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A FEW QUESTIONS IF YOU WILL

[The Author of Love], not surprisingly, will deal with a good many issues that have to do with faith. Sadly, more and more of us seem to be giving up on faith and giving up on God. When asked why they have strayed, the most typical response is something to the effect that the faith of their fathers leaves too many important questions unanswered. We are a people who demand answers to the questions that most concern us, and, when the answers are not forthcoming, we tend to move on to something else. Some maintain that this is why church attendance (with some notable exceptions) is diminishing in our country.

Throughout this text, we will raise a good many questions. A number of them are somewhat controversial. Throughout, it is NOT our intention to render judgment with respect to controversial matters. Rather, it is our hope that, in framing the questions and, objectively as possible, presenting both sides, we provide the reader with the foundation for further consideration of the issue.

Understand, please, that it is NOT ever our intention in this book to offer controversy for its own sake. If that’s what you seek, I commend you to the magazine rack at your supermarket check stand. A number of people whose advice I most trust have urged me to avoid such topics. Keep the discussion on the highest plain possible, they have counseled me. I certainly respect input of this type. It is anything but my intent to make the reader feel conflicted about his or her beliefs. I feel ever so strongly, however, that treating the most difficult issues serves to sustain our faith, not undermine it. You will see throughout the text that there are very plausible responses to every one of these questions. If you are to sustain your own beliefs, you would be ill-advised to pretend that these questions have not crossed your mind. Moreover, as you encounter others whose inability to deal with these issues has compromised their own belief system, you will be able to assist them in dealing with these important matters. That, by the way, is an integral part of what this book is all about.

Our God has evidenced a love for us that we can only marginally approach in our lives. We become more Godlike when we share our own love, our own caring, our own support for those whom we encounter every day during our earthly journey. We have a duty, call it, to spread God’s love, and one way to do that is to help others understand the Author of Love.

The following are a number of the questions that are raised in the [book]. I must underscore that this book is, first and foremost, a daily devotional. It is NEVER its intention to stir up controversy for its own sake. However, it NEVER ducks an important issue. Here then are a number of the issues that will be treated in the text that follows:

Some say that the Bible is out-of-step with the times. Do we need a newer New Testament?

  • Does the Bible condone slavery?
  • Does the Bible condone the subjugation of women?
  • Is homosexuality a sin?
  • How do we define inter-marriage?  Does our faith permit it?
  • Do we really believe that sins such as adultery are worthy of capital punishment?
  • Are so-called “acts of God” truly acts of God?
  • Why is it that bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people?
  • Do the Ten Commandments depict an insecure God?
  • What happens to righteous people of other faiths?  Just because they were born in non-Christian lands, will they be excluded from God’s Kingdom?
  • Where was God during the Holocaust? During 9/11?
  • How should we respond to those who claim God is dead?
  • Is God a jealous God?
  • We don’t seem to witness as many miracles as during ancient times. Has God tired of doing miracles?
  • Why have so many of the most conspicuous religious figures (a good number of the televangelists, for example) fallen?
  • God created the heavens and the universe. Why doesn’t the Bible speak more about other planets, solar systems, and galaxies? 
  • Is science antithetical to faith?
  • If God knows the beginning and the end of everything as well as all that is in between, is He nothing more than a very talented puppeteer?  Do we truly have free will/choice?
  • The Bible is replete with examples of what would appear to be God’s seeking revenge yet we are told that He is not vengeful and that, further, more, He is the Author of love. Is this contradictory?
  • Some regard the Bible as historically accurate in its entirety. Which reporters were covering the Garden of Eden on that fateful day that Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit?
  • Why does it seem that organized religion breeds so much intolerance, particularly in view of the fact that “the Guy in charge” is referred to, at least in this book, as the Author of Love?
  • Is there a Hell?  Will those who are not saved be burned in the “lake of fire” for all eternity?
  • Who can be saved?  How can one be saved?
  • Why is it that much (perhaps most) of history is a series of accounts of wars that originated as a result of religious differences?  (Some refer to it as the “My god is better than your god” syndrome.)
  • Should we only “hit God up” for important “stuff”?  Should we spare Him our less urgent issues?
  • Why is it that so many prayers seem to go unanswered?
  • Is there anything that is too difficult for God?
  • Jesus tells us that He is coming soon. To some, it seems that “soon” is taking a very long time. How soon is soon?
  • Supposedly, the end time will come when all acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord. Is it realistic to believe that this will ever occur?
  • What, if anything, is the difference between faith and religion?
  • Faith, hope, love — is one more important than another?
  • Jesus says we are to forgive seventy times seven.  Are there any heinous acts that are unforgiveable?
  • Is there really a God?
  • God said to love my neighbor. Who is my neighbor?

What are your thoughts on these important questions?