Christianity Explained
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Hearing from God
Picture, Hand in a Cloud
Does God Talk To Us? If so, How?

Yes, in several different ways. Sometimes in answer to prayer (see Talking with God), sometimes unannounced - he chooses to communicate first - but seldom through an actual voice - more usually he plants an idea in our mind or speaks something new and appropriate through the words he's already given us in his holy book, The Bible, which is why it's important to read it regularly. The sections below explain this in more detail. (Return to top)
Frequently Asked Questions
How Does God Communicate?
The Bible is a collection of 66 books written over many centuries by hundreds of different authors. There's 39 books in the first part called the 'Old Testament' and 26 in the second part called the 'New Testament'.

Most authors were writing for a specific audience, about a specific situation, at a specific time in the past, but God often re-uses those words to speak something new to us today. (Return to top)		  

Picture, Tin Can Telephone
We hear God 'speaking' to us in many different ways, only a few actually hear a voice. Some get an 'idea' for no apparent reason, which they can only put down to coming from God. All of us can read what God says in the Christian holy book 'The Bible'. (Return to top)

The Bible is an account of Gods revelation of himself to our ancestors and the relationship that developed between them and God over the centuries. It begins with an explanation of how God created the universe, how humanity messed it up, the coming in human form of God as Jesus Christ just over 2,000 years ago to put that right, and a foresight of the end of time when God will make a new and perfect creation as he originally intended. The account of the events before Jesus came in the flesh is known as 'The Old Testament' and the account of Jesus' life and ministry, together with the activities of his followers immediately after he returned to heaven, is called 'The New Testament'. (Return to top)

What Is The Bible?
Greek was the language used by educated people at the time when the New Testament was written and when the separate books were edited together into the one the volume we know as 'The Bible', which is why there are so many Greek words used in our modern translations. (Return to top)  

Picture of a Bible
The Bible is the Christian Holy Book, written by humans so limited by our language and knoweldge at the time it was written, but thought to be inspired by God, so it's known as 'God's Holy Word'. (Return to top)

It contains many different types of writing to help us understand God and what he wants of us. It contains many differnet styles: Story (both factual and symbolic); Law; Poetry; Proverbs on how to live life well; Prophecy; Good News about Jesus; comParables between a point that's difficult to understand and something we already know about; Letters to the early church that reveal how they interpretted Jesus' teaching; and a Revelation about the end of time. (Return to top)
Is The Bible Sill Relevant?
If the meaning we get when we read a passage is not what was originally meant when it was written, it may be because God is speaking to us in our age and conveying his underlying truth afresh. (Return to top)  

Picture, Modern City
Because the accounts in the Bible were written many centuries ago, their style often seems old-fashioned by today's standards and the examples they use, revengeful people and rural life, don't allow us to relate to it as easily as the original hearers did. Never-the-less, the underlying points God's making are still very relevant for us today, but it can sometimes help to re-interpret the accounts to restore their original impact. (Return to top)

For example, how would you update the parable of the rich man and his talents for today's people? (Matthew 25:14-30) (Click here to see a modern updated version).
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Why so Many Different Versions?
The first complete translation was made by St Jerome into Latin in 405AD, and his version was used as the basis by many subsequent translators for centuries afterwards.

Today, scholars prefer to go back to the earliest original manuscripts that are found from time to time, to avoid duplicating any earlier errors.

Errors have been found in both early hand-written copies and later printed versions. (Return to top)		  

Picture of Different Bibles
Surely the Bible is the Bible? Well, yes and no! The Old Testament was mainly written in Hebrew and the New Testament in Greek, so for most of us today it has to be translated. The problem is that it's often impossible to get exactly the same meaning in one language as in another, so the translator sometimes has to make the best interpretation they can. (Return to top)

It also depends what you want from the translation. Do you want an easy reading version that gives the overall picture, or do you want a academically accurate version that can be hard to understand? (Return to top)

Also, words change their meaning over time, eg: 'nice' used to mean 'over fussy' but now means 'pleasant', so an older translation can get out of step with modern usage. (Return to top)
Help In Understanding
The Bible is certainly not the easiest of books to understand. Commentaries are available online and in written form, produced by scholars and others to explain what each part is thought to mean, and they can be very helpful.

If you would like one of those, it’s good to look at a few to find the one that suits your style best, or ask someone you know, such as a Minister or friend, to help you chose. (Return to top)		  

Picture, Bible Page
How can we know what a passage originally meant? Basically we can't be sure we've got exactly the original meaning for every passage, although scholars are pretty well agreed on much of it. Where they disagree, there's probably no way of proving the original meaning today, we have to decide who's version we think most likely.... and ask God to help us. (Return to top)

Does that matter? No. Christians believe that God speaks to us through the Bible afresh in every generation. Most of his words are basic truths that remain unchanged, so he helps to understand the original passages as he intended, but he sometimes helps us to understand them differently as appropriate to our needs today. There's a long established test to determine whether we're understanding the Bible correctly, which has three parts: (Return to top)

1. What does the passage actually say?
(Accepting there may be differences in translation)
2. How has it been traditionally understood down the ages?
3. What is the Holy Spirit (God) telling us through it today?

If our answer to one of those questions is out of step with the other two, then that interpretation is probably wrong and we need to examine it carefully, usually by discussing it with other Christians who can help us determine God's intention or by reading a 'Commentary' - a book of explanation written by knowledgeable scholars. (Return to top)
What Is God Saying Today?
Genesis 1:16 tells us God made the 'Great Light', the sun, which we now know is an ongoing nuclear reaction, so God made and uses nuclear physics. In Genesis 1:28 he tells us to 'subdue his creation.'

Perhaps developing nuclear power is OK as it's green, so good, but nuclear weapons kill and pollute, so bad. Is God telling us to use nuclear power but to put effort into safely disposing of the waste? (Return to top)		  

Picture of a Mouth Speaking
God never changes his underlying message: loving God and your neighbour as yourself fulfils his Law  (Luke 10:25-37). Jesus came to make amends for our sin, so we can have eternal life with God after we die (John 16:1-2). (Return to top)

Although the Bible was originally written decades ago, God also speaks to us through it with respect to life today, eg: nuclear physics isn't mentioned in the Bible so how might God feel about our using it? (See the panel). (Return to top)

If we read the Bible regularly we'll get a feel for its contents, so it can help us naturally to live more closely to the way God wants. (Return to top)
An Updated Parable - The Rich Man And Talents
(Based on Matthew 25:14-30)
Cartoon of Rich Man
There was a rich man who loved others, so he went into the town and selected some poor children to help. He told them he'd support them if they would use their gains to help others, then gave them each some money to help them grow their talents. To the first one he gave £5,000; to the second one he gave £2,000; and to the third one he gave £1,000. (Return to top)

Some years later he went back to find out how they got on. The first one said, "I realised I had a talent to learn, so I used your gift to help me get a good education.  Now I'm a doctor working in medical research to find a cure for cancer and I won a prize of £10,000 for my work. Here's your £5,000 back plus £5,000 more." "Well done" said the rich man, "I'll give you another gift to reward you for your effort." (Return to top)

The second one said, "I realised I wasn't academic but I had a talent for practical things, so I became an apprentice plumber and developed an interest in everything to do with water. Now I'm an expert in water systems and help poor people in Africa to set-up irrigation systems to help them feed themselves and avoid starvation. I won a prize of £4,000 for my work, so here's your £2,000 back plus £2,000 more. "Well done" said the rich man, "I'll give you another gift to reward you for your effort." (Return to top)

Cartoon, Stupid Man
Then he came to the third one who said, "I know you can be very demanding and I was afraid that if I messed up I'd be in trouble, so I put your cheque behind this picture on the wall so it wouldn't get lost.... but I let people know I had it so they gave me credit and that at least enabled me to get this flat so I didn't have to live on the street." "You good-for-nothing layabout", the rich man said, "My gift was intended to help you get on, I was expecting some return on my investment and you've done nothing with it. You could at least have put it in the bank and earned interest to give me back." And he had the poor man thrown out of his flat for false pretences, took back his cheque, and gave it to the doctor to help fund his research. (Return to top)

The point of the parable is that we have all been given or acquired skills (talents) and we should improve and grow them by using them to help others). (Return to top)