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8 Sin Read Mark 7:21-23 These days, most people believe that human beings are fundamentally good, and that if we do go wrong, it’s because of our parents, or bad childhood experiences, or something like that. But Jesus taught the exact opposite (Matthew 7:11)! We’re certainly capable of...

7 The Great Rebellion Read Genesis 3 Human beings are not robots; we are free agents. We can therefore choose, either to obey God or to disobey him. As we go through life, we have to deal with a vast number of moral choices, big and small. But for the purposes of this story, all are fused...

6 The first human beings Read Genesis 1:26-28 God has always wanted co-workers. The world that he created was inherently good, but it still needed on-the-ground management to keep it on the right track and enable it to fulfil its potential. Enter human beings. From a purely biological...

5 God’s eternal plan Read Genesis 12:1-5 What are we doing here? God originally made the universe as a means of displaying his glory. Things haven’t gone smoothly (which is largely mankind’s fault); but God’s plans can never be frustrated (Isaiah 46:10). He is now working to bring peace...

Good point. I must get that in somewhere.

4 What is God really like? Read Exodus 33:18-34:8 It’s very easy to get the wrong ideas about God. Some people think of him as being like an indulgent grandfather: old-fashioned and a bit out of touch with the modern world, but generous and kind to everybody. Others think of him as a sort...

The 'head covering' spoken of in the Bible wasn't a hat but a veil (like the hijab) covering the hair. I don't know about it being the "norm" for women to wear hats up until the 1960s - I have an old photo of my Mum walking down a street hatless in 1950. And although my 1960s school uniform...

3 God reveals himself Read Exodus 3:1-15 God is the Maker of the universe, not part of it. We can’t see him or touch him. We can’t reach him by travelling (not even into space!), and we can’t discover him through scientific investigation. So it’s very easy to get the wrong ideas about God...

No, I explained that Jesus actually meant something different

I don't see how that makes Jesus a liar. It's true - if we don't forgive, we suffer consequences.

The New Testament was written in Greek because Greek was the "lingua franca" of that part of the Roman Empire (everyone spoke it, a bit like English today), and the New Testament was written for all nations - not just the Jews. By that time even the Jews no longer spoke Hebrew as a first...

Why?

Will a Christian who can’t or won’t forgive another person lose their salvation and end up in Hell? I’m pretty certain that the answer is NO. And that’s because the servant’s fate doesn’t match up with Hell as Jesus describes it elsewhere. He has a particular stock of phrases that He likes to...

2 Let’s begin at the beginning… Read Genesis 1:1-2:3 Is the universe just a bizarre accident? Or did Somebody make it? It isn’t possible to prove that there is a God. However, we know that nothing in the universe happens without a cause, so it’s not unreasonable to believe that the...

1 Introduction: The Bible Read Luke 1:1-4 The Shoah Foundation was founded in 1994 to collect, record and preserve the testimonies of those who survived the Holocaust. It was feared that otherwise, with the passing of time and the deaths of these witnesses, those terrible events would...

I've been writing a short Bible study course aimed at new Christians and possibly unbelievers interested in the Christian faith. I have tried to assume very little pre-existing knowledge, and have tried to avoid using jargon and clichés as far as possible (in other words, 'traditional' language...

Everyone is descended from Noah. The list of nations in Genesis contains 70 names (if I remember rightly) which is a representative number.

No film or drama, however good, should be used as a source for theology. But dramatisation has other uses. Especially now that we are 2000 years removed from the time and culture of the New Testament, it's easy to make wrong assumptions about 'how things were'. A good drama can correct these...

I would simply ask the undertaker for their advice. They will know what the normal practice is for your area. Whatever you choose, it needs to be easy to put on.

I used to work in a sexual health clinic. Yes, it's quite possible. We had lots of clients who had got so drunk that they had no memory of what they had done, let alone who they had done it with - but they couldn't be sure that they hadn't had sex, so they wanted check-ups.