what the Bible has to say

[Sitifan]

http://christianity.about.com/od/holidaytips/i/biblehalloween.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, ...?
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Thank you very much for your reply.

[Molly]

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

It simply means "explore what the Bible says about..."

[MrPedantic]

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

[Molly]

[MrPedantic]

2. 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

[Molly]

[MrPedantic]

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

[Molly]