Resources by Topic: Doctrine and Theology

Last month Kevin DeYoung posted an excellent blog called “10 Reasons to Believe in a Historical Adam.” I can’t say enough about the importance of this subject. 

My experience has been that writing long emails back and forth on areas of disagreement is rarely helpful in resolving a theological issue, particularly when both parties have arrived at their positions over a long period of time.

Question from a reader: I understand that the Lord allows His people to either enter the Intermediate Heaven or, if they have not come to the Lord in faith, to be sent to the Intermediate Hell…but I am wondering what passage of Scripture supports this statement. 

God is triune. He is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Father and Son are both explicitly masculine terms. The Holy Spirit could be viewed as gender neutral, through His comforting and nurturing roles suggest attributes we usually associate with females.  

Question from a reader: On page 359 of your Heaven book, you mention speaking with the saints of old: “I would like to ask Elijah about being taken away in the chariot.” Elijah and Elisha were separated by a chariot of fire, but both NIV and KJV say in II Kings 2:11 that Elijah “went up to Heaven in a whirlwind.”  

When Jesus called His first disciples: Simon (who is also called Peter), his brother Andrew, James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John, they are said to have “immediately” left everything to follow Jesus.

I’m sure this passage in Genesis could have been further clarified, but perhaps it doesn’t need to be. God must have created out of nothing because there was nothing before he created (otherwise he would not be God). 

But because Acts 10 and Romans 2:12-16 seem to say unbelievers can make right choices, and even that those right choices, in Cornelius’s case (Acts 10:1-4), can please God, this means Romans 8:8 and similar passages are not all we have.

Question from a reader: Can a Christian be demon possessed? I have a friend who is convinced that demons are hanging out in her house and taunting her. She seems drawn to the mystical and occult much more than to Christ. I want to show her that, if she's truly in Christ (which she may not be), that she has nothing to fear. B. T.

This question arises, perhaps, from the different uses of the word “reincarnation”. Literally, reincarnation means “to become flesh again”.

You are correct to observe that often the imagery of being in or outside of a city wall means the difference between being in relationship or not. In the Gospels, study out "cast into outer darkness" and what that means, in regard to the walls and gates of a walled city. And look just how big the walls of this city are! The city is secure from the evil ones.

In verse 9 it says God "exalted and gave" a name. The Greek tense is what is called an aorist, in the indicative mood, "past time, in a point of time". So this verse says God has already given and exalted with the name.

Question from a reader: What book would you recommend on authorial intent? And have you heard of The Ungospel? One of my professors at my Christian college recommended it.

I’m simply pointing out what the secular-slogan and the biblical verse have in common—the recognition that there are consequences for every choice, whether good or bad.