Questions & Answers

Question: Did Jesus go to hell?

Answer: This question is often asked due to the wording used in the King James Version in Acts 2:27-31, where it states that the soul of Jesus was not left in hell. The word for hell here, however, is hades. It means the place of the dead, the place of departed spirits. The body of Jesus was in the tomb. His spirit was in the world of the dead. But the spirit of Jesus did not stay in hades; He was resurrected. That's why Peter said he did not stay in hades.

Question: Is it true that the Bible contains over 200,000 errors?

Answer: No, that is not true. Such statements are designed to cause fear and mistrust in the Scriptures and to shatter one's faith. But note carefully what some of the attackers are calling errors. One verse may say "the River Jordan" and another verse says "the Jordan River." Now does any honest person call that an error? Other examples are simply differences in spelling. Even in our English we may one time spell the word as "Saviour," while at another time we may spell it "Savior." These are not errors. The Bible was inspired of God and can be trusted.

Question: How do we know the nationality of Jesus?

Answer: Hebrews 7:14 reads, "For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Judah..." This is evident from reading the genealogies of Christ as recorded in Matthew 1 and Luke 3. Being from the tribe of Judah, the tribe or nation which occupied the greater part of southern Palestine, we can easily conclude that Christ was a Jew.

Question: Why do you practice the eating of the Lord's Supper, but don't engage in foot washing at your services?

Answer: Some folks will read John 13 and conclude that Jesus instituted both of these matters (Lord's Supper and foot washing). Jesus did establish the Lord's Supper (see Matt. 26:26-30; Lk. 22:19-20,29-30). This was a completely new practice never engaged in before. Jesus, however, did not institute, establish, or start the practice of foot washing at the Passover or any other time. This was not something new, it had been practiced for hundreds of years before. It can be found as early as the days of Abraham in Genesis 18:1-5. Abigail washed the feet of David's servants (1 Sam. 25:41). The woman who was a sinner washed Jesus' feet (Lk. 7:36-38). This act was performed in the home as an act of humility. It was to be performed in love, with meekness. It was not an assembly of the church and was never given as a command or ordinance to the church.

Question: Where was the Garden of Eden?

Answer: The Bible says it was on the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers, at their junction with the Pishon and Gibhon (Gen. 2:10-14). These latter two rivers have not been identified. The Euphrates and Tigris rise in the Caucasus mountain region of southwest Asia, flow southeastward, and empty into the Persion Gulf.

Question: Is it wrong to sell a dog?

Answer: Those trying to argue against the right of an individual to sell a dog usually go to Deuteronomy 23:18. The passage says, "Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore, or the price of a dog, into the house of the Lord thy God for any vow..." The "dog" in this passage is not the four-legged pet, but a word for a sodomite or male prostitute. It is referring to the man or the woman who devoted themselves to immoral practices as a part of their heathen and idolatrous worship. There is nothing in the Scriptures to condemn the buying or selling of the four-legged animals.

Question: Are Jews today the children of God?

Answer: At one time, this was certainly the case. The Jews were indeed the chosen ones, the children of God. They had an advantage over other nations because unto them were committed the oracles of God (Rom. 3:2). It was God's plan for the gospel to have been preached first of all to the Jews (Acts 13:46; Rom. 1:16). When the gospel was preached for the first time with man having an opportunity to respond to the will of God, the audience was Jews and proselytes (Acts 2:10). The Jew, then, has received many blessings under the Old Testament and wonderful opportunities under the New Testament. The old law was taken out of the way by being nailed to the cross of Christ (Col. 2:14). Once the old law was removed, it was to be the gospel of Christ by which men are judged (James 1:25). With the removal of the old law, and a period of time for the gospel to be just for the Jews, the Jew lost his advantage as described in Romans 3:2. Paul's argument to the Gentiles was, that as many of them as had been baptized had, by that obedience, put on Christ (Gal. 3:27). The next verse states there is not Jew nor Greek. One's lineage does not determine salvation. Rather, salvation is in Christ Jesus the Lord. Paul goes a little further in the book of Romans. The Jew today is not the one who has been circumcised of the flesh and is a Jew outwardly, but the one who has been circumcised in his heart and in the spirit (2:28-29). The outward Jew today is not the chosen one of God. The one who has obeyed the gospel of Christ is the child of God today. Whether one is a Jew or a Gentile is not the issue. Whether one has obeyed Jesus or not is the issue.

Question: How many miracles did Jesus perform?

Answer: Some reference books refer to the 35 recorded miracles which Jesus did. These have been divided into miracles over forces of nature (such as turning water to wine, calming the storm, feeding the multitudes, walking on the water, etc.), bodily cures (such as healing the leper, the blind, the deaf, a woman with hemorrhage, a withered hand, etc.), cures of demoniacs, and three accounts of raising individuals from the dead. But note that these are the 35 miracles that are named and described. In addition to these, Jesus did innumerable other miracles, indicated by several passages: "Many believed on his name, beholding the signs which he did" (John 2:23); "Jesus went about healing all manner of diseases" (Matt. 4:23; 9:35); "All the city was gathered at the door, with their sick and those possessed with demons, and he healed them" (Mk. 1:32-34); "And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written" (Jn. 21:25).

Question: How many children did Adam and Eve have?

Answer: We are told in specific terms that they had three sons--Cain, Abel, and Seth. However, we are also told that Adam was the father of "other sons and daughters" (Gen. 5:4). Nowhere in the Bible does it give us a total count of Adam and Eve's children or the names of any but those three sons.

Question: Is it possible that Adam's sons could have married someone from another region, someone not of their own family--i.e., women of other people whom God had created in some other location?

Answer: In light of Scripture, this is not a possibility. The Bible makes it plain that Eve was the "mother of all living" (Gen. 3:20). If Adam was the first man (1 Cor. 15:45) and if Eve was the mother of all living, then it is clear that there were no "other peoples" at some other spot of the world.

Question: When Jesus was crucified, did He have any clothes on?

Answer: The best way to answer this is to go to the events prior to the Lord being crucified. After Barrabas was released, Pilate ordered Jesus to be scourged (Matt. 27:26). Jesus was then taken into the common hall and surrounded by soldiers. Take note of the fact that Jesus had already been beaten. The soldiers then strip Him of His garments and place a scarlet robe on Him. At this point, they began to mock Him and physically abuse Him. The Bible explains that they placed a crown of thorns on His head; bowed in a mocking way to Him; hit Him over the head with a stick numerous times and they spat on Him (Matthew 27:29-30). Keep in mind, these are hardened soldiers who are accustomed to treating soldiers in this manner. Having finished this kind of abuse, Matthew proceeds to tell us what happened next. They took off the scarlet robe and "...put His own raiment on Him" (27:31). The answer, then, is "yes," Jesus did have garments on when He was crucified. It was His outer garment for which the soldiers gambled.