Question: Who divided the Bible into chapters and verses? Why and when was it done?

Answer: When the books of the Bible were originally written, they did not contain chapter or verse references. The Bible was divided into chapters and verses to help us find Scriptures more quickly and easily. It is much easier to find “John chapter 3, verse 16″ than it is to find “for God so loved the world…” In a few places, chapter breaks are poorly placed and as a result divide content that should flow together. Overall, though, the chapter and verse divisions are very helpful.

The chapter divisions commonly used today were developed by Stephen Langton, an Archbishop of Canterbury. Langton put the modern chapter divisions into place in around A.D. 1227. The Wycliffe English Bible of 1382 was the first Bible to use this chapter pattern. Since the Wycliffe Bible, nearly all Bible translations have followed Langton’s chapter divisions.

The Hebrew Old Testament was divided into verses by a Jewish rabbi by the name of Nathan in A.D. 1448. Robert Estienne, who was also known as Stephanus, was the first to divide the New Testament into standard numbered verses, in 1555. Stephanus essentially used Nathan’s verse divisions for the Old Testament. Since that time, beginning with the Geneva Bible, the chapter and verse divisions employed by Stephanus have been accepted into nearly all the Bible versions.

Recommended Resource: The Quest Study Bible.

Hat tip to gotquestions.org.

Question: What did Jesus mean when He said, “this generation will not pass”?

Answer: This quote of Jesus in regards to the end times is found in Matthew 24:34, Mark 13:30, and Luke 21:32. Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.” The key to understanding what Jesus means is understanding the context; that is, understanding the verses that are surrounding verse 34, but especially the verses prior to verse 34. In Matthew 24:4-31, Jesus is speaking of events that have not yet happened. The generation of people living when those events occur is the generation that Jesus speaks of “not passing” until He returns. Jesus had already told those living during His first time on earth that the kingdom had been taken from them (Matthew 21:43). Therefore, it is imperative that Matthew 24-25 be seen as speaking of a future time and that the word generation is referring to the people alive when the events of Matthew 24-25 are occurring.

Another possibility is that Jesus was giving a prophecy with a “double fulfillment.” Some of what He was predicting was going to occur in that generation. Some of what Jesus prophesied fits with what occurred when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in A.D. 70. Other aspects of Jesus’ prophecy, however, did not occur in A.D.70; for example, Matthew 24:29-31. However, this view does not work with Jesus’ statement that “all these things” will take place in “this generation.” Therefore, it is best to understand “this generation” as referring to the generation in which the end-times events occur. Essentially, Jesus is saying that the end times will happen quickly. This concept is echoed in many other Scriptures (Matthew 24:22; Mark 13:20; Revelation 3:11; 22:7,12,20).

Recommended Resource: Understanding End Times Prophecy, by Paul Benware.

Hat tip to GotQuestions.org

Question: Why does God allow natural disasters?

Answer: Why does God allow earthquakes, tornados, hurricanes, tsunamis, typhoons, cyclones, mudslides, and other natural disasters? Tragedies such as the 2004 tsunami in Asia, Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the 2008 cyclone in Myanmar, and the 2010 earthquake in Haiti cause many people to question God’s goodness. It is distressing that natural disasters are often termed “acts of God” while no “credit” is given to God for years, decades, or even centuries of peaceful weather. God created the whole universe and the laws of nature (Genesis 1:1). Most natural disasters are a result of these laws at work. Hurricanes, typhoons, and tornados are the results of divergent weather patterns colliding. Earthquakes are the result of the earth’s plate structure shifting. A tsunami is caused by an underwater earthquake.

The Bible proclaims that Jesus Christ holds all of nature together (Colossians 1:16-17). Could God prevent natural disasters? Absolutely! Does God sometimes influence the weather? Yes, as we see in Deuteronomy 11:17 and James 5:17. Numbers 16:30-34 shows us that God sometimes causes natural disasters as a judgment against sin. The book of Revelation describes many events which could definitely be described as natural disasters (Revelation chapters 6, 8, and 16). Is every natural disaster a punishment from God? Absolutely not.

In much the same way that God allows evil people to commit evil acts, God allows the earth to reflect the consequences sin has had on creation. Romans 8:19-21 tells us, “The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.” The fall of humanity into sin had effects on everything, including the world we inhabit. Everything in creation is subject to “frustration” and “decay.” Sin is the ultimate cause of natural disasters just as it is the cause of death, disease, and suffering.

We can understand why natural disasters occur. What we do not understand is why God allows them to occur. Why did God allow the tsunami to kill over 225,000 people in Asia? Why did God allow Hurricane Katrina to destroy the homes of thousands of people? For one thing, such events shake our confidence in this life and force us to think about eternity. Churches are usually filled after disasters as people realize how tenuous their lives really are and how life can be taken away in an instant. What we do know is this: God is good! Many amazing miracles occurred during the course of natural disasters that prevented even greater loss of life. Natural disasters cause millions of people to reevaluate their priorities in life. Hundreds of millions of dollars in aid is sent to help the people who are suffering. Christian ministries have the opportunity to help, minister, counsel, pray, and lead people to saving faith in Christ! God can, and does, bring great good out of terrible tragedies (Romans 8:28).

Recommended Resource: Disappointment with God, by Phillip Yancey.

Hat tip to GotQuestions.org

Question: Was Jesus a magician who made people hallucinate about His miracles?

Answer: No. All sorts of excuses and challenges have been offered to contradict or explain away the miraculous accounts of Jesus’ life.  Among the weaker challenges offered is that Jesus was some sort of a magician who was able to get people to hallucinate about His miracles.  In other words, countless people were all seeing Jesus do things that were not really happening and it was Jesus who was perpetrating this deception upon them.  Let’s take the account of where Jesus feeds the five thousand with five loaves and two fish (Matthew 14:19-21).  Though it is certainly possible to have one person hallucinate about this, how do the critics account for five thousand people hallucinating about the same thing at the same time?  Or how about the resurrection?  How do the critics explain the accounts of Jesus appearing to the disciples with holes in His feet and hands?  How did Jesus get numerous people to believe a lie about His resurrection (a mass hallucination?) after the Romans, who were experts at executions, not only flogged Him severely, beat Him, and hung Him on a cross for six hours and then pierced His side where water and blood came out?  How did Jesus do that?

Some have alleged that Jesus went to the far east and learned many “tricks” and techniques for influencing people as well as controlling His bodily functions so as to appear dead.  Of course, this kind of theory lacks any evidence at all and is nothing more than conjecture and guesswork.  Besides, the Bible says in Luke 2:51 that Jesus from a very young age continued in subjection to His parents.  This means that in that culture, Jesus was obligated to stay with His earthly parents and care for them in accordance to the Ten Commandments which stated that He was to honor His mother and father.  His obligation was to be there and care for them in their old age, not abandon them for some journey to the far east in order to learn techniques of mind control.

Hallucinations are misperceptions, false interpretations of reality.  It is certainly possible for a single person to have a hallucination about something.  But, how do you get two, three, or four people to misperceive reality and claim to see the same thing at the same time — like Jesus’ resurrection?  That is very difficult to do.  In fact, have you ever heard of a group of people succumbing to a mass hallucination and all of them believe the same thing?

But then, some might say that Jesus was able to hypnotize people which would account for the mass hallucination.  But you must remember that if Jesus were hypnotizing people, then He would have had to do it over and over again in different circumstances (in homes, in temples, in open fields, in boats, from the cross, etc), with hostile audiences (Pharisees, Sadducees, etc.), as well as those who were already believing Him. If Jesus was so good a hypnotizing people and getting them to believe things that weren’t true (which makes Him a deceiver), then why did He not fool people and escape the sentence of being beaten and crucified?  Or is it all part of the incredibly great hoax that Jesus somehow managed to accomplish on hundreds and hundreds of people.

Also, did Jesus teach His disciples how to do mystical and/or mind control techniques?  If that is so, then where is the evidence?  Merely claiming that Jesus could do it, does not mean that it is true.  There must be some compelling evidence to support the claim.  Simply stating that miracles cannot happen and this must mean that Jesus was a magician or some sort, is begging the question.  In other words, the critics assume to be true the thing they are trying to prove; namely, that miracles cannot happen.  They then base conclusions upon that assumption which cannot be proven at all.
In order to maintain the theory that Jesus was a master magician who caused people to hallucinate it would seem that the person holding that position must himself be hallucinating.

Hat tip to CARM.org

Question: What is the Illuminati conspiracy?

Answer: The Illuminati conspiracy is a conspiracy theory which holds that there is a “global elite” society that is either in control of the world, or is seeking to take control of the world. As with most conspiracy theories, beliefs regarding the Illuminati conspiracy vary widely. As a result, it is virtually impossible to give a synopsis of the Illuminati conspiracy. Popularized in recent books and movies, the Illuminati conspiracy has definitely reached “cult fiction” status.

If one were to attempt to summarize the Illuminati conspiracy, it would go something like this: The Illuminati began as a secret society under the direction of Jesuit priests. Later, a council of five men, one for each of the points on the pentagram, formed what was called “The Ancient and Illuminated Seers of Bavaria.” They were high order Luciferian Freemasons, thoroughly immersed in mysticism and eastern mental disciplines, seeking to develop the super powers of the mind. Their alleged plan and purpose is world domination for their lord (who precisely this lord is varies widely). The Illuminati are alleged to be the primary motivational forces encouraging global governance, a one-world religious ethic, and centralized control of the world’s economic systems. Organizations such as the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the International Criminal Court are seen as tentacles of the Illuminati. According to the Illuminati conspiracy, the Illuminati are the driving force behind efforts to brainwash the gullible masses through thought control and manipulation of beliefs, through the press, the educational curriculum, and the political leadership of the nations.

The Illuminati supposedly have a private board of elite, interlocking delegates who control the world’s major banks. They create inflations, recessions, depressions, and manipulate the world markets, supporting certain leaders and coups and undermining others to achieve their overall goals. The supposed goal behind the Illuminati conspiracy is to create and then manage crises that will eventually convince the masses that globalism, with its centralized economic control and one-world religious ethic, are the necessary solution to the world’s woes. This structure, usually known as “The New World Order,” will of course be ruled by the Illuminati.

Does the Illuminati conspiracy have any basis from a Christian/biblical perspective? Perhaps. There are many end times prophecies in the Bible that are interpreted by most to point to an end times one-world government, one-world monetary system, and one-world religion. Many Bible prophecy interpreters see this “New World Order” as being controlled by the antichrist, the end times false messiah. If the Illuminati conspiracy and the New World Order has any validity, and is indeed occurring, for the Christian, there is one fact that must be remembered. God has sovereignly allowed all these developments, and they are not outside of His overall plan. God is in control, not the Illuminati. No plan or scheme the Illuminati develop could in any way prevent, or even hinder, God’s sovereign plan for the world.

If there is indeed some truth to the Illuminati conspiracy, the Illuminati are nothing but pawns in the hands of Satan, tools to be manipulated in his conflict with God. The fate of the Illuminati will be the same as the fate of their lord, Satan/Lucifer, who will be cast into the lake of fire, to be tormented day and night, forever and ever (Revelation 20:10). In John 16:33 Jesus declared, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” For Christians, all we need to understand about the Illuminati conspiracy is summarized in the words of 1 John 4:4, “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”

Recommended Resource: What in the World Is Going On? 10 Prophetic Clues You Cannot Afford to Ignore, by David Jeremiah.

Hat tip to gotquestions.org.

Question: Since the New Testament writers were biased, can we trust their testimony?

Answer: Yes, we can trust their testimony.  Being biased about something does not mean that you cannot tell the truth.  Take for example the case of a robbery of a small store.  The robber shoots and the wounds two employees, escapes, but is later apprehended.  At the trial the employees who have recovered from their injuries are brought in to testify.  Both of these witnesses are biased in that they want to see the perpetrator properly punished.  But, under oath their testimony is accepted as perfectly valid — providing there aren’t obvious problems.  So, being biased does not automatically mean that the testimony they give is not true.

The New Testament writers were certainly biased, but their bias was towards honesty and truth,  not deceit.  Their intention was to record accurately and testify to the events that they had seen.  Remember, the disciples were followers of Jesus who taught them to love, to be kind, faithful, and honest.  And this wasn’t all.  Jesus warned against hypocrisy (Matthew 6:1, and against bearing false witness (Matthew 19:18).  The whole life of Jesus was based on integrity, character, faithfulness, truthfulness, love, and sacrifice.  This is what the disciples learned from Jesus and this is what they taught in their writings.  So, if they learned anything from Jesus it was to live in truth for this is exactly what Jesus said, “Sanctify them in the truth; Thy word is truth. ¹⁸“As Thou didst send Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. ¹⁹“And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth,” (John 17:17-19).

Furthermore, the fact is that there were plenty of people around who could have discounted what the apostles had written if what they wrote was inaccurate.  Yet, we find no evidence of any such thing in any writings of the time.  Yes, the disciple were biased.  But to what?  To lying?  To exaggerating?  Or were they biased towards the truth of who Jesus is and what He had done?

Of course, just because eyewitnesses wrote about Jesus rising from the dead does not mean it actually happened. This is true, but why would the disciples lie about this? Why would they risk the lives, their families, their cultural ties, and even end up dying for it all if they knew it was all a lie developed out of their “bias”?  It doesn’t make sense.  But what does make sense is that the disciples were telling the truth.

Hat tip to Carm.org.

Question: What is the immaculate conception?

Answer: Many people mistakenly believe that the immaculate conception refers to the conception of Jesus Christ. Jesus’ conception was most assuredly immaculate, but the immaculate conception does not refer to Jesus at all. The immaculate conception is a doctrine of the Romans Catholic Church in regards to Mary, Jesus’ mother. An official statement of the doctrine reads, “…the blessed Virgin Mary to have been, from the first instant of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of Almighty God, in view of the merits of Christ Jesus the Savior of Mankind, preserved free from all stain of original sin.” Essentially the immaculate conception is the belief that Mary was protected from original sin, that Mary did not have a sin nature, and was, in fact, sinless.

The problem with the doctrine of the immaculate conception is that it is not taught in the Bible. The Bible nowhere describes Mary as anything but an ordinary human female whom God chose to be the mother of the Lord Jesus Christ. Mary was undoubtedly a godly woman (Luke 1:28). Mary was surely a wonderful wife and mother. Jesus definitely loved and cherished His mother (John 19:27). The Bible gives us no reason to believe that Mary was sinless. In fact, the Bible gives us every reason to believe that Jesus Christ is the only Person who was not “infected” by sin and never committed a sin (Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 3:23; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:22; 1 John 3:5).

The doctrine of the immaculate conception originated out of confusion over how Jesus Christ could be born sinless if He was conceived inside of a sinful human female. The thought was that Jesus would have inherited a sinful nature from Mary had she been a sinner. In contrast to the immaculate conception, the Biblical solution to this problem is understanding that Jesus Himself was miraculously protected from being polluted by sin while He was inside Mary’s womb. If God was capable of protecting Mary from sin, would He not be able to protect Jesus from sin? Therefore, Mary being sinless is neither necessary or Biblical.

The Roman Catholic Church argues that the immaculate conception is necessary because without it, Jesus would have been the object of His own grace. The thought goes like this – for Jesus to have been miraculously preserved from sin, which itself would be an act of grace, that would mean God essentially “graced Himself.” The word grace means “unmerited favor.” Grace is giving someone something he or she does not deserve. God performing a miracle in preserving Jesus from sin is not “grace.” In no sense could Jesus possibly be infected with sin. He was perfect and sinless humanity joined with sinless divinity. God cannot be infected or affected by sin, as He is perfectly holy. This same truth applies to Jesus. It did not take “grace” to protect Jesus from sin. Being God incarnate, Jesus was in His essence “immune” from sin.

So, the doctrine of the immaculate conception is neither Biblical or necessary. Jesus was miraculously conceived inside Mary, who was a virgin at the time. That is the Biblical concept of the virgin birth. The Bible does not even hint that there was anything significant about Mary’s conception. If we examine this concept logically, Mary’s mother would have to be immaculately conceived as well. How could Mary be conceived without sin if her mother was sinful? The same would have to be said of Mary’s grandmother, great-grandmother, and so on. So, in conclusion, the immaculate conception is not a Biblical teaching. The Bible teaches the miraculous virgin conception of Jesus Christ, not the immaculate conception of Mary.

Recommended Resource: Reasoning from the Scriptures with Catholics by Ron Rhodes.

Hat tip to GotQuestions.org.

Question: What is the year 2012 Mayan prophecy?

Answer: The ancient Mayans, based on star charting, prophesied that December 21, 2012 would be the end of the world (or at least some form of universal catastrophe). Meso-American star charting started around 680 B.C. by the Olmec civilization who were recording astrological patterns in the sky and eventually shared this information with the Mayans. The Mayans had a long history of tracking the winter solstice (probably for planting crops) and creating calendars (at least 17 that we know of). At some point, they developed the belief that our sun is a god and that the Milky Way, called the “Sacred Tree,” was a gateway to the afterlife. After learning from the Olmecs, they began keeping records of the stars’ patterns of movement and continued to do so for the next 200-300 years. The Mayans then developed their own calendar (The Long Count) ca. 355 B.C. They were able to use their observations and mathematical prowess to calculate the future movements of stars across the sky. The result was that the Mayans discovered the effect of the earth’s wobbling as it spins on its axis. This wobbling rotation causes the stars’ patterns of movement to drift gradually in the sky (called “precession”) in a 5,125-year cycle. The Mayans also discovered that once every cycle the dark band at the center of the Milky Way (called the Galactic Equator) intersects with the Elliptical (the plane of the sun’s movement across the sky).

During that year, the sun reaches its solstice (a brief moment when the sun’s position in the sky is at its greatest angular distance on the other side of the equatorial plane from the observer) on December 21 for the Northern Hemisphere and June 21 for the Southern Hemisphere. That year, the solstice occurs at the moment of the conjunction of the Galactic Equator with the Milky Way. The year this occurs (in relation to our Gregorian calendar) is A.D. 2012, and happened last on August 11, 3114 B.C. With Mayan mythology teaching that our sun is a god and the Milky Way is the gateway to life and death, the Mayans concluded that this intersection in the past must have been the moment of creation. Mayan hieroglyphs seem to indicate that they believed the next intersection in 2012 would be some sort of end and a new beginning of a cycle. The Mayans also believed that the blood of human sacrifices was what powered the sun and gave it life.

All the so-called “Mayan prophecies of 2012” are nothing more than wildly speculative extrapolations, which are based on the yet uncertain interpretations by scholars of Mayan hieroglyphs. However, the truth is that apart from the astrological convergence, there is little indication that the Mayans prophesied anything specific regarding the events of this distant future. The Mayans were not prophets; they were not even able to predict their own cultural extinction. They were great mathematicians and accomplished sky watchers, but they were also a brutally violent tribal people with a primitive understanding of natural phenomena, subscribing to archaic beliefs and the barbaric practices of blood-letting and human sacrifice.

There is absolutely nothing in the Bible that would present December 21, 2012, as the end of the world. While that date is no less valid for an end-times event than any other future date, the Bible nowhere presents the astronomical phenomena the Mayans pointed to as a sign of the end times. It would seem very inconsistent of God to allow the Mayans to discover such an amazing truth while keeping the many Old Testament prophets ignorant of the timing of the events. In summary, there is absolutely no biblical evidence that the 2012 Mayan prophecy / prediction of doomsday is in any sense valid or probable.

Accepting the Mayan 2012 prophecy logically requires acceptance of the following theories: our sun is a god; the sun is powered by the blood of human sacrifice; the creation moment occurred at 3114 B.C. (despite all evidence that it happened much earlier); and the visual alignment of stars has some significance for everyday human life. Like every other false religion, the Mayan religion sought to elevate to the point of worship that which was created in place of the Creator Himself. The Bible tells us about such false worshipers: “They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator” (Romans 1:25), and “since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – His eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse” (Romans 1:20). To accept the Mayan 2012 prophecy also denies the clear biblical teachin g about the end of the world, because Jesus told us “…of that day and hour no one knows, no, not the angels in Heaven, nor the Son, but the Father” (Mark 13:32).

Recommended Resource: Understanding End Times Prophecy, by Paul Benware.

Question: What are the different names of God in the Bible and what do they mean?

Answer: Each of the many names of God describes a different aspect of His many-faceted character. Here are some of the better known names of God in the Bible:

Question: Why did God create us if he is self-sufficient? 

Answer: Many different answers have been offered to this question and I think that the real answer is a composite of biblical themes revolving around love, sacrifice, and fellowship.  Certainly, God is self-sufficient so there is no lack in Him, no void that must be filled.  In 1 John 4:8 it says that God is love.  In John 3:16 it says that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son…” We can see that the nature of love is to give.  Furthermore, in John 15:13 Jesus said, “No greater love has anyone than that he lay his life down for a friend.” In addition, 1 Cor. 1:9 states that we are called into fellowship with the Son of God, Jesus Christ.

Quite simply, it seems that God desired to create us in order that He might be able to love us.  I think this is evident in the way creation was begun.  God walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden.  We see that after their sin, it was the Lord who came looking for them (Gen. 3).  They are the ones who hid themselves.  God sought them out.  He desired to be with them and love them.  Therefore, He set up the sacrificial system by covering Adam and Eve with animal skins.  Of course, this was a representation of the sacrifice of Christ to come whereby Christians would be covered and redeemed.  God’s desire to fellowship and love us is not a weakness in Him, but a manifestation of His character of love.

Love does not focus on itself, but on others.  God merely created the universe as a natural manifestation of His love.  He populated it with people for whom He could express the greatest act of love, which is self-sacrifice.  And thus He could give the greatest thing in the universe:  fellowship with Him.  In this, He is glorified.

If God had never created us, it would not lessen Him at all.  He didn’t need to create us due to any lack in Him.  Rather, He merely desires to love us and fellowship with us.

Hat tip to carm.org