what the Bible has to say

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

christianity.about.com/od/holida … loween.htm
Together we will explore what the Bible has to say about Halloween, providing food for thought as you decide for yourself on the issue.

I don’t understand the above sentence. Does it mean Together we will explore what the Bible MUST say about Halloween, …?

2

No, the “has” there is possessive and is not the “has” of “has to”.

It simply means “explore what the Bible says about…”

3
  1. What does the Bible say about X?
  2. What does the Bible have to say about X?

#2 distances the speaker from “what the Bible says”: it implies objectivity, on the speaker’s part.

Best wishes,

MrP

4

Your reading, of course.

5
  1. What does the Bible have to say about X?

Or to put it another way: it has an air of “wishing to assess what the Bible says”.

MrP

6

Are you saying that is characteristic of the “have to say” form?

7

I think it best to wait and see if Sitifan has any questions about the replies so far. An arcane discussion between two native speakers might confuse matters.

MrP

8

And if his reply to your posts was “OK, thanks”, what would be your reaction?