• What is allegory in the Bible?Allegory looks for a deeper meaning in a biblical text than its literal sense. Widely used by the Church Fathers and in the Middle Ages, it needs safeguards.
• Who were the Apostolic Fathers?The Apostolic Fathers are the disciples of the apostles who took over after them, such as Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch and Polycarp.
• What is apostolic succession?Apostolic succession is the chain of bishops going back to the apostles. Irenaeus appealed to it to guarantee the Church's faithfulness to their teaching.
• Are heaven and hell real?In the Bible, death is not the end: everyone will rise, to life with Christ or to judgement. What Scripture says about heaven and hell.
• What is baptism in the Holy Spirit?For Pentecostals, baptism in the Holy Spirit is an experience distinct from conversion, which clothes the believer with power to bear witness.
• Can a Christian be cremated?The Bible condemns idolatrous rites involving fire, not cremation chosen for practical reasons. For this course, each person is free to decide.
• Can a Christian get a tattoo?This course advises Christians against tattoos, based on Leviticus 19:28 and on belonging to God, without ever judging people who have tattoos.
• Can women be pastors?Churches disagree. This course reads 1 Corinthians 14 and 1 Timothy 2 in context, alongside Phoebe, Priscilla and Galatians 3:28, and calls for humility.
• What is church discipline?Church discipline follows the steps of Matthew 18: a private warning, then with witnesses, then before the church. Its aim is always restoration.
• Did the Council of Jamnia really happen?The idea of a Jewish council at Jamnia around AD 90 that closed the canon is now largely abandoned: the closing was a long process.
• What happened at the Council of Trent?Opened in 1545, the Council of Trent answered the Reformers on four points: the canon, tradition, the reference Bible and interpretation.
• What does the Bible say about divorce and remarriage?The Bible honours marriage and permits divorce in serious cases; this course holds that a divorce recognised by the Bible opens the way to remarriage.
• Does forgiving mean forgetting?No. To forgive is to choose not to bring the offence up again. It does not mean forgetting, reconciling at any cost or staying in danger.
• Does God still heal today?In the Pentecostal tradition, God still heals today, but the Bible does not promise that every sick person will be healed in this life.
• What is the difference between dogma and doctrine?Dogma is a fundamental point of the faith that cannot change, while doctrine is the teaching that flows from it and allows for variations.
• What is the fivefold ministry?Ephesians 4:11 names apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers: complementary ministries that, for this course, still exist today.
• How do you forgive according to the Bible?Forgiveness is an act of the will. For this course, it ideally requires the offender's repentance; otherwise, we hand our case over to God.
• How should we interpret the Bible?Interpreting the Bible means seeking the meaning the author intended, reading in faith and love, and growing in understanding by reading in community.
• How do you pray to God?To pray is to stand before God and speak to him: we pray to the Father in Jesus' name, with sincerity, faith and perseverance, with no set formula.
• Is contraception a sin?The Bible does not speak directly about contraception. This course concludes that it does not forbid it, but invites couples to examine their motives and methods.
• Is hell eternal?Some believe the lost will simply be annihilated. This course does not accept that view: the Bible speaks of eternal punishment, described in serious images.
• Is the Pope infallible?Papal infallibility, which emerged in the 13th and 14th centuries, has been Catholic dogma since 1870. The Reformers rejected it in the name of Scripture.
• Is Jesus foretold in the Old Testament?Yes: from Genesis 3:15 to Isaiah, the Old Testament announces the Messiah, and Jesus presents himself through it. But beware of excessive allegory.
• Why did Luther call James an “epistle of straw”?Luther felt James did not put Christ forward enough. He set it apart in his 1522 translation, but did not remove it from the canon.
• What does the word “church” mean?“Church” translates the Greek ekklesia, the assembly of those who are called: it refers to a community before it refers to a building.
• What is the Muratorian fragment?The Muratorian fragment is the oldest known list of New Testament books, often dated to the late second century.
• What is Romans 1 about?Romans 1 introduces Paul, sums up the gospel, announces salvation by faith, then shows that a humanity turning away from God is without excuse.
• What was the purpose of sacrifices in the Old Testament?In the Old Testament, the sacrificed animal took the sinner's place: this is substitutionary atonement, which points forward to Christ's sacrifice.
• What is speaking in tongues?Speaking in tongues is a gift of the Spirit: words addressed to God, in a human language never learned or in words the speaker does not understand.
• What does “upon this rock I will build my church” mean?Peter, his confession of faith, or Christ? The three readings of Matthew 16:18 and this course's view: Peter is a foundation stone because he confessed Jesus.
• Was Jesus born of a virgin?The Gospels say Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit without a human father: a sign that he comes from God, with no call to worship Mary.
• Was Peter the first pope?The Catholic Church believes so, on the basis of Matthew 16:18. This course holds that the text gives Peter neither primacy nor any authority to pass on.
• What are the gifts of the Holy Spirit?Prophecy, teaching, miracles, healing, tongues, wisdom, knowledge and discernment: the gifts of 1 Corinthians 12 and how they work today.
• What Bible did Jesus read?Jesus read the Jewish Scriptures, our Old Testament. He quoted them, explained them and read them as fulfilled in himself.
• What does “Sola Scriptura” mean?Sola Scriptura, “Scripture alone”, means that the Bible is the ultimate norm of faith and that no interpreter stands above it.
• What does the Bible say about cosmetic surgery?The Bible does not mention it. This course distinguishes reconstructive from cosmetic surgery and calls for examining each case, and our motives, before God.
• What does the word “Bible” mean?“Bible” comes from the Greek τὰ βιβλία, “the books”: a plural that became singular in Latin, a sign these writings came to be read as one whole.
• What is a pastor?In the Bible, a pastor is a shepherd who guards, protects and teaches God's flock: one ministry among several in the Church.
• What is Christian ethics?Christian ethics looks for right and wrong in God's Word rather than in culture or the majority, with love, prayer and careful thought.
• What is Gnosticism?Gnosticism was a group of second-century movements that set spirit against matter and promised salvation through secret knowledge.
• What is holiness in the Bible?To be holy is to be pure and set apart for God. Holiness is both a gift received through the cross and a calling to grow throughout life.
• What is predestination?Does God choose in advance who will be saved, or are people free? The three main views on predestination and the Bible passages at the heart of the debate.
• What is prophecy today?For this course, prophesying means sharing what God spontaneously brings to mind: a word that builds up, without the authority of the Bible's prophets.
• What is sin according to the Bible?To sin is to “miss the mark”: to withdraw from God's will. All have sinned, and only Christ's sacrifice restores the relationship with God.
• What is the Ascension of Jesus?The Ascension, forty days after Easter, is when Jesus was taken up into heaven. It confirms his divinity and resurrection and opens the way for the gift of the Spirit.
• What is the biblical canon?The biblical canon is the closed list of books recognised as authoritative Scripture, to which nothing can be added and from which nothing can be removed.
• What is the book of Romans about?Written by Paul around AD 57, Romans proclaims the Gospel as God's power to save everyone who believes, Jew or Greek, through faith.
• What is the Lord's Supper?The Lord's Supper, instituted by Jesus at the last meal, recalls his death, proclaims it until he returns and marks the unity of believers.
• What is the New Testament?The New Testament gathers 27 books written roughly between AD 50 and 100: Gospels, Acts, letters and Revelation, all centred on Jesus Christ.
• What is the Oral Torah?The Oral Torah is the tradition of interpreting the Law, handed down by word of mouth, then written down in the Mishnah and discussed in the Talmuds.
• What is the rule of faith?The rule of faith was a summary of the gospel that candidates for baptism learned by heart in the early Church. It served as a safeguard for interpretation.
• What is the Trinity?The Trinity is the belief in one God who makes himself known as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, three persons who are each fully God.
• Who decided which books are in the Bible?No single person: the canon took shape slowly through the usage of the Churches, and then bishops and regional councils drew up lists.
• Who was Marcion?Marcion, a shipowner who came to Rome around 140, rejected the Old Testament and its God, keeping only ten letters of Paul and a version of Luke.
• Who were the Donatists?Donatism was a schism in North Africa after Diocletian's persecution, over what to do with the Christians who had handed over the Scriptures.
• Who wrote the Gospels?The four Gospels are attributed to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Their authors worked like historians, drawing on witnesses and sources.
• Why does the Protestant Bible have 66 books and the Catholic Bible 73?The New Testament has 27 books in every tradition, but the Old Testament has 39 books for Protestants and 46 for Catholics.
• Why did Jesus die on the cross?Jesus died on the cross in our place, as a sacrifice offered once for all, so that we could be forgiven and declared righteous before God.
• Why should I get baptised?We are baptised to obey Jesus and follow his example: baptism expresses dying to the old life and rising to new life in Christ.
• Will Jesus come back?Yes, the Bible promises the visible return of Jesus to defeat death, judge the world and make all things new, but no one knows the date.