Aunt Betty Answers Your Questions
18. Is the KJV the only true translation of the Bible? -Orcrist
Here at Calvary Chapel we are very fond of the New King James Version, but the other major translations, such as the King James Version, the NASB, and the NIV are also God's Word. Read them and be blessed!
17. What are the seven biblical feasts? -Clayton
Here they are, Clayton!
- Passover
- Unleavened Bread
- First Fruits
- Pentecost
- Feast of Trumpets
- Day of Atonement
- Feasts of Tabernacles
16. When do you think Jesus will come back? -Landon
I dunno! Soon! Maranatha!
On this very subject, Jesus Himself said:
Watch therefore, for you do not know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming. -Matthew 25:13
There aren't any prophecies that need to be fulfilled before Jesus will return. They've all been fulfilled, so any day now.....
15. Who was the 12th diciple? Sincerely, Michelle
Hi Michelle, thanks for your question! There were originally 12 disciples, but after Judas betrayed Jesus and hanged himself, the rest of the disciples wanted to find a replacement so that there would be 12 again. They decided that the new disciple should be someone who was with them since the beginning of Jesus' ministry, and who had also seen Jesus alive after His resurrection. They narrowed the candidates down to two men: Joseph, also called Barsabas, and Matthias. They asked God to decide for them, and they cast lots... kind of like throwing dice, actually. The lot fell on Matthias, and he became the 12th disciple. (Acts 1:15-26)
Some people think the disciples acted rashly in picking Matthias. They think that Paul was the person God had in mind to be disciple number twelve. We'll find out when we get to heaven!
14. Did Adam and Eve ever experience a life of a childhood? -David
No, they were never children. God created them as full grown humans. In Genesis 2:7 the Bible says:
And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being."
13. Does the Bible mention dinosaurs? I was just wondering. -Debbie
Hi Debbie! Yes, I think the Bible does mention dinosaurs, in the book of Job. Job had been asking God a lot of nosy questions, and finally God answers Job by saying, "Job, if you think you know so much, where were YOU when I made all the marvelous things in the universe?" And one of the marvelous things God described to Job sounds very much like an apatosaurus:
"Look now at the behemoth, which I made along with you; he eats grass like an ox. See now, his strength is in his hips, and his power is in his stomach muscles. He moves his tail like a cedar; the sinews of his thighs are tightly knit. His bones are like beams of bronze, his ribs are like are like bars of iron." -Job 40: 15-18
There are some other creatures described in Job chapter 41 that may also be refering to dinosaurs.
12. How old is Jesus? -Anonymous
At last! An easy question!
Jesus is God, and God is ageless. He always was, and He always shall be. Before time was, Jesus existed.
He wasn't always called Jesus, though. When He came to earth as a baby born to Mary, his parents named him Jesus. He lived on this earth in a human body for about 33 years before He was crucified. He is now living in heaven at the right hand of the Father, in a glorified body. We will have a glorified body someday, too, if we have accepted Jesus as our Saviour!
11. Why did God create all the other planets if nobody can live on them? -Jimmy
Hi Jimmy! It is God's nature to create beautiful things. Why are puppies so cute? Why do flowers smell so good? There's no good reason except that God enjoys beautiful things, and He wants us to enjoy them, too. The stars and planets make the night sky beautiful, and that's probably reason enough. In Revelation 4:11 it says
"Thou art worthy, O Lord to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created."
Here's another reason. In Genesis 1:14 the Lord said he gave us the lights in the sky are to help us determine the seasons and to help us tell time.
And one final reason is that the stars and planets show the glory of God. When King David looked up at the stars (which would also include the planets) he was overwhelmed with the glory of God. He said
"When I consider Your heavens. the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man, that You visit him?" -Psalm 8:3,4
10. What kinds of things did Noah make for the Ark? -Audrey
Audrey, thanks for asking such an interesting question! It's fun to think about the things Noah might have made for the ark. The Bible doesn't say, but we can speculate that he must have made big and small cages, food bowls, mangers, water containers made out of pottery, harnesses, ropes, shovels, and pitch forks. Can anyone think of anything else Noah might have made to help take care of all those animals?
9. If you are in your bedroom with 12 friends and we all know angels are HUGE how can they fit in he room with us?? -no name given
Angels are spirits, and as such, don't take up any room at all. Angels can choose to take on the appearance of ordinary people, but they don't have to.
8. Did Adam want to eat the forbidden fruit? -Andrea
Andrea, the Bible doesn't say. It just says that Eve gave some of the fruit to Adam, and he ate it. It sounds like he was right there with Eve when the serpent was tempting her, and it seems to me that he could have stopped her. He knew he wasn't supposed to eat it, yet he did. Interestingly, God holds Adam responsible. In the book of Romans it says that because one man (Adam) sinned, death came into the world, but because of what one other Man (Jesus) did for us on the cross, we can have life.
7. You know how it says in the Bible that we are supposed to love everyone? Then are we supposed to love Satan? -Rachel
The Bible tells us we should love two kinds of individuals, God and people. Angels don't fall into either category, so we are not required to love them. Satan and his demons are fallen angels, and we don't have to love them. Since they are the enemies of God, we should not love them.
6. Could God make a thing so heavy that he could not pick it up? If so, how can he pick it up? -Sheila
Oh, you are giving Aunt Betty a headache! (Just kidding.)
This is not a question that can be answered. It's like asking "Can boiling water be freezing cold?" or "Can a lizard be a racoon?" or "How does yellow smell?" The question contradicts itself, so there is no answer.
5. I was wondering if the stone age was at the same time as when Joshua chapter 5 was written? It talks about using "flint rock". -J.R.
I don't think so. Terms like "stone age" suggest that mankind started out as primitive, evolving people and became smarter over long periods of time.
The truth is that Adam was extremely intelligent, and mankind has gone downhill since his time, degenerating into primitive cultures the further away they got from God.
Scientists claim that the so-called "Stone Age" began a million years ago and ended ten thousand years ago. However, the events in the book of Joshua happened at the most 4000 years ago.
4. I'm really confused! In my Sunday school one day we were talking about
the rapture, and we watched a movie on it and it said there are 7 signs
that must be fulfilled before Christ can come! One of them was about the
Anti-Christ and the way they put it was that he would be like Hitler
except more people will listen to him, Anyways I talked to my
grandmother and she doesn't believe that we will be on the earth to
witness the Anti-Christ that the rapture will come before he gets power.
I want to know is how can that be if there are 7 signs and if we leave
before he gets into power then there will only be 6 signs that happened
and then the Bible would be wrong; so which one is it? -Michelle C.
Christians have different opinions about when Jesus will return, but praise the Lord, we all know that he WILL return, because He said He will!
It sounds like your church believes is something called "Post Tribulationalism." The Bible talks about a seven-year period called the Tribulation when many terrible things will happen on earth. Some Christians think Jesus will come before the Tribulation, some think He will come in the middle, and some think He won't come until it's all over. The anti-christ, and probably the other signs you saw in the movie, are things that will happen during the Tribulation. If you think Jesus won't return until after the Tribulation, then you would be looking for these signs.
We believe that Jesus will return before the Tribulation, so we don't need to be looking for specific signs. We don't need to be trying to guess who the anti-christ is, because we will be in heaven with Jesus while all that is going on. Jesus said:
Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man [Jesus] is coming.- Matthew 25: 13
Jesus can come back at any time. There is nothing that needs to happen before He can come back. We can see general trends of history and think that the time might be very soon, though!
3. Who was the oldest person in the Bible? -Katherine
Katherine, in Genesis 5: 27 it says that Methuselah lived to be 969 years old, and then he died. He was the oldest person mentioned in the Bible. He was an ancestor of Jesus.
2. Who wrote the Bible? Did Jesus help? -Jana A.
The sixy-six books of the Bible have many different human authors. We don't even know who some of them were! Moses, David, Isaiah, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Paul wrote many books of the Bible. But were they the real authors? Yes and no. In a supernatural way, they were "inspired" by the Holy Spirit. What does "inspired" mean? The word means "God-breathed." Using the human authors' own personalities and writing styles, the Holy Spirit told them what to write down. This makes the Bible different from any other book ever written.
Did Jesus help? Well, God is a trinity,Father, Son (Jesus), and Holy Spirit. Three, yet One. In II Timothy 3: 16 it says that the Bible is given by the inspiration of God, and that means Jesus had a part in it.
1. Do animals go to heaven? -Jana A.
The Bible doesn't say, Jana! This is one of those cases where when the Bible is silent, Aunt Betty had better be silent, too. This much I know: in heaven we will be so happy to be in the presence of Jesus and all His people that we will be perfectly content.
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