ChrisinMI said:
Okay since I am not sure which forum is appropriate I selected this one. I am wondering what the most common questions were among us when we were new christians. Since this is the board for New Christians what are your big questions?
For me it was ...
How can God be three persons at once?
How can I trust that the Bible is truth?
How do I know when I hear God's voice and know that it is not mine own thoughts?
These were my biggest ones. I think most have been answered during my walk but I still struggle with the last. I wanted to open discussion on this topic and see what people had to say.
How do you know if the Bible is true? The main way is the conviction of truth by the Holy Spirit; but doubts can throw a cloud over your mind. Let me just make a few points:
'Jonah was swallowed by a great fish...', is probably one of the hardest things in the Bible to believe. Yet there are two recorded accounts of fishermen being swallowed by a great fish. There is also a photograph of Japanese fishermen cutting open a giant fish and finding a dead but whole man inside. Jonah too died, if you read his prayer carefully, and he was therefore raised from the dead. For this reason Jesus regarded the event as a prophecy of His death, burial and ressurrection.
Consider this: There was a healing minister named Smith Wigglesworth, who in his lifetime raised seven people from the dead and some of these had death certificates written by doctors. If a man last century could do it by faith in Christ could not God do the same for Jonah and Jesus?
God as creator of the world- in six days: This is probably one of the chief objections to the Bible. Smith Wigglesworth often healed people with missing limbs. A new arm or eye would appear instantly and this too was witnessed by hundreds, including doctors and sceptics. The point is this, that the healings were
acts of creation! The limbs in question appeared mature but were in fact brand new!
Scientifically, or rather rationalistically speaking a person with a new arm examined after such a healing would be declared to have two arms the same age as himself based on
appearance... These healings and miracles have more than one purpose.
Primarily they confirm the word of God in modern times to an unbelieving world! Scientists say the universe is billions of years old because it takes billions of light years for the light of stars to reach the earth, yet in the Bible God tells us He created stars to be seen and this implies that their light was created with them so we could see them. We would
expect them to
appear far older than they actually are. I quote this argument about starlight because it is the
best one I've heard from evolutionists.
Where did God come from? God did not come from anywhere because He has always existed. God is not only infinite He is infinitely infinite! That is in the time it takes one thought to enter your mind God has thought of an infinite number things an infinite number of times. Do you really want to question Him? Who is more reliable; the God of infinite knowledge or foolish humans?
I was once struck down with food
poisoning and almost fell into the street. The Holy Spirit quoted this word in my mind,
'If they drink poison it shall not harm them...' I had faith in the word of God and was instantaneously healed. We are healed by the Word as it is truth. Who can say they have been healed by doubts or by believing the 'wise' of this world?
Blessings to all, especially new believers.
Andrew.
