaved) may not have the level of interest in their grandparents that we would like them to have. Alternatively, many grandparents are overly invested in pursuing relationships with their grandchildren and complicate the lives of their parents by meddling.

In short, this is a new one for me among Christians.

Anonymous Asks (382)

“Is there an NT equivalent for sackcloth and ashes? If so, how should we practice it?”

The expression “sackcloth and ashes” occurs in only three Old Testament passages in precisely that form. In another two places both words appear in the same context separately. Both words are common in the OT, and both were well-known signs of public mourning. The mourner would wear the sackcloth and sit (or sometimes roll) in the ashes, and/or sprinkle them on his head.

Fun? Not really. But in ancient times, if you were in distress and wanted your neighbors to know it, that’s the way you told them. Sackcloth and ashes.

Anonymous Asks (381)

“Is it unloving to confront somebody about his sin?”

As in so many situations Christians encounter in this life, motive is more important to the Lord than the actions it produces. Some people just can’t get their heads around that. We generally call these people legalists. They value actions and outcomes more than the heart and mindset that produces them.

The Lord just … doesn’t.

Anonymous Asks (380)

“Does a Christian marriage have to be romantic?”

Men and women born much prior to the ‘Summer of Love’ — like, say, those who managed to live through a World War, the Great Depression or any of the plagues and famines of prior centuries — would probably find this question hilarious. Even today, in cultures where the social or financial advantages of being married outweigh any potential negatives, a deficiency of romance in a marriage rarely amounts to a stopper.

However, we live in an era in which a young person’s view of marriage is often wildly unrealistic. Feminist media propaganda shapes the expectations of most young women — and many men.

Anonymous Asks (379)

“What does it mean that everything is meaningless?”

Today’s question comes from the NIV’s rendering of the second verse of Ecclesiastes. The NIV is one of only two English translations out of the most common 35 that has elected to go with the word “meaningless” in this context. People are far more familiar with the King James: “Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.”

The vast majority of English translations (21 of 35) follow the KJV.

Anonymous Asks (378)

“Should Christians spank their children?”

I have experienced spanking from both ends. (Sorry.)

I have regularly spanked three children throughout their formative years, and maintain loving and mutually-beneficial relationships with each one to this day. I have also received the occasional judicious and quite necessary whack from a loving and reluctant parent during the lengthy period it took me to grow to maturity.

Both ways, spanking worked. I regret nothing.