Scripture · the early church · plain English
Bible questions and answers about Christianity, Scripture and Jesus Christ.
Answered like they matter: direct in the first three sentences, then as deep as you want — with what the early church actually said, sourced and translated into plain English.
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The answer comes first
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The hard objection is named
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The Bible itself
26 min read·31 sources cited
What Is the Ark of the Covenant, and Where Is It Now?
The Ark of the Covenant is the gold-covered acacia-wood chest that the biblical tradition associates with Israel's covenant tablets and God's presence. The Bible places it in Solomon's Temple, and 2 Chronicles 35:3 still speaks of "the holy ark" in connection with the house Solomon built during King Josiah's eighteenth year, conventionally about 622 BC, roughly three and a half centuries after that Temple was built. That creates a real chronological tension with the Kebra Nagast, which says Menelik's companions removed the original Ark in Solomon's lifetime and left a replacement behind. Ethiopian Orthodox tradition identifies the Ark with the guarded object at Aksum, but no publicly verifiable archaeological or scientific examination has authenticated that object. Historically, the Ark's present location remains unknown. Christian theology asks a different question: Hebrews 9-10 presents the old sanctuary as provisional and directs the reader to Christ, whose priesthood, blood, covenant, and access to God fulfill what the sanctuary system anticipated.
The crucifixion & resurrection
19 min read·35 sources cited
Why was Jesus crucified?
Jesus was crucified by Roman authority under Pontius Pilate, most likely in AD 30 or AD 33, after he was presented as a claimant to kingship during Passover in Jerusalem. Rome could treat "The King of the Jews" as a political threat. Christians also ask a deeper question: Why did Jesus die for us? They believe that at the cross God confronted sin without abandoning sinners, remaining, in Romans 3:26, both just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
The Bible itself
17 min read·20 sources cited
Who wrote the Bible?
No single person wrote the Bible. Historically, it is a collection of books written, edited, copied, and preserved by many human authors and communities over many centuries, mainly in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. Some books name their authors or are traditionally linked to figures such as Moses, David, the prophets, and Paul; others are anonymous or composite, so the exact number of contributors is unknown. If you ask me who the author of the Bible is from a Christian perspective, my answer is that God inspired these human writers rather than bypassing them. And no emperor or single council created a universally accepted Bible at one meeting, which is one reason Christian canons still differ.
The topics
Questions are grouped the way they actually get asked — one thread leading to the next, rather than filed under a category.