There are just two guiding principles of the Beta Discussion Group: Wisdom and Love
Wisdom “Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns for gold” (Proverbs 3:13-14)
Love We will act towards each other with love at all times. As Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up”.
Theological Nitty Gritty
Please note that the following list, unlike the 10 Commandments, is not set in stone. So feel free to get in touch and add your own suggestions.
Creation / Evolution
1.Who or what were Adam & Eve?
2.What is ‘The Fall’ really?
3.What did God really do in Genesis 2:7 “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life”?
4.Does God hate death, or only the death of humans, or only the ‘unjust’ death of humans?
Old Testament; New Testament
1.Why does the God of the Old Testament seem so violent and the God of the New Testament so gracious?
2.How could the Jews have been God’s chosen people for centuries, and then not be his chosen people any more?
3.Does God know the future? If so:
4.Why is there judgement, when he created the world in which he knew sin would flourish?
5.Do we have freedom of choice?
6.Why did he create a world with so much suffering?
7.Is God omnipotent and loving?
What is his intention?
Heaven
1.What is it really like?
2.Can it really have no death?
Hell
1.If someone dies, having heard of Jesus but never become a Christian, how can God condemn them to hell?
2.Is that a moral judgement; or just a natural law?
3.What about people who never heard?
4.What is Hell anyway?
The Holy Trinity
1.What’s all that about?
How can we believe the Bible if:
1.It’s got all these wrong bits in it, like the rivers around the Garden of Eden.
2.It was just written by ‘some blokes’.
Omnipotence
1.Does the Bible teach that God is omnipotent (all pwerful, literally)?
2.If God is omnipotent how do we account for things like cancer, tsunamis, genocides?
3.Does God make those things happen or simply allow them to?
4.What’s the difference?
5.In what way does man’s free will compromise God’s omnipotence, if at all?
6.What about logical impossiilities - is God constrained by those?
7.What kind of prayers should we pray?