War or Peace?
EXO 15:3 The LORD is a man of war.
the LORD is his name.
ROM 15:33 Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.
See “A General Reply to Atheist Illogic”
Exodus 15:3 is a scripture set in the midst of a song. Why can’t songs or poems use metaphors or similes? If I “hope in the Lord” does that mean I will grow eagle’s wings (Isaiah 40:31)? In the context of Romans 15, Paul is signing off with a summary of the message of the gospel: Reconciliation with God brings peace between God and man.
Who is the father of Joseph?
MAT 1:16 And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.
LUK 3:23 And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli.
Matthew is tracing Joseph’s lineage to show Jesus’ legal descent from David through Solomon (this would be important to the audience to whom Matthew wrote—fellow Jews). Luke is tracing Jesus’ natural ancestry from Heli (who is actually the father-in-law of Joseph) to David through Nathan.5
Who was at the Empty Tomb? Is it:
MAT 28:1 In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher.
JOH 20:1 The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulcher, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulcher.
See “A General Reply to Atheist Illogic”
Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome all came to the tomb. So, what is the problem? If the gospels focus on different details to address their different audiences why is that a contradiction? For example, John knew along with most everyone else that the three women had first come to the tomb. He wanted to go into more detail about the exchange between Mary Magdalene and Jesus, detail that was ignored by the other gospels (John 20:10-18).
Is Jesus equal to or lesser than?
JOH 10:30 I and my Father are one.
JOH 14:28 Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.
This is a standard question raised by cultists and atheists alike. The answer is simple. Jesus and the Father are one in substance (as defined in the Creeds) but the Father is greater than Jesus in terms of his position. The analogy of marriage in scripture is appropriate here. The man has a positional responsibility over his wife (Ephesians 5:23-24), but they are equal in terms of their “peopleness” or substance (1 Corinthians 7:1-4; Ephesians 5:22-33).
Which first--beasts or man?
GEN 1:25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and everything that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
GEN 1:26 And God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
GEN 2:18 And the LORD God said, it is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him.
GEN 2:19 And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
Of course, the author follows the same road as the destructive higher critics that would imagine some division between Genesis One and Genesis Two (even though no document has ever been uncovered to support this contention!) Why can’t Genesis Two be seen as a refocus on the need to find a helper for the man? Indeed, in Genesis 2:19 in the NIV, there is recognition, with the use of the Past Perfect that the animals had already been formed sometime in the past and were not created after Adam. Even by taking the verse in the simple past, it does not have to mean that the creation of animals took place just before they were brought to Adam.
