Answers to Bible Questions
Marriage and FamilySee All
What are the origins of Thanksgiving?

I'd stuffed many a turkey before I really understood Thanksgiving. Oh sure, I knew we were supposed to be thankful, and once I became a Christian I knew who we were thanking. But the Thanksgiving story is more than just the tale of Pilgrims and Indians. ...

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Is Santa Claus harmless fun?

I have a friend who loves the Santa Claus tradition at Christmas. She and her husband go to great lengths to convince their children that Santa Claus exists. They make prints in the snow (including on their roof), leave a little pile of coal dust in ...

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Is it a sin to marry a non-Christian?

I think you're asking the wrong question here. The real question should be, "Why would you want to marry a non-Christian?"

God's vision for marriage is that of a place where a "culture of two" is created. Marriage is about sharing our lives, and ...

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Personal ConcernsSee All
How can we have hope amidst all the violence and suffering?
How can we have hope amidst all the violence and suffering?

The news today is filled with terrible stories of violence and suffering. Violence against Christians, racial strife, airplanes crashed or missing, ongoing conflict in Syria, Afghanistan, Ukraine, and several African countries—it’s no wonder ...

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How should the church help people with mental illness?

Most people don't talk much about mental illness. And because of this silence, many of us have the misconception that mental illness is something rare, something that happens to unusual people at the margins of society.

We couldn't be more ...

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Why does it seem that sometimes my prayers go unanswered?
Why does it seem that sometimes my prayers go unanswered?

People pray on bended knee, opening their hearts to God, asking him for a myriad of things: healing of cancer, a job after all these months, a buyer for their house in a frozen market, the end of pain. Some prayers will be answered, and the recipients ...

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Spiritual LifeSee All
What Does It Mean to Be Spiritually Mature?
What Does It Mean to Be Spiritually Mature?
In a nutshell: we must go deeper in every area of our lives.

Recently I have been drawn to the word deep as a descriptor when I speak of mature Christians. My earliest appreciation for the term came when I read a comment by Richard Foster, "The desperate need today is not for a greater number of intelligent ...

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Why Are There Different Bible Translations?
Why Are There Different Bible Translations?
No single translation method can possibly convey with complete accuracy the biblical text.

Many Christians seem confused by the availability of so many different translations of the Bible. Christians of the past did not face so many choices. They had to learn the language of the King James, and if they could do it, why can't others? God ...

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How Should I Choose a Bible Translation?
How Should I Choose a Bible Translation?
Hint: You don’t need to read the original Greek, Hebrew, or Aramaic to understand Scripture.

From countless pulpits every week we hear an implicit message that has wormed its way into our minds: we lack the key to unlocking the secrets of Scripture because we don't know the original languages they were written in. Sure, we have translations ...

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TheologySee All
Can a Christian Suffer from Mental Illness?
Can a Christian Suffer from Mental Illness?
Christians struggle this way as frequently as anyone else.

My mother has schizophrenia. Her illness had a profound effect on our family, especially when I was a young teenager. Like many other families, we stayed pretty quiet about what we were experiencing. My dad was a pastor for 10 years, and after that we ...

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Who Is the Holy Spirit?
Who Is the Holy Spirit?
We talk a lot about the Father and Son, but often fail to note the Spirit’s presence.

Who is the Holy Spirit? He is, of course, God, and he helps us know where God is. But in talking about “where” God is, Christians are forced to retain two equal and (seemingly) opposing truths. We must with one hand cling to God’s transcendence—the ...

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Why Are There Different Denominations?
Why Are There Different Denominations?
They are actually a means of keeping peace.

The book that best helped me understand why there are so many different denominations is Sacred Pathways by Gary Thomas. It was not written to explain denominations, but it does so in a backdoor way. In this book, Thomas explains how varied we are in ...

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