65 conversations
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Does God speak more now? Indwelling Spirit versus prophets
- Does God talk to people as much now as he did in the Old Testament or New Testament?
A host asks whether God talks to people as much now as in the Old and New Testaments. Ben's key distinction: the indwelling Holy Spirit means more people can have the experience…
From No. 597 · Maybe A Word From God
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Ben's three questions: is he real, is he good, is he capricious?
- Is God even real?
- Is God good?
Ben frames three reasonable reactions to Old Testament violence: (1) maybe God isn't real; (2) maybe he isn't good; (3) maybe he's capricious.
From No. 540 · Justice is Mine
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Ask the pastor: why does Daniel keep his Hebrew name while Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego don't?
- Why does the narrative revert Daniel to his Hebrew name while Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego keep their Babylonian names?
Boova's question: Daniel is given the Babylonian name Belteshazzar, and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego receive Babylonian names too — but the narrative reverts Daniel to his Israelite name while the other three keep theirs throughout.
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Ask the pastor: Ezekiel 39:17 — God telling a prophet to speak to birds and beasts
- In Ezekiel 39:17, why would God tell a prophet to speak to birds and beasts, and is there precedent for God interacting with animals this way?
Boova was struck by Ezekiel 39:17, where Ezekiel is told to speak on God's behalf to the birds and beasts, inviting them to feast on God's defeated enemies.
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Ask the pastor: the 'cakes of raisins' in Hosea 3:1
- What are the 'cakes of raisins' in Hosea 3:1, and why does the verse pair them with worshiping other gods?
Boova's last ask-the-pastor: reading Hosea 3:1, he couldn't stop laughing at the line about Israel turning to other gods 'and love cakes of raisins.'
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Ask the pastor: the queen of heaven in Jeremiah 7:18
- What is the 'queen of heaven' in Jeremiah 7:18?
Boova's ask-the-pastor comes from his Jeremiah read-through: the 'queen of heaven' in Jeremiah 7:18 (cakes baked, drink offerings poured 'to provoke me to anger').
From No. 508 · The Caduce
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Article #3: Satan in the Old Testament (hasatan the title)
- Is Satan present in the Old Testament, or only as hasatan the title?
The final article item claims the devil isn't in the Old Testament — only hasatan, 'the adversary,' a title/job description in Job and Zechariah.
From No. 508 · The Caduce
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Ask the pastor: Saul and the medium of Endor
- Was it really Samuel that the medium of Endor brought up, or a demon?
The ask-the-pastor segment tackles 1 Samuel 28: after Samuel's death, Saul has a medium at Endor bring up Samuel's spirit, and the questioner wants to know whether it was really Samuel or a demonic counterfeit.
From No. 502 · When Evil Strikes
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The Nephilim question
- Who are the Nephilim?
The big question: who are the Nephilim? Boova introduces it — he keeps stalling at Genesis 6 in his read-throughs and a family member asked him about it.
From No. 499 · The Legacy List
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New believer question: which Old Testament laws still apply?
- How can Christians discern which Old Testament laws still apply versus what was covered by Jesus' sacrifice?
Boova (addressed by name) relays a question from a brand-new believer: with all the Old Testament laws (food, sacrifices, priests and blemishes), how do we discern what still needs doing versus what was covered by Jesus' sacrifice?
From No. 225 · Seven Lies, Part Two
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Can a Christian nation's conscience differ from personal conscience?
- Can a Christian in good conscience hold a nation's highest office if that office may require sending troops into war?
The discussion turns to blurred lines between the believer and the nation: can a Christian president of Egypt order bombers while personally saying 'send them in' feels wrong?
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What do we tell new believers beyond "get in the Bible"?
Mike works through his confusion reading 1 Kings: three chapters in and he can't tell what's good or bad — David given a young woman to warm him, polygamy never outright condemned yet always a disaster, Solomon killing people.
From No. 586 · Nothing Personal
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Wrestling with hard Scripture: Amalekites, Paul, and 'you know I can't leave, help my unbelief'
The second cluster of midlife-crisis questions comes from actually reading the Bible past the headlines: conquest passages like the Amalekites, slavery, divine judgment, and Paul's harder teachings.
From No. 556 · A Christian Mid-Life Crisis
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Hard question: is it okay not to like Solomon?
Returning to the docket teaser, a host explains he has just read 1 Kings and can no longer deify Solomon's wisdom: the man who asked for wisdom and built the temple also built…
From No. 551 · BeliefNet.Org.Com
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Dan: the God of 2 Peter 2 hasn't changed
Dan rejects the premise that the New Testament God differs from the Old: 2 Peter 2 retells Sodom and Gomorrah and Noah's flood — "he'll do it again."
From No. 540 · Justice is Mine
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Ben: fear of the Lord is hard when grace feels easy
Ben admits he doesn't naturally fear God because he feels loved and accepted, yet reads the Old Testament anger and plagues where Moses had to intercede.
From No. 540 · Justice is Mine
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Context we miss: clearing the neighborhood and stories we never hear
Boova continues: God wasn't just clearing apartments for Israel — he "moved light into the neighborhood" by judging pervasive Canaanite evil.
From No. 540 · Justice is Mine
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Ben: Korah shows why God couldn't let the challenge slide
Ben returns to Korah: the rebellion's claim was "how do we know Moses and Aaron are the only ones God speaks to?" — if everyone claims to hear from God, direction goes random, and…
From No. 540 · Justice is Mine
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The Canaanites, sitting in the chair, and trusting God's justice
Ben works through the hard question of God's judgment on the Canaanites: what is the right punishment for a society that sacrifices children, since nothing is no answer either, and people who critique God would not sit in that chair.
From No. 526 · Secrets and Topless Dudes
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Marcionism deep dive and Gnosticism's modern echo
The room singles out Marcionism as the dangerous heresy because it accuses the God of the Old Testament of being a different, inferior god, which Boova calls flat-out wrong and Ben calls blasphemy.
From No. 516 · Pastor Rico Suave
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Mount Ebal curse tablet: earliest Yahweh-name Hebrew text
The news docket opens with the Mount Ebal curse tablet, described as the earliest proto-alphabetic Hebrew text recovered, a small folded lead tablet mentioning the personal name of Yahweh, associated with the mountain of the curse in Deuteronomy 27.
From No. 461 · Acid, Stupidity and Russia
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Boova's world religions class: putting God on trial
- Is the Old Testament God just a murderous bully?
Boova -- introduced by another host as 'Boopa,' who 'has a story' -- tells how his college world religions class watched a video of Jewish men in a Holocaust concentration camp…
From No. 316 · Putting God on Trial
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Exile but not destruction: God's pattern of mercy
A second host picks up the thread: God's relationship with his people is consistently exile-not-destruction as a call to repentance — Adam and Eve, Cain, Babel, Moses' petitions, the Canaanites after 400 years.
From No. 418 · Top Bible Searches of 2020
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Rebutting proof 50: seeing, believing, and answered prayer
The hosts rebut the proof: Israel saw miracles and still rebelled; Jesus said blessed are those who do not see and yet believe; appearances did not make everyone believe; and Matthew 7:7 is not a blank check, since prayers must align with God's heart and will.
From No. 147 · The Promised Land Festival