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People & Open Questions

Lives and honest questions, held with open hands

Not every page of Scripture is a battlefield of doctrine; some are portraits and some are open questions. These letters look at lives the Bible draws with more care than the slogans allow, and at questions it answers in part and then, deliberately, leaves open. The aim is honesty: to say what Scripture says, no more and no less, and to hold the rest with open hands rather than force a verdict the text withholds.

Women in the Bible & the Early Church Deborah the judge and prophet, Phoebe the deacon, Junia "of note among the apostles," and the deaconesses of the early church, with what the restriction passages actually addressed. More than "be silent," and more careful than the slogans on either side. Open → David's Mighty Men Slingers who never missed, a man who fought till his hand froze to his sword, three who broke an army line for a cup of water, Benaiah who killed a lion in a pit on a snowy day. Real courage, and the King it points to. Open → Do Animals Have a Soul? An honest question held with open hands: do animals have a soul, do they receive the Spirit, will we see them again? What Scripture says, and where it deliberately leaves the answer open. Open →

Where this lands

Scripture is not embarrassed by nuance, and neither should we be. It gives women real honor and real callings while ordering the household of faith; it remembers the names of rough, brave men and points past them to the greater King; and it tells us enough about the rest of creation to trust God with it, without telling us everything we would like to know. Where the Bible speaks plainly, we speak plainly; where it leaves a question open, we leave it open, and trust the One who knows. (For the marriage letter, see Marriage, and the Love That Fulfills the Law.)

A section gathering the letters on people and open questions. Each linked page carries its own Scripture (KJV, linked to BibleHub). Offered with care, especially where the text is debated or deliberately silent.