Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 08056 Ghost stories are among the oldest forms of human storytelling, and belief in ghosts remains remarkably persistent even in secular societies. Surveys consistently show that a significant proportion of the population in the Western world believes in ghosts or claims to have experienced a ghostly encounter. For the Christian, the question is not…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 08140 The New Testament contains a remarkable statement about the future relationship between believers and angels, one that sits uncomfortably with the instinctive assumption that angelic beings are permanently our superiors. Paul tells the Corinthians that the saints will judge angels, and this claim has significant implications for how Christians understand both their present…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 08141 Few pastoral situations require more care than the moment a church member approaches their pastor and says, “An angel spoke to me.” The claim touches on deeply held convictions about the supernatural, personal experience, and spiritual authority, and handling it badly can damage the person, the congregation, or both. Getting it right requires…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 08138 The New Testament makes several references to angels being involved in the giving of the Law at Sinai, a detail that is not immediately obvious from the Old Testament narrative itself. Stephen mentions it in his speech before the Sanhedrin, Paul refers to it in Galatians, and the writer of Hebrews builds an…
Reading Time: 3 minutesQuestion 08114 The Bible does not give a precise count of the angels God has created, but it provides enough language to establish that their number is extraordinarily vast. The consistent impression Scripture gives is of an innumerable host, a created order so immense that human counting cannot contain it. The Biblical Language of Multitude…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 08115 The idea that God assigns a personal angel to watch over each individual believer is one of the most widely held assumptions in popular Christianity. It appears on greeting cards, in children’s songs, and in the casual reassurances people offer one another during difficult times. But does Scripture actually teach it? The answer…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 08113 Angels are among the most frequently mentioned yet least carefully understood beings in the Bible. Popular culture has produced a version of angels that bears little resemblance to what Scripture actually describes, replacing the powerful, purposeful servants of God with gentle, winged figures that function as celestial companions or decorative symbols. What the…
Reading Time: 3 minutesQuestion 08112 The existence of angels is affirmed throughout Scripture with such consistency and matter-of-factness that the biblical authors clearly regarded it as beyond question. Angels appear in almost every major section of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, and are involved in some of the most significant events in redemptive history. The question of…
Reading Time: 3 minutesQuestion 11014 The short answer is yes, emphatically. Worship is not confined to a building, a service, or a Sunday morning time slot. The longer answer requires understanding what worship actually is in biblical terms, because the question itself often rests on a definition of worship that is too narrow. If worship means singing songs…
Reading Time: 3 minutesQuestion 60014 Buddhism is the world’s fourth-largest religion, with an estimated 500 million adherents, primarily in East and Southeast Asia but with growing influence in the West. It is often presented in popular culture as a philosophy of peace, mindfulness, and inner tranquility rather than a religion in any traditional sense. This presentation, while not…