At a point in my life, I began to realize that although I had been in the church all of my life, there were still many things that I didn't understand.. 

Some of the questions I had were: 

• If all you need to do to go to heaven is believe in Christ, what if you've never heard of Christ?

• Will I still go to heaven even though I continue to sin?

• What do I need to do to be saved?

 
• Do I need to attend church to be saved?

• Do I need to give/perform some special offering/ritual to have my sins forgiven?

• If I can still sin and be saved why shouldn't I sin?

• Is everyone equal in heaven?

• Do you need to be baptized to be saved?

• If I forget to ask for forgiveness once does that mean all my sins aren't forgiven and I go to hell?

• Where did Cain's wife come from?  Did Cain marry his sister?

 
• When do people go to heaven or hell?  At death?  On judgment day?  

• When Jesus comes back?

 
• What are the spirit and the soul? What's the difference between them?

 
• Will the Antichrist come before Christ?  How will I know the difference?  Could I be here when the Antichrist comes?

 
• When will the world end?

 
• Do angels sin?

 
• Will people really burn in hell forever? 

 
• If Jesus died on Friday evening, and rose Sunday morning how is it that he was in the grave for 3 days like the bible prophesied? 

 
• Do you need to go to church to be saved?  If not, why am I going? 

 
• Where does it say that Adam and Eve ate an apple?

 
• If  God knows everything why didn't he know Adam would sin?  Why didn't he know the devil would turn out evil? 

 
• The bible says that God created man on the 6th day, then he rested on the 7th day and then created Adam.  Was Adam the first man?  What day was he created on?

 
• Why did God create Satan?  Why was Satan in the garden of Eden? 

• Was Satan created evil.  If not when did he become evil?  If he was once loved by God when did he perform that evil act that made him lose favor?

 
• Where do dinosaurs fit into all this?

 
• If it's a sin to drink alcohol why did Christ turn water into wine?

 
• How can God be Jesus and the Holy Spirit and still be Jesus' father?

• Did Easter really originate from a Pagan holiday?  Did Christmas?

• Why can't a rich man go to heaven?

• Does everyone die?

• Is it a sin to eat pork?

I began reading the bible for myself.  At some point, some of the reading became difficult.  I prayed for God to give me understanding, and after that everything started to become clear to me.  For every question I had, I was guided to a source for the answer.

I realized that I had viewed the bible as a book of quotes.  I knew scriptures here and there, could recite all the books in order, and could find any verse within 7 seconds, but didn't really have an understanding of the books as a complete piece of work.  I also came to realize that knowing a few verses without understanding their context had mislead me.  I realized that some of the things I believed to be bible truths weren't even in the bible. 

As I read, I began writing down the verses that I found interesting or that related to my questions.  Eventually, I had dozens of verses and began grouping them together into topics.  Next, I began trying to find every verse in the bible that directly related to each of my topics.  As I talked to various people (Christians and non Christians) about religion, some topics related to my studies arose.  I began to give the collection of verses to the people.  Some of these people commented that the bible verses weren't clear to them, so  I started adding explanations and summaries to the studies. 

One day I decided that it might be a good idea to put these studies on the web.  As I complete them I will add them here.  There are also some secondary topics which aren't listed on the main page, but can be reached from within a related major topic. 

I list as many related bible verses as I can find in the hopes that you will read them and form your own opinion.  I also include some references to other authors.  I don't always agree with the reference. 

If nothing else, hopefully this site will encourage you to read the bible for yourself.

All Praise be to God,

  --Mike