Queen's Road Cell

We considered the idea of the authority of Scripture – by which we mean the right of Scripture to command us to obedience to its standards. Christians believe that Scripture faithfully conveys the words of God through the writings of men   (cf. 2 Ti 3:16, 2 Pe 1:21). As such, it is infallible, inerrant in the original writings and fully authoritative for all of our life.    But, I asked: is it not a circular argument to say, "The Bible is the Word of God" -> "So it is authoritative and infallible" -> "Based on that authority it claims to be the Word of God" -> "So the Bible is the Word of God"? There are a number of responses to this allegation: 1.        A circular argument is inevitable when one appeals to ultimate authority. If you say, “I believe only in the evidence of my senses from scientific experimentation as a measure of truth”, when asked “Why?” the only possible response would be, “Because I believe that ...

We covered some basic questions that Joshua's BB boys asked him at devotions. If God is all-powerful, why doesn't He make everybody worship Him? I now cannot remember who said what! I think Joshua said he framed this in terms of relationship. Relationships cannot be forced. You can't force someone to love you. On reflection this may be slightly simplistic. God, being God, would have the ability to make us sincerely and truly love Him. Even so, we who are made in the image of God have the ability to choose to love Him. I did not mention this, but we are held responsible for our moral choices (e.g. to love God or not). This is not to be confused with 'free will'. Our wills are bound by sin and we are spiritually dead. And so we are told that we cannot love God and come to Him unless he enables us to do so. But that is probably a bit much to throw at Sec 1 boys all at once. Why is there a hell? This is a tough question because teaching that non-believers go t...