Reading Time: 9 minutesQuestion 01156. Imprecatory psalms sit among the most uncomfortable passages a preacher ever has to handle from the pulpit, because verses that call down destruction on enemies, and in one notorious case pronounce a blessing on whoever dashes Babylonian infants against the rocks (Psalm 137:9), sit awkwardly beside Jesus’s plain command to love our enemies…
Reading Time: 9 minutesQuestion 1117. The imprecatory psalms are the prayers that stop most Bible readers in their tracks, the ones where the psalmist asks God to shatter an enemy’s teeth, to let their children be orphaned, or to dash infants against rocks. Psalm 137 ends this way, and it sits in the same book that gives us…
Reading Time: 6 minutesQuestion 1092. Meditating on Scripture is one of the oldest disciplines in the Christian life, and one of the most misunderstood, because the word “meditation” now carries associations that have very little to do with what the Bible means by it. When people hear “meditate”, many picture emptying the mind, sitting cross-legged, chasing a blank…
Reading Time: 6 minutesQuestion 1191. Reading Psalms well requires a different approach from reading Paul’s letters or the Gospels, since the Psalms were composed as poetry for prayer and worship rather than as doctrinal exposition, and treating them as though they were straightforward propositional teaching misses much of what they were actually written to do. I want to…
Reading Time: 6 minutesQuestion 1029. Hebrew poetry does not work the way English poetry does, and readers who go looking for rhyme or a regular metre come away thinking the Psalms and Proverbs are simply prose with unusual line breaks scattered through them. Once you know what to look for, Hebrew poetry becomes far more accessible, and its…
Reading Time: 6 minutesQuestion 1012. Scripture teaches that creation reveals God to every person on earth, whether they live under bright city lights or open desert skies, and that truth runs far deeper than mere sentiment. Stand under a clear night sky and look up, watch the sun lift over the hills, or consider the staggering detail packed…
Reading Time: 3 minutesQuestion 12015 The Bible does not mention contraception directly. There is no verse that says “thou shalt not use contraception” and no verse that says “family planning is commended.” This means the question must be approached through broader biblical principles rather than proof texts. Christians who hold strong convictions on both sides of this question…
Reading Time: 3 minutesQuestion 12016 In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a deeply personal and often painful subject. Many couples who pursue it have experienced years of heartbreak through infertility, and the desire for a child is one of the most natural and God-given longings a human being can have. The Bible does not address IVF directly, since the…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 12019 The question of transgenderism is one of the most pressing cultural and pastoral challenges facing the church today. It touches on some of the deepest questions human beings can ask: Who am I? What does it mean to be male or female? Is my body part of who I am, or is it…
Reading Time: 5 minutesQuestion 11001 The Bible is not like any other book. It is the very Word of God, living and active. But many Christians find it difficult to read consistently or to understand what they are reading. How should we approach this book so that it accomplishes its purpose in our lives? With a Heart Ready…