Should we Infer Doctrine from Scripture?: Is it wrong to base doctrine on inference? Is it ever legitimate? E.g., the context of Hebrews 12:1 says nothing about saints watching us from Heaven, but some say it’s implied by the word “witnesses.”

Q&A question: Should we Infer Doctrine from Scripture?

Malachi 4, Elijah & The End Times: Does the last verse of Malachi 4 suggest that Elijah will be one of the two witnesses in Revelation?

Q&A question: Malachi 4, Elijah & The End Times

The JWs Came Over: What happened when the Jehovah’s Witnesses came to my house?

Q&A question: The JWs Came Over

So Many Saw – So Little Believed?: Since many saw the saints who were raised to life (Matthew 27: 52-53) then more than 500 saw Jesus after His resurrection, how is it that so many didn’t believe He rose (e.g. Saul pre-Damascus)?

Q&A question: So Many Saw – So Little Believed?

Circumcision: How would Paul Respond?: In Galatians 3, Paul says faith, not law, saves us, citing Abraham’s heirs (Galatians 3:7, 28-29). How would he respond to Judaizers citing Genesis 17:9-14 on circumcision as necessary? Why doesn’t this apply now?

Q&A question: Circumcision: How would Paul Respond?

Winger says there is no biblical requirement for an ordained person to officiate a wedding — marriage is a public covenant between a man and woman, and the authority to marry doesn't reside in a pastor, government, or anyone else. He wrestles with whether to recommend a woman officiate for non-believing family.

Q from a female believer: brother (non-believer) asked her to officiate his wedding; only option is online ordination, which feels like mocking God.

“Spirit Princes” – For Today?: Can you explain Daniel 10: 13 and 10: 20? What is the ‘spirit prince’ of the kingdom of Persia (NLT)? Is the concept of a spirit prince over a region only seen in the Old Testament, or can this happen today?

Q&A question: “Spirit Princes” – For Today?

How Could a Million Hear at Once?: How can the entire community of Israel, more than 1 million people, fit together & gather to hear (Leviticus 8:3, Deuteronomy 29: 10-12, 31: 10-13)?

Q&A question: How Could a Million Hear at Once?

PSA – Contradicting Proverbs?: If Penal Substitutionary Atonement is an accurate doctrine, then isn't it contradicting Proverbs 17: 15?

Q&A question: PSA – Contradicting Proverbs?

Encouragement through Arduous Times: What gives people the will to live in the midst of terror, hardship, poverty, pain, childhood abuse, loss, and all other types of calamity (specifically non-Christians, but also Christians)?

Q&A question: Encouragement through Arduous Times

Garden of Gethsemane: What is The Cup?: In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prays for the Father to let the cup pass from Him. I've understood the cup to be God's wrath, but Jesus says a few chapters later that James & John will drink it, too.

Q&A question: Garden of Gethsemane: What is The Cup?

Antichrist: Dead at Christ’s Coming?: Does the Antichrist die or not at Christ's coming (2 Thessalonians 2:8, Revelation 19: 20)?

Q&A question: Antichrist: Dead at Christ’s Coming?

The Apostle John Still Alive?: Have you ever heard the theory that the Apostle John might still be alive and be the second witness in the Tribulation? I found the arguments interesting, as conjecture.

Q&A question: The Apostle John Still Alive?

Witnessing to an LGBTQ+ Family Member: My aunt is gay but claims to be a Christian. I have never talked with her about this, but I feel I am doing her a disservice by not lovingly sharing the truth with her. How can I go about this?

Q&A question: Witnessing to an LGBTQ+ Family Member

The Witness of the Spirit: If I know I believe the Gospel is true but I don’t feel any “witness of the Spirit,” what does that mean? I’m trying to trust with my whole heart.

Q&A question: The Witness of the Spirit

Does Doubt = Incomplete Faith?: I’m a new believer who used to be a Jehovah’s Witness. I gave my life to Christ a few years ago, but sometimes I wrestle with doubt. Does that make my faith incomplete?

Q&A question: Does Doubt = Incomplete Faith?

500 Witnesses: Verifiable?: I’ve got a question regarding the reliability of the 500 Witnesses source. Atheists say that we have no way to verify that the number Paul gives is accurate. How would you answer this?

Q&A question: 500 Witnesses: Verifiable?

Witnessing to Muslims: My Muslim friend is willing to go through the Bible with me. Which books should I start with?

Q&A question: Witnessing to Muslims

When and How Did You Guys Become Jehovah's Witnesses Originally

Life Is like as a Jehovah's Witness

Identifying Doctrines of Jehovah's Witnesses

Jesus's trial before the Sanhedrin was procedurally corrupt: it occurred at night, at the high priest's house rather than a court, began with the council soliciting witnesses rather than witnesses bringing a case, and no consequences were imposed on the false witnesses — violating Deuteronomy 19:16-19.

Analysis of the illegality of Jesus's trial; the court was weaponizing law to oppress

The false witnesses couldn't even agree on what Jesus said about destroying the temple — showing the trial was seeking a pretext, not justice. Jesus actually said "destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it," referring to his body (John 2:19). Mark doesn't explain the pretext; John does, creating an undesigned coincidence that supports historicity.

The false testimony about the temple; undesigned coincidence between Mark and John

The presence of women as the primary witnesses to the empty tomb was an embarrassment to the early church in first-century culture, where women's testimony was widely discredited. What was a liability then is actually strong evidence for historical reliability now — people don't fabricate stories that hurt their own credibility.

The criterion of embarrassment and the women witnesses; Celsius's criticism

Richard Bauckham's thesis in "Jesus and the Eyewitnesses" is that names appearing in Mark's gospel identify living witnesses known to the community receiving the text. When Mark names Simon of Cyrene "the father of Alexander and Rufus," and Paul greets a "Rufus" in Rome (Rom. 16:13), this likely connects to the same family — confirming these are not invented characters but real people vouching for the account.

Named eyewitnesses in Mark as evidence of historical reliability; Bauckham's thesis

The three women witnesses (Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome) are named only at this point in Mark's narrative, precisely when Peter disappears. Mark systematically uses named witnesses when Peter is absent — suggesting these women functioned as eyewitness guarantors of the crucifixion, burial, and empty tomb accounts.

The women replace Peter as named witnesses at the passion; Mark's literary structure as historical indicator

Mark uses consistent "witnessing verbs" (looking on, saw, looking up, behold the place) as the women observe Jesus die, watch where he is laid, and discover the empty tomb — signaling to the reader that these women are functioning as formal eyewitness testimony in a legally significant sense, not merely as background characters.

The pattern of seeing/witnessing verbs applied to the women in Mark 15-16

Jehovah's Witnesses teach that Jesus is Michael the Archangel — a created being, not eternal God. They deny both his full deity and his bodily resurrection, teaching instead that his body dissolved in the tomb and he rose as a "spirit body." Hebrews 1 and Colossians 1 directly refute the created-being view by saying everything was made through Jesus, which means he cannot himself be a created thing.

Core JW theology on Jesus: created being, Michael the Archangel, no bodily resurrection

JW salvation requires four things: (1) taking in the "knowledge" of God and Jesus as defined by the organization, (2) obeying God's laws (works-based), (3) belonging to the Jehovah's Witnesses organization, and (4) demonstrating loyalty through door-to-door witnessing. Their own source says "the ransom given by Jesus does not give or guarantee everlasting life" — grace through Christ alone is explicitly denied.

JW soteriology: four requirements for salvation; works-based, organization-dependent

The real authority in JW life is not the Bible but the governing body — eight men in New York City who "formulate doctrine" and whose instructions, according to Watchtower, determine your "spiritual health and relationship with God." The NWT Bible is a doctrinally distorted translation that changes key texts about Christ's deity, and members are discouraged from researching outside Watchtower sources.

JW authority structure: governing body over Scripture; the NWT as a distorted translation

The JW claim that Jesus returned invisibly in 1914 — after failed predictions of a visible return — directly contradicts Matthew 24:27 where Jesus explicitly warns that if anyone says the Christ has returned in a secret room, don't believe it, because every eye will see his return. Scripture anticipated and pre-refuted this JW doctrine.

The invisible 1914 return of Christ: JW teaching and its direct refutation by Matthew 24

Effective outreach to JWs requires using their own sources (the Kingdom Interlinear, JW Library app, Watchtower literature) to demonstrate problems — since they are trained to dismiss all outside sources as apostate. The goal is to create goodwill first, then focus on one issue at a time without allowing subject changes, showing genuine love rather than hostility.

Practical strategies for engaging Jehovah's Witnesses with the gospel

There are two distinct groups who identify Jesus with Michael the Archangel: (1) Jehovah's Witnesses who use it to demote Jesus to a created being (heresy), and (2) orthodox Christians like Spurgeon, Calvin, and Wesley who identify Michael as a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ without denying his deity (an in-house disagreement). These require different responses.

Two types of Jesus-Michael identification; distinguishing heresy from in-house disagreement

The maximal data argument for the resurrection has two steps: (1) establish that the gospel and Acts accounts represent genuine eyewitness testimony, then (2) evaluate what best explains the content of those claims. The apostles voluntarily suffered imprisonment, persecution, and death for their testimony — making the conspiracy/lying hypothesis highly implausible (William Paley, 1794).

The maximal data argument: apostolic suffering establishes sincerity; conspiracy hypothesis fails

The "undesigned coincidence" between Mark and John on the temple statement: Mark records the false witnesses misquoting Jesus about destroying and rebuilding the temple, but never explains the original statement. John 2:19-21 records the original statement and clarifies it referred to his body. Neither account is copied from the other; they lock together in a way that supports the historicity of both.

Undesigned coincidence: Mark and John on the temple statement lock together to support historicity

Commentary: Eve Quotes God in the Plural — God Spoke to Both

Ardavanis claims Eve "added" the phrase "or touch it" to God's command, implying she garbled what Adam relayed to her. But the Hebrew text reveals something he doesn't address. ### The Singular-to-pl

Commentary: Following a Woman Is Not the Problem — The Bible Commends It Repeatedly

Ardavanis says Adam "passively followed his wife's leadership," framing the act of following a woman as itself the failure. She did go first, and yes, he followed without objecting. But Ardavanis miss