Articles about Christianity and the Bible

At first glance, God in the Old Testament seems harsh, and perhaps callous. God in the New Testament seems loving, and gentle. With respect, this is a simple misunderstanding. It's also not new...this has been a common misunderstanding since at least the turn of the first century AD.

Many skeptics of Christianity believe that Jesus never claimed to be God. Some claim that nobody believed He was God until long, long after His death. Others argue that Jesus' own words show that He believed Himself to be simply a man, or only the Son of God and not God Himself. Still others claim that Jesus' divinity was created by the apostle Paul, and that his teaching and Jesus' teaching are in conflict. From Jehovah's Witnesses to Muslims to atheists, a whole bunch of people deny that Jesus is God.

God told Noah to build a big boat. This boat - an ark, which means "vessel" - had to be big enough to save Noah, and his family, and two of each kind of animal from a big flood. How big was Noah's ark?

Are dogs and cats mentioned in the Bible? The Hebrew word for dog (keleb) and the Greek word for dog (kyon) appear a number of times in the Bible:

It's clear from simply reading the New Testament that baptism by the Holy Spirit is not just for the apostles (Jesus' first disciples). To see this, we only need to go to the most famous verse in the whole Bible, and read it in context. It is, of course, John 3:16. It's important to read the whole section in John 3.

Nobody knows where the Garden of Eden was located. Nobody has found the Garden of Eden. Any report that claims otherwise is simply bogus. We read about the Garden of Eden in Genesis 2:8-14:

Whoever desires to be saved should above all hold to the catholic [that is, the historic, universal biblical] faith. Anyone who does not keep it whole and unbroken will doubtless perish eternally.

It's okay for Christians to eat pork. Why wouldn't it be okay? Some suggest that because the ancient Israelites were forbidden by God to eat pork, Christians are to avoid pork as well. That this is nonsense should be obvious to everyone, as Christians are not Israelites. Unfortunately, many preachers and teachers are teaching nonsense.

Bob wants to know why we humans believe that, after we die, we would be sent to a place based on what we did when we lived. He wants proof that Heaven and Hell exist.

How many prophets are listed in the Bible? Here's a start....let me know if I've missed any prophets. Thanks!

A lot of people have written and asked for a list of the meanings of the names of people in the Bible. Most of them come from readers of Name Changes in the Bible, one of the most popular GodWords articles. So: you asked for it, you've got it.