What questions do people have about the Bible?

Several times a year, I take part in Premier Radio’s Monday morning phone-in, hosted by John Pantry, in which people can call in and ask any question they have about the Bible. It is both interesting and demanding, because you don’t know what questions will be asked—and have no time to look anything up before giving an answer! The listening audience of Premier is slightly different from the kind of audience I am usually working with, in that it will include a larger element of more conservative and Pentecostal listeners—but the questions asked offer some important insights into how people read their Bibles and the questions that arise.

These are the questions that were asked yesterday:

1 In Luke 17.37, what does Jesus mean by saying ‘Where a dead body is, there the vultures will gather’?

2. In the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18, Elijah tells the people to pour four jars of water on the offering three times. But it was a time of drought, so where did the water come from?

3. Will there be revival, as predicted by Joel 2.38 ‘in the last days’ before Jesus comes?

4. In Mark 6.11, the Authorised Version includes Jesus’ saying about Sodom and Gomorrah, whereas the NIV and other modern versions omit it. Is this because of a concern for political correctness?

5. In Isa 6.1 Isaiah says that he ‘saw the Lord, high and lifted up’—yet John 1.18 says that ‘no-one has seen God.’ How do we reconcile the contradictions here?

6. Why did God make skins for Adam and Eve if they had ‘bodies of light’?

7. When someone becomes a Christian, do they then need deliverance from demons or have they all already left?

You might want to pause and consider how you would have answered these questions!


If I had been given some notice, and time to prepare, I might have answered differently. But these are the answers I gave on the spot:

1 I would need to look at commentaries and consider all the options [I had in mind that the saying comes in a slightly different place in Matt 24]. But we need to look at the immediately preceding verses. Jesus draws a parallel between the ‘days of the Son of Man’ and the ‘days of Noah’. In the days of Noah, people didn’t know what was happening, and carried on with their ordinary lives, when suddenly judgement came (in the form of the flood) and took them all away. In the same way, Jesus says, at the time of his return, people will be absorbed with their daily life and won’t know what happens when suddenly they will be taken away in judgement. What Jesus is saying is the opposite of what is taught in the doctrine of ‘the rapture’ which originated with the teaching of J N Darby around 1832—and it is why I want to be ‘left behind’. I think Jesus’ saying about the vultures highlights that fact that people will endlessly speculate about these things—probably to no avail.

2. I thought you might be asking about the number of times water is poured—four jars, three times each, which makes twelve. And of course the altar is built of twelve stones, one for each of the tribes of Israel, so this might suggest that the whole nation, every tribe, has had the fire of faith extinguished and needs rekindling. (Biblical authors are more interested in numbers and in symbolism than we often realise.) There is a river along the base of Mount Carmel, but as you say, there was a drought, so it might well not have been flowing. If you visit Israel, one of the things you will notice is that, in just about every ancient site, you will see a sign for a cistern. One of the most spectacular is at Herod’s mountain fortress at Masada, by the Dead Sea, where there is a sophisticated system for gathering water into a series of cisterns. So there would very likely have been a cistern near to the site of the sacrifice, and water would have been fetched from there.

3. I hope there will be revival, and we should pray for it! But in the Bible, revival is talked of as a renewing or refreshing or a bringing of new life, and can happen at any time. The verses in Joel you refer to do talk about ‘the last days’—but they are ‘the last days’ that Peter refers to in his speech at Pentecost. In explaining to the crowd what is happening as the Spirit is poured out, he reaches for Joel and says ‘This is that about which the prophet Joel wrote: in those last days…’ In other words, we have been in the ‘last days’ ever since Pentecost—so we should always be looking for God to pour his Spirit out, and give us visions and dreams.

4. In its time, the Authorised (King James) Version was a good translation—but there were two important differences from our modern context. First, they had many fewer manuscripts to look at when decided on a translation. Because of the growth of archaeology, we now have many more ancient manuscripts to compare. As copies of the NT documents were made, inevitably some (minor) changes crept in—sometimes a scribe would think there was a mistake in a manuscript he was copying, and he would try and ‘correct’ it. Second, because this has become more and more important, the discipline of decided what was the most likely original writing (called ‘textual criticism’) has become more developed. In this case, in Mark 6.11, the parallel saying [in Matt 10.15 and Luke 10.12] does include the reference to Sodom and Gomorrah. But in Mark 6.11, some manuscripts include it and others don’t. Which is more likely to be the original that Mark wrote? We could imagine someone with the shorter text remembering the parallels in Matthew and Luke, and thinking that the shorter was an error, and ‘correcting’ it. But it’s hard to imagine the longer version being ‘corrected’ by being shortened. So the shorter version is much more likely to be the original, and that is the manuscript tradition that the NIV follows.

5. You are quite right to observe an apparent contradiction here—and it is actually quite widespread! Moses was said to have talked with God face to face, and he and the elders of Israel sat with God and ‘ate and drank’. And Jesus (in the Beatitudes) promises that the pure in heart will ‘see’ God. But what do we mean by ‘see’? (This is a very pertinent question in relation to the Book of Revelation.) Even in ordinary language, we use ‘see’ in all sorts of different ways—’I see what you mean’; ‘I suddenly saw the answer’; ‘I can see the sea’. Much of the time, the Bible is  using metaphorical and visionary language. In Isaiah 6 (as in Revelation) it is hard to take this literally—how could God be ‘high and lifted up’ and have his ‘train fill the temple’ unless the temple’s roof was taken off? The important thing is that, in the year that King Uzziah (who’s name means ‘God is my strength’) died, that is, at a time of change and uncertainty, God is still the one who is on his throne, and for Isaiah the truth of that was found in his temple presence. Scripture is clear that God is beyond human comprehensive—we see only in part—and that is why God is never actually described in Revelation, but simply referred to as ‘the one seated on the throne.’

6. I don’t understand the reference to ‘bodies of light’—everything in the two creation accounts (in Genesis 1 and 2) portray the first humans as just like us, formed from the ‘dust of the earth’ (to which we return in death, ‘ashes to ashes, dust to dust’) into which the breath of life from God has been breathed. God’s provision of clothing from them was a sign of his provision and grace despite the fact that they had done what he had prohibited.

7. When we come to faith, in many ways everything has changed. Paul talks of ‘the new creation’ (2 Cor 5.17) and it is striking that, in all his letters, he addresses his audience as ‘saints’, the holy people of God. In Romans 6, Paul says that in baptism we are joined with Jesus’ death—our old lives die—as we enter the water, and that we enter the new resurrection life as we come up from the water. That, in principle, is our inheritance that we start to live by. And yet we still inhabit ‘sinful human nature’. So the Christian life is lived between these two realities. When we come to faith, in principle we say ‘Jesus is Lord’ so no other force or power has control over us. But in practice we still need to make that a reality—so deliverance ministry is still needed for some people.

Do add fuller reflections in your comments below!


But these questions offer some interesting insights into how people read their Bibles.

First, there are still plenty of people in our churches who pay careful attention to what Scripture says—for which I am very grateful! Last Sunday I was talking to someone who has joined us in the last year from another large church, and when I asked how she is finding is, her first comment was ‘I am enjoying the biblical preaching’. Our congregations are full of people who take the Bible seriously, and want to be fed. I was particularly struck by the question about water in 1 Kings 18—which demonstrates a fully imaginative entering into the details of the story. If we don’t do our homework, and take time to expound and explain what Scripture says and how it applies to their lives, we are selling them short.

The second observation follows from the first. If people are reading their Bibles, then they will become aware of the challenges and questions that arise. The most interesting question from this point of view was the one about ‘seeing God’. Hear, the listening has noticed an apparent contradiction across two quite different parts of the Bible, and wants to know whether they can be resolved. In my experience is simply isn’t the case (as sceptics often claim) that Christian readers of the Bible are credulous and unquestioning. But it is true that they need some help in resolved questions and tension.

Thirdly, alongside that, some faithful readers of the Bible might well have an ‘eccentric’ view—in the literal sense of the word, reading ‘off centre’. I was fascinated that the first question was about a rather obscure saying of Jesus in passing, when the really big questions centre on the immediately preceding verses. And I think the questions about Joel 2.38 and deliverance from demons are important questions but ones that are answered by looking at the ‘big picture’, the more central issues of Christian theology.

Fourthly, this is the fourth time I have taken part in this phone-in; there is never a shortage of questions, and so far the same question has not come up twice. So people who read the Bible do have questions, the questions matter to them, and perhaps this shows that their local churches don’t always provide the space for the questions to be asked. And I think it is fair to say that the questions are quite demanding. Does the theological training of our leaders equip them to answer such things? And do we provide the opportunity for the answers to be explored?

Do make a comment, observation or question below—especially if you have not done so before!


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19 thoughts on “What questions do people have about the Bible?”

  1. Bingo – I thought I was the only one puzzled about where the water came from on Mt Carmel. It was obviously a severe drought as even the King was considering slaughtering his livestock. Apparently parts of Mt Carmel are not too far from the sea so maybe it could have been sea water. It does say that the prophets of Baal were subsequently slaughtered at the Brook Kishon suggesting a spring was still running to some extent from the Mt Carmel complex.

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  2. Regarding Question # 7

    Every Christian has a daily, lifelong fight against sinful urges and temptations, and must apply himself to diligent prayer, watching, Bible meditation, and all other means of grace to develop an increasingly holy heart and life. This process may be accelerated by other Christians through their sermons, Christian books, and personal testimony & exhortation. So in that sense, all biblical preaching and faithful Christian fellowship is a form of ‘deliverance ministry’, aimed at helping fellow Christians to be delivered of their sinful nature and to grow in holiness.

    But I think the questioner was specifically asking whether a convert may need exorcism to dislodge an indwelling demon. I’m not certain whether the answer is Yes or No, but I notice there is nothing in the apostle’s epistles instructing believers to be exorcised. Is this omission significant, especially considering that many of the people to whom they wrote had converted from pagan backgrounds in which they had practiced occult arts and/or worshipped idols? Instead the emphasis in the apostle’s epistles is on mortifying one’s sin and cultivating the fruit of the Spirit.

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  3. This is Fascinating Ian, thanks for sharing. I am actually surprised by the nature and range of the questions: possible land-mines for you, pastoral need and some real nitty gritty textual stuff.

    It leads me to ask questions of the questioners’ and their questions, most of which I realise you aren’t in a position to know the answer 🙂

    Do you think such questions are normal thoughts of normal christians?
    Did similar sorts of questions come up on each 4 occasions on radio?
    Do you think they asked their vicar but couldn’t get the answer they wanted or liked or ?
    What is the demographic of those who rang in and asked?
    Were the questions filtered by the radio programme for effect or to reflect the radio’s stance?
    Were the people unlikely to have access to a computer where a quick google search would find endless answers to these?
    What motivated the questions: desire to answer or to put you in the hot seat or see if you are sound or agreed with them?

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  4. The “bodies of light” got me googling…
    It seems that this is a misunderstanding of an old Jewish idea, taken up some some of the Church Fathers, that Adam and Eve were clothed in light or ‘glory’. Peter Enns has something on it here: https://biologos.org/blogs/archive/genesis-creation-and-ancient-interpreters-adam-and-eves-nakedness
    His summary is:
    We see in this example that theological need and cultural pressures can lead to creative readings [of] the creation story: Adam and Eve were clothed before their sin.

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  5. Thanks Ian for this – it might also be helpful to note that some questions involve trying to unpack a cultural understanding of scripture. Whilst teaching in South Sudan, where no alcohol is permitted in church, I invited questions after a session on evangelism and 12 clergy leant forward with the most important question they all had – was the wine that Jesus created at Cana alcoholic?

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  6. On 1:there is a link between Genesis 15 and Jeremiah 34:18-20: which was completely new to me, very significant and prompting the speculation that when Jesus said, ‘Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together’ he may possibly have had one or both of these passages in mind.
    Phil Almond

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  7. Rather you than me! Very interesting input. I often come across someting that puzzles me in morning prayer but rarely go and research it afterwards as I promise myself I will….

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  8. Really interesting questions and all of them well answered with enough incentive for people to carry on digging. In my experience, without a doubt the ‘best’ and most challenging of our Alpha discussions each course is around how to handle the bible. Giving people the space to ask their questions, and not being afraid of admitting we need to work at and be guided in our understanding of scripture, actually raises confidence in it, rather than diminishes it. After our session last week on the Bible, every member of our small group were asking me for bible reading notes and commentary suggestions, with several committing to the BIOY scheme. Very encouraging.

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  9. Yes, some difficult questions, especially if one has to answer on the spot. With the benefit of reflection and after referring to the Greek:
    1. I take the ‘rapture’ to be a removal of the just before God visits his wrath on the earth. The [scilicet, dead] body is what remains, for the eagles [vultures] to pick at. In answer to the question “Where, Lord?”, it could be anywhere and you won’t be there to see it.
    2. There must have been some water around, otherwise the bulls and human beings mentioned in the story would have long ago died of thirst. The drought lasted 3.5 yrs.
    3. Joel 2:38 – i.e. 2:28 – does not predict revival in a quantitative sense, and v. 32, probably referring to a later time, suggests only a few people (‘those who escape’ … ‘survivors’). Verse 28 refers to the gift of the Spirit to Jew and Gentile, male and female (‘all flesh’ in that sense), as Jesus promised – as a consequence of believing and being baptised in him. Not a church revival as such.
    4. The sentence is definitely in Matt 10:15. Manuscript authority for it in Mark is moderately strong but not definitive. Matt 10:15 gives us confidence that Jesus said the words.
    5. No one has seen God, because we see with our eyes and God, who is Spirit, is invisible (I Tim 6:16, but I am surely stating the obvious). On numerous occasions he has revealed himself in human form so that we can see him, but what we see is still his image or likeness, not the Spirit who in himself is outside time and space.
    6. and 7. No additional comments.

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  10. Why was God OK with David stealing other men’s wives (although HE did reprimand him once about this that I know of, yet let him go onto to steal the wife of someone who really loved her yet when she was angry and mocked DAVID while he was dancing and praising God then he cursed her with never getting laid again for the rest of her life and God seemed perfectly OK about it?).. Also, why don’t others ever quote about some colorful phrases in the bible such as, “Him that pisseth against the wall.’–Is this not funny??–or what about when warriors say<"His member being as tiny as…?" Are not these turns of phrase hilarious or am I the only one who thinks so? Also, the warriors all like good looking women–as if this were a God given. Thoughts?

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    • David was legally married to Mikal, King Saul’s 2nd daughter. When David ran to save his life from Saul’s attempted murder Saul obviously considered this “abandonment” and gave Mikal to another man. When David was finally safe he went to Re-Claim his legal wife, Mikal, that was illegally given away by Saul. No wife of David was “Stolen” with the only exception of Bath-Sheba (daughter of Sheba), and YHWH did punish David for this. God was NOT “ok” with David stealing wives, of which only ONE was stolen.
      Mikal totally disrespected David and so mocked how David, the King of All Israel, worshiped the God of All Creation (TWO really big no-no’s). In retribution, David chose to never have sex with her ever again. Obviously, the God of All Creation agreed with this since Mikal mocked honest worship to YHWH after He returned the Ark of the Covenant to Israel.
      YHWH, the God of All Creation, has a wonderful sense of humor and directed His authors to include such humorous statements as… “pisseth against the wall.” Don’t forget the following:

      “My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins (genitalia)” (1 Kings 12:10)
      “…the people sitting on the wall… are doomed with you to eat their own dung and drink their own urine” (Isaiah 36:12)
      “I wish these liars would castrate themselves.” (Galatians 5:12 – Paul referring to false teaching about circumcision)
      “She lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses.” (Ezekiel 23:20 – these dudes were well-hung)
      “No one whose testicles are crushed or whose [“privy member”] is cut off shall be admitted to the assembly of the LORD.” (Deuteronomy 23:1)

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  11. Ok I have a problem . This is the first blog I’ve encountered that would actually let me make a comment without charging me. I’ve become very dissatisfied with religion as a whole because of some trying to teach things like what Jesus thought about the Bible. The Bible had not been formally written till almost 100 years after his death. And now in this age. Religion as become about money. And I’m talking from your pasture wanting a new roof to just tything in general. I believe in God ,I’ve gone to church most of my life but it seems about what you can give them, I mean them as organized religion. It seems like just some kind of status symbol to go to church. If you don’t, your a scum bag. But when I do , I look around and it feels just fake. Especially, when you turn on the t.v. and see these evangelists . They should be outlawed and it just strengthens my choice to drop my denomination or to even pick up any other denomination. The whole thing sickens me. I love the pureness of just believing and knowing of something larger. But the human race has turned believing into a marketed, packaged thing to be sold or to raise wars. I’m very discoraged and I’m wondering, is it just me!!

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    • Dear James, thanks for being in touch. I entirely agree with you about money and packaging. This is commonly described as the ‘prosperity gospel’ and it is really a heresy which is not faithful to what Jesus taught. I don’t know where you live, but it is more common in America than here in the UK.

      I invite people to support my ministry, but I do not charge for access for the same reason St Paul didn’t (‘I make the gospel free of charge’ 1 Cor 9.18).

      If you tell me where you live, then I might be able to point you to a better church which will help you grow in faith.

      In relation to the gospels, I probably would take a slightly different view. I was talking to a friend yesterday who is doing a PhD on the letter of James, and he believes the letter was written without about 10 years of Jesus’ crucifixion, which is remarkable for a new movement in a world where writing was expensive and elite. The writers of the gospels seem to have been relying on eye-witnesses accounts, and Paul’s earliest letters date from around 50.

      You might be interested in this account of the gospels and eyewitnesses by a leading international NT scholar: https://grovebooks.co.uk/products/b-48-the-gospels-as-eyewitness-testimony?_pos=1&_sid=262c3caf4&_ss=r

      Or this general short look at the reliability of the gospels: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Can-Trust-Gospels-Peter-Williams/dp/1433552957

      I hope these are of help.

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  12. RE: Deliverance From Demons ——
    There is absolutely NO instruction in all of scripture for a person to “Become a Christian.” The term was coined in Antioch, Turkey, which was/is a crossroad of trade and a melting pot of world religions and philosophies. Believers only called ThemSelves ‘disciples’, ‘believers’ or ‘followers’ of the Anointed/Christened, which is not very “marketable”, so the locals ‘had’ to call this new religion SOME-thing. They used a version of the Latin word Christened (anointed) and named them Christ-ians (anointed-ians). Disciples, Believers, Followers, are only instructed to Repent (change), Believe (faith), and Obey (act). Such action will not make demons disappear but rather INCREASE the intensity of their attack as they hope to destroy this new-found faith (parable of the sower). That is why Messiah tells Believers to Study the Words of YHWH. Only That will give power over demonic attack.

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    • They were called ‘Christians’ because they followed and worshipped Jesus. As Paul says in Romans 10, following Jesus involves ‘calling on the name of the Lord [Jesus]’ for salvation. So I think you are mistaken.

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