What do we ask of the Bible?

A list of questions helped as I was thinking about a passage in Hebrews a few days ago. The trigger was an invitation to preach for a friend. There are old friends among the questions, and several newcomers, some overlap between them, but as they are mostly worth considering on the way to speaking in a few weeks.

Ethiopia pops up from time to time because a member of the family ministers there, and I have found it valuable to think about such a different context to set alongside my own. It helps me to pray for Christians around the world.

When I asked ChatGPT the same twenty something questions the resulting responses were sixty two pages long. Oops. You could choose any question and see what happens. Prune hard, and let me know what questions are missing that need asking.

See what you make of the responses. In my experience some pieces make it clear that a question needs rewriting, other answers are fascinating and genuinely valuable as I think about responding to a particular passage. I have structured the prompts so you can use them for any passage.

A serious question: What is going on when we ask questions like these and receive answers of such uneven quality from this source? What can be trusted, and what must never be trusted? What can and must be tested and how can it be carefully tested?

See what you think.

I will develop this list from time to time. It has been helpful to think about the questions I already ask, with others that I have not usually asked, and I have found it interesting to use a brief conversation with one or more of the LLMs (Large Language Models) as a foil.

Twenty questions for the Bible

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