Tough texts 1 Cor 11:29 – Eating and drinking ‘without careful regard for the body’ 1 Cor 11:3/Eph 5:23 – ‘Kephale’: ‘head’? ‘source’? ‘foremost’? 1 Cor 13:10 – ‘When what is perfect comes’ 1 Cor 6:9 – ‘malakoi’ and ‘arsenokoitai’ 1 Corinthians 10:4 – a moveable rock? 1 Corinthians 14:34 – ‘Women should be silent in the churches’ 1 Corinthians 15:28 – ‘The Son himself will be subjected to [God]’ 1 Corinthians 15:29 – ‘Baptized for the dead’ 1 Corinthians 15:44 – ‘Raised a spiritual body’ 1 Corinthians 7:14 – Sanctified spouses, holy children 1 Jn 1:1 – ‘An elect lady and her children’ 1 Jn 5:16f – The sin that does, and the sin that does not, lead to death 1 Kings 20:30 – ‘The wall collapsed on 27,000 of them’ 1 Peter 3:18-20 – Christ ‘preached to the spirits in prison’ 1 Peter 3:7 – ‘The weaker partners’ 1 Sam 34:1-4; 2 Sam 1:1-10 – How did King Saul die? 1 Samuel 28:7-14 – Did Samuel visit from the grave? 1 Thessalonians 2:14f – ‘The Jews, who killed Jesus’ 1 Thessalonians 4:17 – the ‘rapture’ 1 Tim 6:11; 2 Tim 3:18 – ‘Man of God’ 1 Timothy 2:4 – ‘God wants all people to be saved’ 1 Timothy 4:10 – ‘The Saviour of all people’ 2 Cor 12:12 – ‘The signs of an apostle’ 2 Cor 12:7 – ‘A thorn in the flesh’ 2 Corinthians 5:21 – ‘God made Christ to be sin for us’ 2 Peter 1:20 – ‘No prophecy of scripture ever comes about by the prophet’s own imagination.’ 2 Peter 1:4 – ‘Partakers of the divine nature’ 2 Peter 3:9 – ‘The Lord wishes all to come to repentance’ 2 Sam 24:1, 1 Chron 21:1 – Who incited David? 2 Samuel 1:26 – ‘More special than the love of women’ 2 Thess 1:9 – ‘Eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord’ Acts 1:6 – a misguided question? Acts 16:10, etc. – The ‘we’ passages Acts 4:13 – Were the first disciples illiterate? Acts 5:1-11 – Ananias and Sapphira Acts 5:34-37 – ‘Some time ago Theudas rose up’ Acts 9:7/22:9 – What did Paul’s companions see and hear? Colossians 1:15 – ‘The firstborn over all creation’ Colossians 1:19f – Universal reconciliation? Daniel 7:13 – ‘Coming with the clouds of heaven’ Deuteronomy 23:6 – ‘Never be kind to a Moabite’? Eph 1:13f – ‘The seal of the promised Holy Spirit’ Ephesians 1:10 – ‘The fullness of the times’ Ephesians 5:21f – ‘Submit to one another’ Exodus – Who hardened Pharaoh’s heart? Exodus 12:37 – How many Israelites left Egypt? Exodus 14 – The crossing of the Red Sea Exodus 3:1-3 – The burning bush Exodus 6:2 – When was the name ‘Yahweh’ first made known? Eze 28:11-19 – Is Satan a fallen angel? Gal 2, Rom 3 – ‘The works of law’ Galatians 3:17 – How much later? Galatians 3:28 – ‘All one in Christ Jesus’ Galatians 6:16 – The Israel of God Galatians 6:2 – ‘The law of Christ’ Genesis 1 & 2 – Two creation accounts Genesis 1:26 – Why a plural name for God? Genesis 1:27 – a hint of male headship? Genesis 15:16 – ‘The sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its limit’ Genesis 18 – Abraham’s three visitors Genesis 19 – What was the sin of Sodom? Genesis 22 – “Abraham, kill your son” Genesis 3 – traditional and revisionist readings Genesis 3:16b – ‘Your desire shall be for your husband’ Genesis 5 – the ages of the antedeluvians Genesis 6-8 – A worldwide flood? Genesis 6:1f – ‘The sons of God’ Genesis 9:20-25 – the ‘Curse of Ham’ Heb 2:9 – ‘Apart from God’ Hebrews 12:1 – ‘A great cloud of witnesses’ Hebrews 6:4-6 – ‘It is impossible…to renew them again to repentance’ Isaiah 14:12 – Is Satan a fallen angel? Isaiah 7:14/Matthew 1:23 – “The virgin will conceive” James 2:20 – ‘Faith without works is useless’ Jer 22:30/Mt 1:12 – The curse of Jeconiah Jn 14:2 – “My Father’s house” Jn 14:3 – “If I go…I will come again” Jn 20:22/Acts 2 – How many Pentecosts? John 1:1 – ‘The Word was God’ John 1:51 – ‘Angels ascending and descending’ John 10:34 – “You are gods” John 10:8 – “All who came before me were thieves and robbers” John 14:12 – ‘Greater deeds’ John 14:2 – “Many dwelling places” John 14:28 – “The Father is greater than I am” John 14:6 – “No one comes to the Father except through me” John 15:25 – ‘The Spirit…who goes out from the Father’ John 16:5 – “Not one of you is asking me, ‘Where are you going?'” John 19:14, etc. – On which day of the week was Jesus crucified? John 2:6 – symbol or history? John 20:21 – “Just as the Father has sent me, I also send you.” John 21:11 – One hundred and fifty three fish John 3:16f – What is meant by ‘the world’? John 3:5 – ‘Born of water and spirit’ John 4:44 – ‘His own country’ John 7:40-44 – Did John know about Jesus’ birthplace? John 7:53-8:11 – The woman caught in adultery Jonah – history or fiction? Josh 2:1-7 – Was Rahab right to lie? Joshua 10 – Joshua’s ‘long day’ Joshua 3:7-17 – Crossing the Jordan Joshua 6 – the fall of Jericho Jude 7 – ‘Unnatural desire’ Judges 11:29-40 – Jephthah’s vow Judges 19:11-28 – The priest and the concubine Leviticus 18:22; 20:13 – Homosexual acts prohibited? Lk 1:28 – “Greetings, favoured one!” Luke 14:26 – Hate your family? Luke 2 – Was Joseph from Nazareth, or Bethlehem (or both)? Luke 2:1f – Quirinius and ‘the first registration’ Luke 2:39 – No room for a flight into Egypt? Luke 2:7 – ‘No room at the inn’ Luke 21:18 – “Not a hair on your head will perish” Luke 21:24 – Israel to become an independent state? Luke 22:36 – ‘Sell your cloak and buy a sword’ Luke 22:44 – ‘His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground’ Luke 23:43 – “Today you will be with me in paradise” Luke 4:16-19 – An incomplete quotation? Luke 4:18 – “Good news to the poor” Luke 7:2 – ‘Highly valued servant’ or ‘gay lover’? Mark 1:12 – Did the temptations immediately follow the baptism? Mark 1:41 – ‘Moved with anger’ Mark 12:41-44/Luke 21:1-4 – ‘The widow’s mite’ Mark 2:25f – ‘When Abiathar was high priest’ Mark 3:29; Luke 12:10 – The unpardonable sin Mark 6:3 – a scandalous birth? Mark 6:45 – ‘To Bethsaida’ Matthew 10:23 – ‘Before the Son of Man comes’ Matthew 10:28 – ‘destroy’: everlasting punishment or annihilation? Matthew 10:34 – ‘Not peace, but a sword’? Matthew 11:12 – “The kingdom of heaven has suffered violence” Matthew 12:40 – Three days and three nights Matthew 16:18 – Peter the rock? Matthew 17:27 – the fish and the coin Matthew 18:10 – What about ‘guardian angels’? Matthew 2:1 – ‘Magi from the east’ Matthew 2:11 – ‘Gold, frankincense, and myrrh’ Matthew 2:13-18 – ‘Out of Egypt’ Matthew 2:16 – The Slaughter of the Innocents Matthew 2:23 – ‘Jesus would be called a Nazarene’ Matthew 2:6 “Bethlehem…in no way least” Matthew 2:8f – Can God speak through astrology? Matthew 21:7 – One animal or two? Matthew 22:14 – “Many are called, but few are chosen” Matthew 25:40 – ‘The least of these brothers of mine’ Matthew 27:46/Mark 15:34 – Jesus’ cry of dereliction Matthew 27:52f – Many bodies raised Matthew 5:21f – “You have heard it said…but I say to you” Matthew 7:16,20 – ‘You will recognise them by their fruit’ Matthew 8:22/Luke 9:60 – ‘Let the dead bury their dead’? Matthew 8:28 – Gadara or Gerasa? Matthew 8:5/Luke 7:3 – Who asked Jesus to help? Matthew 8:5/Luke 7:7 – son? servant? male lover? Mk 15:42-47 – Would Jesus’ body have been ‘placed in a tomb’? Mk 16:8 – The ending of Mark’s Gospel Mk 6:8f; Mt 10:10; Lk 9:3 – Staff, or no staff? Mt 1:1-17 and Lk 3:23-38 – the genealogies of Jesus Mt 1:24f/13:55/Mk 6:3/Jn 2:12 – Did Mary bear other children? Mt 10:28/Lk 12:4f – Whom should we fear? Mt 12:28/Lk 11:20 – Has the kingdom already come? Mt 12:30/Mk 9:40/Lk 11:23 – For, or against? Mt 13:31; Mk 4:31 – ‘The smallest of all the seeds’? Mt 13/Mk 4/Lk 8 – Why did Jesus speak in parables? Mt 15:21-28/Mk 7:24-30 – Jesus and the Canaanite woman Mt 16:23; Mk 8:33 – “Get behind me, Satan!’ Mt 16:28/Mk 9:1/Lk 9:27 – “Some standing here will see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom” Mt 21:18–22; Mk 11:12–14, 20–25 – Why did Jesus curse the fig tree? Mt 21/Mk 11/Lk 19/Jn 2 – When (and how many times) did Jesus cleanse the Temple? Mt 24:34/Mk 13:30 – ‘This generation will not pass away’ Mt 25:46 – Must eternal punishment be as unending as eternal life? Mt 27:3–10; Acts 1:18f – How did Judas die? Mt 27:9 – ‘…what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet’ Mt 28; Mk 16; Lk 24; Jn 20 – Do the resurrection accounts add up? Mt 3:17/Mk 1:11/Lk 3:22 – What did the voice say? Mt 5:38 – “An eye for an eye” Mt 8:28-34; Mk 5:1-17; Lk 8:26-37 – Of pigs and demons Phil 3:11 – Paul uncertain of his resurrection? Philippians 2:10 – ‘The name that is above every name’ Philippians 4:14 – ‘I can do all things’ Proverbs 26:4f – ‘Answer a fool’? Psalm 137:8f – ‘Happy is he who dashes your infants against the rocks’ Rev 13:18 – ‘His number is 666’ Rev 20:2 – ‘a thousand years’ Rev 7:4; 14:1 – The 144,000 Rom 2:13 – ‘Those who do the law…will be declared righteous’ Rom 3:22; Gal 2:16 – faith in, or faithfulness of Christ? Rom 7:24 – Who is the ‘wretched man’? Romans 1:18 – Wrath: personal or impersonal? Romans 1:26-27 – ‘Natural’ and ‘unnatural’ sexual relations Romans 1:5 – ‘The obedience of faith’ Romans 10:4 – ‘Christ is the end of the law’ Romans 16:7 – ‘Junia…well known to the apostles’ Romans 2:1 – ‘You are without excuse, whoever you are’ Romans 6:14 – ‘You are not under law’ Ruth 3:6-9 – Did Ruth seduce Boaz? The Parable of the Sower – return from exile?