Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 05020 Angels and human beings are both creatures made by God, and both appear throughout Scripture as conscious, personal beings who respond to him. But the differences between them go considerably deeper than the obvious observation that one is usually visible and the other is not. Understanding what sets human beings apart from angels…
Reading Time: 3 minutesQuestion 05021 Psalm 139 is one of the most intimate passages in all of Scripture. From beginning to end, David is meditating on what it means to be completely and personally known by God. By verse 13 he moves from the general truth of God’s omniscience to its application to his own individual life, and…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 05022 Human dignity is one of those phrases that appears constantly in public debate, appealed to by people across very different ethical traditions, and meaning rather different things depending on who is using it. For that reason it is worth being precise about what the phrase means in a biblical framework, and why it…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 7063 Not all grace operates in the same way. Scripture describes God’s grace extending to every human being who has ever lived, and yet it also describes a grace that is specifically and exclusively the means of salvation. Understanding the difference between these two things illuminates both the character of God and the nature…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 03085 The feeding of the five thousand is the only miracle of Jesus, apart from the resurrection, that appears in all four Gospels. Matthew 14:13-21, Mark 6:30-44, Luke 9:10-17, and John 6:1-15 each record it, with John providing the most developed theological reflection on its significance. That level of independent attestation across all four…
Reading Time: 3 minutesQuestion 03082 The Gospels record Jesus displaying clear anger on more than one occasion. The cleansing of the temple is the most dramatic instance, but it is not the only one. The question of whether that anger was sinful cuts to something important about the nature of sin itself, and about what genuine, unsullied human…
Reading Time: 3 minutesQuestion 03080 Nobody asks this question expecting a straightforward list of recorded occasions. The Gospels do not preserve a catalogue of Jesus’ lighter moments. But the question behind the question is genuinely important: was Jesus fully human in the way that includes the full register of human experience — including joy, humour, and laughter? The…
Reading Time: 3 minutesQuestion 03003 When people say “Jesus Christ,” they are almost always using a familiar phrase without pausing to ask what “Christ” actually means. Most assume it functions something like a surname, in the way we would say “John Smith.” It is not. The word carries a specific theological meaning that, once understood, changes how Christians…
Reading Time: 3 minutesQuestion 03079 The account of Jesus walking on the water tends to provoke one of two responses: either straightforward acceptance as a miraculous act by the Son of God, or a search for a naturalistic explanation that preserves the story whilst removing its supernatural content. What the text actually says, and what it means theologically,…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 60089 The claim that all truth is relative has moved from university philosophy departments into everyday conversation, social media, and church life. “That may be true for you but not for me” sounds tolerant and open-minded, but it carries significant implications for anyone who believes that Jesus Christ rose bodily from the dead and…