Even as a boy, Jesus used inquiry to prompt people’s thinking: ‘After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions’ (Luke 2:46). We turn to the Bible for answers, but it actually is also full of questions: ‘For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have?’ (Matthew 5:46); ‘What must I do to be saved?’ (Acts 16:30); ‘Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?’ (Romans 8:35).
Bible Gateway interviewed Brian J. Wright (@brianjwrightphd) about his book, Inspired Questions: A Year’s Journey Through the New Testament (Christian Focus, 2019).
You say that a substantial portion of the Bible is comprised of questions, and that asking questions was a primary teaching method of Jesus. Please explain.
Brian J. Wright: Questions are numerically significant in Scripture, even if often overlooked. The New Testament alone contains almost a thousand questions, and the Old Testament has several thousand more. To put this in perspective, you could explore a new question from Scripture every day for the next nine years or so and never see the exact same one.
Think about all the questions God asked Job. Remember how often Jesus asked and was asked questions. Recall all the questions Paul asked the recipients of his writings.
By Luke Lezon
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