Here I have provided some biblical answers to some frequently asked questions about Christianity, God, the Bible, etc. They are in no particular order.

1. If the God of the Bible is supposed to be loving and good, then why is there crime and suffering and death?
   
2. Why do people have religion and believe in a God?
   
3. How is Christianity diffiferent from other religions?
   
4. How could Noah fit all the animals on the ark?
   
5. How could the dinosaurs have fit on the ark?
   
6. Where did Cain get his wife?
   
7. How can God hear prayers from so many people all over the world at once?
   
8. If you take the Bible literally, does that mean that Christ will appear as predicted in Revelations with a literal sword in his literal mouth (and other such absurd images)?
   
9. "Who exactly asked Jesus to die for our sins...?"
   

If the God of the Bible is supposed to be loving and good, then why is there crime and suffering and death?

There are three reasons that the Bible gives in answer to this question.

First, the ultimate cause of evil and suffering in the world is sin. God told Adam and Eve not to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God could have simply not created that tree to keep the first humans from eating the fruit, but instead He gave the final decision to Adam. Adam sinned and ate the fruit, thereby bringing sin into the world. From then on, the sin nature was passed on from father to children until the present day.

The sin nature and Satan tempt man to do evil things. However, they are not to blame. Though tempted, a man does not need to give in to the temptation to sin. Therefore, it is an individual who decides to sin, just like Adam did.

Second, the Bible indicates that there are two halves to history: the seen half and the unseen half. The seen half is the world and history that we live in, and the unseen half is heaven, hell, and angels and demons in heaven and on earth. Satan, the ruler of the demons, is an angel that God created who became very proud and wanted to be God. But God threw him and the angels who sided with him down to earth. They are now referred to as demons. Now there are cause-and-effect relationships between the seen half and the unseen half of history. If we were to view both halves, we would see both life on earth going on as usual, as well as Satan and his demons battling angels on earth. The battle is due to a continuing revolt against the Creator by the angels who renounced God.

Sometimes these spiritual conflicts cause suffering, as in the case of Job in the Bible (See the Book of Job). If a suffering Christian does not renounce God throughout his suffering, the result is that the individual’s faith strengthened, and in the spiritual realm there is a victory for God and His angels. For one who is not a Christian, some suffering may be used by God to bring him to seek Someone higher, more powerful than himself for help.

Third, because of the abnormality of the universe due to Adam’s sin and the curse, suffering is a natural part of history and is something that we all should expect in life.

Whatever the reason, we can be assured that God sees us. Proverbs 15:3 says, "The eyes of the Lord are in every place keeping watch on the evil and the good."

Why do people have religion and believe in a God?

There are a few reasons for people believing in a God:

First, because it is innate. Since God created man, it makes sense that He would put in men an innate desire to worship a supernatural Being, namely, Himself. How else could people have first thought of religion?

Second, because evidences of the presence of God are all around us. Psalm 19:1 (KJV): “The Heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth His handiwork.” Also, Romans 1:19-20: “Because that which is known about God is evident within them [men]; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.” We can see the order and design behind all of nature. Evolution could not possibly display order, if it is itself brought about by chaos.

How is Christianity diffiferent from other religions?

Man is sinful and does not always worship the true God. Hence, other religions arise. Someone I know said it well: "Religion is man stretching upward to God saying, 'God, Look at what I've done!' But Christianity is God reaching His nail pierced hand down to men and saying, 'No, look what I've done for you.'" See, other religions often require man to do something good to find favor in their deity's sight. But in Christianity, man, being sinful, cannot hope to attain favor with a perfect, holy God who hates sin. But God in His love sent His Son to die in order to atone for the sins of mankind, so man, simply by believing this, can have fellowship with God and live with Him forever.

Another thing that makes Christianity different form other religions is that the "founder" of it is not dead, but alive. Because Jesus is God, He could not stay dead. Three days after He died, He rose from the dead, proving that He had victory over death.

How could Noah fit all the animals on the ark?

Yes, there were two of every sort of reptiles, mammals, and insects (including the unpleasant ones), the Bible says, “Of the birds after their kind, and of the animals after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every kind shall come to you, to keep them alive.” (Genesis 6:20) It says “after their kind.” These kinds are not defined, but perhaps dogs, for example, would include wolves, coyotes, and domestic dogs. It is possible that the two dogs on the ark were any combination of two dog-like animals.

Also, there was more than enough room on the ark for all the animals! Its dimensions were: length, 437 feet (300 cubits); width, 72.92 feet (50 cubits); height, 43.75 feet (30 cubits); inside there were three decks. This gave the ark a total volume of 1,518,750 cubic feet, and total deck area of 101,250 square feet. A standard railroad stock car has a capacity of 2,670 cubic feet. There was enough room on the ark for the capacity of 568 stock cars. A standard stock car can hold 240 sheep, 136,000 sheep could have fit inside the ark. But since most animals are smaller than sheep, there probably was no crowding on the ark.* Go take a look at my Lego scale model of Noah's ark. With a minifigure Noah next to it (who is almost invisible), it certainly looks big enough to fit all the animals!

*Henry M. Morris, The Biblical Basis for Modern Science, pp. 291-292

How could the dinosaurs have fit on the ark?

It's true that reptiles as big as buildings could not have fit on the ark. Thus, it is very likely that the dinosaurs on board were younger, smaller ones.

Where did Cain get his wife?

Since the Bible says that Adam "had other sons and daughters" (Genesis 5:4), Cain very possibly married one of his sisters. This sounds wrong, but there are three points I would like to make. (1) There were no mutations in the genetics at that time, since Adam and Eve were created perfect. (2) There was really no other option as to whom he could marry. (3) God had not yet given the Law to the Israelites, so there was no prohibition from marrying a close relative.

How can God hear prayers from so many people all over the world at once?

We can't imagine a human listening to thousands of prayers every second. But God is not a man; He knows everything. Matthew 6:8 says, “...your Father knows what you need, before you ask Him.” He even knows what we pray for before we ask!

If you take the Bible literally, does that mean that Christ will appear as predicted in Revelations with a literal sword in his literal mouth (and other such absurd images)?

I found this question best summed up in the book Soul Harvest by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins. On page 386, Dr. Tsion Ben-Judah says, "When the Bible is figurative, it sounds figurative. When it says all the grass and one-third of all trees will be scorched, I cannot imagine what that might be symobolic for" (this was in reference to a prophecy in Revelations 8:7.) When the Bible says that God created in six days and rested on the seventh, I cannot imagine what that might be symbolic for. The same goes for Adam eating the fruit of the forbidden tree. But as for "absurd images": they are all symbolic.

Compare the prophecy mentioned in the question (Rev. 19:11-16) with John 1:1, Hebrews 4:12, and Isaiah 55:11.

"Who exactly asked Jesus to die for our sins...?"

This may not be Frequently Asked, but it is a very good Question I received from a fellow named Robert:

"I'd just like to know, who exactly asked Jesus to die for our sins? I mean hypothetically speaking, let's say your religion is correct, Jesus died for our sins, etc, etc. I personally, feel that's wrong. I am responsible for every "bad" or negative thing I do in my life and I certainly would NEVER hesitate to take full responsibility for what I've done, and if that means burning in hell because that's how some deity views things, well, so be it. I personally would see it as rather ironic and would burn in hell as a true martyr for mankind. I can think of no greater glory, in your hypothesis of how the universe works anyhow."

My reply:

"Well, no one asked Jesus to die for us. As you said, Robert, we each deserve to die for our own sins. God could have let us all die and not sent His Son. But God is a loving God, and He wanted us to be able to live with Him forever in Heaven, not burn in hell to pay for our own sins.

"Now you could ask, 'If God can do anything, then why didn't he simply excuse our sin and let us into heaven anyway?' The answer is that God is also demands justice. God in his nature is loving and just; he can't go against his nature (kind of like how we are sinful by nature and can't be perfect).

"Therefore, God decided to send His own perfect Son to pay the penalty for our sin. Yes, each one of us could pay for his own sins by dying, but then we would be separated from God. However, the death of one perfect One could redeem all of mankind to God, as many people who desire this.

"This may seem like a very unfair thing. It isn't fair that we can be reconciled to God and be so blessed as to live with Him forever, but we CAN if we want to! God desires this. It really doesn't matter if we think it's not fair. God is willing to give us the benefit of having this unfairness inflicted on Himself. He loves us that much!"

Please believe on Jesus Christ today!
"Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation."
— 2 Corinthians 6:2 —

NOTE
If you have any questions, please e-mail me, and I will be happy to answer them. Perhaps it will also get added to this page!