Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 10020 People who have never opened a Bible often assume it is a collection of religious rules, ancient legends, or moral advice gathered across the centuries. Those who have read it sometimes come away feeling something similar — overwhelmed by its size, its diversity, and the sheer distance between its world and ours. Yet…
Reading Time: 5 minutesQuestion 10030 Before assessing what the Bible is, it is worth listening to what it claims to be. This is not circular reasoning — it is the same approach you would take with any significant document. A witness’s self-testimony may ultimately be accepted or rejected, but it has to be heard before it can be…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 01147 The doctrine of Scripture’s sufficiency touches something that matters deeply in practice. It is the difference between the church that looks to the Bible as its final word on everything that matters, and the church that treats Scripture as one voice among several, to be supplemented by tradition, contemporary experience, or ecclesiastical authority….
Reading Time: 6 minutesQuestion 0027 This question touches on one of the great tensions within the Church today. On one side are those who say doctrine divides and love unites, so we should minimise doctrine for the sake of unity. On the other side are those who insist that any doctrinal compromise is a betrayal of truth, so…
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: 6 minutesQuestion 0037 This question helps us appreciate both the remarkable providence of God in preserving His truth and the reality of how the early Church actually functioned. It also reminds us not to take for granted the complete Bible we hold in our hands today. The Situation of the Early Church When the Church was…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 0040 The short answer is: you can’t. And this isn’t a criticism—it’s simply the reality of how human beings engage with any text, including Scripture. Everyone Has Theology The moment you open your Bible and read, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1), you bring theology with you. What…
Reading Time: 6 minutesQuestion 0032 It is one of the great tragedies of the modern church that the study of God—which is what the word “theology” means—has become associated with dusty books, academic jargon, and irrelevant speculation. How did we get to the point where knowing God is considered boring? How did understanding the Creator of the universe…
Reading Time: 5 minutesQuestion 0033 The question itself is encouraging. Anyone asking how to develop an appetite for doctrine already possesses something precious—the recognition that such an appetite is desirable. Not everyone reaches that point. Many Christians coast through their lives on spiritual junk food, never realising they are malnourished. The fact that you want to grow in…
Reading Time: 6 minutesQuestion 0031 The comparison between doctrine and an immune system is remarkably apt, and Scripture itself uses similar language. Just as our physical bodies possess an intricate defence system designed to recognise, resist, and destroy harmful invaders, so sound doctrine operates within the believer’s soul to identify error, resist deception, and preserve spiritual health. Paul…