Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 13011 Gnosticism was not a single, tidy system but a collection of interconnected religious ideas that shared enough common assumptions to pose a recognisable and serious threat to the apostolic gospel. Its appeal lay in what it claimed to offer: a deeper, hidden knowledge of spiritual reality available to those initiated into it. In…
Reading Time: 5 minutesQuestion 1010 Special revelation is God’s direct, personal communication of truth that we could never discover on our own. Whilst general revelation (what God shows us through creation) tells us that God exists, special revelation tells us who God is and how we can know Him. Biblical Evidence The writer to the Hebrews puts it…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 1068 When Christians speak of the Bible as “inspired,” they mean something quite specific—something far more than calling Shakespeare inspired or saying an artist had an inspired moment. Biblical inspiration is a technical theological term describing how God produced Scripture through human authors. Understanding this doctrine is essential for grasping why Scripture carries divine…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 1066 This is perhaps the most fundamental question anyone can ask about Christianity. If the Bible is not truly God’s Word, then our faith rests on nothing more than human opinion and religious tradition. But if it is what it claims to be—the very words of the living God—then everything changes. Our lives, our…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 1073 How did we get our Bible? Who decided which books should be included? These are fair questions, and the answers reveal something wonderful about God’s providence in preserving His Word for His people. The formation of the biblical canon wasn’t a matter of church councils imposing authority—it was the Church recognising what God…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 1089 People face profound struggles—depression, anxiety, broken relationships, addictions, grief, guilt, and confusion about life’s direction. Where should they turn for help? The modern world offers secular psychology, pharmaceutical solutions, and self-help programmes. Christians throughout history have turned to Scripture. What role should the Bible play in helping people with their deepest problems? The…
Reading Time: 5 minutesQuestion 01203 These two terms describe two distinct works of the Holy Spirit in relation to Scripture, and confusing them leads to serious theological error. Getting this right matters because it protects the uniqueness and authority of God’s Word. Inspiration Defined Inspiration refers to the unique work of the Holy Spirit by which He moved…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 01149 There is a beautiful coherence to the doctrine of Scripture that is sometimes missed in debates about inspiration and interpretation. The same Holy Spirit who oversaw the production of the biblical text is the Spirit who opens the minds of believers to receive it. The Spirit who breathed out the words is the…
Reading Time: 7 minutesQuestion 0030 Walk into any theological seminary and you will encounter rigorous study of systematic theology, historical theology, biblical languages, and philosophical argumentation. Walk into most local churches and you will find people trying to figure out how to raise their children in the faith, how to make ethical decisions at work, and whether they…
Reading Time: 5 minutesQuestion 0019 This is one of those questions that’s painful to ask but necessary. Walk into many churches and you’ll find people who’ve been Christians for twenty, thirty, even forty years—and yet they couldn’t explain basic doctrine, don’t read their Bibles regularly, and are easily swept along by whatever teaching sounds appealing. The rebuke in…