Questions and Answers

The Q&As on this site are dedicated to treatments of various topics, organized in a question and answer format. Some of these Q&As come from correspondence with site readers, while others (both questions and answers) are completely of my own creation.

The “answers” contained herein are not necessarily to be taken as holy and unquestionable writ (after all, they are coming from myself, an imperfect human being), but simply as responses to the questions.

List of questions and answers

Reader Correspondence

intermediate On the Emotion of Anger
Some folks struggle with anger management more than others, although perhaps said others have different areas of weakness (like lust or pride, for example). If you are someone who struggles with your temper, what do you need to know about the emotion of anger from a biblical perspective? This page goes over this some.
advanced On the Possibility of Multiple Rahabs
Some people ask whether the prostitute Rahab who hid the Jewish spies is the Rahab in the lineage of Christ. There really is no problem in asking the question, as duplicate names are a real thing in scripture. (Compare keeping all the people named Mary straight). However, what is problematic is swearing up and down that the two Rahabs can't possibly be the same solely because a prostitute can't be in the bloodline of Christ (*gasp*). That's not a good argument based on evidence, but an unfounded prejudice based on legalism.

Self-generated

basic College Decisions and Career Path
Discerning one's path in life is a very important task, but with so many possible options to choose from, it can be a challenging one. It is difficult for teachers to weigh in on specifics here because so much is personal application, but there are some general observations that may help inform decisions in this area. This page goes over some of these.
intermediate Does Ephesians 4:26 Teach That There Is a Form of Righteous Anger?
Using Ephesians 4:26 as a proof-text (alongside, for example, Jesus' cleansings of the temple, and God's eradication of most of mankind in the flood), some people try to argue that there is a "righteous" form of anger. This page sets out to demonstrate how this idea is false, and what our attitude towards our emotions (including anger) actually should be.
intermediate+ On Honoring and Obeying Parents
Respecting and obeying parents... every teenager's favorite practices! All humans have parents. Some are very good. Some are very bad. Most are somewhere in-between. Regardless of how we feel about our parents, and even regardless of how they actually may be in reality, our actions towards our parents must be governed by what scripture has to say on the matter. This page sets out to discuss what scripture does in fact say on the matter, and also talks about some variables in application to keep in mind when making decisions in this area.
intermediate On the Actions of Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar in Genesis 16
Is it proper to say that the morality of actions depends upon cultural context? That aside, was Hagar a young girl taken advantage of and pressured into Abraham's bed against her will, or was she a willing adult participant who came to arrogantly disrespect the legitimate authority of her mistress? We will be addressing these matters in our discussion here.
intermediate On the Office of Pastor-Teacher, and Church Polity
This study sets out to describe the office in the Church known by various different names -- "elder", "overseer", "pastor" and so on. People in this office have authority over the Church, and are the primary teachers of the Word of God. (Teaching the Bible such that Church builds itself up in love is their primary responsibility). This page also describes a bit more about local church organization, and other Church offices like Apostle, prophet, and evangelist. (The former two are no longer active offices in the Church).