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TLDR; Yes, standards have changed.

More specifically, I see two distinct things that have changed:

1. Biblical Hermeneutics launched as a sister site. Many of the "What does verse X mean?" questions are now better suited for this site, which delves into the textual context, translation nuänces, etc, of scripture. They strictly do not address interpretation questions.

Of course, now days, interpretation questions are permitted here, so long as the denominational scope is provided. We didn't always have this rule, which leads to...

2. After some initial growing pains, we more or less settled on a list of criteria which makes for an acceptable question. The help center provides a good overview of this list, but this list didn't always exist as it does today.

For instance, as pointed out in comments, "Is X a sin?" was permitted initially. Now it clearly is not.

We also accepted a lot of "truth questions" in the past (questions which ask for the absolute truth of something--"Was Mary perpetually a virgin?" or "Is Jesus Michael the Archangel?"), which are now expressly off-topic, as they are essentially asking for voting wars between denominations.

I have recently discovered that we still have a very large number of old questions open, which no longer fit the guidelines. Many of those you cited probably fit this category. Slowly, these questions will get closed, and/or updated to fall within current guidelines. As you find them, you are encouraged to vote and/or comment to request the OP edit the question to fit within guidelines.

TLDR; Yes, standards have changed.

More specifically, I see two distinct things that have changed:

1. Biblical Hermeneutics launched as a sister site. Many of the "What does verse X mean?" questions are now better suited for this site, which delves into the textual context, translation nuänces, etc, of scripture. They strictly do not address interpretation questions.

Of course, now days, interpretation questions are permitted here, so long as the denominational scope is provided. We didn't always have this rule, which leads to...

2. After some initial growing pains, we more or less settled on a list of criteria which makes for an acceptable question. The help center provides a good overview of this list, but this list didn't always exist as it does today.

For instance, as pointed out in comments, "Is X a sin?" was permitted initially. Now it clearly is not.

We also accepted a lot of "truth questions" in the past (questions which ask for the absolute truth of something--"Was Mary perpetually a virgin?" or "Is Jesus Michael the Archangel?"), which are now expressly off-topic, as they are essentially asking for voting wars between denominations.

I have recently discovered that we still have a very large number of old questions open, which no longer fit the guidelines. Many of those you cited probably fit this category. Slowly, these questions will get closed, and/or updated to fall within current guidelines. As you find them, you are encouraged to vote and/or comment to request the OP edit the question to fit within guidelines.

TLDR; Yes, standards have changed.

More specifically, I see two distinct things that have changed:

1. Biblical Hermeneutics launched as a sister site. Many of the "What does verse X mean?" questions are now better suited for this site, which delves into the textual context, translation nuänces, etc, of scripture. They strictly do not address interpretation questions.

Of course, now days, interpretation questions are permitted here, so long as the denominational scope is provided. We didn't always have this rule, which leads to...

2. After some initial growing pains, we more or less settled on a list of criteria which makes for an acceptable question. The help center provides a good overview of this list, but this list didn't always exist as it does today.

For instance, as pointed out in comments, "Is X a sin?" was permitted initially. Now it clearly is not.

We also accepted a lot of "truth questions" in the past (questions which ask for the absolute truth of something--"Was Mary perpetually a virgin?" or "Is Jesus Michael the Archangel?"), which are now expressly off-topic, as they are essentially asking for voting wars between denominations.

I have recently discovered that we still have a very large number of old questions open, which no longer fit the guidelines. Many of those you cited probably fit this category. Slowly, these questions will get closed, and/or updated to fall within current guidelines. As you find them, you are encouraged to vote and/or comment to request the OP edit the question to fit within guidelines.

TLDR; Yes, standards have changed.

More specifically, I see two distinct things that have changed:

1. Biblical Hermeneutics launched as a sister site. Many of the "What does verse X mean?" questions are now better suited for this site, which delves into the textual context, translation nuänces, etc, of scripture. They strictly do not address interpretation questions.

Of course, now days, interpretation questions are permitted here, so long as the denominational scope is provided. We didn't always have this rule, which leads to...

2. After some initial growing pains, we more or less settled on a list of criteria which makes for an acceptable question. The help center provides a good overview of this list, but this list didn't always exist as it does today.

For instance, as pointed out in comments, "Is X a sin?" was permitted initially. Now it clearly is not.

We also accepted a lot of "truth questions" in the past (questions which ask for the absolute truth of something--"Was Mary perpetually a virgin?" or "Is Jesus Michael the Archangel?"), which are now expressly off-topic, as they are essentially asking for voting wars between denominations.

I have recently discovered that we still have a very large number of old questions open, which no longer fit the guidelines. Many of those you cited probably fit this category. Slowly, these questions will get closed, and/or updated to fall within current guidelines. As you find them, you are encouraged to vote and/or comment to request the OP edit the question to fit within guidelines.