Table-of-Contents

Preface

The purpose for this page is to provide answers for more advanced issues concerning Christianity. I am changing this from a doctrinal page to more of a questions and answers page for different issues; however, I left my doctrinal entries that I already had. If you would like to know how to be saved or more basic Christian information please see my Christian Basics page.

Questions & Answers

Is drinking wrong?

Summary of questions and answers

Preface (Drunkenness is a sin)
What the Bible mean when it talks about "wine"?
Did Jesus drink wine?
Is social drinking a sin?
Why should I not drink?
Is drinking ever ok? (Medicinal drinking)
Is communion or eucharist supposed to be wine?

Preface (Drunkenness is a sin)

Is drinking alcohol wrong? That is a hard question to answer as it is not a black and white issue in the Bible and everyone needs to research this and come to their own conclusion. While the issue as a whole is not black and white, there are some things about drinking that are. First, drunkenness is obviously sin from several verses.

And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit. (Ephesians 5:18)

Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. (Romans 13:13)

But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner— not even to eat with such a person. (1 Corinthians 5:11)

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, ... nor drunkards... will inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)

For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, And drowsiness will clothe a man with rags. (Proverbs 23:21)

The Bible is pretty clear that drinking is a sin. There are also countless times the Bible condemns various people for drinking. The Bible even gives one of the qualifications of both bishops and deacons to be "not given to much wine."

What the Bible mean when it talks about "wine"?

Is social drinking a sin?

This is a hard questions to answer as there are many scholars on both sides of this argument. There is no verse that states, "Thou shalt not consume alcohol." or anything similar so we have to look at principles taught in the Bible and if other strong Christian and Jewish people in the Bible drank alcohol. More later!

Did Jesus drink wine?

Most people would say, "Of course he did! He made the water into wine and also Matthew 11:18

Why should I not drink?

Is drinking ever ok? (Medicinal drinking)

Is communion or eucharist supposed to be wine?

Doctrinal Entries

Salvation (Soteriology)

Eternal Security

This statement means a Christian cannot lose his salvation. This is not ever directly stated in the Bible but can be shown in several places in the Bible. I have given several of these in my What Do I Have to Do to Keep My Salvation? section in my Christian Basics page.

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Age of Accountability (Infant Salvation)

When talking about an age of accountability I mean the age when a person dies and still goes to heaven even if they haven't trusted Christ yet. While the Bible does not directly talk about the issue, I believe it is true based on information from the Bible. I do not believe there is a specific age but rather there is a point in a persons life when they can understand right and wrong and how to be saved. It varies from person to person and a mentally handicapped person may never reach this point.

Instead of listing all my reasons here, I will include a link to a research paper I wrote on the topic. I removed all footnotes except quotes to prevent others from using my paper, I have however included my Bibliography. Please read my reasearch paper.

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Bible (Bibliology)

Bible Basics

I believe the Bible is the inerrant word of God. By inerrant I mean it contains no errors. This however only applies to the original Greek and Hebrew autographs (orignal scrolls). This inerrantness has not been kept by scribal errors found in the autographs we have today copied from earlier ones. While the Hebrew remains mostly the same, the Greek varies greatly due to lack of care when they were transcibed. While they are many differences, it should be noted that the majority of all texts remains the same and that no docrinal true has been lost or in dispute due to these differences.

It is my belief that the Majority Text is the closest to the correct due to there being thousands of scrolls all which nearly agree with each other. Popular belief is that the Critical Text or Ecclectic Text is more accurate due to the scrolls being dated earlier; however, just being older does not make them more accurate. Due to the fact that all three of the primary codecs of the Critical Text were found in locations where there was an absense of doctrinally sound Christian influence. Also, if these three are so good, why are there only three on them compared to the thousands of the Majority Text? I consider the Textus Receptus (text used in King James Version and New King James Version) to be equivalent to the majority text due to it is mostly the same with the exception of most of Revalation.

Also, the inerrantness of the Bible is not carried over to translation. I do not believe in one perfect or best translation. All translations have good and negative aspects of them. I prefer Bibles based on the Majority Text (or Textus Receptus) due to the fact I believe they are closer to the original Greek.

While our current Bibles are not 100% free from error due to transcipural error and translation error (some concepts cannot be translated into English as they were conveyed in Greek or Hebrew), the Bible is still close enough for it to not really matter. It is useful to use Greek and Hebrew tools to facilitate in understanding passages, especially when examined closely; however, it is still not necessary to understand the Bible. The most important factor is to pray that the Holy Spirit gives understanding.

It is also important to note that the Bible is not mearly words written by men but the very words of God. While God did use men to write the Bible in the own writing style. He gave them the words to use. I can verify this though 2 Timothy 3:16, "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God..." The Greek word translated inspiration means, "God Breathed." God breathed all scripture. Also Pauls tells us in 1 Thessalonians 2:13, "...we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God...." Paul thanked the church of Thessalonica for receiving his letter as the word of God and not as the word of Paul.

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Textual Criticism

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God (Trinity)

God is a triune God. He expresses himself in three parts: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. All three are decribed uniquely but are also reguarded as being the same. This is truely confusing to the human mind but that doesn't make it any less true. Why would God express himself in three parts but yet all three parts are not seperate but the same? This is sort of like a triangle. It has three points or corners. Without one corner, it would not be a triangle. Each of these corners are part of the whole tringle. With all the corners together it forms a triangle, this is just like God. Got is not complete without one part of the Trinity, but with all three together make up God.

Is the Trinity biblical? While the word Trinity is found nowhere in the Bible, the concept is clearly seen throughout the Bible. The best single verse describing the Trinity is 1 John 5:7 which states, "For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one." Here it links the Father, the Word, and the Spirit together. These three are common referred to as the three persons of God (it should be noted that none of them are truely persons except Jesus who came down to earth).

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Father (Lord)

The father is what most people think of when they consider God. He is the heavenly manisfectation of God. He is tipically credited with creating the world due to Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Which is true; however, the Bible credits all three persons with creating the world. God the father is hard to describe as he is a spirit being completely other to us. He has no body although the Bible sometimes uses anthropomoephism (any body part attributed to God) to describe him such as the "hand of God" when God has no physical hand. He is decribed as being Good, kind, love, and just. These are all innate characteristics of God.

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Son (Jesus, Word)

God the son is the physical manifestation of God. This typically refers to Jesus Christ as he was born as a baby, grew to be a young man, was crucified, rose from the grave, and came back to visit the appostles before ascending back to heaven. This also includes preincarnate manifestations of God. The times in the Bible when the Angel of the Lord appeared to various people, are most likely appearances of Jesus before he was even born to Mary and Joseph. Jesus is also referred to in the new testament as the Word. John 1:1-5 states

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. [emphasis added]

The Word here refers to Jesus and describes as being in the beggining with God and everything was created through him, thus Jesus also created the world.

Now it is intriging to note that Jesus was 100% God while being 100% man. Thus, God was subject to all the feelings and desires that man is subject to. It is impossible to tell God that He does not know what your going through, because He does. Jesus hungered, thirsted, and desired the same things you did. When Satan tempted Jesus, he was not immune to the temptation but just did not succomb to the temptations. He would have been famished as he had not eated in 40 days when Satan tempted Jesus to turn the rock into bread.

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Holy Spirit (Holy Ghost)

The Holy Spirit, also called the Holy Ghost, is by far the most overlooked aspect of God. The Holy Spirit is also a spirit like the father, as he has no body. While God the father is heavenly, the Holy Spirit resides over the entire earth and more specifically inside his Temples. In the Old Testament, he resided inside the Holy of Hollies in the Tabernacle and Temple. In the New Testament, he resides inside of believing Christians with their bodies being His temple. That is why it is so important to keep our bodies pure, as it is the temple of the Holy Ghost.

The Holy Spirit is the aspect of God that empowers to do God's various tasks. It is the Holy Spirit that speaks to us and tells us what to do. It is also the Holy Spirit that gives us our spiritual gifts. The Bible tells us we are to be filled with the Holy Spirit. This is different from his indwelling (living inside us) which is true for all believing Christians. This is being sensitive to the Holy Spirit and being filled with His power. This does not mean speaking in angelic tongues as some believe but being filled with his power.

I also think it is interesting to note that Psalm 104 credits the Holy Spirit with creation. Psalm 104:30 states, "You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; And You renew the face of the earth."

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