Question: Every time I have a Bible question, I run into the problem of whom to ask. For questions about the Church, I go to the index of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and look up whatever I want to…

Question: What does the 3rd commandment really mean — to keep holy the Sabbath day? It seems we have reduced it down to attending Mass for 45 minutes a week on a Sunday. People work regularly, use Sunday as a…

Question: Were Adam and Eve the first cavemen? I don't get what happened with God and the whole prehistoric period. Also, where was the Garden of Eden? Why did they have to leave?

Discussion: Since your last question has specific biblical answers, let's…

Question: When King David said he wanted to build a temple, he was initially told it was a great idea by the prophet (Nathan), but after checking with God, the prophet told him no. He would not be the one…

Question: The Bible Talk article, "Getting Ready For Judgment Day," held that Jesus alone has the right and ability to judge on that great day. He alone has the last word on everyone and everything. Okay. Agreed. But, in the meantime, He…

Question: What does the Bible say about Judgment Day or the Day of Judgment? How does this affect us as Christians?

Discussion: You'll find an overview in II Peter 3, but all three chapters of that short book offer insights…

Question: I have asked this question to a retired priest I know, and he could not give me an answer. Maybe there is none. My question is: What can people do in purgatory that will help them get to heaven?…

Question: Our Bible study group at church studied Revelation, but I want to know more about the end times. How or where do I start?

Discussion: To learn what's yet to come, people often try to decipher the book of Revelation, which…

Question: Where in the Bible can I learn about the feast days the Israelites celebrated?

Discussion: The books of Exodus and Leviticus give the origins of the rites and reasons for Jewish feast days that began about fifteen centuries before Christ. Originally, the sacred days…

Question: Our group is doing a Bible study. Can you explain to us the verse in Hebrew 4:12? What does it mean by "the Word of God is a double-edge sword?"

Discussion: In The New Catholic Answer Bible, a footnote for the…

Question: In a comment posted below "Foremothers and the Twelve Tribes of Israel," someone asked why God ordained Judah to be the tribe through whom the Messiah would come. You mentioned a couple of other Bible Talk articles where you touched on this,…

Questions: The God in the Old Testament seems to be a God of wrath and destruction. In the New Testament, He is a God of forgiveness. I don't think God changed but that man evolved. Is there anything in the…

Question: Would you tell me more about the Twelve Tribes? Were there any "daughters of Israel," and who was the mother?

Discussion:  As previously mentioned, the tribes descended from the twelve sons of Jacob, whom God renamed "Israel." While each child…

Question: Are the Twelve Tribes of Israel the same as the twelve sons of Jacob? If so, why is Joseph not always mentioned? Did Jesus come from his tribe? If not, which one and why was it chosen?

Discussion: According to…

Question: Why do genealogies of Jesus differ so greatly between Matthew 1 and Luke 3? A guest lecturer at a local university, speaking about the religion of Islam, pointed out the "discrepancies" between the two Gospels as a reason not…

Question: I have a couple of questions concerning passages in the Bible: (1.) How do we reconcile Jesus' telling Mary Magdalene at the garden tomb not to touch Him as He has not yet ascended to the Father, but inviting…

Question: Who wrote each book of the Bible?

Discussion: Biblical scholars have many interesting and, sometimes, diverse opinions on the authorship of each book, but no one can be 100% sure which persons wrote them all. Occasionally a book carries the name…

Question: Are there specific Catholic beliefs in the books (Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, 1 and 2 Maccabees, the last six chapters of Esther and three passages of Daniel 3:24-90; 13; 14) that Protestant Bibles don't contain? Maybe that's why non-Catholics…

Question: After reading your article, "Catholic and Protestant Bibles: What is the Difference?" I called the above missing books the "apocrypha" and a Catholic priest was confused. I got the feeling that more than the above books are called the "apocrypha"…

Question: Do you have a favorite study Bible, or is there one you recommend?

Answer: Any study edition with "Imprimatur" on the copyright page or somewhere in the front matter of the book immediately assures you that a Roman Catholic Bishop or…

Question: I've noticed that some titles of the Bible call themselves a version, like the King James Version or the Revised Standard Version. Does this mean that Protestants have one version of the Bible and Catholics another? Also, I've heard that all…

Question: What's the difference between a Catholic Bible and a Protestant one? Is our Old Testament the same as a Jewish Bible? If not, why?

Discussion: The most noticeable differences occur in the number of books included and the order in which they…

Question: Can you help me decide which Bible to buy? Our daughter began going to a Bible study in another church, and ever since then, she's been teasing us about not having a Bible in our house. We have a large…

Question: Is it true that Catholics shouldn't read the Bible by themselves? Our priest seems to think we'll misunderstand if he's not there to comment. Will we? I attend Mass regularly, so I hear the Bible read every Sunday, but I…