If People Could Be Saved Before Jesus, Why Was It Necessary for Him to Come?
#STRask — Stand to ReasonIf People Could Be Saved Before Jesus, Why Was It Necessary for Him to Come?
March 24, 2025
#STRaskStand to Reason
Questions about why it was necessary for Jesus to come if people could already be justified by faith apart from works, and what the point of the Old Covenant was if God was going to make the New Covenant.
* Since Old Testament Jews and Gentiles could be justified by faith apart from works, it seems there was already a path for salvation in place, so why was it necessary for Jesus to come?
* What was the point of the Old Covenant if God was going to make the New Covenant?
More From #STRask
Should We Not Say Anything Against Voodoo?
#STRask
March 27, 2025
Questions about how to respond to someone who thinks we shouldn’t say anything against Voodoo since it’s “just their culture” and arguments to refute
How Should I Respond to the Phrase “Just Follow the Science”?
#STRask
March 31, 2025
Questions about how to respond when someone says, “Just follow the science,” and whether or not it’s a good tactic to cite evolutionists’ lack of a go
What Discernment Skills Should We Develop to Make Sure We’re Getting Wise Answers from AI?
#STRask
April 3, 2025
Questions about what discernment skills we should develop to make sure we’re getting wise answers from AI, and how to overcome confirmation bias when
Is Pornography Really Wrong?
#STRask
March 20, 2025
Questions about whether or not pornography is really wrong and whether or not AI-generated pornography is a sin since AI women are not real women.
Is God Just a Way of Solving a Mystery by Appealing to a Greater Mystery?
#STRask
March 17, 2025
Questions about whether God is just a way of solving a mystery by appealing to a greater mystery, whether subjective experience falls under a category
What Should I Say to Active Churchgoers Who Reject the Trinity and the Deity of Christ?
#STRask
March 13, 2025
Questions about what to say to longtime, active churchgoers who don’t believe in the Trinity or the deity of Christ, and a challenge to the idea that
More on OpenTheo
Did Jesus Prove He Wasn’t Sinless When He Overturned the Tables?
#STRask
December 29, 2025
Questions about whether Jesus proved he wasn’t sinless when he overturned the tables, whether Jesus’ response to the Pharisees in Mark 3:22–26 was a b
Should You Believe Things You Can’t Fully Comprehend?
#STRask
September 25, 2025
Questions about whether you should believe things you can’t fully comprehend, whether it’s just an arbitrary escape hatch to say God doesn’t require a
How Do We Advocate for Christian Policy Without Making the Government Interfere in Every Area of Life?
#STRask
November 20, 2025
Questions about how to advocate for Christian policy without making the government interfere in every area of life, and the differences between the mo
Are Demon Possessions and Exorcisms in the New Testament Literal?
#STRask
December 11, 2025
Questions about whether references to demon possessions and exorcisms in the New Testament are literal, how to talk to young children about ghosts, an
Life and Ministry in Charlotte and in the SBC with Clint Pressley
Life and Books and Everything
December 15, 2025
In a rare cultural anomaly that may never be repeated in our lifetimes, the current SBC President and current PCA Moderator live in the same neighborh
How Would You Convince Someone That Evil Exists?
#STRask
November 17, 2025
Questions about how to convince someone that evil exists, whether Charlie Kirk’s murder was part of God’s plan, whether that would mean the murderer d
Since Most People Are Wrong When They Make Supernatural Claims, Why Didn't God Do Better?
Risen Jesus
September 17, 2025
Dr. Matthew McCormick, a philosophy professor at California State University, Sacramento, doesn’t believe that there is satisfactory historical eviden
Could the Writers of Scripture Have Been Influenced by Their Fallen Nature?
#STRask
October 23, 2025
Questions about whether or not it’s reasonable to worry that some of our current doctrines were influenced by the fallen nature of the apostles, and h
What About Those Who Never Heard the Name of Jesus?
#STRask
December 22, 2025
Questions about what will happen to those who never heard of Jesus or were brought up in a different faith, whether there’s biblical warrant to think
How Can I Improve My Informal Writing?
#STRask
October 6, 2025
Question about how you can improve your informal writing (e.g., blog posts) when you don’t have access to an editor.
* Do you have any thoughts or
Do Christians Need to Believe that Jesus was Raised Bodily from the Dead? Licona vs. Patterson
Risen Jesus
October 15, 2025
In this episode, Dr. Stephen Patterson, New Testament professor at Eden Theological Seminary, argues against the bodily resurrection of Jesus, contend
How Do You Justify Calling Jesus the Messiah?
#STRask
December 18, 2025
Questions about how one can justify calling Jesus the Messiah when he didn’t fulfill the Hebrew messianic prophecies, and whether the reason for the v
Does God Really Need a “Pound of Flesh” to Forgive Sins?
#STRask
January 12, 2026
Questions about how to answer the challenge that God doesn’t need a “pound of flesh” to forgive sins but can simply forgive, and whether the claim in
Protestants and Catholics: What’s the Difference? With Chad Van Dixhoorn, Blair Smith, and Mark McDowell
Life and Books and Everything
November 26, 2025
How should Protestants think about the Catholic Mass? About the Eucharist? About the history and development of the papacy? In this panel discussion,
Why Would Any Rational Person Have to Use Any Religious Book?
#STRask
December 8, 2025
Questions about why any rational person would have to use any religious book, whether apologetics would be redundant if there were actually a good, un