Can We Really Understand God?: Tough Questions with Answers on God and the Bible

By Cobus Prinsloo and Rev. Tienie Prinsloo

“Can we really understand God?” addresses some of the most common questions that Christians ask. For many, unanswered questions have been a stumbling block to their faith. Not only is this book intended for believers, but also for anyone who shows interest in the Faith but cannot embark on the next step due to these tough, unanswered questions. One of the most common ones involve the science versus faith debate. This book shows there exists an elegant harmony between modern science and the Bible. Apparent contradictions are neutralized when one considers words and syntax in the original Hebrew. Other questions such as “Why did God not throw Satan in hell immediately” and “Why does God allow evil to exist at all” will ensure a captivating read and show that we can indeed understand a little more about the mind of God

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jan 19, 2023
• ISBN: 9781664288744

Cobus Prinsloo

Reverend Tienie Prinsloo was in the ministry for 39 years until 2000 Ad. He served as chaplain to government ministers and the state president of South Africa between 1976 and 1982. He continues to teach, council and write. His co-author and son, Cobus, inspired aspects of this book with all his questions concerning religion. He is a graphic designer with a deep interest in theology.

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Copyright © 2023 Rev. Tienie and Cobus Prinsloo.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

WestBow Press

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture marked (KJV) taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

ISBN: 978-1-6642-8875-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-8874-4 (e)

WestBow Press rev. date: 01/18/2023

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 1

Must we accept the Genesis creation story as literal in every respect when it apparently conflicts with the discoveries of modern science?

CHAPTER 2

Does the Bible give us any information about the prehistoric times before the creation of humanity?

CHAPTER 3

Why Did God Create This Immense, Vast Universe?

CHAPTER 4

Why Did God Not Throw Satan Immediately In Hell After He Had Rebelled Against Him?

CHAPTER 5

Why did God allow humanity to sin?

CHAPTER 6

What Right Did God Have To Punish Christ In Our Place?

CHAPTER 7

Is It True That God Chooses Some People To Go To Heaven And Others To Hell?

CHAPTER 8

Why Does God Place Such A High Premium On Faith?

CHAPTER 9

Why Should We Pray If God Already Knows What We Need?

CHAPTER 10

Why Does God Allow Innocent People To Suffer?

CHAPTER 11

Why Are Christians Not Free From Crises And Tribulation?

CHAPTER 12

When Does God Give Prosperity?

FINAL THOUGHTS

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INTRODUCTION

Many Christians live with questions concerning God and the Bible for which they cannot find satisfactory answers. Often, they have to contend with answers such as, We are not supposed to understand everything that God does – we should merely believe.

Thus the impression is created that God does not always operate in a logical fashion, yet he has revealed Himself as the creator of logical laws. This is why it is our presumption that in our search for answers, there have to be satisfactory explanations.

With this book I would like to share answers to several of these questions which helped me personally to understand God better. It is my conviction that when we can better grasp God’s actions, we will be filled with amazement and worship which in turn will encourage us to serve the Lord with greater devotion.

For example, a question which is discussed is, why did God not throw Satan in Hell after he rebelled, as he wouldn’t have been able to seduce Adam and Eve to sin, causing us all to reap the results of their sin?"

We will find a reasonable answer when we consider God Himself – as revealed to us through Scripture. Here God is revealed as the God who is absolutely perfect. As such, He is completely holy, righteous, loving and sovereign. Although He answers to nobody and does as He pleases, He places limits on His actions. These limits are brought about by who He is – those wonderful characteristics which make Him who He is.

Thus, although he is omnipotent, He will never use His power to do something which collides with His holiness, His righteousness and His love. He therefore would not have Satan condemned to Hell before proving that Satan’s claims were false. Only then will he be judged. God cannot do anything else but be fair towards Satan. Hence, He will allow Satan to retain any rights that he attained over humans, except if they reach out to God for help. God will thus not interfere with the issues of people as long as they subject themselves under Satan’s kingdom.

By addressing some of the questions in this book, it should become clear that God’s conduct is always justifiable and that nothing on Earth ever happens that is out of harmony with His principles of justice, love and logic.

If ever it looks as if God’s actions are unfair, we should realize that it is us who misunderstand. It happens so because we try to judge Him within a particular situation and not from the angle of his absolute righteousness. If we know the Scriptures, we should know that He can never be unfair! Then even though we may not have an answer for a particular circumstance or event, we will be able to know that He can never be unfair in such an event. By keeping this in mind, we should get satisfactory answers through the guidance of His Holy Spirit. This will enable us to understand this wonderful God so that we can serve Him even better!

Chapter 1 addresses the question of how the discoveries of science can be harmonised with the creation story in Genesis 1. There are several interesting views with good foundations in Scripture, but the view held in chapter one is grounded in the foundational text of Genesis 1 and shows that the Word of God and science do not contradict each other.

The better one understands God, the more one is filled with amazement about who He really is! You will understand that you are human and He is God. You will understand why certain things sometimes happen that you don’t like at all, and why it may look as if God is not protecting you. Sometimes He allows trials with your spiritual growth in mind. The way you handle them enables you to grow to a higher level of spiritual maturity.

The main thing is for us to understand that His love for us is so great, that He became a human in the form of Jesus Christ and that He satisfied the demands of His moral law by taking the punishment intended for us, on Himself.

This fact moves us to proclaim with humility: O, God, how great you are! We do not have the words to properly proclaim the worship we feel inside. All we can say is: thank you for creating us and therefore giving us the ability to get to know something about you. It keeps us in humility at your feet. Even more so – thank you for not disregarding us, but freeing us from the road of destruction so that we can experience your saving grace in a growing capacity.

Tienie Prinsloo

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CHAPTER 1

Must we accept the Genesis creation story as literal in every respect when it apparently conflicts with the discoveries of modern science?

God wrote the Bible through His servants and told us how He, the Creator of the Cosmos, made everything. Humanity, with their limited knowledge, tries to determine through research and interpretation how everything came into existence. If it seems like the scientific facts collide with those of the Bible, people should know that their interpretation of the facts is still lacking somewhere. There cannot be any contradictions between that which God created and what He writes about creation! It will either be the scientific data or what the Bible says that we interpret incorrectly.

Explanation.

At first glance it seems as if the Bible is saying that the world was created about 6 000 years ago over a period of six