Tough Questions for Evangelicals
- 9 July 2019
“Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you, and you shall answer me.
“Would you discredit my justice?
Would you condemn me to justify yourself? [Job 40:7&8]
I read a number of years ago that it was John Wesley’s frequent practice to visit a new town and publish the Ten Commandments. Whether he did this orally or in writing I cannot recall. Probably he did both. He then would leave the village for a few weeks, (often pelted with wood and stones) and pray that God’s Spirit would do a deep work of conviction. So, after a few weeks had passed, he would re-visit the town and proclaim publicly with much rigor the good news of the gospel, etc. The folks were now duly prepared to hear about God’s mercy and grace in Christ.
I drafted he following questions to try to engage fellow Christians whose outlook is suffocatingly ‘pietistic’. Let me know how you get on with them! I may post my own answers in due course. But, for the time being, here’s just the questions!
Why is the evangelical church so marginalised? Who cares what evangelicals think?
Why are so many evangelicals unable to talk intelligently about politics?
Why are so many evangelicals indifferent about ‘Christian education?’
Does the Bible address Politics?
Does the Bible have anything to say about Science?
Is theistic evolution a principled position to take on cosmic origins?
Is crime the same as sin? What’s the difference?
Did Jesus die for our crimes?
Does the Bible identify crimes? Give examples.
Does the Bible tell us what the penalties are (should be) for different crimes?
Do you agree with capital punishment?
Is capital punishment Biblical?
Does God sanction capital punishment?
What crimes do you consider worthy of a capital sentence?
What crimes does God say are worthy of a capital sentence?
Is God wrong to attach capital sanctions to certain crimes?
Does your Christianity allow you to disagree with God? Is Jesus Lord?
How do most Christians avoid these sorts of questions?
Have you ever heard a sermon recommending God’s capital sanctions for the civil State?
Does the Bible tell us unequivocally what’s right and wrong?
Do you know what true justice looks like? How would you measure/calibrate it?
Why are evangelicals disinterested in Biblical justice?
Do you think God cares about our indifference to Biblical standards of justice?
What, according to Scripture, is God’s response to a people/society that disregards true justice and pursues its own preferred version of justice?
What name is given to the absence of justice?
What does the Bible say about societies that suffer injustice?
What responsibility do you have to inform fellow believers about justice/injustice?
Does the Bible indicate that the second coming of Jesus is imminent?
How have Christians historically sought to transform the culture?
