February 2023 - St Paul Coptic Apologetics

Does God Tempt Us?

Post published:27 February 2023
Post category:Evil and Suffering
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In the Epistle of James we read “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.” (James 1:13). However, doesn’t that contradict the fact that God tempted Abraham, Job and Paul? Adam’s Sin Resulted in the Corruption of Nature, and in Pain Death came into existence as a consequence of not following God's commandments and guidance for a happy, eternal and painless life. Yet man disobeyed God and followed Satan's temptations. God warned man of eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, “for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." (Genesis 2: 16,17). The consequences of the fall were not only death but also a corrupted sinful nature which resulted in pain. God told Adam: "Cursed is the ground for your sake;…

How Did Judas Die?

Post published:23 February 2023
Post category:Bible Difficulties
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How did Judas die? Who bought the field? Is it Jeremiah or Zechariah, who prophesied about the potter's field? Let’s imagine a hypothetical situation where someone asks you to get a piece of paper from their desk, and you actually went and found that there was no paper on the desk, but you found a piece of paper on the floor and the window was open, would you think that this person lied to you? Or would you conclude that the paper may have fallen from the desk to the floor due to the air current from the open window? This is exactly the answer to those who say that there is a contradiction in the Bible regarding the death of Judas. The Gospel of Matthew says that he "went away and hanged himself" (Matthew 27:5), while Luke the evangelist in the book of Acts says that “he…

Did Jesus Heal Two Blind Men Or Only One Blind Man?

Post published:20 February 2023
Post category:Bible Difficulties
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Also, did this take place on His way to Jericho or from Jericho? According to the gospel of Matthew, Jesus healed two blind men (Matthew 20), while according to the gospels of Mark and Luke, He healed only one blind man (Mark 10 and Luke 18). The gospel of Luke also states that Jesus was entering Jericho (Luke 18), nevertheless, the gospel of Mark states that Jesus was going out of Jericho. How can we reconcile the difference between these biblical accounts? Those who doubt the authenticity of the bible are diligent in searching for any discrepancy that might prove the existence of a contradiction in the bible. Yet they barely exert the same amount of effort to understand the historical and geographical background of the text which explains most of these alleged contradictions. Additionally, they only read the Bible in their own language without returning to the…

Does God Break The Laws Of Nature By Doing Miracles?

Post published:16 February 2023
Post category:Faith and Reason
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This question positions the laws of nature as if they are criminal laws, and as such, breaking them is immoral or unreasonable. Therefore, God cannot do miracles, because He can’t be immoral or unreasonable to contradict Himself. But that is far from the truth. Moral and civil laws are laws imposed on people to enforce right behaviour. On the other hand, the laws of nature are not imposed on nature. Rather, they are laws that describe how nature behaves normally. The earth doesn’t wake up everyday reading a law that it should revolve around itself every 24 hours, or revolve around the sun every 365 days. It simply does so, and scientific laws aim to explain nature’s normal behavior. By understanding the ordinary behaviour of nature, one can know if a miracle happens, as it doesn’t comply with that ordinary behaviour. For example, if you wake up one…

Do Miracles Contradict Science?

Post published:12 February 2023
Post category:Faith and Reason Faith and Reason
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The short answer is yes, miracles contradict science. In fact, without contradicting science, they would stop being miracles! The definition of a miracle is “a supernatural event that seems inexplicable by natural or scientific laws,” while science aims to explain naturally occurring phenomena. But, that doesn’t mean that miracles don’t happen. It also doesn't mean that it is unreasonable to believe in miracles. People who believe in miracles believe so because there is evidence for miracles, even though that evidence is not repeatable. And… it is completely reasonable to believe that an event has occurred based on personal observation, even though that observation occurred only once. For example, if we were to take a sample of the resurrected people in a cemetery [illustrative image of a cemetery with someone sitting as if recording on paper], the result would be zero. However, if one person became alive after dying…

Does The Bible Say That Practicing Homosexuality Is Sinful?

Post published:7 February 2023
Post category:Morality
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The Bible totally and uncompromisingly rejects the act of homosexuality and same-sex marriage from cover to cover, just like it condemns adultery, fornication, and even unchaste thoughts. The first indication of this can be found in the creation story, which occurs in the first book of the Bible, Genesis: “So, God created man in his own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” (Genesis 1:27) It can be clearly seen that God created man male and female. He did not create two men or two women. And He commanded them to multiply. (Genesis 1:28) So, God's plan for man has been that two people of the opposite sex, as male and female only, marry and multiply, that is, procreate. There was no intention of homosexuality, for He did not create other men or women for Adam and Eve to marry.…

Does Homosexuality in Animals Mean That It Is Morally Ok?

Post published:3 February 2023
Post category:Morality
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Regardless of one’s view about the origin of humans, whether intelligently designed or blindly evolved, one can easily notice that humans are intellectually superior to other creatures (animals). It can happen that some animals are stronger, faster, and bigger than humans. But of all creatures, humans are the most intelligent. It is humans who founded civilizations, write poetry, build rockets, and save lives through medical operations. Now, can animals be our moral reference when it comes to sexual behaviour? Not really! As the National Geographic has once stated: “we should be wary of referring to animals when considering what's acceptable in human society For instance, infanticide as practiced by lions and many other animals isn't something people gay or straight generally approve of in humans." There are many other behaviors that animals practice that we don’t accept as morally correct. We, therefore, don't take animals as our moral…