questions. Asking questions is, in fact, a means God often uses to help us rid ourselves of limited and wrongheaded notions about God, so that we catch a larger and expanded vision of who we worship, which this survey of the Bible’s use of questions reveals:
God [to Adam and Eve]: Where are you? . . . Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from? (Gen. 3:9–11)
Cain: Am I my brother’s keeper? (Gen. 4:9)
God: What have you done? (Gen. 4:10)
Abraham: Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety? (Gen. 17:17)
God: Why did Sarah laugh and say, “Will I really have a child, now that I am old?” Is anything too hard for the LORD? (Gen. 18:13–14)
Moses: Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, “The God of your fathers has sent me to you,” and they ask me, “What is his name?” Then what shall I tell them? (Exod. 3:13)
Job: Why does the Almighty not set times for judgment? Why must those who know him look in vain for such days? (Job 24:1)
God: Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge? Prepare to defend yourself; I will question you, and you shall answer me. Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? (Job 38:2–5)
Jeremiah: How long will the land lie parched and the grass in every field be withered? Because those who live in it are wicked, the animals and birds have perished. Moreover, the people are saying, “He will not see what happens to us.”
God: If you have raced with people on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in safe country, how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan? (Jer. 12:4–5)
Habakkuk: How long, LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not save? Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? (Hab. 1:2–3)
Expert in the law: Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?
Jesus: What is written in the Law? How do you read it? (Luke 10:25–26)
Jesus: Who do people say I am?
Disciples: Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.
Jesus: But what about you? Who do you say I am? (Mark 8:27–29)
Jesus [to the Twelve]: You do not want to leave too, do you?
Peter: Lord, to whom shall we go? (John 6:67–68)
Jesus: You of little faith, why are you so afraid? [Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.]
Disciples: What kind of man is this? (Matt. 8:26–27)
Jesus [on the cross]: Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani? (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”). (Matt. 27:46)
Jesus: Simon son of John, do you love me more than these [fish]?
Peter: Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.
Jesus: Feed my lambs. . . . Simon son of John, do you love me?
Peter: Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.
Jesus: Take care of my sheep. . . . Simon son of John, do you love me?
Peter: Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.
Jesus: Feed my sheep. (John 21:15–17)
Jesus: Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?
Saul/Paul: Who are you, Lord? (Acts 9:4–5)
Paul: Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by human effort? Have you experienced so much in vain? (Gal. 3:3–4)
James: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong? (James 2:5–7)
John the letter writer: If any one of you has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in you? (1 John 3:17)
Group Exercise: Knowing Your Story
Before engaging in the discussion questions below, take time to reflect on your own experiences and beliefs about conversion and salvation. How have you understood the role of conversion and salvation in your life? In the lives of others you know? What has been attractive about the idea of being “saved”? What has raised questions for you? What has seemed false? Spend time before the meeting writing down your own story about why you have embraced or rejected Jesus. Diagram or describe how you believe people get “saved” and what that means.
At the meeting, split up in groups of two or three and take the time to share each other’s stories about being saved. After each person’s story, the others in the group should provide feedback and reactions.
After everyone has shared their story, ask each other: How are our stories similar? How are they different? How did hearing others’ stories shape or change how you think about what God’s love and salvation might be about?
1 Before reading this book, how did you think of heaven and hell?
2 Do you believe God invites us, or even welcomes us, to discuss and debate the big questions of faith, doctrine, and the Bible?
3 Do you think Christians can know who does and who does not go to hell?
4 What messages have you heard about who goes (or how many go) to heaven? Or about how God can be both loving Father and Judge?
5 What percentage of people who have ever lived do you estimate will end up in hell? Do you think Gandhi is in hell?
6 What do you think non-Christians would say about the church’s views on who goes and who does not go to heaven?
7 How do you respond to the problem Rob raises of explaining how a finite life of sin could entail eternal torment?
8 Do you believe there is no hope for atheists who die? Why or why not?
9 What
