Sometimes it seems as if the Bible views women as inferior to men.  A woman should serve her husband and should be submissive to him, and she should pretty much keep to herself and her family, much like Islamic women today and women in various other cultures.  The Bible also mentions slaves.  How does this relate to equality that we seem to demand in our culture today?  I've heard a theory that the Bible was written in a specific time period, and in order for people to pretty much take it seriously, it needed to have ideals and beliefs for that time period.  What are your thoughts on that, and if you think that might be correct, how do we fit everything in the Bible into our lives today?

Sincerely,
Cultural Relevance

Dear Cultural Relevance,

The Bible does seem to treat women as inferior when it is viewed through the lens of today’s American culture – because our culture is thoroughly dysfunctional when it comes to men and women.  Just one look at the modern divorce rate shows our dysfunction.

The Bible emphasizes gender differences, but that is not the same as saying men and women aren’t equal.  In fact, the Bible is very specific in stating that women are equal with men (1 Pet 3:7).  Women are different than men – big shock.  Unlike modern American culture, which tries to pretend that there are no real differences between men and women, the Bible comes right out and says that they are unique.  This blatant honesty is jarring to today’s culture.  But we must remember that being different is not the same as being inferior.  Men can’t exist without women, and women can’t exist without men (1 Cor 11:11-12).  Both men and women have souls (Gen 1:27), and God created them both.  The way the Bible deals with male and female roles is timeless, and therefore, It doesn’t cater to the specific dysfunctional whims of modern America.

The timeless nature of the Bible is also the reason for the Bible addressing slavery.  God makes it clear that it is better to be free than a slave (1 Cor 7:21).  However, slavery does exist in many cultures and always has.  The Bible tells slaves and slave-owners how to act because the Bible is God’s Word to all mankind.  In a free society, such commands seem archaic, but for the many slaves throughout time, such commands are vital and exceptionally pertinent.

Is being a vegetarian a sin?

Sincerely,
Meat Man

Dear Meat Man,

Absolutely not!  Adam and Eve were vegetarians (Gen 1:30).  It wasn’t until Noah that God taught mankind to eat animals (Gen 9:1-4).  In the New Testament, Paul wrote that you could eat just vegetables (1 Cor 8:13).  Paul was dealing with a doctrinal issue of meat sacrificed to idols, but still he made it clear that there isn’t anything wrong with avoiding meat altogether.  Although unnecessary (and bacon-less), a vegetarian lifestyle is perfectly Biblical.

Does the devil know what you’re thinking?

Sincerely,
Mind Games

Dear Mind Games,

Only God knows all the thoughts and intents of the heart (1 Chr 28:9).  If the devil knew all the thoughts of man, he wouldn’t have even wasted time tempting Jesus (Matt 4:1).  We do know that there are times when the devil has placed thoughts into the minds of men (Jhn 13:2).  However, that isn’t the same as seeing into our minds.  Introducing an idea into someone’s mind is very different from controlling them or seeing the deepest intents of their heart.  The devil doesn’t have that kind of power.  He is certainly clever and wickedly capable (1 Pet 5:8), but he isn’t omniscient.

My question is about asking forgiveness of sins.  Is it okay to simply say, "Please forgive me of my sins" and leave it at that when praying, or do I need to list each sin out specifically?  Do I only need to mention the big ones by name, or is it okay to lump them all together generically?

Sincerely,
Taking My Lumps

Dear Taking My Lumps,

It certainly isn’t wrong to list all of your sins out specifically, but a more generic statement is also acceptable.  Jesus taught His disciples to pray, “And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors” (Matt 6:12).  That is a generic way to ask for forgiveness.  Moses mentioned in the Psalms that we have “secret sins” (Ps 90:8).  In reality, you can’t list all of your sins in prayer because you don’t even know all of the different sins you commit.  There is nothing wrong with generalizing in your prayers, as long as it is still sincere.

Christian teenagers dating unbelievers: is it a sin?

Sincerely,
What About THAT One?

Dear What About THAT One,

Christians should only marry christians (1 Cor 7:39).  The Scriptures make that concept very clear.  However, whom someone dates is a much grayer area.  Even the term ‘date’ is vague.  Sometimes that word is used to express ‘an informal social engagement’, and sometimes it means ‘a close and meaningful long-term romantic relationship’.  The more intimate and close the relationship is, the more important it is that the two people have the same values.  Since christians should marry christians, it only makes sense that people would make sure they had the same values before the relationship became very serious.