Verses
Give thanks in everything, says a letter written by a man who had been beaten and jailed. Here is what the Bible's main passages on gratitude ask for, and the one thing they carefully do not ask for.
Grace Whitfield ·
Prayers
Most people praying about a decision are hoping for a sign. The biblical accounts show something less dramatic and more useful. Here is what to ask, a seven-day process, and how traditions differ.
Grace Whitfield ·
Verses
The Bible talks about money constantly and promises far less about it than people expect. Here are the key passages on wealth, debt, contentment and giving, each with its context.
Grace Whitfield ·
Verses
Work appears in the Bible before anything goes wrong, and the instructions about it are aimed as often at bosses as at workers. Here is what the main passages actually say.
Grace Whitfield ·
Reflections
Paul asked three times and was told no. Jesus asked in Gethsemane and was not spared. Here is what the biblical texts actually record about unanswered prayer, and what they do not promise.
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Bible Study
In most churches the two words describe the same service. Here is where "christening" came from, which traditions still use it, and the one case where a christening is not a baptism at all.
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Verses
Proverbs on loyalty, a covenant between David and Jonathan, three friends who sat with Job in silence for a week. Twelve passages about friendship, each with the situation behind it.
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Bible Study
One, two, three or none, depending on the church. Here is the usual rule in each tradition, who is eligible, what a Christian witness is, and what to do about the friends who are not on the certificate.
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Verses
Biblical hope is not optimism about the near future. It is confidence in an outcome you cannot see yet — which is why the strongest passages about it were written by people in ruins.
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Bible Study
What guests wear depends on the church, and an immersion baptism has rules a cathedral does not. Here is how to dress for each kind of service, what to bring, and how much a gift usually is.
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Bible Study
Fasting appears throughout the Bible with almost no instructions attached. Here is what the texts actually say, how Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant and Pentecostal practice differs, and who should not fast.
Grace Whitfield ·
Verses
The passages read at weddings are usually the gentle ones. Here are the marriage texts in full, including the demanding halves, and an honest note on where Christian traditions disagree.
Grace Whitfield ·