A Series of Questions for Christians?

Question

1) Was Mary (Jesus' mother) married and still a virgin?

2) If evolution was proven to be true, or aliens landed on Earth, would this change your faith in any way?

3) Are there people in Heaven or Hell now or is everyone still waiting for Judgment Day?

4) Does God ever change His mind?

Thank you for taking the time to answer!

(These questions are not meant to be disrespectful. I am simply seeking information.)

Answer 1

1. Mary was a virgin until Jesus was born, afterward their marriage was consummated.
2. Yes it would have to, but don't hold your breath.
3. People are not in the Hell of Revelation, lost souls are in a place Jesus called Hades, the saved are in the presence of God.
4. He says he doesn't.

Answer 2

1. Mary wasn't actually married to Joseph when she fell pregnant with Jesus. She was a virgin then!

2. How could evolution possibly be proven true? We don't know if there are aliens out there... The Bible doesn't say that there isn't!

3. Everyone is waiting for Judgement Day! Interesting Question...

4. No! He's planned everything out already!


Hey, this is what I think and how I interpet the Bible! If you disagee or find that I'm not correct, tell me! I'm really interested in finding out more details on all of these answers! Have a great day!

Answer 3

1. She was a virgin until after she gave birth to Christ. Then she had normal relations with her husband and had other normal children. Matt 1:25, 12:47

2. Aliens--no because the bible doesn't mention anything for or against them. However, I would lean to the understanding that is implied that we are the only life forms God created.
Evolution--sure. If evolution is true, then the bible is false by default. It would make the creation story false and Jesus a liar because He used it to back up some of His teachings.

3. Jesus said that no man has ascended into heaven. John 3:13. The bible also talks about the dead rising to meet Jesus when He returns. As far as hell goes, people are most likely sent there immediately if they are not born again. Some scriptures indicate this like Prov 11:7, Luke 16:23-25. The final place for hell is the lake of fire.
So, the basic answer is no one is in heaven and people are in hell. However, there has been very few exceptions to people in heaven. Enoch, Elijah and possibly Abraham and Moses are in heaven. This doesn't necessairly go against what Jesus said because He was speaking in general.

4. Yes. This is why prayer is important. He will change His mind, but not go against His own will. We see an indication of this in Genesis 18 when Abraham is seeking God to not destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. God agrees to Abraham's prayer requests. Also, Moses pleaded with God to not smite Israel a few times.
So, He will change His mind, but only if it doesn't interfere with His overall plan.

Answer 4

1) Jesus' mother married Joseph; it is debatable whether she remained a virgin (we will never know for sure). I believe she was a virgin when Jesus was conceived.

2) I already believe in evolution. If aliens landed, and we found some way to communicate, some of my beliefs may change slightly, in accordance with the aliens' experiences with God.

3) I don't believe in a "physical" heaven or hell. Interpreted spiritually or metaphorically, I am uncertain whether heaven or hell are present or future realities.

I believe there will be a fuller expression of the "Kingdom of God" - probably on earth - at some point in the future. The early Christians believed in the immanent physical return of Christ (in their own lifetime), and, well, it's been almost 2000 years... probably will happen, but who really knows? If so, the Day of Judgement will occur on that day, as Jesus has been appointed Judge.

There is definitely an afterlife, but the details cannot be known, and more important is one's conduct in this life.

4) From a human point of view, it may seem that God can change his "mind". I would be careful, however, when attributing the quality of "mind" to God in the same way as to humans. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Isiah 55:9).


Peace and blessings

Answer 5

ok, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt based on your last sentence.
1) Mary was betrothed to Joseph - therefore unmarried when she conceived Jesus. The bible states that Joseph "did not yet know her" - ie - to date, had not yet had sexual relations with her.
2) this is basically a non question in my opinion. I know for a fact that God is real. That's my faith, so I suppose that it wouldn't as far as evolution goes, but I simply can't fathom the alien thing, so I can't answer that.
3) I believe there are people in Heaven - and that others are "asleep" as the bible says that Hell is a place yet to be realized at the Judgement. This is a bit of an enigma to me, so I hope someone else has a better answer because at this time - I simply do not have the time to study up on it.
4) I don't believe He does. Once He knows what He wants to do - He does it.
5) You're welcome.

Answer 6

1. Mary was a virgin before the birth of Christ, but afterwards, being a married woman, had children with her husband, Joseph, hence the fact that Jesus had brothers and sisters. I really don't understand why catholics seem to think she was a bad jewish wife who never had relations with her own husband. Makes no sense at all.

2. I do believe in evolution, just not the ape to man nonsense, and it doesn't effect my faith at all. Aliens would have no bearing on my faith either.

3. The dead sleep until judgment, but there are a few there, like Enoch and Elijah, who were taken up without dying first.

4. No, God doesn't change His mind, but He lets us make choices, which we don't seem to do very well. He appeared to change His mind about Sodom & Gemorrah, but He did exactly what He was gonna do in the first place, just saved Lot and his daughters first.

Answer 7

1. Mary was married. The Holy Spirit allowed her to concieve.
2. Well, it hasn't. That is the important thing, I will cross that bridge when I come to it. But you can never prove evolution to be true. There is too much "truth" already, and the proof that evolution proves to be true contricts will contridict with the "truth".
3. We actually don't know this. Nobody has been either place and back except Jesus. We are most probably still waiting for Judgement Day, because Jesus has not come yet to judge the living and the dead.
4. God will never change His mind. Can Satan cast out Satan? No. God cannot cast out God either. God does not want us to be "double-minded" (we promise something and then take it back). Therefore, He isn't.

Answer 8

1. Yes, Mary was married. She was a virgin when whe conceived Jesus. After that, she had sex w/ Joseph. Ergo, she was no longer a virgin. They had other sons according to the Gospel of Matthew.

2. If evolution is proven to be true... a big if. No answer for hypothetical question. Why should we bother w/ hypothesis?


3. According to Jesus, no one has ascended to heaven. All the dead therefore are still in the dust. They are awaiting resurrection. Many on earth, a few in heaven.

4. In one instance--that of Jonah and destruction of Nineveh--he changed his mind. In another instance he told King Hezekiah to prepare for his death. King Hezekiah prayed hard. He was given 15 years extention. So, God changed his mind.

Answer 9

1) Mary was a virgin until after she had Jesus. After she gave birth, she and Joseph had more kids.

2) Evolution doesn't make sense, how can it be real? And, no one knows if there are such things as aliens, and even if there were, why would that make me believe in God less?

3) To be honest, I don't know.

4) No, God deosn't change His mind. For example, He will not love you less b/c of a sin you commit, He'll always love you the same way.

God bless you.

Answer 10

1. Yes, Mary was a virgin when she was married. Joseph "...had no union with her until she gave birth to a son." Matthew 1:25

2. I don't think that this would change my faith. Evolution does exist, but I believe in micro-evolution(adaptation occuring within a species), not macro-evolution(species changing into other species.

3. This depends on how you view the Bible. Revelation 20:14 speaks of the "second death" where the unbelievers go to be with Satan immediately and suffer in the lake of fire. Some believe that this does not happen until the Second Coming of Christ, but I think that when it happens is not as important as that it happens.

4. Yes. In fact, Moses changed God's mind in the Old Testament. God wanted to kill the Israelites while Moses was on Mount Sinai. God saw that the Israelites made a Golden Calf and had begun to worship it. He wanted to destroy them, but Moses "sought the favor of the Lord...Then the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened".