Why were the bodies of King Saul and his sons burned instead of buried in 1 Samuel 31:12?
I understand the Bible says that God requires a blood sacrifice (Hebrews 9:22). I have heard preachers say that if Jesus had not shed any blood, then his death would not have been a valid sacrifice. Why does God require a blood sacrifice? I know the life of the flesh is in the blood (you can not live without blood), but you can die without bleeding. What is the significance of the blood sacrifice?
What is the correlation/connection between water baptism and church membership? I see where Acts 2:41 references both baptism and adding to the church in the same context, but have not found where baptism is clearly required for church membership.
We (Christians) have consistently been told that all children who die before they reach an age where they can understand about personal salvation (an age of accountability to God) that they go to heaven. I have prayerfully searched the scripture, all references, for anything regarding children, infants, family, brother, sisters, mothers, fathers, salvation, etc. Nothing could I find to support the argument, even though it does refer to passages where the whole family was saved (I believe in two places) and Christ Himself says to His disciples not to stop children coming to Him. Though nowhere can I find these ideas where accountability and instant infant/child salvation have any relationships, though salvation tied to the family maybe classed as having some scriptural basis.
With so many religions and religious texts, how can we know the Bible is true, and that Christianity is the right way of living out the biblical text?
