Introduction: Ask Anything

Somebody in your class says it out loud: “Science has disproved all that.” Or a video tells you the Bible was rewritten by people in power. Or something happens at home that makes every easy answer you learned as a child sound thin. And a question lodges in your head that won’t leave.

Good. This book is for that question.

Some people think Christians aren’t supposed to ask hard questions, as if faith means switching your brain off at the church door. The Bible doesn’t think so. When the risen Jesus appeared to His disciples, Thomas wasn’t there, and when the others told him, he flatly refused to believe them: “Unless I see the nail marks in His hands, and put my finger where the nails have been, and put my hand into His side, I will never believe” (John 20:25). A week later Jesus came back. He didn’t scold Thomas. He gave him exactly what he had asked for: “Put your finger here and look at My hands” (John 20:27). And Thomas, the doubter, said the clearest thing anyone says about Jesus in the whole of John’s Gospel: “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28).

Jesus can handle your questions. He would much rather you brought them to Him than buried them.

The Bible actually tells Christians to be ready to answer questions. “Always be prepared to give a defense to everyone who asks you the reason for the hope that is in you.” And straight after that comes the way to do it: “But respond with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15). Christianity has reasons, and you’re allowed to test them.

How each chapter works

Every chapter is one question, sometimes the kind thrown at you as a challenge, sometimes the kind you ask quietly at two in the morning. Each has four parts:

• The short answer. Two or three sentences. If you only have a minute, read this.
• The longer answer. A few pages with what the Bible says and real reasons, not slogans.
• Think about it. One question to chew on by yourself, with a friend or in a group.
• Go deeper. A classic from the Ochorus library, with the chapter to start with. Some of the best answers were written long ago by people who wrestled with exactly what you’re wrestling with.

Two kinds of questions

Not every question has the same kind of answer.

Some questions have one clear Christian answer. Did Jesus really rise from the dead? Is the Bible trustworthy? Is God good? Christians across the world and through history have given the same answer, and this book gives it plainly, with the reasons.

Other questions are ones where faithful Christians, people who love Jesus and trust the Bible, have come to different conclusions. How old is the earth? How exactly does God answer prayer, and how often does He still do miracles today? Here the book sets out the main views fairly, shows what they all agree on, and leaves you to think it through with your church and family. It won’t pretend a debated question is settled, or a settled one is up for grabs.

Whenever a question is one where Christians differ, the chapter says so plainly. Knowing the difference is half of thinking well about faith.

Read it your way

You don’t have to read this book in order. Start with the question that’s bothering you most. If an answer here doesn’t convince you, don’t pretend it does. Take it to God and to a Christian you trust. An honest “I’m not sure yet” beats a fake “Yes.”

Answers matter, but this book isn’t really about winning arguments. Thomas didn’t end up with a better argument. He ended up face to face with a Person. That’s where good questions are meant to lead.

For parents, teachers and youth leaders

Real Questions is written for readers aged 13 to 17 and answers the objections teenagers meet at school, online and in their own heads. It takes a mainstream evangelical view, and where faithful Christians genuinely differ it sets out the main views without taking sides.

Part 3 speaks about sex, sexuality and gender. It holds the historic Christian teaching that God made us male and female and that sex belongs within marriage between a man and a woman, and it speaks with compassion, especially to a reader who may be struggling personally. It never mocks anyone. Wherever a chapter touches on despair, grief or abuse, it points the reader to a parent or trusted adult. You may want to read those chapters first.

The questions also work well for group discussion: read a chapter aloud, then talk through the “Think about it” question together. All Scripture is quoted from the Berean Standard Bible.