Interpretative questions and analytical frameworks

Philippians 2:1-11

What measure can be used to know this encouragement, comfort, and fellowship, and what distinguishes between them?

Where is this meeting of the minds to occur (how can disagreements find common ground)?

Is taking pride in craftsmanship the same as vanity?

Due to the mandate to act for others in order to fulfill the word of the Bible, are we not self-serving in providing charity?

How much is truly expected of each individual in terms of approaching divinity?

Are we all capable of grasping equality with God as Christ was?

How can the servile "nothingness" of humanity be reconciled with divine grasping?

If appearance as a man is humbling, how is man to approach godliness?

How is the concept of God and Jesus here reconciled with the concept of the Trinity in Church doctrine?

Is this to be taken as a literal map of the cosmos, with Hell underneath the earth, or is it to be taken metaphorically to refer to those already dead and buried?

11: Should this be read as a mandate to convert non-Christians?

Romans 8:28-39

28: How is one to know God's purpose and the call thereto?

29: Is the "foreknowing" in this passage different from the call to God's purpose in the preceding passage?

30: Does this mean that worldly success is a sign of divine calling and justification?

31: Does the rhetorical nature of the question suggest a self-righteous certainty or a challenge?

32: Again, how is this passage reconciled with the concept of the Trinity, when God's sacrifice (of Jesus) would presumably be no real loss at all?

33: How are the people of this world to know whom God has chosen, especially when opposite claims are made?

34: How necessary is Jesus' intercession when God's justification is already present?

35: Is the love of Christ a prerequisite for justification, or an automatic consequence, or neither?

36: Does the meekness suggested here demand that a Christian be always peaceful?

37: What implications does this have for the establishment of Christian governmental regimes and missionary endeavors?

38: How would life go about to remove the love of Christ in the first place?

39: How is this unification of Jesus and God reconciled with earlier passages suggesting separation?

James 2:14-26

14: Doesn't God's justification come automatically without the need for deeds?

15: Who is to be considered a brother or a sister -- does any existing poverty make any personal luxury sinful?

16: Is caring for all poor a mandate incumbent upon all Christians, or is this merely illustrative?

17: What acts are required to fulfill or demonstrate faith?

18: Is the speaker tuning the argument around, or making further emphasis?

19: If the belief is solid, is it still no better than that of the demons?

20: Is there no wisdom or divinity in questioning the workings of faith, or must it all come from doctrine?