Featured Difficult Bible Questions

I picked up a book this week that others may enjoy.
It deals with tough questions from the New Testament.

"Navigating Tough Texts: A Guide to Problem Passages in the New Testament”
Copyright 2020 Murray James Harris

Questions/topics are arranged book by book.
Here are the passages it deals with from the Gospel of John

31.“The Word Had the Same Nature as God” (John 1:1c)
32.Becoming God’s Children (John 1:12c–13)
33.When Did the Word Become Incarnate? (John 1:14)
34.After—Yet Before! (John 1:15)
35.Uninterrupted Grace (John 1:16)
36.The Father’s Perfect Expression (John 1:18)
37.“Born by Water and the Spirit” (John 3:5)
38.Unique Giving by Unique Love (John 3:16)
39.“Believing That” and “Believing In” (John 3:36)
40.Eating Flesh and Drinking Blood (John 6:53)
41.Legitimate Anger (John 11:33, 38)
42.“Jesus Burst into Tears” (John 11:35)
43.Jesus my Friend? (John 15:15)
44.“Dear Woman, Look, Your Son!” (John 19:26)
45.Jesus’ Real Humanity (John 19:28)
46.Mission Accomplished! (John 19:30)
47.Is Doubt Always Sinful? (John 20:27)
48.A Climactic Confession: “(You Are) My Lord and My God!” (John 20:28)
49.A Painful Reinstatement (John 21:15–17)
50.First Things First! (John 21:15–22)

Rob

 

Mel posted here on the BaptistBoard back before its foundation
No one knows where he came from or why he left.

Eventually he quit posting and we rarely hear his name anymore.

Rob

 

How many angels were in the empty tomb when the women arrived on Sunday morning? (1 or 2)

 

Different timing aspect, as he did hang himself, but then rope broke, he fell and busted apart on the ground!

 

Maybe it was an unsuccessful suicide

Both

 

I think you misunderstand who they are

According to the text, they were here before AND AFTER the flood

Remember, the word unknown does not appear in the Hebrew text

The text says that they were “men of renown” or men of the name. What name? Ie Men of God. Bottomline, they were the sons or heritage of Noah through the Godly line of Seth

They were NOT demonic beings cohabiting w women.

 

Nephilim: Who Were They?

 

1. Since when was “just before dawn” and “around sunrise” on the first day of the week “Saturday evening”?
   
2. You have sidestepped the apparent contradiction that two Gospels report different numbers of angels when describing the same event.

 

Both happened.

They didn't.
They were giants, and the sons of Anak:

" Nevertheless the people [be] strong that dwell in the land, and the cities [are] walled, [and] very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there. " ( Numbers 13:28, AV ).
" And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, [which come] of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight." ( Numbers 13:33, AV ).

True, there were twelve spies, and 10 gave a bad report, while Caleb and Joshua had faith in the Lord.
Regardless, the NASB seems to think they were the Nephilim:

" There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.” ( Numbers 13:33, NASB )
Even though the Hebrew uses a slightly different word in Numbers 13:
" Athenphilim" or, "the ones distinguished", it is similar to the word found in Genesis 6:4... "enphilim" or "ones distinguished" and rendered as "giants".

Nevertheless,
There were giants both before and after the Flood.

 

A man with no beginning and no ending, no parents and no family ( Hebrews 7:1-3 ), who Abraham gave tithes to after going and getting his nephew Lot back from the kings Genesis 14:18-20.

He is a "type" of Christ.

 

I agree, as the day did not become the day until the morning and evening were finished and the next day dawned with the rising of the sun.
That was Jewish custom...
Until sunrise, it was still the evening of the previous day.

For example:

" And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day." ( Genesis 1:5 ).

As near as I can determine, what we in modern times call "06:00", the Jews called the beginning of the day, or zero hour.

The sixth hour was what we call noon.
The ninth was 3:00 in the afternoon.

Christ gave up the Ghost at the 9th hour, and was taken down and buried that evening.