Arka

Should one date at all? I don't think so, but I can't find any scripture to back that up. I can only find verses dealing with marriage, not specifically courtship. Sex outside of marriage is clearly forbidden; however, what about other acts? My younger brother is 15 and says he's a Christian, but he constantly has a new girlfriend and is always kissing them and doing other things...but he says that because he's practicing abstinence, it's OK. Is it? Is there any wisdom I can give him that would help rein in his behavior? I don't think that it's good for him to be all over all of these different girls. I'm very concerned for him and just want to help him lead a good, Christian life.

Alcohol is definitely not okay! Paul listed drunkenness as a "work of the flesh," the same as murder, adultery, and idolatry. Galatians 5:19-21: Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

This passage in Luke has been bothering me for a long time. Is it a sin to have money, or a lot of money? Does 18:22 give us an absolute commandment--if we have any money or property at all, are we required to give it all away? Or was Jesus just speaking to this one individual? I was taught that being rich isn't a sin, but being stingy and hoarding wealth is, and that if you can afford to give charitably more than the 10% tithe, you should. Is that an accurate interpretation of these verses?

I don't understand.

How awful! I carry a debit/bank card with me for large purchases, but don't want a credit card because of stories like these. Whenever my family goes on vacation, we always carry a good amount of actual paper money just in case. Though I'm not really sure what criteria the banks use in determining when to accept/block certain charges, since we've gone several states away from where we live and not had any problems.

Thank you so much! It looks like the translator just used a word in an odd place, and it completely changed my perception of the tone of the verse.

Well no. the verse makes sense completely if taken in context. The context of that chapter would be the consideration of others over onself as has already been pointed out. Perhaps the context was so plain it was missed... I must've completely missed the context, then. Can you explain how 10:24 relates to the verses surrounding it? I just don't understand how anything in this passage relates to anything else at all. It seems like a bunch of different ideas, none of them having anything to do with the others, being taken up every few verses, with 10:24 being stand-alone with no other verses relating to it. I'm completely lost on this one! 10:21 Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils. 10:22 Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he? 10:23 All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not. 10:24 Let no man seek his own, but every man another's wealth. 10:25 Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, that eat, asking no question for conscience sake: 10:26 For the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof. 10:27 If any of them that believe not bid you to a feast, and ye be disposed to go; whatsoever is set before you, eat, asking no question for conscience sake. 10:28 But if any man say unto you, This is offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not for his sake that shewed it, and for conscience sake: for the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof: 10:29 Conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the other: for why is my liberty judged of another man's conscience? 10:30 For if I by grace be a partaker, why am I evil spoken of for that for which I give thanks? 10:31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. 10:32 Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God: 10:33 Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.

This is an interesting observation. I've never noticed this in my own experience; it's always been the women that are proud of having lots of children, and they're also the ones that want large families. I've only ever seen or heard of a few men that expressed a desire to have children, and none of them were married yet.

Should Indians and Chinese stop or limit their reproduction, since they're very overpopulated? Should people in countries with a ton of open land but a comparatively lower population, like Russia or Finland, be having more children on average than others? In particular, I am concerned for white Americans, as their babies are becoming increasingly outnumbered by those of non-whites. I'm Hispanic, and I'm unsure of whether or not I should be having children since that would only make the demographic problem worse; Hispanics are, I think, the worst offenders in the U.S. for overpopulating right now. Should this factor into whether or not I have children, or if I do, how many?

I agree! But, I don't think that Europe's biggest problem is with Muslims outbreeding the Christians, but in Middle Easterners outbreeding the Europeans. Religion is an idea, and ideas outlast any person or nation of people; but the nations (ethnicities) that God created can die out permanently. I am concerned for them, especially the peoples of western Europe, because of their low birthrate compared to that of the foreigners. One thing I learned from my dad (an accountant) is that consumption, as a percentage of income, is regressive; the more money a person makes, the lower of a percentage of it will be spent on food, utilities, and other basic needs. When we look at billionaires and millionaires, however, even though they can afford to have enormous families, most of them just don't. The number of children had by a typical family seems to increase the lower down on the income scale you go. I live in one of the nicer neighborhoods in my city, and my family has more children (4) than any of the others I know; most of them have two, and some have none. On the other hand, there are plenty of families with 3-5 children in the lower income areas. Having another child or two wouldn't noticeably affect the lifestyle anyone here. I just don't understand it. ><

In First Corinthians, Paul says: 10:24 Let no man seek his own, but every man another's wealth. What does this mean? Looking at the verses preceding and following this one, there seems to be no actual context; I can't see how they relate to this verse at all. On the surface, it seems like it's saying that no one should become rich on his own, but everyone should instead seek other people's wealth. It looks like it's overtly promoting avarice, envy, and theft, but I know that can't possibly be true! What is the real meaning of this verse?

The Q'uran does not forbid forced conversions. You are reading from an abrogated verse. As for abstinence from extramarital sex - that's just a fallacy. Muslims are not allowed to commit adultery but they define adultery differently to the way that we do. Adultery can only occur between Muslim men and women. Muslim men are allowed to keep non-Muslims as sex slaves. This does not count as adultery to a Muslim. Muslim men are also allowed to secure temporary marriages to Muslim women by paying a sum of money either to the woman or to her father. The marriage can be as short as fifteen minutes. In our culture we would refer to this as prostitution. What legalizes forced conversions, then? Where are you getting your definition of adultery in Islam from? Why are Muslim men allowed to have temporary marriages? I don't know why. It's in their scriptures. The Prophet Mohammed permitted it. It's been part of Muslim jurispudence (both Shia and Sunni) for fourteen-hundred years. You'll find that there is hardly a Muslim sect that doesn't understand these rules, whether they be Salafi, Twelver, Alawite or Wahabbi. As for forced conversions they are mentioned in the Q'uran and commanded by the Q'uran. What they are effectively saying is that non-believers must be killed or enslaved unless they convert to Islam. Sura 8:39-42 Sura 9:5 Sura 8:12 Sura 47:4 All of Sura 8 is specific for the time period, which was just after a major battle. Sura 47 is also from around the same time as 8. Similarly, if you look at either the verse immediately before or after 9:5, the context becomes clear--they're dealing with specific groups of pagans in Mecca. There are only two surviving ink-and-paper documents that I know of that historians agree came from Muhammad: His Covenant with the Monks of Mount Sinai and the Constitution of Medina. Both of them establish religious freedom for Christians in areas under Muslim control. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achtiname_of_Muhammad Two translations of the full text of the Covenant can be found at that link. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Medina If "there is hardly a Muslim sect that doesn't understand these rules, whether they be Salafi, Twelver, Alawite or Wahabbi", then why did the founder of Islam grant the non-Muslims of his day such incredible rights? Christian clergy isn't given total exemption from taxation today in Western Christian-majority countries, and we surely aren't allowed to have our own governors and judges! And why is it that Syria, for example, isn't capturing, converting, and raping Christian women themselves, but ISIS is? Why was the Christian Gospel allowed to be preached in Iraq under Saddam Hussein? Why were Syrian Christians protected by the government of Bashar al-Assad? Why didn't we hear of the persecution of Coptic Christians in Egypt until after Hosni Mubarak was ousted? As for temporary marriages: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikah_mut%E2%80%98ah#Nikah_mut.27ah_in_Sunni_Islam There is still disagreement over it today, just like there are disagreements over many other issues in Islam as well as Christianity. I don't think that mankind will ever stop squabbling over the various facets of religion. I believe that understanding other religions is important to living a good, positive life not dominated by anger and bitterness. The Bible preaches love, not hate and division. "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another." --John 13:34 "Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law." --Romans 13:8 "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour." --Ephesians 4:31-5:2

Please do this! I spent 8 years in foster care before being adopted by my family. I have three adoptive siblings and all of us plan on adopting at least one child. One of the things that really made me feel comfortable and safe when I was first placed with my family was their peacefulness at home. No yelling, no arguing, and none of the abuse or neglect I'd suffered at previous foster homes. They took me with them to church and I learned about God, Jesus, and the Bible in a non-threatening way. I struggled with depression for a long time before I met my family and got saved. Ever since I learned that Jesus died for my sins and that God loves me, I've been much happier. Being placed in a loving home with gentle parents does a lot for kids who have no one and nothing in life. Even when I was a foster kid getting bounced around from place to place, I knew other foster kids who were Christian, and they were always more positive and happier than those of us who weren't religious. I didn't understand their outlook on life at the time, but now I know why they could remain so upbeat when going through everything foster kids do. The more children that are brought to God, the better!

In Genesis 1:27-28, we are told that God commanded humans to "Be fruitful and multiply". Does that commandment still stand? Should a woman have as many children as she is able? Basically, is childbearing still an absolute necessity for women? In First Chronicles: 4:27 And Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters: but his brethren had not many children, neither did all their family multiply, like to the children of Judah. This verse seems to imply that not having many children is looked down upon. Is it? The phrase "Be fruitful and multiply" appears in some variation numerous times throughout the Bible, but almost all of them are in the Old Testament. The one occurrence of it in the New Testament is in a letter by the Apostle Paul, and he is referring to what God told Abraham in the Old Testament. Were we only intended to multiply to a certain point? With over 7 billion people living on the Earth today, is having (or trying to have) as many children as Shimei in Chronicles still something all 2.2 billion Christians should strive for? My knowledge on this subject is limited, but it seems to me like while we shouldn't necessarily be aiming for 22 kids, a lower number like 2 or 3 sounds more reasonable. Is there any direction on this in the New Testament?

The Q'uran does not forbid forced conversions. You are reading from an abrogated verse. As for abstinence from extramarital sex - that's just a fallacy. Muslims are not allowed to commit adultery but they define adultery differently to the way that we do. Adultery can only occur between Muslim men and women. Muslim men are allowed to keep non-Muslims as sex slaves. This does not count as adultery to a Muslim. Muslim men are also allowed to secure temporary marriages to Muslim women by paying a sum of money either to the woman or to her father. The marriage can be as short as fifteen minutes. In our culture we would refer to this as prostitution. What legalizes forced conversions, then? Where are you getting your definition of adultery in Islam from? Why are Muslim men allowed to have temporary marriages?