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Apologies if I'm asking the wrong thing here, I'm not sure how to reach the moderators ... but I'm wondering if Hermeneutics Stack Exchange would provide a better service if it had a section designed for people of the protestant faith with a corresponding Statement of Faith by which members subscribed to? No offense intended, but I mention this because I find a number of Catholic members appear to ask questions which don't have answers in the Bible, some of which can't be answered at all (even with recourse to extra-biblical literature), which generates responses from Catholic members who quote other people's opinions, instead of sticking to Scripture and its context. It's a tad frustrating. If Catholic members wish to debate 'unanswerable questions' perhaps they could have a Section with a corresponding Statement of Faith for their beliefs too? Just a thought ...

Link As Requested by Caleb

https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/22156/luke-2344-there-was-a-darkness-over-all-the-earth/22161#22161

The question was asked by someone who is Catholic, I don't think his two questions have answers in the Bible (perhaps I'm wrong) The answer references an extra biblical book as opposed to Scripture.

Incidentally, I thought BH Meta was intended for discussions and for making requests about how the site's service could be improved ... so how come my question received 3 negative votes ... Aren't we allowed to make suggestions?

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    Can you edit your post to add links to some examples of this: «responses from Catholic members who quote other people's opinions, instead of sticking to Scripture and its context»? This site doesn't generally allow answers from anybody's opinions, Catholic or otherwise, if they stray too far from the text and its context. Are you sure you're not mixing up the Biblical Hermeneutics site with the Christianity site?
    – Caleb
    Apr 11, 2016 at 13:27
  • Consider the downvotes here as not reflective of the fact that you made a suggestion, but rather (a) that some are using the vote to disapprove of the idea or (b) that some see this question as showing a basic misunderstanding of BH.SE site distinctives (and so in some voter's views probably "lacked research" or was "not useful," both of which the downvote is intended to indicate for a question).
    – ScottS
    Apr 12, 2016 at 15:05
  • Upvote for a good question in meta, upvote for the answer that says no, we shouldn't have a separate section. I do wish there was more uniformity and clarity on up/down votes and what they mean. I tend to upvote good questions. I'll also upvote some good answers that I disagree with if they've made a solid case too.
    – Micah Gafford
    Apr 22, 2016 at 5:32

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Absolutely, and unequivocally NO!

'Catholic' questions, Protestant questions, Jewish questions, Mormon questions(concerning the bible) are MORE THAN WELCOME, providing that they are asking about the meanings of biblical texts, and not various church doctrines.

I have answered several 'Catholic' questions myself-here is an example. I believe the 'main issue' that you are perceiving is new members 'learning' how to use our site. This is NOT a religious site, therefore, we welcome questions from any perspective, providing it is about biblical texts. A new user may stumble on to us and 'assume' that we will answer any and all 'religious' questions. They sometimes become disillusioned at not having an answer for their 'issue', but we attempt to screen new users and steer them in the right direction, reminding them of our Site Directives.

Similarly, if a Protestant wants to discuss the 5 points of Calvinism(without a biblical reference) they also will be disillusioned.

We understand that most everyone that visits this site has a theological reference; their questions about the bible in most instances betray that reference. We welcome any and all 'references', providing they are asking about the meaning of a biblical text. This is what makes our site useful and applicable to any and all theological persuasions.

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  • Thanks for that Tau, I misunderstood the purpose of BH SE. I'll wait a few hours in the hope that you'll see this comment and then delete my inappropriate question.
    – Marisa
    Apr 12, 2016 at 9:22
  • @Marisa Go ahead and leave the question-if it gets too many DV's some enterprising young programmer will delete it. It's actually 'in it's essence' a good question for Meta; newcomers need to be aware that this site won't solve all their theological issues-and that's by design.
    – Tau
    Apr 12, 2016 at 11:28
  • I thought we lost reputations if we got down votes?
    – Marisa
    Apr 12, 2016 at 18:53
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    @Marisa On Meta, you do not lose reputation points for down votes. You did the right thing by asking here, and you won't be able to delete the question at this point because it's been answered. The down votes are meant to disagree with your suggestion, but having the question here is not inappropriate at all.
    – Susan
    Apr 12, 2016 at 19:34

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