The God Questions

One of the foundational Christian beliefs is that God has spoken. That Christians agree on this proposition is quite significant when you consider that Christians seem to disagree on more beliefs than they agree. The extent of this disagreement is evidenced by the fact that there are over 38,000 different Christian denominations in the world. The reason why there are so many Christian denominations is that no one Christian denomination agrees wholeheartedly with any other Christian denomination on all major doctrinal issues, and, throughout Christian history, the disagreements have grown so fierce that some groups of Christians have found it untenable to worship and fellowship on a long-term basis with other groups of Christians with whom they disagree. Among the few areas of agreement among all Christians is the belief that God has spoken.
The theological term Christian theologians use for God’s speech is revelation or the doctrine of revelation. Revelation is the belief that God has revealed himself to us. God has revealed himself in general ways and in specific ways. In general ways, God has spoken through nature, conscience, reason, and history. The term for this type of revelation is general revelation. When Psalm 19 says “The heavens declare the glory of God and the earth shows forth his handiwork (Psalm 19:1),” the psalmist is speaking about general revelation.
The second type of revelation is special revelation, which means that God has revealed himself in specific ways, notably, the Bible and Jesus Christ, the written Word and the living Word. The writer of the New Testament book of Hebrews says, “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things…(Hebrews 1:1).” In this verse, the writer gives the two examples of special revelation: the Bible (the prophets) and Jesus. So, whether through general or special revelation, Christians believe that God has spoken.
Most of the time when God is quoted in the Bible, God either makes statements or issues commands. Examples of these are, “Hear O Israel, the Lord our Lord, is One,” or “Honor the Sabbath day to keep it holy,” or “When you do good deeds, do not let your right hand know what your left hand is doing.” In English translations of the scriptures, these statements usually end with either a period or an exclamation point.
But many times in scripture, rather than making statements, God asks questions. And when God asks someone a question, that question is usually one provoking serious thought.
The fact that God asked questions strikes us both surprising and not so surprising. It is surprising because, normally, people ask questions because there is information they want to know, but do not yet have. But to think of God not knowing something goes against what most people believe about God. Most people believe that God is omniscient, or all-knowing. Therefore, for instance, to hear God asking, “Whom shall I send and who will go for us?” (Isaiah 6:8) seems illogical considering that, if God truly is omniscient, then He already knows whom He will send and who will go for Him. So, why ask the question?

(From Chapter One)
If only my ancestors had known Dan Curtis. Dan Curtis is a professional family historian and a life coach. He lives in British Columbia. He helps people write their life stories so that they will be remembered by their descendants for years to come.
I have been researching the genealogy of my own family, tracing parts of my family tree all the way back to Europe. But on my dad’s side, I have run into what genealogists call a block wall. I traced my family tree on my dad’s side through my dad, Jerry, and his dad, Ezra, and his dad, Frank, and Frank’s dad, William, and William’s dad, Robert. But beyond Robert, I cannot find any information. How I wish that my ancestors had recorded their history so that much later, descendants like me could know more about our family tree. To people who are interested in writing their life stories, Dan Curtis recommends some essential questions that we need to ask. These are questions that, Curtis says, go to the heart of a person’s character and beliefs.

1. What do you know about yourself?
2. What are you good at?
3. Why are we put on earth?
4. What brings you happiness?
5. What makes you sad?
6. How would you define success?
7. What has mattered most to you in life?
8. What do you believe happens after you die?
9. What are the rules that you try to live by?
10. How are you loved?
11. What is the most important life lesson you have learned?
12. Where are you going with your life?
13. What regrets do you have?
14. What would you like to change about yourself?
15. What would you like your epitaph to say?

Perhaps one of the most important questions anyone can ask himself or herself is the question God asked Adam and Eve in Genesis chapter 3. Where are you? These are the first words spoken by God after Adam’s fall. But what exactly does this question mean? When God asked Adam, Where are you?, what did God mean?

A Geographical Question?
On the surface, God’s question to Adam appears to be a geographical question. Usually, when people ask you where you are, they do not know where you are, therefore, they are asking you for the purpose of finding you. In such a case, the question is a geographical question much like “Where do you live?” is a geographical or locational question.