July 13, 2024 • 28 mins
On today’s Bible Answer Man broadcast, Hank answers the following questions:
If God is so perfect, why is His self-revelation and Word so misunderstood? Jason - Miami, FL (1:05)
John 6:66 talks about walking away from the Lord. Is it intentional that this Scripture reference contains the number of the mark of the beast? Don - St. Louis, MO (5:34)
When were chapter and verse designations added to the Bible? Don - St. Louis, MO (8:37)
Is it okay to use science to answer questions raised by atheists? Alex - St. Louis, MO (9:17)
My friend’s wife died, and he is blaming God for it. How can I help him deal with this situation? Allan - Brentwood, TN (15:14)
Why do Christians oppose polygamy when there are many examples of it in the Bible? Jeff - St. Louis, MO (20:02)
What is meant by the statement that if we persevere, we will receive the crown of life? Debra - Olive Branch, MS (23:00)
If God is so perfect, why is His self-revelation and Word so misunderstood? Jason - Miami, FL (1:05)
John 6:66 talks about walking away from the Lord. Is it intentional that this Scripture reference contains the number of the mark of the beast? Don - St. Louis, MO (5:34)
When were chapter and verse designations added to the Bible? Don - St. Louis, MO (8:37)
Is it okay to use science to answer questions raised by atheists? Alex - St. Louis, MO (9:17)
My friend’s wife died, and he is blaming God for it. How can I help him deal with this situation? Allan - Brentwood, TN (15:14)
Why do Christians oppose polygamy when there are many examples of it in the Bible? Jeff - St. Louis, MO (20:02)
What is meant by the statement that if we persevere, we will receive the crown of life? Debra - Olive Branch, MS (23:00)
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:07):
Welcome to the best of the Bibleanswer Man broadcast with Christian Research Institute President
Hank Hanigraph. Our mission at CRIIis not only to equip you with sound
biblical teaching and spiritual discernment, butto help you become a winsome and fruitful
witness of Jesus Christ. Because thecredibility of our faith hinges on the answers
(00:29):
we provide to life's biggest questions.There's often not a second chance to get
those answers right, to learn more, or to find resources to help you
grow in grace. Call eight eighteight seven thousand CRII. That's eight eight
eight seven thousand two seven four,or go to our website at equip dot
(00:49):
org. That's equip dot org.The following program was prerecorded and now here's
Hank Hanagraph. Thank Trendy. Asalways, it is great to be in
studio. Right to our phone calls. First up to day Jason in Miami,
Florida listening on the web. HiJason, Hi, Hank, Thanks
(01:11):
so much for taking my call,and before my question, I just got
to say thank you so much toyou and the ministry for so many important
things. I just want to askthe audience please support this ministry. These
guys are awesome. So thank you, Jason, and thanks to God for
most importantly for letting you guys dowhat you do. Well, thank you.
That was very kind of you.Well, my question, Ank is
(01:34):
talk to a couple of skeptics andthey'll bring up the objection that, oh,
if God is so perfect, whythe people misinterpret his word or events
that they see, or his commandments. And my response has been that it's
impossible for us to have free willif he were to give us an impossible
(01:55):
to refuse interpretation. Does that makesense and is that a wrong response?
Well, I think there's a germof truth there, Jason, in that
God made us as human beings,and as human beings we do not have
the capacity to bear the burden ofomniscience. We are always going to learn
(02:17):
and grow and develop, and thatis not only true in this life,
but that is true in the lifeto come. But even if we had
complete knowledge or requisite knowledge, wecould still turn on God. And Satan
(02:39):
is the perfect example of that.God did not create us in such a
way that we did not have volition, although we could have. Again,
he created us with volition because withoutwill or volition, love is rendered meaningless,
and He created us forward life lovingrelationship with him. In fact,
(03:02):
that is the only way we findour true peace. Now there is enough
of God revealed to us, notonly in general revelation, but in special
revelation that we know we can trusthim. We have enough to understand his
goodness, and we should be sufficientlysupplied with that. When Job wanted to
(03:28):
know more than that, God toldJob, look, you can't even understand
how I create a tiny drop ofdew. How are you going to understand
what is happening in the heavenlyes.Trust me. He's given enough knowledge to
us so that we can trust himeven when we do not always have the
answer to the reason why. Sowhat would you say then if someone were
(03:52):
to accuse that of just being acop out my specific example that I had
in mind when I brought up thisquestion, would be so much different.
Theological interpretation over perhaps even the meaningof one scripture. And that's I think
that's where the skeptics I talk toare coming from, too, And so
they would say, well, Ihave this belief in God, but it
(04:14):
seems that his people are even misunderstandinghis words and then if we were to
say, you know, we're juststill learning. Perhaps we don't have all
the information yet, they might sayI don't accept that answer. That seems
like a cop back. Yeah,well, I mean, you're absolutely right
in suggesting that we can fully understandthe main and the plain things. I've
said on the Biblanceman broadcast. Themain in the plain things of scripture are
so apparent that a child can understandthem. But the profundity of Scripture is
(04:40):
so deep that even a theologian candrown in it. And the reason I
put it that way is that Godis in fact a God who is transcendent,
a God who is beyond comprehension,a God that we will spend an
eternity seeking to fully know. Ifwe could reduce God to the status of
(05:04):
fully being able to comprehend him,he wouldn't be God. God is far
beyond our ability to fully comprehend.And again, it will take an eternity
for us to begin to grasp thefull complexities that are encapsulated and the one
who saved us by his grace.All right, Well, I'd love to
spend hours with you, Hank,talking, but I want to keep the
(05:27):
phone lines open. So thanks somuch, Thanks for so much EXPERI answers
and God bless you. You gotit. Jason, thank you so much
for your call back to the phonelines. We'll talk next to Don.
He's listening in Saint Louis, Missouri. Hey Don, Hey Hank, how
are you doing. I'm well,thank you. I want to thank you
for your program, your ministry.I truly do enjoy listening. Like the
last caller, I think it wouldbe incredible to sit and just talk with
(05:50):
you for hours just because of yourknowledge. But the question today is John
six sixty six. It just jumpedout at me that it talks about turning
your back on and walking away fromthe Lord, and it seemed like it
(06:11):
was really a coincidence maybe that itwas six sixty six, chapter six,
verse sixty six, and I waswondering if it was intentionally put in that
location. I'm not sure when theverse in chapters were numbered. I don't
think there's any other chapter in theBible that had sixty six verses. So
(06:32):
I was just wondering if that's,you know, a real strong indication of
what the mark of the Beast isis basically turning your back on the Lord
and walking away and choosing your ownwill. Well, a couple of things
very interesting that you have discerned this. First of all, the chapter has
seventy verses, but beyond that,the mark of the Beast given in the
(06:54):
Book of Revelation is not sixty sixsix or chapter six and verse sixty six.
It is six hundred sixty and six. So it's not just three consecutives
six, although there's a meaning imbuedin that as well. So I don't
think that this is somehow or rathersomething to do with the mark of the
(07:15):
beast intentionally given by its address.Although I do think that what you've drawn
out of the passage is defensible,and I'll talk about that in a minute.
I think what's really important is youalso noted that the verse designations were
not in the original text. Thatis something that has been added later.
So again, I don't think therewas an intent in six sixty six.
(07:39):
It is coincidental maybe in some senses, though serendipitous in the sense that you
are right in saying that from thistime many of his disciples turned back and
no longer followed him. Well,the mark of the beast is always contrasted
biblically with the mark of the lamb. The mark of the Lamb is the
(08:05):
mark on all those who know andlove Jesus Christ. The mark of the
beast vicariously is those whose worldview andwhat they do demonstrate that they have no
love for God at all. SoI think there is a reality that you've
drawn from the text that does makethe distinction between the mark of Christ,
(08:28):
which we find in Revelation chapter fourteen, and the mark of the Beast,
which we find in Revelation chapter thirteen. Well, can you tell me when
did they designate the well, let'sjust call them addresses, I guess as
the best terminology. When did theyplace the chapter in verses on the scriptures?
(08:52):
The division into chapters as we havethem today was actually based on the
work of archbishops Steve Langton in theearly thirteenth century, and then there were
further division in terms of verses aswe have them today, and that follows
the work of Steffanis in the midsixteenth century. God bless him. Thank
(09:13):
you for your answer. Thank youso much. Don back to the phone
lines. We'll talk next to AlexSaint Louis, Missouri. Hi. Alex,
Well Hi. So my question wasI'm actually a very new listener to
this. It was my question,is my brother he likes to use like
the science stuff to try to helplike aseistic people come to God. And
(09:41):
I think that's okay because it showslike how science in the Bible is sort
of like the same thing, almostlike it is. You know, well,
the Bible is not a book ofscience, but there's nothing in the
Bible that would contradict science, andit is actually out of a biblical worldview.
That's i answer rose in Christian universitiesto begin with. So science is
(10:03):
something that could not have arisen inthe Greek Epic of time, for example,
because the Greeks believed in a universeministered by moody gods. Those gods
were capricious, and therefore you couldnot learn to think their thoughts after them.
However, Christians recognized that God hadan impromater that he put on his
(10:26):
created hindiwork, and therefore we couldlearn to think the thoughts of God after
him. I've written about this insome detail in the conclusion of my book
Has God Spoken. W'd be rightback in just a few moments with more
answers to your questions right here onthe Bible answer ben Broadcast, So please
stay tuned for that and the resourcesthat I talk about on the show.
(10:48):
You can find in the world wideweb had equipped dot or be right back.
Have you heard about the new CompleteBible answer Book Collector's Edition. When
this beautiful leather bound resource, HankCantigraph has taken on air answers to more
than two hundred questions and chisel themdown until only the gem emerges. Questions
(11:11):
involving the Bible, religion, cults, science, the afterlife, and much
more. Discover answers to your questionsand the Complete Bible answer Book Collector's Edition
Revised and Expanded in twenty twenty four. To receive your copy of the Complete
Bible answer Book Collector's Edition Revised andExpanded, call eight eight eight seven thousand
(11:35):
CRII and make a gift to supportthe Christian Research Institute's Mind shaping life changing
outreaches eight eight eight seven thousand CRIIor visit us at equip dot org.
We'll be back in just a momentwith more from Hank Cantigraph. Has God
(12:05):
Spoken? Are the words of Scripturemerely human in origin? Or are they
in fact the very words of Godhimself. Three years in the making and
based on two decades of research andreflection, Hank Henagraph's monumental book Has God
Spoken answers what is surely the mostimportant question facing our world. In Has
(12:28):
God Spoken, memorable proofs of theBible's Divine inspiration, Hank counters the contentions
of the Bible attackers and clearly showsthat belief in the Holy Scriptures is not
a guess or wishful thinking. Itis the only logical conclusion after an honest
examination of overwhelming evidence. Order HasGod Spoken from the Christian Research Institute by
(12:50):
calling eighty eight seven thousand CRII orgo online to equip dot org. Equip
dot Org. Bertrand Russell famously said, most people would rather die than think,
and many of them do not sowith CRI Support Team members. Support
(13:11):
Team members are not only serious thinkers, but their membership and CRI's Support Team
helps to equip hundreds of thousands offellow believers around the globe each and every
month. Are you not a member, then you're missing out. Not only
do Support Team members form the backboneof Christian Research Institute's outreaches, but they
enjoy their selection of resources from ourEquipping Essentials library to discover how you can
(13:39):
make a difference twenty four to sevenand equipping believers at home and abroad to
stand for life and truth. Checkout the benefits of membership at equip dot
org. Once again, that's equipdot org. The Complete Bible answer Book
(14:01):
Collector's Edition is the comprehensive collection ofthe most often asked questions Hank Hannigraph has
received throughout his four decades as hostof The Bible answer Man broadcast. With
more than half a million copies alreadyin print, this newly revised and expanded
Collector's Edition helped seekers and skeptics alikesort through the truth on topics such as
(14:24):
reliability of the Bible, religions andcults, the resurrection and afterlife, and
many more issues vital to a betterunderstanding of God in Christ and our relationship
to Him. To receive your copyof The Complete Bible answer Book Collector's Edition,
Revised and Expanded, call eight eighteight seven thousand CRII and make a
(14:46):
gift to support the Christian Research Institute'slife changing outreaches eight eight eight seven thousand
CRII or visit us at equip dotorg. Now back to the Bible answer
(15:07):
Man broadcast and your host and canagraph. Thanks. I'm with Trendia. Right
back to our phone callers. Nextup is Allan in Brentwood, Tennessee.
Hi Allen, Hi HENK, howyou doing good? Thank you. I
have a friend that I met aftermany years of not communicating with him,
(15:28):
who told me, after his wife'sthree year about with cancer and the lack
of answered prayer on her behalf,that he basically cursed God and is now
living apart from his historical traditional relationship. He says he has been a believer
(15:52):
since he was twelve and he wasbaptized, And I wondered, what can
I do? What should I lookto do to try to help him through
this and to get back on track? Yeah, I mean, I think
the operative word in your question isif if your friend was genuinely a believer.
(16:14):
There are a lot of people thathave made professions but do not possess
a relationship with the living God,and therefore, when difficulty strikes, the
very first thing that goes is thatintimacy with God because it was never there
in reality, it was only therein pretense, and that may very well
(16:36):
be the case. But what youneed to do is demonstrate to your friend
that God created the universe in sucha way that there was a potential for
evil. And while God did notcreate the evil, he did allow for
its possibility by granting human beings freedomof choice. Human beings actualized evil in
(17:02):
the universe as a result of theirchoices. And yet out of this God
is going to bring about the bestof all possible worlds, a world in
which we will forever be able notto sin, a world that no longer
groans and travail, a world inwhich there'll be no more death, mourning,
(17:23):
crying, or pain. And thatis what we look forward to as
Christians. So Christianity never pretends togive us a peaceful way to come to
terms with the difficulties of life,including losing your wife to cancer or some
other dread disease. But what itdoes give us is something far greater,
a way to look beyond the painin the temporary world, to a world
(17:49):
in which there will no longer bepain, where destruction, death, decay,
and disease is forever eradicated. That'scalled having an eternal perspective, and
that is not a vain dream.It is a reality rooted in resurrection.
Christ rose, and that is theearnest of our resurrection. So for your
(18:11):
friend, for his wife, foryou, for me, we all have
a certain destiny, and that iswe will be raised from the dead.
That's what Jesus Christ said. Hesaid, do not be amazed at this.
A time is coming when all whoin the grays will come out.
Some will rise to live, andsome will rise to be condemned. So
(18:32):
we look forward to a time inwhich destruction and disease are no longer part
of the planet. But in themeantime, we know that God has a
reason for everything, and that allthings work together for good to those who
love Him and are called according toHis purposes, which is to say that
(18:52):
even Job who suffered more in asingle day than most of us suffer in
a lifetime. In the end,he accosted by the reality that he does
not understand what's going on in theheavenlies, but that God has shown him
enough of his nature where he isable to trust him. And therefore he
(19:15):
could say, in the end,though he slay me, yet will I
trust in him? So Christianity isn'tequipped to answer the why question, it
is equipped to teach us to trustGod in the midst of our wives.
Great, thank you so very much. I appreciate all that you do.
Well. Elan, thank you,and may God be with you. This
(19:37):
is a tremendous opportunity to bring solaceand peace and perhaps a life transformation.
So may He bless you. Andmay the spirit of the Living God within
you lead and guide your words asyou speak with your friend. And thank
you for caring. Thank you somuch for your prayer. Thank you,
(19:57):
I appreciate it. You got it, Helen, Thank you so much for
calling. And back to the phonelines. We'll talk to Jeff next.
He's listening in Saint Louis, Missouri. Hi, Jeff, Hey, how
you doing tonight. I'm doing well. Thank you. Hey, listen,
you and I have talked before,and you know that I'm of LDS faith.
I guess what I don't understand isa lot of people have that in
(20:18):
misconception. You know, Mormons believein polygamy. We practice polygamy, but
you know that's not true. Butthen again, there were prophets in the
Bible that they believe in you know, they had more than one wife.
So I guess I don't understand whyit's okay in one sense but not in
another, you know what I mean. Yeah, But there's a difference between
that which is descriptive and that whichis prescriptive, which is to say,
(20:40):
polygamy is never sanctioned in the Bible. You can go to passages like Deuteronomy
seventeen seventeen, which always sticks inmy mind because of the address seventeen seventeen.
But there you have an admonition forthe kings you must not multiply wives.
And if that is true for thekings, how much more for their
subjects. Furthermore, we see inFirst Kings, Chapter eleven that Solomon had
(21:07):
seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines. Now, when you think about that,
you immediately think about the consequences whichthe Bible also communicates, which is
that as many wives and concubines turnshis eyes from the true God of Israel.
And as a result of that,the most horrendous of all consequences,
(21:29):
the nation itself, that was calledto be a light to the nations,
was torn in two and ultimately bothended up in exile. Not only that,
but if you look at the prescriptivepassages in the Bible, it's very
very clear. It's explicitly stated thatpolygamy is not the ordained practice that God
(21:55):
has set forth, but rather oneman for one woman. Jesus makes it
clear that a man leaves his fatherand his mother and is united to his
wife, not wives, and thetwo, not three or more, become
one flesh. And you know,Paul makes the same point. He says
that each man should have his ownwife, not wives, and each woman
(22:18):
her own husband, not husbands.A wife must not separate from her husband,
not husbands, and if she does, she must remain unmarried or else
reconcile to her husband. And ahusband must not divorce his wife again,
not wives. So the admonition inscripture is pretty plain. Again, you
have to make a distinction between thatwhich is descriptive and that which is prescriptive.
(22:45):
Right, Yeah, I've heard yousay a lot of times before.
You know, when you read theBible, you get to be very careful
on taking enough context, and Iyou know, I totally agree with you
on that. Hey, I appreciateyou taking my call, and it's nice
to talk to you. Hey,nice to talk to you as well.
Back to the fall lines. We'lltalk to Deborah next. She's listening in
Alive Branch, Mississippi. Hi Deborah, Hi Hank. How are you doing
(23:07):
good? Thank you? I listento you all the time on the way
home from work, and thank youvery much because I learned a lot from
you. Well, bless you,Deborah. My question is if we have
to persevere, you know, towin the crown of life? Okay,
I don't really understand that, andthe fact that if we're ever Christ that
(23:32):
there's nothing that can you know,that can make us lose our salvation.
So what do you mean by ifwe persevere we'll win the crown of life?
Yeah? I think this is agreat question to ask because there are
so many who fixate only on theirsalvation and fail to recognize that we're saved
(23:52):
for a reason. And while we'resaved by God's grace through faith on account
of Jesus Christ, we most certainlywork from our salvation. And when we
work from our salvation, then wereceive crowns. And for christ the crowns
are symbolic of royalty, but forChristians they're symbolic of our eternal reward.
(24:17):
They're not perishable crowns like the reevesthat are awarded to those who win a
mere athletic event on earth. Butthey're imperishable crowns that will reflect the glory
of God throughout eternity. And thisis what Paul is talking about when he's
talking to Timothy to train himself forrighteousness in the same way that a runner
trains for a race. And thatportrayal, of course, conjures up images
(24:41):
of a fatigued relay racer who's preparingto pass a baton. And so Paul
is telling Timothy to not only start, but to finish the race. And
then he says, I, myselfhave fought the good fight. I have
finished the race. I've kept thefaith. Now there is in store for
me that crown of righteousness, whichthe Lord, the Righteous Judge will award
(25:03):
to me on that day, andnot only to me, but also to
all who have longed for his appearance. So the enduring rewards of perseverance are
a crown of righteousness, a crownof glory, a crown of life.
But there's more that Jesus actually explicitlypoints to degrees of reward that will be
given for faithful service, for selfsacrifice, for suffering, and those enduring
(25:27):
rewards are something that we had topreach about in contemporary servants, because then
we recognize the truth that what wedo on earth counts for all eternity.
Okay ah, I thank you,You're welcome. I've written about this in
a chapter titled Rewards, which isin my book Resurrection, And of course
(25:47):
Jesus in the Sermon on the Mountsays be careful not to do your acts
of righteous before men to be seenby them, for if you do,
you already have your reward, andyou receive no reward from your father who
is in heaven. Thanks for tuninginto this edition of the Bible inch Man
Broadcast. We'll see you next timewith more of the show. Thanks for
joining us for the Bible answer ManBroadcast with Hank Hannagraph. Our daily commitment
(26:11):
here at CRI is to defend thefaith once for all, delivered to the
saints, and equip believers to becometrue disciples of Jesus Christ. If you'd
like to order resources or listen tothe broadcast online, visit our website at
equip dot org. That's equip dotorg or call a resource consultant at eight
(26:33):
eight eight seven thousand, two sevenfour. Of course, you can write
to CURI at Post Office Box eightyfive hundred, Charlotte, North Carolina,
zip code two eight two seven one. The Bible answer Man Broadcast is supported
by listeners like you. We're onthe air because life and truth matter.
(27:04):
Has God Spoken? Are the wordsof Scripture merely human in origin? Or
are they, in fact the verywords of God himself? Three years in
the making and based on two decadesof research and reflection, Hank Henagraph's monumental
book Has God Spoken answers what issurely the most important question facing our world.
(27:26):
In Has God Spoken? Memorable Proofsof the Bible's Divine inspiration, Hank
counters the contentions of the Bible attackersand clearly shows that belief in the Holy
Scriptures is not a guess or wishfulthinking. It is the only logical conclusion
after an honest examination of overwhelming evidence. Ordered Has God Spoken from the Christian
(27:48):
Research Institute by calling eighty eight seventhousand CRII, or go online to equip
dot org. Equip dot Org
Welcome to the best of the Bibleanswer Man broadcast with Christian Research Institute President
Hank Hanigraph. Our mission at CRIIis not only to equip you with sound
biblical teaching and spiritual discernment, butto help you become a winsome and fruitful
witness of Jesus Christ. Because thecredibility of our faith hinges on the answers
(00:29):
we provide to life's biggest questions.There's often not a second chance to get
those answers right, to learn more, or to find resources to help you
grow in grace. Call eight eighteight seven thousand CRII. That's eight eight
eight seven thousand two seven four,or go to our website at equip dot
(00:49):
org. That's equip dot org.The following program was prerecorded and now here's
Hank Hanagraph. Thank Trendy. Asalways, it is great to be in
studio. Right to our phone calls. First up to day Jason in Miami,
Florida listening on the web. HiJason, Hi, Hank, Thanks
(01:11):
so much for taking my call,and before my question, I just got
to say thank you so much toyou and the ministry for so many important
things. I just want to askthe audience please support this ministry. These
guys are awesome. So thank you, Jason, and thanks to God for
most importantly for letting you guys dowhat you do. Well, thank you.
That was very kind of you.Well, my question, Ank is
(01:34):
talk to a couple of skeptics andthey'll bring up the objection that, oh,
if God is so perfect, whythe people misinterpret his word or events
that they see, or his commandments. And my response has been that it's
impossible for us to have free willif he were to give us an impossible
(01:55):
to refuse interpretation. Does that makesense and is that a wrong response?
Well, I think there's a germof truth there, Jason, in that
God made us as human beings,and as human beings we do not have
the capacity to bear the burden ofomniscience. We are always going to learn
(02:17):
and grow and develop, and thatis not only true in this life,
but that is true in the lifeto come. But even if we had
complete knowledge or requisite knowledge, wecould still turn on God. And Satan
(02:39):
is the perfect example of that.God did not create us in such a
way that we did not have volition, although we could have. Again,
he created us with volition because withoutwill or volition, love is rendered meaningless,
and He created us forward life lovingrelationship with him. In fact,
(03:02):
that is the only way we findour true peace. Now there is enough
of God revealed to us, notonly in general revelation, but in special
revelation that we know we can trusthim. We have enough to understand his
goodness, and we should be sufficientlysupplied with that. When Job wanted to
(03:28):
know more than that, God toldJob, look, you can't even understand
how I create a tiny drop ofdew. How are you going to understand
what is happening in the heavenlyes.Trust me. He's given enough knowledge to
us so that we can trust himeven when we do not always have the
answer to the reason why. Sowhat would you say then if someone were
(03:52):
to accuse that of just being acop out my specific example that I had
in mind when I brought up thisquestion, would be so much different.
Theological interpretation over perhaps even the meaningof one scripture. And that's I think
that's where the skeptics I talk toare coming from, too, And so
they would say, well, Ihave this belief in God, but it
(04:14):
seems that his people are even misunderstandinghis words and then if we were to
say, you know, we're juststill learning. Perhaps we don't have all
the information yet, they might sayI don't accept that answer. That seems
like a cop back. Yeah,well, I mean, you're absolutely right
in suggesting that we can fully understandthe main and the plain things. I've
said on the Biblanceman broadcast. Themain in the plain things of scripture are
so apparent that a child can understandthem. But the profundity of Scripture is
(04:40):
so deep that even a theologian candrown in it. And the reason I
put it that way is that Godis in fact a God who is transcendent,
a God who is beyond comprehension,a God that we will spend an
eternity seeking to fully know. Ifwe could reduce God to the status of
(05:04):
fully being able to comprehend him,he wouldn't be God. God is far
beyond our ability to fully comprehend.And again, it will take an eternity
for us to begin to grasp thefull complexities that are encapsulated and the one
who saved us by his grace.All right, Well, I'd love to
spend hours with you, Hank,talking, but I want to keep the
(05:27):
phone lines open. So thanks somuch, Thanks for so much EXPERI answers
and God bless you. You gotit. Jason, thank you so much
for your call back to the phonelines. We'll talk next to Don.
He's listening in Saint Louis, Missouri. Hey Don, Hey Hank, how
are you doing. I'm well,thank you. I want to thank you
for your program, your ministry.I truly do enjoy listening. Like the
last caller, I think it wouldbe incredible to sit and just talk with
(05:50):
you for hours just because of yourknowledge. But the question today is John
six sixty six. It just jumpedout at me that it talks about turning
your back on and walking away fromthe Lord, and it seemed like it
(06:11):
was really a coincidence maybe that itwas six sixty six, chapter six,
verse sixty six, and I waswondering if it was intentionally put in that
location. I'm not sure when theverse in chapters were numbered. I don't
think there's any other chapter in theBible that had sixty six verses. So
(06:32):
I was just wondering if that's,you know, a real strong indication of
what the mark of the Beast isis basically turning your back on the Lord
and walking away and choosing your ownwill. Well, a couple of things
very interesting that you have discerned this. First of all, the chapter has
seventy verses, but beyond that,the mark of the Beast given in the
(06:54):
Book of Revelation is not sixty sixsix or chapter six and verse sixty six.
It is six hundred sixty and six. So it's not just three consecutives
six, although there's a meaning imbuedin that as well. So I don't
think that this is somehow or rathersomething to do with the mark of the
(07:15):
beast intentionally given by its address.Although I do think that what you've drawn
out of the passage is defensible,and I'll talk about that in a minute.
I think what's really important is youalso noted that the verse designations were
not in the original text. Thatis something that has been added later.
So again, I don't think therewas an intent in six sixty six.
(07:39):
It is coincidental maybe in some senses, though serendipitous in the sense that you
are right in saying that from thistime many of his disciples turned back and
no longer followed him. Well,the mark of the beast is always contrasted
biblically with the mark of the lamb. The mark of the Lamb is the
(08:05):
mark on all those who know andlove Jesus Christ. The mark of the
beast vicariously is those whose worldview andwhat they do demonstrate that they have no
love for God at all. SoI think there is a reality that you've
drawn from the text that does makethe distinction between the mark of Christ,
(08:28):
which we find in Revelation chapter fourteen, and the mark of the Beast,
which we find in Revelation chapter thirteen. Well, can you tell me when
did they designate the well, let'sjust call them addresses, I guess as
the best terminology. When did theyplace the chapter in verses on the scriptures?
(08:52):
The division into chapters as we havethem today was actually based on the
work of archbishops Steve Langton in theearly thirteenth century, and then there were
further division in terms of verses aswe have them today, and that follows
the work of Steffanis in the midsixteenth century. God bless him. Thank
(09:13):
you for your answer. Thank youso much. Don back to the phone
lines. We'll talk next to AlexSaint Louis, Missouri. Hi. Alex,
Well Hi. So my question wasI'm actually a very new listener to
this. It was my question,is my brother he likes to use like
the science stuff to try to helplike aseistic people come to God. And
(09:41):
I think that's okay because it showslike how science in the Bible is sort
of like the same thing, almostlike it is. You know, well,
the Bible is not a book ofscience, but there's nothing in the
Bible that would contradict science, andit is actually out of a biblical worldview.
That's i answer rose in Christian universitiesto begin with. So science is
(10:03):
something that could not have arisen inthe Greek Epic of time, for example,
because the Greeks believed in a universeministered by moody gods. Those gods
were capricious, and therefore you couldnot learn to think their thoughts after them.
However, Christians recognized that God hadan impromater that he put on his
(10:26):
created hindiwork, and therefore we couldlearn to think the thoughts of God after
him. I've written about this insome detail in the conclusion of my book
Has God Spoken. W'd be rightback in just a few moments with more
answers to your questions right here onthe Bible answer ben Broadcast, So please
stay tuned for that and the resourcesthat I talk about on the show.
(10:48):
You can find in the world wideweb had equipped dot or be right back.
Have you heard about the new CompleteBible answer Book Collector's Edition. When
this beautiful leather bound resource, HankCantigraph has taken on air answers to more
than two hundred questions and chisel themdown until only the gem emerges. Questions
(11:11):
involving the Bible, religion, cults, science, the afterlife, and much
more. Discover answers to your questionsand the Complete Bible answer Book Collector's Edition
Revised and Expanded in twenty twenty four. To receive your copy of the Complete
Bible answer Book Collector's Edition Revised andExpanded, call eight eight eight seven thousand
(11:35):
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outreaches eight eight eight seven thousand CRIIor visit us at equip dot org.
We'll be back in just a momentwith more from Hank Cantigraph. Has God
(12:05):
Spoken? Are the words of Scripturemerely human in origin? Or are they
in fact the very words of Godhimself. Three years in the making and
based on two decades of research andreflection, Hank Henagraph's monumental book Has God
Spoken answers what is surely the mostimportant question facing our world. In Has
(12:28):
God Spoken, memorable proofs of theBible's Divine inspiration, Hank counters the contentions
of the Bible attackers and clearly showsthat belief in the Holy Scriptures is not
a guess or wishful thinking. Itis the only logical conclusion after an honest
examination of overwhelming evidence. Order HasGod Spoken from the Christian Research Institute by
(12:50):
calling eighty eight seven thousand CRII orgo online to equip dot org. Equip
dot Org. Bertrand Russell famously said, most people would rather die than think,
and many of them do not sowith CRI Support Team members. Support
(13:11):
Team members are not only serious thinkers, but their membership and CRI's Support Team
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do Support Team members form the backboneof Christian Research Institute's outreaches, but they
enjoy their selection of resources from ourEquipping Essentials library to discover how you can
(13:39):
make a difference twenty four to sevenand equipping believers at home and abroad to
stand for life and truth. Checkout the benefits of membership at equip dot
org. Once again, that's equipdot org. The Complete Bible answer Book
(14:01):
Collector's Edition is the comprehensive collection ofthe most often asked questions Hank Hannigraph has
received throughout his four decades as hostof The Bible answer Man broadcast. With
more than half a million copies alreadyin print, this newly revised and expanded
Collector's Edition helped seekers and skeptics alikesort through the truth on topics such as
(14:24):
reliability of the Bible, religions andcults, the resurrection and afterlife, and
many more issues vital to a betterunderstanding of God in Christ and our relationship
to Him. To receive your copyof The Complete Bible answer Book Collector's Edition,
Revised and Expanded, call eight eighteight seven thousand CRII and make a
(14:46):
gift to support the Christian Research Institute'slife changing outreaches eight eight eight seven thousand
CRII or visit us at equip dotorg. Now back to the Bible answer
(15:07):
Man broadcast and your host and canagraph. Thanks. I'm with Trendia. Right
back to our phone callers. Nextup is Allan in Brentwood, Tennessee.
Hi Allen, Hi HENK, howyou doing good? Thank you. I
have a friend that I met aftermany years of not communicating with him,
(15:28):
who told me, after his wife'sthree year about with cancer and the lack
of answered prayer on her behalf,that he basically cursed God and is now
living apart from his historical traditional relationship. He says he has been a believer
(15:52):
since he was twelve and he wasbaptized, And I wondered, what can
I do? What should I lookto do to try to help him through
this and to get back on track? Yeah, I mean, I think
the operative word in your question isif if your friend was genuinely a believer.
(16:14):
There are a lot of people thathave made professions but do not possess
a relationship with the living God,and therefore, when difficulty strikes, the
very first thing that goes is thatintimacy with God because it was never there
in reality, it was only therein pretense, and that may very well
(16:36):
be the case. But what youneed to do is demonstrate to your friend
that God created the universe in sucha way that there was a potential for
evil. And while God did notcreate the evil, he did allow for
its possibility by granting human beings freedomof choice. Human beings actualized evil in
(17:02):
the universe as a result of theirchoices. And yet out of this God
is going to bring about the bestof all possible worlds, a world in
which we will forever be able notto sin, a world that no longer
groans and travail, a world inwhich there'll be no more death, mourning,
(17:23):
crying, or pain. And thatis what we look forward to as
Christians. So Christianity never pretends togive us a peaceful way to come to
terms with the difficulties of life,including losing your wife to cancer or some
other dread disease. But what itdoes give us is something far greater,
a way to look beyond the painin the temporary world, to a world
(17:49):
in which there will no longer bepain, where destruction, death, decay,
and disease is forever eradicated. That'scalled having an eternal perspective, and
that is not a vain dream.It is a reality rooted in resurrection.
Christ rose, and that is theearnest of our resurrection. So for your
(18:11):
friend, for his wife, foryou, for me, we all have
a certain destiny, and that iswe will be raised from the dead.
That's what Jesus Christ said. Hesaid, do not be amazed at this.
A time is coming when all whoin the grays will come out.
Some will rise to live, andsome will rise to be condemned. So
(18:32):
we look forward to a time inwhich destruction and disease are no longer part
of the planet. But in themeantime, we know that God has a
reason for everything, and that allthings work together for good to those who
love Him and are called according toHis purposes, which is to say that
(18:52):
even Job who suffered more in asingle day than most of us suffer in
a lifetime. In the end,he accosted by the reality that he does
not understand what's going on in theheavenlies, but that God has shown him
enough of his nature where he isable to trust him. And therefore he
(19:15):
could say, in the end,though he slay me, yet will I
trust in him? So Christianity isn'tequipped to answer the why question, it
is equipped to teach us to trustGod in the midst of our wives.
Great, thank you so very much. I appreciate all that you do.
Well. Elan, thank you,and may God be with you. This
(19:37):
is a tremendous opportunity to bring solaceand peace and perhaps a life transformation.
So may He bless you. Andmay the spirit of the Living God within
you lead and guide your words asyou speak with your friend. And thank
you for caring. Thank you somuch for your prayer. Thank you,
(19:57):
I appreciate it. You got it, Helen, Thank you so much for
calling. And back to the phonelines. We'll talk to Jeff next.
He's listening in Saint Louis, Missouri. Hi, Jeff, Hey, how
you doing tonight. I'm doing well. Thank you. Hey, listen,
you and I have talked before,and you know that I'm of LDS faith.
I guess what I don't understand isa lot of people have that in
(20:18):
misconception. You know, Mormons believein polygamy. We practice polygamy, but
you know that's not true. Butthen again, there were prophets in the
Bible that they believe in you know, they had more than one wife.
So I guess I don't understand whyit's okay in one sense but not in
another, you know what I mean. Yeah, But there's a difference between
that which is descriptive and that whichis prescriptive, which is to say,
(20:40):
polygamy is never sanctioned in the Bible. You can go to passages like Deuteronomy
seventeen seventeen, which always sticks inmy mind because of the address seventeen seventeen.
But there you have an admonition forthe kings you must not multiply wives.
And if that is true for thekings, how much more for their
subjects. Furthermore, we see inFirst Kings, Chapter eleven that Solomon had
(21:07):
seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines. Now, when you think about that,
you immediately think about the consequences whichthe Bible also communicates, which is
that as many wives and concubines turnshis eyes from the true God of Israel.
And as a result of that,the most horrendous of all consequences,
(21:29):
the nation itself, that was calledto be a light to the nations,
was torn in two and ultimately bothended up in exile. Not only that,
but if you look at the prescriptivepassages in the Bible, it's very
very clear. It's explicitly stated thatpolygamy is not the ordained practice that God
(21:55):
has set forth, but rather oneman for one woman. Jesus makes it
clear that a man leaves his fatherand his mother and is united to his
wife, not wives, and thetwo, not three or more, become
one flesh. And you know,Paul makes the same point. He says
that each man should have his ownwife, not wives, and each woman
(22:18):
her own husband, not husbands.A wife must not separate from her husband,
not husbands, and if she does, she must remain unmarried or else
reconcile to her husband. And ahusband must not divorce his wife again,
not wives. So the admonition inscripture is pretty plain. Again, you
have to make a distinction between thatwhich is descriptive and that which is prescriptive.
(22:45):
Right, Yeah, I've heard yousay a lot of times before.
You know, when you read theBible, you get to be very careful
on taking enough context, and Iyou know, I totally agree with you
on that. Hey, I appreciateyou taking my call, and it's nice
to talk to you. Hey,nice to talk to you as well.
Back to the fall lines. We'lltalk to Deborah next. She's listening in
Alive Branch, Mississippi. Hi Deborah, Hi Hank. How are you doing
(23:07):
good? Thank you? I listento you all the time on the way
home from work, and thank youvery much because I learned a lot from
you. Well, bless you,Deborah. My question is if we have
to persevere, you know, towin the crown of life? Okay,
I don't really understand that, andthe fact that if we're ever Christ that
(23:32):
there's nothing that can you know,that can make us lose our salvation.
So what do you mean by ifwe persevere we'll win the crown of life?
Yeah? I think this is agreat question to ask because there are
so many who fixate only on theirsalvation and fail to recognize that we're saved
(23:52):
for a reason. And while we'resaved by God's grace through faith on account
of Jesus Christ, we most certainlywork from our salvation. And when we
work from our salvation, then wereceive crowns. And for christ the crowns
are symbolic of royalty, but forChristians they're symbolic of our eternal reward.
(24:17):
They're not perishable crowns like the reevesthat are awarded to those who win a
mere athletic event on earth. Butthey're imperishable crowns that will reflect the glory
of God throughout eternity. And thisis what Paul is talking about when he's
talking to Timothy to train himself forrighteousness in the same way that a runner
trains for a race. And thatportrayal, of course, conjures up images
(24:41):
of a fatigued relay racer who's preparingto pass a baton. And so Paul
is telling Timothy to not only start, but to finish the race. And
then he says, I, myselfhave fought the good fight. I have
finished the race. I've kept thefaith. Now there is in store for
me that crown of righteousness, whichthe Lord, the Righteous Judge will award
(25:03):
to me on that day, andnot only to me, but also to
all who have longed for his appearance. So the enduring rewards of perseverance are
a crown of righteousness, a crownof glory, a crown of life.
But there's more that Jesus actually explicitlypoints to degrees of reward that will be
given for faithful service, for selfsacrifice, for suffering, and those enduring
(25:27):
rewards are something that we had topreach about in contemporary servants, because then
we recognize the truth that what wedo on earth counts for all eternity.
Okay ah, I thank you,You're welcome. I've written about this in
a chapter titled Rewards, which isin my book Resurrection, And of course
(25:47):
Jesus in the Sermon on the Mountsays be careful not to do your acts
of righteous before men to be seenby them, for if you do,
you already have your reward, andyou receive no reward from your father who
is in heaven. Thanks for tuninginto this edition of the Bible inch Man
Broadcast. We'll see you next timewith more of the show. Thanks for
joining us for the Bible answer ManBroadcast with Hank Hannagraph. Our daily commitment
(26:11):
here at CRI is to defend thefaith once for all, delivered to the
saints, and equip believers to becometrue disciples of Jesus Christ. If you'd
like to order resources or listen tothe broadcast online, visit our website at
equip dot org. That's equip dotorg or call a resource consultant at eight
(26:33):
eight eight seven thousand, two sevenfour. Of course, you can write
to CURI at Post Office Box eightyfive hundred, Charlotte, North Carolina,
zip code two eight two seven one. The Bible answer Man Broadcast is supported
by listeners like you. We're onthe air because life and truth matter.
(27:04):
Has God Spoken? Are the wordsof Scripture merely human in origin? Or
are they, in fact the verywords of God himself? Three years in
the making and based on two decadesof research and reflection, Hank Henagraph's monumental
book Has God Spoken answers what issurely the most important question facing our world.
(27:26):
In Has God Spoken? Memorable Proofsof the Bible's Divine inspiration, Hank
counters the contentions of the Bible attackersand clearly shows that belief in the Holy
Scriptures is not a guess or wishfulthinking. It is the only logical conclusion
after an honest examination of overwhelming evidence. Ordered Has God Spoken from the Christian
(27:48):
Research Institute by calling eighty eight seventhousand CRII, or go online to equip
dot org. Equip dot Org
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