Tough Topics: Biblical Answers to 25 Challenging Questions

by Sam Storms

Overview

Designed to shed biblical light on thorny issues, this book answers 25 of the toughest questions Christians are often too afraid to ask.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781433534935
Publisher:	Crossway
Publication date:	04/30/2013
Series:	Re:Lit Series
Pages:	368
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Sam Storms (PhD, University of Texas at Dallas) has spent more than four decades in ministry as a pastor, professor, and author. He is currently the senior pastor at Bridgeway Church in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and was previously a visiting associate professor of theology at Wheaton College from 2000 to 2004. He is the founder of Enjoying God Ministries and blogs regularly at SamStorms.com.

Table of Contents

Preface 11

1 Is the Bible Inerrant? 15

2 What Is Open Theism? 33

3 Does God Ever Change His Mind? 54

4 Could Jesus Have Sinned? 67

5 What Did Jesus Mean When He Said, "Judge Not, that You Be Not Judged"? 73

6 What Is Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit? 82

7 Does the Bible Teach the Doctrine of Original Sin? 91

8 Are Those Who Die in Infancy Saved? 104

9 Will People Be Condemned for Not Believing in Jesus though They've Never Heard His Name? 114

10 What Can We Know about Angels? 120

11 What Can We Know about Satan? 137

12 What Can We Know about Demons? 151

13 Can a Christian Be Demonized? 166

14 Does Satan Assign Demons to Specific Geopolitical Regions? Are There Territorial Spirits? 184

15 Can Christians Lose Their Salvation? 194

16 Does Hebrews Teach that Christians Can Apostatize? 208

17 Will There Be Sex in Heaven? 220

18 Axe Miraculous Gifts for Today? 232

19 What Is Baptism in the Spirit, and When Does It Happen? 252

20 Should All Christians Speak in Tongues? 276

21 What Was Paul's Thorn in the Flesh? 283

22 Is There Healing in the Atonement? 295

23 Why Doesn't God Always Heal the Sick? 303

24 What Is Legalism? 309

25 Are Christians Obligated to Tithe? 319

General Index 341

Scripture Index 351

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“Tough Topics offers every questioning person an opportunity to press thoughtfully into the Bible’s answers. Sam Storms is that rare guide we all are looking for—fair-minded, with no axe to grind. I cheerfully commend Tough Topics for your tough questions!”
—Raymond C. Ortlund Jr., Lead Pastor, Immanuel Church, Nashville, Tennessee

“Let’s face it, the church has not always done the best possible job at fielding the hard questions posed to it by both skeptics and members. In the case of the first group, skeptics end up discounting Christianity, dismissing it as irrational, head-in-the-sand religious fanaticism. In the case of the second group, members become frustrated with the Christian faith and often drift away from what they have found to be a shallow, inconsistent, and quite unsatisfying worldview. Sam Storms, is a leader whom has the Lord has wonderfully gifted not only to answer the tough questions, but also to provide an accessible resource for Christian leaders to be better prepared to engage skeptics and church members who wrestle with these issues rather than to rebuff them and discount their difficulties. Sam’s passion is to deal with twenty-five of the most challenging questions you will ever face, and do it in such a way that you become convinced of the answers and are prepared to offer help to others who face them as well. He accomplishes this goal, not by offering his own good ideas and the best of human counsel, but by relying on the wisdom of God as found in Scripture.”
—Gregg R. Allison, Professor of Christian Theology, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

“Some questions about God and the Bible intrigue us. Others get completely under our skin and frustrate us. The chances are good that if a question is bothering you, you are not the first to ask it! Sam Storms draws on all his pastoral experience in this helpful book as he honestly answers questions some people like to avoid.”
—Adrian Warnock, author, Hope Reborn and Raised with Christ

“Sam Storms’s Tough Topics is equally the work of a deeply concerned and caring pastor, and that of a thoughtful, seasoned, and biblically-saturated theologian. As I read this book, specific people kept coming to mind who would be helped greatly by one of more of its chapters—such wisdom, such balance, and such biblical clarity. Readers will likely differ at points with their pastor-theologian guide, but they will rise up and thank him for offering such wise counsel on such an array of difficult and important questions. There’s something here for everyone. Pick up and read, and see how faithful pastoral theology really does bless the church.”
—Bruce A. Ware, T. Rupert and Lucille Coleman Professor of Christian Theology, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

“People are inquisitive by nature. It is the way God made us. We have all kinds of questions about Him. When people learn that I teach theology for a living, the first thing they do is begin to ask questions—tough questions. Sam Storms has given us an incredibly useful resource in his book Tough Topics. He has braved the minefield of some of the most difficult questions people have concerning God, the Bible, Church, and Christianity in general. What I like about this work is not simply its accessibility, but Sam’s gentle and balanced scholarship. When we have questions about God, this is no casual thing requiring the opinions of sages on street corners. These are serious questions requiring someone who is well versed in the Bible. Sam has always been one who I go to when I have questions. Now I have the book! And, as Sam says, the answer to these questions do not drive us to be puffed up in knowledge, they drive us to worship.”
—C. Michael Patton, Founder, President, and fellow, The Credo House, Edmond, Oklahoma