Ask your question of “The Answerer”

Kids ask their questions of Peter Harris

A Scripture Teacher in Perth government schools.

That's me to the right of this page - in my wheelie-chair maybe at your school.

Here is the most recent childs question asked of their Scripture Teacher Mr. Peter Harris.

Dear Reader: this is listed here so you can see it first on this website:

There are about 100 in blog format and available to search via the categories.

Also on the Answers Tab: they are in numerical order, or the ones we have loaded so far!!

Q 276. If God is everywhere, is He in hell?

Well, this is a most difficult question to answer but I’ll do my best.

For starters it is a bit like searching God’s mind and His methods-is it right to do that?

I really am not sure!

My Webster Universal Dictionary,1968 P.967 has three words and God is mentioned in all three: Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent. The Bible speaks of God in Revelation (a vision of a future heaven):”…the voice of a great multitude saying: ”Allelula: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.” (Rev.19:7 KJV) In the explanation of the words the dictionary says:

Omnipotent: The Almighty God.

Omniscient: Possessing infinite knowledge,all knowing, as God.

Omnipresent: Present in all places at the same time,as God.

Those are three big important words and most Christians believe that they apply to God. Nobody else can be omnipresent. They cause me to believe that God really is everywhere, or His angels are. Four times in my 82 years a voice has spoken a single sentence (like with headphones) to me about something God wanted me to know. One of them ‘Told me off’ - and I did not ask for any of them! I believe it was one of God’s angels – or “...ministering spirits…’ (Heb.1:14 ) that spoke the message to me. Angels and ‘ministering spirits’ are mentioned very often in Scripture. King David mentioned them often in the Psalms.

So we know for sure that God is omnipotent and our human, really quite small, understanding of God, stops us from knowing all about God. (If we knew everything it may be not good for us.) John begins The Gospel of John with these words: “He created everything, there is nothing exists that He didn’t make.” (John.1:3 TLB)

So God must have created hell – maybe as a prison or gaol.

Jesus mentioned it in the ‘Judgement Day’ scene saying: “…away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his demons.” (Matthew 25:41 TLB) So, I sort of assume that hell (eternal fire) is God’s creation, His property, and is there for the rebels. So God must have created hell - those who care nothing for God and deserve punishment. God gave us a choice - to do good or bad. People who choose to hurt or abuse: “...my little ones,” defenceless children, will get God’s worst punishment and I would not want to even look at them, ever! (Matthew 18:6) I believe that teenagers too come into the word ‘children’.

But, what if you love God, or have loved Him - but ‘Lapsed’ (stopped regular prayer and being in touch with a good church) as several people have told me they are. Do they get sent to the fire and brimstone place? I will not say “Yes” or “No.” Because that is ‘Judging others’ and that is NOT for me to do!

So -‘Is God in hell?’ I think not.

“Why?” The prophet Habakkuk writes of God: “Your eyes are too pure to look upon evil….”(Habakkuk 1:13a NIV). I am quite sure He knows all about it but He hates evil - and hell is full of evil so I guess God declines to go there and I would think that he uses his zillions of angels to keep Him informed about everything.

The Catholic Church believe that there is an ‘in between place’ called Purgatory. See http://www.catholic.com/ for more if you want to. Most Protestants do not agree with it. It is a place that is not heaven and not hell and maybe God is there - watching - or having angels “…bring Him reports on how people are going”.

Got extra questions?

There is an Email address on the website for you if you need to. (Or just click here.)

BUT - a really good thing you can do is to read the Scriptures (Bible) and get to know what it says. That is quite a big job. Maybe you could start with the Book of Mark in the new Testament. Then another short one, but a good one is James. Then get some good advise from the wisest person who has ever lived: King Solomon ~ by reading his book of Proverbs. Check these out at www.bible.org

Bible reference: Gen.1:1. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

Great question indeed and was asked by an 11 year old boy and I’m sorry, this cannot be a short answer. ‘Mother nature’ is not a woman – or a real mother. It is a euphemism! A dictionary says for euphemism: ‘a mild word or phrase used instead of an offensive or a frank one.’ For example, ‘To pass away’ is a euphemism for ‘to die’. Or maybe ‘Gone to God’.

Also, it can ‘cover up’ words that hurt with a better answer to a question. Someone inquiring as to the condition of a sick friend in hospital may be told: “Oh, he died”. A kinder way would be to use a euphemism like: “Oh, I am sorry he passed away last night.” The word ‘died’ is unpleasant so it is left out.

It is the same with much more and it can often apply to God. Maybe a child will ask: “How can a fat caterpillar make a chrysalis and come out later as a butterfly or moth?” A chrysalis is the ‘home’, a casket or ‘firm shell’ the caterpillar makes for itself when it is fully grown or mature and so it is a stage of having babies. The caterpillar is transformed, and comes out as a butterfly. ‘Yes-Wow!’

When the butterfly has matured and mated with a male it lays many eggs on plant leaves and they mature into tiny grubs and eat up lots of leaves so it grows fat and are then caterpillars. The cycle is now complete.

A child may also ask mum or dad: “How can this egg I am eating for breakfast become a chicken and later lay more eggs?” Mum or dad may say: “Oh Mother nature makes it happen.” They do not believe in God and therefore cannot fully explain to the child how it happens.

A Christian parent could say: “It is all planned by our loving, creative God so we can have both chickens and eggs to eat.” (Actually a chicken is a newly hatched bird from an egg) and a mature grown chicken is a hen or a rooster. It is sometimes called a ‘chook’ in Australia.

I believe it is a miracle of God’s creation in the way chickens grow, become fully grown hens or roosters (roosters are male) and lay lots of eggs. If a hen is allowed to, she can get ‘Clucky’ and get mated by a rooster and over a week or so will make a nest and ‘sit’ on a ‘Clutch’ of maybe 8-10 eggs until they come out as chickens. She looks after them until they mature and can be by themselves and lay eggs as a chook.

A third example could be applied to a tree. A child asks: “How can water get to the top of a very large tree?” Indeed ‘How?’ No electric pumps to help – some trees are over 100 metres high. Now ‘theanswerer’ had a look on the WWW and found that there is a scientific answer – well all trees do it so it must be true – but it was hard to truly understand and at 86 my hearing is not-so-good. The leaves ‘suck’ up water and by osmosis water travels from very wet parts to drier parts of the tree or bush. Sort of a miracle when you think about it.

BUT, I have actually got a half cup of water from a tree branch while ‘out in the bush/desert’ once. I had bought with me a plastic bag about a metre long and fifty cm. wide. One night, while camping and getting ready to sleep, I placed the bag over a lower branch of a tree and pulled it up to cover many leaves then tied the top around the branch with string. Next morning there was half a cup of water at the bottom of the bag – and good to drink too. Out in the bush, and the soil was quite dry!

I believe that ‘Mother nature’, is an intelligent being – God. He made them this way and it works to perfection, as does the miracle of photosynthesis (see www.photosynthesis for kids.com). This miracle happens when tree leaves take in carbon dioxide, give out oxygen and water and use all these to make food like apples oranges, wood, and much more too – all powered by the sun!! Did God plan all this? I say ‘Yes’ indeed. ‘Mother nature’ is good to us, and without photosynthesis we could be very short of oxygen!! The jungles of Brazil are said to be “The lungs of the world”. Thanks Brazil.

‘The Answerer’ picked up this question while watching a kids TV show that explained what doctors, hospitals and nurses do and explain it all to kids. I liked the show.

A boy about ten years old asked the doctor: “Where do our thoughts come from?” and something else that I have forgotten. This is a very intelligent (smart) question indeed and what it does not tell or explain is also important. The doctor replied: “You’ll have to ask a neurologist about that.” How can a boy understand what a neurologist is? Maybe a psychiatrist or psychologist because they deal with the mind and soul. Why, the term ‘neuro’ (nerves and such things) is strange already! (and I’ll bet the doctor did not know the answer-or had not even thought about it at all).

“Where do our thoughts come from?” has a twin (very similar) question: “How come that humans can say, and write down their thoughts and imaginings also?” Animals and birds cannot speak or write like humans can. So – we all have thoughts – but nobody knows what they are until you speak, or write them!! A woman in a university somewhere tried for many years to teach a chimpanzee how to speak and write. She failed. The chimp did a rough tiny bit of drawing but no more. Look up their work on the WWW. And scientists tell us that we have 99% the same DNA but fail to say that the human brain is 30% larger than the chimp’s.

Mr Zig Ziglar (see him on the WWW) said: “It takes 72 muscles working perfectly to speak just one word.” Phew! Wow. What a time for thinking!!!

Two lines of thinking

First: Birds and animals think upon only a few things: food, a safe refuge from enemies, looking after their babies and keeping enemies away. But they also have many other qualities to help them thrive that we do not know about.

Second: Humans think about much more. Humans think and write or design the future. Their houses (refuge), food (chocolate cake, apple pie, and ice cream), about tomorrow, a bridge across a river, a car to travel in, war to kill their enemies because they hate them, and much more, but also, they can love and care for others.

Why such a difference? OUR THOUGHTS!! Birds and animals do not have them. Why is this so? I believe that an intelligent and loving God designed man and women to be able to KNOW God and that means thinking – yes and singing and praying too. Even writing down words and music. Wonderful indeed!

Are other creatures ‘smart’? Yes sir. I recently heard a veterinary (animal) doctor speaking on the ABC radio in Perth. He just loved little creatures. “Goldfish DO NOT have five second memories!” he said. For some time, ‘educated’ humans have shown their ‘skills’ in measuring behaviour and concluded that a goldfish-swimming in a small glass bowl, in a house, do nothing but swim around and around…so have as five second memory! They were taken out of the natural river/stream or lake where they usually live. Of course with nowhere to hide, play or hunt for food so were lonely and lost. And they will swim toward their owner and food giver as soon as they see them. The Vet. told of many such stories –where tiny creatures are very smart indeed.

Speech is NOT done, or happens, without help and examples. At birth babies can only yell...sometimes very loudly. Mums, Dads and siblings (brothers and sisters) are the examples that a child follows. Then later on school to be fully taught how to write, read and learn a lot of things that home does not teach like medical doctors, nurses, dentists and maybe being a teacher.

Only humans have the ‘bits’ for speech: tongue, epiglottis, vocal chords, lips and much more that makes speech possible and speech comes from thoughts. Our own feelings...they come from our soul and our spirit and they become our thoughts – and somewhere – very close to our soul is our spirit...that is the God part of us. The Bible says that: “... God’s word is very sharp, dividing the soul and spirit.” Our spirit can never be killed or die.

When God made humans, He gave them the freedom to think and do good things or bad things.

Every day the ‘The News’ gives us stories of both good and bad thoughts and actions done by people...who are “...made in God’s image and likeness’. (Genesis 3:27 TLB)

This is a huge (very big subject) so I shall not make it any longe, but you think about it – do not simply forget it.