September 6, 2025 • 28 mins
On today’s Bible Answer Man broadcast, Hank brings up a question that he addresses in his book Afterlife: What You Need to Know about Heaven, the Hereafter and Near-Death Experiences, the question being, “Will everyone ultimately wind up in heaven?”
Hank also answers the following questions:
How do Mormons explain the origin of the universe? Victor - Midland, TX (5:41)
Can a Christian join the Masonic Lodge? Dave - Brunswick, GA (15:11)
Can you explain the “pure in heart” according to Matthew 5:8? Uriah - Calgary, AB (17:24)
Why aren’t there modern-day miraculous healings? Josh - Lexington, KY (22:35)
Hank also answers the following questions:
How do Mormons explain the origin of the universe? Victor - Midland, TX (5:41)
Can a Christian join the Masonic Lodge? Dave - Brunswick, GA (15:11)
Can you explain the “pure in heart” according to Matthew 5:8? Uriah - Calgary, AB (17:24)
Why aren’t there modern-day miraculous healings? Josh - Lexington, KY (22:35)
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Welcome to the best of the Bible answer Man broadcast
with your host, Hank Antigraph. The Bible answer Man is
the radio ministry of the Christian Research Institute, designed to
equip believers to defend their faith and become true disciples
of the Lord Jesus Christ, because life and truth matter.
Our phone number is eight eight eight seven thousand CRII.
(00:31):
That's one eight eight eight seven thousand, two seven four.
You can find us on the Internet at equip dot org.
That's equip dot org. The following program was pre recorded
and now to begin today's broadcast, here's Hank Canagraph.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Thank you, Miss Randy. We'll go to our callers in
just a few moments. Do want to point your attention
to a question that I deal with in my book
After Life? Will everyone ultimately wind up in Heaven? Well?
In a bestseller titled Love Wins, popular Christian writer, speaker,
(01:11):
and pastor Rob Beel says this, a staggering number of
people have been taught that a select few Christians will
spend forever in a peaceful, joyous place called Heaven, while
the rest of humanity spends forever in torment and punishment
in Hell, with no chance for anything better. It's been
(01:35):
clearly communicated to many that this belief is the central
truth of the Christian faith, and that to reject it
is an essence to reject Jesus Christ himself. This is
misguided and toxic, says Rabel. Instead, he suggests that everyone,
(01:59):
from God to God denying atheists will likely end up
in heaven. To believe otherwise, from his perspective, is to
hold to a monstrous God, a being who could never
be trusted, let alone be good, a cruel, mean, vicious
(02:19):
tormentor a God who is loving one moment vicious the next.
Bell's outrage against such a god as palpable. If there
was an earthly father who was like that, we would
call the authorities. If there was an actual human Dad
who was that volatile, we would contact child protection services immediately.
(02:45):
Rob Bell is equally outraged by those who believe in
the concept of eternal separation. He says, if your God
will punish people for all of eternity for sins committed
in a few short years, there is something so drastically
wrong that no amount of clever marketing or compelling language
(03:10):
can camouflage it. And to correct the wrong, well Bell
markets a God perfectly suited for a post Christian human centered,
self absorbed, feel good secular culture. Quite frankly, C. S.
(03:32):
Lewis had it right. He wrote, I would pay any
price to be able to say truthfully, all will be saved.
But my reason retorts without their will or with it?
If I say without their will, I at once perceive
a contradiction. How can the supreme voluntary act as self
(03:53):
surrender be involuntary? If I say, with their will? My
reason reply, how if they will not give? In So
as Lewis wisely conceded, there are only two kinds of
people in the end, those who say to God, thy
will be done, and those to whom God says, in
(04:14):
the end, thy will be done. All that are in
hell choose it. And without that self choice there would
be no hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires
joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find to
(04:38):
those who knock, the door will be opened. Look. The
bottom line is this, without choice, heaven would not be heaven.
Heaven would be hell. The righteous would inherit a counterfeit heaven,
and the unrighteous would be incarcerated in heaven against their wills.
A torment worse than hell. Existence in Hell in fact
(05:04):
respects the intrinsic value and autonomy of human being. So
in the book After Life, I deal with both the
reality of heaven and the reality of Hell. And this
is one of the questions that is addressed. Available right
now for your gift, you can order online at equipped
dot org. When you write me at box eighty five hundred, Charlotte,
(05:27):
North Carolina, zip code two eight two seven one, or
as always, when you pick up your telephone and talk
to the resource consultants standing by at triple eight seven
thousand and the letters c R I let's go right
to the phone lines. First up to date Victor in Midland,
Texas High Victor, I get to talk to you.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
Likewise, how does Mormonism explain the origins of the universe?
Because from understand they believe that God is with once
a human and is God now. So it kind of
seems like it's an infinite series you know, regression. I mean,
how do they is there does it gets there's one
(06:09):
true God? Or how does that work?
Speaker 2 (06:12):
Yeah? Well, first of all, let me say this that
Mormons do not believe that God created everything out of nothing.
In fact, leading Mormons overtly contend that matter has coexisted
eternally with God. Of course, the opening statement in the Bible,
in the beginning, God created the heavens of the earth,
(06:34):
points to the truth that God did create everything out
of nothing. And by the way, only three options exist,
and only one of them corresponds to reality. And let
me delineate that very quickly and then go right to
what Mormonism contends. In fact. You know, as you were talking,
I'm opening a book called Mormon Doctrine by Bruce McConkie,
(06:58):
and I'll read a couple of the excerpts out of that.
But the three options. First is the view that in
the beginning nothing existed, neither mass, nor energy, nor the
Almighty nothing, nothing, simply nothing. Logic, however, screams that from
nothing comes nothing, or nothing comes from nothing. Furthermore, there's
(07:26):
the untenable notion that something existed, but that something was
an impersonal potentiality out of which every potentiality, from protein
molecules to personal mind emerged. That idea, however, hardly advances
the proverbial ball. As common sense tells us, every effect
(07:46):
must have a cause equal to or greater than itself.
And then there's a third option, and it's the scriptural contention,
and it alone makes sense. The universe was created by
an uncaused first cause greater than itself. So time, space,
and the universe have not always existed, but God has
always existed, and God's existence is the cause for the
(08:08):
existence of all else that exists. So did God create
everything out of nothing? Absolutely? But what a Mormons contend, Well,
here's the doctrinal hatchetman of Mormonism, Bruce McConkie. Here's what
he says. It is an utterly false and uninspired notion
to believe that the world or any other thing was
(08:29):
created out of nothing. So instead, he says, we infer
that God had materials to organize the world out of chaos,
chaotic matter, which is element and in which dwells all
the glory. Element had an existence from the time He had,
(08:55):
or God had. They had no beginning and can have
no end. Then late he talks about who is involved
in this creative process or creative enterprises. He talks about it,
and he says involved are Michael, Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Peter, James,
(09:15):
and John and Joseph Smith. And then he says, many
other noble and great ones played a part in the
great creative enterprise. This earth was not the first of
the Lord's creations. An infinite number of worlds have come
rolling into existence at his command. Wow. That is a
(09:42):
far different proposition, as you can imagine from what is
contended in the Bible. And that, by the way, is
why the Mormons say the Book of Mormon is the
most correct of any book on earth and the keystone
to their religion, but not the Bible. They only hold
to the Bible, which they think is a mutilated document
with all kinds of errors. They only hold to its
(10:04):
truth insofar that they believe things may have been correctly translated.
So a lot of it isn't, but some of it is.
And they say, we'll give some lip service to that
which may have been correctly translated.
Speaker 4 (10:19):
Right.
Speaker 3 (10:19):
Well, I appreciate that, Yeah, And I see. The problem
they have, though, is how do they explain all that matter?
How did that come to existence?
Speaker 2 (10:28):
You know?
Speaker 3 (10:29):
Yeah, I guess, I guess they don't have an explanation
for that. They just say it's always been there, right.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
Yeah, And that's the problem. They do not believe in creation,
exna heilo. They believe rather in an organization of chaotic
matter already in existence spirit matter.
Speaker 4 (10:46):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
Okay, well, I appreciate it. Hank, thank you for all
you do.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
You got to thank you so much for your call.
Be right back with more answers to your questions.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
Has Jesus Christ returned to Earth as a woman? Eastern Lightning,
also called the Church of All Mighty God, claims a
Chinese woman is the reincarnated Christ, Almighty God and the
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(11:16):
while exploiting Western sympathy to spread its destructive dogmas. Don't
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(11:38):
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The Bible answer Man broadcast will return in just a
few moments.
Speaker 5 (12:01):
Truth Matters, Life Matters More details Hank Hanigraff's personal pilgrimage
from his long defensive truth to his discovery that life
matters more. Essentially, two books in one. Part one equips
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Part two explains why truth is necessary but hardly sufficient.
(12:22):
That the map is not the territory, the menu is
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the full through union with God in Christ? Is there
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Speaker 1 (13:00):
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Heaven assures us that no matter what we do in
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and those who enter through it are many, the gate
is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life,
and those who find it are few. Your generous support,
(14:29):
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lies that lead to hell. In appreciation for your gift.
Today we'll rush you Hank's book After Life What you
need to Know about Heaven, the Hereafter and Near death
Experiences filled with answers to your questions about life after death.
Call eight eight eight seven thousand CROI or visit equip
(14:52):
dot org. Now again that's equip dot org. And now
here's Hank Canagraph.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
Thanks very much FORRNDY. We'll go right back to our
phone callers. Next up as Dave. He's in Brunswick, Georgia.
Speaker 6 (15:14):
Hi Dave, Hey, Hank, how you doing doing well? Thank you,
thanks for getting to me and I really appreciate your ministry.
My question, real quick is I live in an area
and I've got friends and family who are involved in
the Masonic Order and just touch base on a few
things with some I guess initial knowledge that I've gained
(15:39):
from the organization and have the question as to whether
or not a Mason can be a Christian, and knowing
that God is sovereign and has the last ride on
who is and who is not who belongs to him,
But there seems to be some things that I'm finding
out that would I would think would be a case
(15:59):
of maybe spiritual adultery. So just that's the question I have.
Can a Christian be a Mason? And if not, if
there's some pass a scripture that you can lead me
to to.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
Help, well, I mean, I think you have to look
at what Free Masonry actually teaches. They redefine God as
the great architect of the universe, and as long as
you believe in that God, you can define him as
Allah or Buddha or Krishna, whatever you want, because in
their view and the view of the Masonic Bible, in fact,
(16:34):
there is the edict that religions may be many, but
religion is ultimately one, and therefore men can come to
their altars regardless of their God. So I do think
that what they're teaching does run in direct conflict with
what the Bible is teaching, and therefore I think it's
(16:54):
very hard to harmonize the belief systems that you find
in Free Mason and the belief system that you have
as a result of a genuinely biblical worldview. And we
have written about this in various forums. We actually did
an article in the Christian Research Journal on this number
of years back. You can access it on the web
(17:14):
at equipped dot org.
Speaker 6 (17:16):
All Right, Okay, Google, I will go there and check
into that.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
Okay, Wonderfay. Thank you yeah, well, thank you so much
for your call. You Ryan next listening in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
How you're Ryan?
Speaker 7 (17:27):
HELLU Yeah, I am grateful for this opportunity to talk
with you, Hank. I have an interesting issue in the Bible.
It says about how if I'm not mistaken. It's where
he says to Jesus tells his disciples that the pure
and heart will see God. And I've had a few
(17:48):
moments in my life where I was more in tune
that way than I felt otherwise. But I wanted to
ask you. I mean, when you're looking at scripture, I
know that there's a lot that can be refined, defining
different attributes of different qualities. But is there something that
you feel or that you believe is really bringing a
(18:09):
focus to a guid he's looking for in the pure heart?
Speaker 2 (18:12):
Well? Yeah, but remember that we are never pure in
heart in and of ourselves. We are pure in heart
only because of our righteousness, not of iro own that
comes from the law, but that which is through faith
in Christ. And when Christ quotes the Psalmist, we need
to be in tune with what the Psalmist says in context,
(18:37):
because then we understand what's going on. And Jesus actually
here is quoting from Psalm twenty four, where the Psalmist
says that the earth is the Lord's and everything in it,
the world and all who live in it. For he
founded upon the seas, he established it upon the waters.
Who may ascend the hill of the Lord, who may
(18:58):
stand in his holy place, He who has clean hands
and a pure heart. And then appended to those words,
we have a qualification who does not lift up his
soul to an idol or swear by what is false.
He will receive blessings from the Lord and vindication from
(19:19):
God his Savior, and such as the generation of those
who seek him. So ultimately this points back to the
salvific work of Jesus Christ. So the heart represents the
whole of the inner state, your thought, your will, your emotions,
the very center of your being. And of course Jesus
(19:41):
said conversely that out of the heart proceeds evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts,
false witness, blasphemies, and the like. So the statement here
is es catalogical. We are not pure now, but in
christ Day we will be, and therefore we will see God.
(20:04):
In fact, we will forever commune with God in his essence,
but that will only happen when we are one day glorified.
Speaker 7 (20:14):
I have one small thought about that, when it comes
to looking at the Old Testament, how there were two men,
both Elijah and Enoch, how they had a walk with
God that was, you know, as it was that God
spread them from death and that they didn't have to die.
And I think, and please understand, I'm not judging your
(20:37):
ministry here. I just I know that I've heard a
lot of really good pastors at times say things and
I felt like I needed to take that up with
the Lord on a higher level, like to see from
his point of view. Have you ever found that in
your life, like, have you ever found that there's one
pastor said that if a person suggests myself, a student
(20:58):
gets misled, even just one or that when they're getting
to their destination, that one or two percent, you know,
eventually gets bigger and bigger. It can take us away
from that focus. So do you have many people that
you work with to do this like that?
Speaker 2 (21:13):
You're well, yeah, and I think that there is also,
you know, a direct not only accountability that you should
have within the Body of Christ and within relationships that
you have in terms of accountability, but also the direct
words of Scripture which admonishes us. Let not many of
you be teachers, because with teaching there is a stricter judgment.
(21:36):
So certainly, whenever you have a platform and you are communicating,
you do it with gentleness and with respect, but you
also do it with awe and reverential awe. I mean
the same way that God used imperfect people to copy
the manuscripts of the Bible. They did it with reverential awe,
(21:59):
but none alas they did it in an imperfect fashion.
And that is the state for me, and it is
the state for everyone in the service of the Master.
But you're absolutely right, we should never do this in
a cavalier fashion. We need to recognize the incredible responsibility
I have in my own ministry. Seen many many people
(22:21):
have made life decisions based on what I thought was
a throwaway statement. So I've never come into this studio
in a cavalier fashion thinking oh, well, just another show. No.
I realize it is a grave responsibility and I take
it very Seriously, We're to go back to the phone lines.
Talk to Josh and Lexington, Kentucky. Hi, Josh, Oh, I'm
(22:41):
doing well.
Speaker 4 (22:42):
I'm a newly not just recently gave my life Christ,
and I've got a lot of questions. I was reading
in the Bookamark where it said or the Lord would
touch people and heal them. And then when he went
to the mountains and chose his disciples, he told them
to go spray his word and heal people. I don't
know if his disciples could actually heal people by their touch,
(23:03):
but if so, why not in our days? Can people
not do that in his days?
Speaker 2 (23:09):
Well, first of all, I don't think that you make
the dogmatic statement that that cannot happen. I would be
the last person to want to put God in a
box and suggest that he can't do a miracle in
the present, and furthermore, that he can't do a miracle
in the present through a person being involved as an
instrument of his grace in that process. So I wouldn't
want to suggest that, but I do want to suggest
(23:31):
that it's not normative. Remember that miracles attested the apostles
as true representatives of God. The same thing is true
with respect to the prophets. So what happened is in
that epic of time they were ratified by what they did,
(23:53):
Their works, their deeds, their words identified them as those
who are giving us a final court of arbitration by
which we can test all things and hold fast to
the good. So the point is that while it was
normative in their lives, and certainly normative in the life
of the Master, I don't suggest that it is normative
(24:15):
in the present day. Furthermore, let me say this, though
I believe that God could heal someone or raise someone
from the dead in the present, the reality is I
have not seen many examples of the kinds of miracles
that you find in the scripture. For example, where have
you seen someone who has legitimately raised from the dead.
(24:36):
I've had all kinds of pastors and evangelists tell me
that they've experienced resurrections. When I start asking them the
hard questions like the name and the date and the details,
then all of a sudden you find a lot of fudging.
So I think that there are people that are claiming
these kinds of miraculous works like resurrections from the dead,
and so of warth but there's very little evidence.
Speaker 4 (24:57):
So a possible Or were they able to heal people
by other touches, Well.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
Yes they were, but again they were representatives of God.
They were imbued with power from on high, and therefore
it wasn't their touch. They were the instrument that God
condescended to you. So the point here is simply this
that if I present the Gospel, it ultimately isn't my
(25:23):
presentation of the Gospel that saves someone. It is the
power of the Holy Spirit that saves them. In the
same way, it is the power of the Holy Spirit
that heals them. God uses me as an instrument in
the process.
Speaker 4 (25:35):
What's your opinion on that? For as the day now
where we're living in do you think that there's people
that can do that?
Speaker 2 (25:42):
Well? I find that there are a lot of people
that say they can do that, but I find that
the evidence is sadly missing. For example, one of the
greatest healers or pretended healers of our time is Benny Hent.
He's claimed literally thousands and thousands of miracle. I had
dinner with him one night and I asked him to
(26:03):
give me his three best and he did. We checked
them out and none of them did check out. You're
gonna have to leave it at that. I've written about
this in some detail in the book called Christianity Crisis
twenty first Century. Look forward to seeing you're right back
here tomorrow with more of the show.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
You've been listening to the Bible answer Man Broadcast with
Hank Hannagraph. Our mailing address is Pobox eighty five hundred, Charlotte,
North Carolina, zip code two eight two seven one. To
listen to the broadcast on the Internet, visit equip dot org,
where you'll also find a wealth of information and resources
to equip you to talk to a resource consultant. Call
(26:39):
eight eight eight seven thousand CRII.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
That's eight eight eight.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
Seven thousand, two seven four. The Bible answer Man Broadcast
is supported by listeners like you. We're on the air
because life and truth Matter.
Speaker 5 (27:01):
Truth Matters, Life Matters More by Hank Hannigraph is essentially
two books in one, Because Truth Matters. Part one equips
Christians to defend the essential truth of the historic Christian faith.
In part two, Hank explains why life matters more and
how we can experience the height of human existence union
with God in Christ. Simply put, the map is not
(27:24):
the territory. The menu is not the meal. We cheat
ourselves of authentic union with Christ when we elevate the
message above the Messiah. Truth matters, Life matters more is
a modern classic and the magnum opus of one of
the great theological minds of our time. To receive truth matters,
Life matters more, simply call eight eight eight seven thousand
(27:46):
CRI and make a gift in support of the life
changing work of the Christian Research Institute. That's eight eight
eight seven thousand CRI, or go online to equip dot org.
Welcome to the best of the Bible answer Man broadcast
with your host, Hank Antigraph. The Bible answer Man is
the radio ministry of the Christian Research Institute, designed to
equip believers to defend their faith and become true disciples
of the Lord Jesus Christ, because life and truth matter.
Our phone number is eight eight eight seven thousand CRII.
(00:31):
That's one eight eight eight seven thousand, two seven four.
You can find us on the Internet at equip dot org.
That's equip dot org. The following program was pre recorded
and now to begin today's broadcast, here's Hank Canagraph.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Thank you, Miss Randy. We'll go to our callers in
just a few moments. Do want to point your attention
to a question that I deal with in my book
After Life? Will everyone ultimately wind up in Heaven? Well?
In a bestseller titled Love Wins, popular Christian writer, speaker,
(01:11):
and pastor Rob Beel says this, a staggering number of
people have been taught that a select few Christians will
spend forever in a peaceful, joyous place called Heaven, while
the rest of humanity spends forever in torment and punishment
in Hell, with no chance for anything better. It's been
(01:35):
clearly communicated to many that this belief is the central
truth of the Christian faith, and that to reject it
is an essence to reject Jesus Christ himself. This is
misguided and toxic, says Rabel. Instead, he suggests that everyone,
(01:59):
from God to God denying atheists will likely end up
in heaven. To believe otherwise, from his perspective, is to
hold to a monstrous God, a being who could never
be trusted, let alone be good, a cruel, mean, vicious
(02:19):
tormentor a God who is loving one moment vicious the next.
Bell's outrage against such a god as palpable. If there
was an earthly father who was like that, we would
call the authorities. If there was an actual human Dad
who was that volatile, we would contact child protection services immediately.
(02:45):
Rob Bell is equally outraged by those who believe in
the concept of eternal separation. He says, if your God
will punish people for all of eternity for sins committed
in a few short years, there is something so drastically
wrong that no amount of clever marketing or compelling language
(03:10):
can camouflage it. And to correct the wrong, well Bell
markets a God perfectly suited for a post Christian human centered,
self absorbed, feel good secular culture. Quite frankly, C. S.
(03:32):
Lewis had it right. He wrote, I would pay any
price to be able to say truthfully, all will be saved.
But my reason retorts without their will or with it?
If I say without their will, I at once perceive
a contradiction. How can the supreme voluntary act as self
(03:53):
surrender be involuntary? If I say, with their will? My
reason reply, how if they will not give? In So
as Lewis wisely conceded, there are only two kinds of
people in the end, those who say to God, thy
will be done, and those to whom God says, in
(04:14):
the end, thy will be done. All that are in
hell choose it. And without that self choice there would
be no hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires
joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find to
(04:38):
those who knock, the door will be opened. Look. The
bottom line is this, without choice, heaven would not be heaven.
Heaven would be hell. The righteous would inherit a counterfeit heaven,
and the unrighteous would be incarcerated in heaven against their wills.
A torment worse than hell. Existence in Hell in fact
(05:04):
respects the intrinsic value and autonomy of human being. So
in the book After Life, I deal with both the
reality of heaven and the reality of Hell. And this
is one of the questions that is addressed. Available right
now for your gift, you can order online at equipped
dot org. When you write me at box eighty five hundred, Charlotte,
(05:27):
North Carolina, zip code two eight two seven one, or
as always, when you pick up your telephone and talk
to the resource consultants standing by at triple eight seven
thousand and the letters c R I let's go right
to the phone lines. First up to date Victor in Midland,
Texas High Victor, I get to talk to you.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
Likewise, how does Mormonism explain the origins of the universe?
Because from understand they believe that God is with once
a human and is God now. So it kind of
seems like it's an infinite series you know, regression. I mean,
how do they is there does it gets there's one
(06:09):
true God? Or how does that work?
Speaker 2 (06:12):
Yeah? Well, first of all, let me say this that
Mormons do not believe that God created everything out of nothing.
In fact, leading Mormons overtly contend that matter has coexisted
eternally with God. Of course, the opening statement in the Bible,
in the beginning, God created the heavens of the earth,
(06:34):
points to the truth that God did create everything out
of nothing. And by the way, only three options exist,
and only one of them corresponds to reality. And let
me delineate that very quickly and then go right to
what Mormonism contends. In fact. You know, as you were talking,
I'm opening a book called Mormon Doctrine by Bruce McConkie,
(06:58):
and I'll read a couple of the excerpts out of that.
But the three options. First is the view that in
the beginning nothing existed, neither mass, nor energy, nor the
Almighty nothing, nothing, simply nothing. Logic, however, screams that from
nothing comes nothing, or nothing comes from nothing. Furthermore, there's
(07:26):
the untenable notion that something existed, but that something was
an impersonal potentiality out of which every potentiality, from protein
molecules to personal mind emerged. That idea, however, hardly advances
the proverbial ball. As common sense tells us, every effect
(07:46):
must have a cause equal to or greater than itself.
And then there's a third option, and it's the scriptural contention,
and it alone makes sense. The universe was created by
an uncaused first cause greater than itself. So time, space,
and the universe have not always existed, but God has
always existed, and God's existence is the cause for the
(08:08):
existence of all else that exists. So did God create
everything out of nothing? Absolutely? But what a Mormons contend, Well,
here's the doctrinal hatchetman of Mormonism, Bruce McConkie. Here's what
he says. It is an utterly false and uninspired notion
to believe that the world or any other thing was
(08:29):
created out of nothing. So instead, he says, we infer
that God had materials to organize the world out of chaos,
chaotic matter, which is element and in which dwells all
the glory. Element had an existence from the time He had,
(08:55):
or God had. They had no beginning and can have
no end. Then late he talks about who is involved
in this creative process or creative enterprises. He talks about it,
and he says involved are Michael, Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Peter, James,
(09:15):
and John and Joseph Smith. And then he says, many
other noble and great ones played a part in the
great creative enterprise. This earth was not the first of
the Lord's creations. An infinite number of worlds have come
rolling into existence at his command. Wow. That is a
(09:42):
far different proposition, as you can imagine from what is
contended in the Bible. And that, by the way, is
why the Mormons say the Book of Mormon is the
most correct of any book on earth and the keystone
to their religion, but not the Bible. They only hold
to the Bible, which they think is a mutilated document
with all kinds of errors. They only hold to its
(10:04):
truth insofar that they believe things may have been correctly translated.
So a lot of it isn't, but some of it is.
And they say, we'll give some lip service to that
which may have been correctly translated.
Speaker 4 (10:19):
Right.
Speaker 3 (10:19):
Well, I appreciate that, Yeah, And I see. The problem
they have, though, is how do they explain all that matter?
How did that come to existence?
Speaker 2 (10:28):
You know?
Speaker 3 (10:29):
Yeah, I guess, I guess they don't have an explanation
for that. They just say it's always been there, right.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
Yeah, And that's the problem. They do not believe in creation,
exna heilo. They believe rather in an organization of chaotic
matter already in existence spirit matter.
Speaker 4 (10:46):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
Okay, well, I appreciate it. Hank, thank you for all
you do.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
You got to thank you so much for your call.
Be right back with more answers to your questions.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
Has Jesus Christ returned to Earth as a woman? Eastern Lightning,
also called the Church of All Mighty God, claims a
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(11:16):
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The Bible answer Man broadcast will return in just a
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Speaker 5 (12:01):
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Part two explains why truth is necessary but hardly sufficient.
(12:22):
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Speaker 1 (13:00):
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(14:08):
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dot org. Now again that's equip dot org. And now
here's Hank Canagraph.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
Thanks very much FORRNDY. We'll go right back to our
phone callers. Next up as Dave. He's in Brunswick, Georgia.
Speaker 6 (15:14):
Hi Dave, Hey, Hank, how you doing doing well? Thank you,
thanks for getting to me and I really appreciate your ministry.
My question, real quick is I live in an area
and I've got friends and family who are involved in
the Masonic Order and just touch base on a few
things with some I guess initial knowledge that I've gained
(15:39):
from the organization and have the question as to whether
or not a Mason can be a Christian, and knowing
that God is sovereign and has the last ride on
who is and who is not who belongs to him,
But there seems to be some things that I'm finding
out that would I would think would be a case
(15:59):
of maybe spiritual adultery. So just that's the question I have.
Can a Christian be a Mason? And if not, if
there's some pass a scripture that you can lead me
to to.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
Help, well, I mean, I think you have to look
at what Free Masonry actually teaches. They redefine God as
the great architect of the universe, and as long as
you believe in that God, you can define him as
Allah or Buddha or Krishna, whatever you want, because in
their view and the view of the Masonic Bible, in fact,
(16:34):
there is the edict that religions may be many, but
religion is ultimately one, and therefore men can come to
their altars regardless of their God. So I do think
that what they're teaching does run in direct conflict with
what the Bible is teaching, and therefore I think it's
(16:54):
very hard to harmonize the belief systems that you find
in Free Mason and the belief system that you have
as a result of a genuinely biblical worldview. And we
have written about this in various forums. We actually did
an article in the Christian Research Journal on this number
of years back. You can access it on the web
(17:14):
at equipped dot org.
Speaker 6 (17:16):
All Right, Okay, Google, I will go there and check
into that.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
Okay, Wonderfay. Thank you yeah, well, thank you so much
for your call. You Ryan next listening in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
How you're Ryan?
Speaker 7 (17:27):
HELLU Yeah, I am grateful for this opportunity to talk
with you, Hank. I have an interesting issue in the Bible.
It says about how if I'm not mistaken. It's where
he says to Jesus tells his disciples that the pure
and heart will see God. And I've had a few
(17:48):
moments in my life where I was more in tune
that way than I felt otherwise. But I wanted to
ask you. I mean, when you're looking at scripture, I
know that there's a lot that can be refined, defining
different attributes of different qualities. But is there something that
you feel or that you believe is really bringing a
(18:09):
focus to a guid he's looking for in the pure heart?
Speaker 2 (18:12):
Well? Yeah, but remember that we are never pure in
heart in and of ourselves. We are pure in heart
only because of our righteousness, not of iro own that
comes from the law, but that which is through faith
in Christ. And when Christ quotes the Psalmist, we need
to be in tune with what the Psalmist says in context,
(18:37):
because then we understand what's going on. And Jesus actually
here is quoting from Psalm twenty four, where the Psalmist
says that the earth is the Lord's and everything in it,
the world and all who live in it. For he
founded upon the seas, he established it upon the waters.
Who may ascend the hill of the Lord, who may
(18:58):
stand in his holy place, He who has clean hands
and a pure heart. And then appended to those words,
we have a qualification who does not lift up his
soul to an idol or swear by what is false.
He will receive blessings from the Lord and vindication from
(19:19):
God his Savior, and such as the generation of those
who seek him. So ultimately this points back to the
salvific work of Jesus Christ. So the heart represents the
whole of the inner state, your thought, your will, your emotions,
the very center of your being. And of course Jesus
(19:41):
said conversely that out of the heart proceeds evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts,
false witness, blasphemies, and the like. So the statement here
is es catalogical. We are not pure now, but in
christ Day we will be, and therefore we will see God.
(20:04):
In fact, we will forever commune with God in his essence,
but that will only happen when we are one day glorified.
Speaker 7 (20:14):
I have one small thought about that, when it comes
to looking at the Old Testament, how there were two men,
both Elijah and Enoch, how they had a walk with
God that was, you know, as it was that God
spread them from death and that they didn't have to die.
And I think, and please understand, I'm not judging your
(20:37):
ministry here. I just I know that I've heard a
lot of really good pastors at times say things and
I felt like I needed to take that up with
the Lord on a higher level, like to see from
his point of view. Have you ever found that in
your life, like, have you ever found that there's one
pastor said that if a person suggests myself, a student
(20:58):
gets misled, even just one or that when they're getting
to their destination, that one or two percent, you know,
eventually gets bigger and bigger. It can take us away
from that focus. So do you have many people that
you work with to do this like that?
Speaker 2 (21:13):
You're well, yeah, and I think that there is also,
you know, a direct not only accountability that you should
have within the Body of Christ and within relationships that
you have in terms of accountability, but also the direct
words of Scripture which admonishes us. Let not many of
you be teachers, because with teaching there is a stricter judgment.
(21:36):
So certainly, whenever you have a platform and you are communicating,
you do it with gentleness and with respect, but you
also do it with awe and reverential awe. I mean
the same way that God used imperfect people to copy
the manuscripts of the Bible. They did it with reverential awe,
(21:59):
but none alas they did it in an imperfect fashion.
And that is the state for me, and it is
the state for everyone in the service of the Master.
But you're absolutely right, we should never do this in
a cavalier fashion. We need to recognize the incredible responsibility
I have in my own ministry. Seen many many people
(22:21):
have made life decisions based on what I thought was
a throwaway statement. So I've never come into this studio
in a cavalier fashion thinking oh, well, just another show. No.
I realize it is a grave responsibility and I take
it very Seriously, We're to go back to the phone lines.
Talk to Josh and Lexington, Kentucky. Hi, Josh, Oh, I'm
(22:41):
doing well.
Speaker 4 (22:42):
I'm a newly not just recently gave my life Christ,
and I've got a lot of questions. I was reading
in the Bookamark where it said or the Lord would
touch people and heal them. And then when he went
to the mountains and chose his disciples, he told them
to go spray his word and heal people. I don't
know if his disciples could actually heal people by their touch,
(23:03):
but if so, why not in our days? Can people
not do that in his days?
Speaker 2 (23:09):
Well, first of all, I don't think that you make
the dogmatic statement that that cannot happen. I would be
the last person to want to put God in a
box and suggest that he can't do a miracle in
the present, and furthermore, that he can't do a miracle
in the present through a person being involved as an
instrument of his grace in that process. So I wouldn't
want to suggest that, but I do want to suggest
(23:31):
that it's not normative. Remember that miracles attested the apostles
as true representatives of God. The same thing is true
with respect to the prophets. So what happened is in
that epic of time they were ratified by what they did,
(23:53):
Their works, their deeds, their words identified them as those
who are giving us a final court of arbitration by
which we can test all things and hold fast to
the good. So the point is that while it was
normative in their lives, and certainly normative in the life
of the Master, I don't suggest that it is normative
(24:15):
in the present day. Furthermore, let me say this, though
I believe that God could heal someone or raise someone
from the dead in the present, the reality is I
have not seen many examples of the kinds of miracles
that you find in the scripture. For example, where have
you seen someone who has legitimately raised from the dead.
(24:36):
I've had all kinds of pastors and evangelists tell me
that they've experienced resurrections. When I start asking them the
hard questions like the name and the date and the details,
then all of a sudden you find a lot of fudging.
So I think that there are people that are claiming
these kinds of miraculous works like resurrections from the dead,
and so of warth but there's very little evidence.
Speaker 4 (24:57):
So a possible Or were they able to heal people
by other touches, Well.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
Yes they were, but again they were representatives of God.
They were imbued with power from on high, and therefore
it wasn't their touch. They were the instrument that God
condescended to you. So the point here is simply this
that if I present the Gospel, it ultimately isn't my
(25:23):
presentation of the Gospel that saves someone. It is the
power of the Holy Spirit that saves them. In the
same way, it is the power of the Holy Spirit
that heals them. God uses me as an instrument in
the process.
Speaker 4 (25:35):
What's your opinion on that? For as the day now
where we're living in do you think that there's people
that can do that?
Speaker 2 (25:42):
Well? I find that there are a lot of people
that say they can do that, but I find that
the evidence is sadly missing. For example, one of the
greatest healers or pretended healers of our time is Benny Hent.
He's claimed literally thousands and thousands of miracle. I had
dinner with him one night and I asked him to
(26:03):
give me his three best and he did. We checked
them out and none of them did check out. You're
gonna have to leave it at that. I've written about
this in some detail in the book called Christianity Crisis
twenty first Century. Look forward to seeing you're right back
here tomorrow with more of the show.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
You've been listening to the Bible answer Man Broadcast with
Hank Hannagraph. Our mailing address is Pobox eighty five hundred, Charlotte,
North Carolina, zip code two eight two seven one. To
listen to the broadcast on the Internet, visit equip dot org,
where you'll also find a wealth of information and resources
to equip you to talk to a resource consultant. Call
(26:39):
eight eight eight seven thousand CRII.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
That's eight eight eight.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
Seven thousand, two seven four. The Bible answer Man Broadcast
is supported by listeners like you. We're on the air
because life and truth Matter.
Speaker 5 (27:01):
Truth Matters, Life Matters More by Hank Hannigraph is essentially
two books in one, Because Truth Matters. Part one equips
Christians to defend the essential truth of the historic Christian faith.
In part two, Hank explains why life matters more and
how we can experience the height of human existence union
with God in Christ. Simply put, the map is not
(27:24):
the territory. The menu is not the meal. We cheat
ourselves of authentic union with Christ when we elevate the
message above the Messiah. Truth matters, Life matters more is
a modern classic and the magnum opus of one of
the great theological minds of our time. To receive truth matters,
Life matters more, simply call eight eight eight seven thousand
(27:46):
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eight seven thousand CRI, or go online to equip dot org.
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