September 30, 2025 • 28 mins
On today’s Bible Answer Man broadcast (09/30/25), Hank answers the following questions:
I was wondering how you reconcile certain passages of Scripture that speak of God changing His mind or repenting? Wade - Springfield, MO (0:55)
In Luke 16, how did the rich man converse with Abraham while he was in hell? Alberto - Savannah, GA (6:03)
What is apologetics? John - Nashville, TN (17:03)
How do we address Old Testament passages that seem to support slavery? Daniel - Nashville, TN (19:06)
I was wondering how you reconcile certain passages of Scripture that speak of God changing His mind or repenting? Wade - Springfield, MO (0:55)
In Luke 16, how did the rich man converse with Abraham while he was in hell? Alberto - Savannah, GA (6:03)
What is apologetics? John - Nashville, TN (17:03)
How do we address Old Testament passages that seem to support slavery? Daniel - Nashville, TN (19:06)
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
From Charlotte, North Carolina. You're listening to the Bible answer
Man broadcast with Hank Hanagraph, president of the Christian Research Institute.
The reason the Bible answer Man is on the air
is to defend the Christian faith, proclaim the gospel of
our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and to teach discipleship
to his followers because life and truth matter. For more
(00:30):
information or to order equipping resources, call eight eight eight
seven thousand CRII, which translates to eight eight eight seven
thousand two seven four, or go online to equip dot org.
That's equip dot org. The following program was pre recorded
(00:50):
and now here's your host, Hank Hanagraph.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Thanks much, Randy. What are you hanging on? First up
Wade in Springfield, Missouri, highwait.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Hello, Pink.
Speaker 4 (01:00):
I want to tell you I thank you and appreciate
your gracious spirit even with those that you with which
you disagree, And I want to get right to my question.
As a proponent of open theism, I was wondering how
you reconcile some of the things that you've said with
(01:23):
regard to allowing scripture to speak for itself, in particular
with prophecy, with some of the contingent language that you
see in the Old Testament, in particular in historical books
like Exodus and others, where you know the word says
that God changes his mind, and where people of faith,
(01:48):
people like Moses as an example, or has A KaiA,
seemed to influence God's decision making. And I'd be glad
to just hear what you have to say about that.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Appreciate your question, and I've said this many times as
the biplanes Man broadcast, I don't think it's God who
changes his mind, but people who change in relationship to God.
By way of analogy, if you walk into a headwind,
you struggle against the wind. If you may go, you
turn on the road, the wind, of course is now
at your back. It's not the wind that's changed, but
(02:21):
you have changed in relationship to the wind. And I
think that's the same thing that you find in the
Old Testament. God's promise to destroy Nineveh, for example, was
not aborted because he didn't know the future, but because
the Ninavites, who had walked in opposition to God, now
turn from walking in their wicked ways to walking in
(02:43):
concert with the will of God. So all of God's
promises to blest or to judge, have to be understood
in light of the condition that God withholds blessings on
account of disobedience and withhold's judgment on account of repentance.
Speaker 4 (03:00):
And I understand that. But I'm thinking in particular of
the incident in the Exodus where the children of Israel
create the Golden Calf, and you know, the whole story.
As moseses is is with God and as he comes
down and sees what's taking place, you know, he ends
up back on the mountain with God. And God says,
(03:23):
you know, Moses, and I'm paraphrasing, obviously, Moses, I've had
it with these with these people, I am going to
to destroy them and start over with you. And Moses
essentially argues with God at that point, and and God
relents and allows Moses to go back down. He punishes Israel,
(03:45):
but he doesn't destroy them as he says he's going
to do. And I'm curious as to how we're supposed
to look at that.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Well, we're supposed to look at it as answerromorphic language
God speaking or condescended me to speak, and language to
which we can relate. So I don't think we want
to take that language in a wooden literal sense. We
want to take it in the sense in which it's intended.
When the Bible says in Genesis chapter one that God
is asking Adam, ware argue, we don't suddenly think that
(04:13):
God has lost his omniscience. We think the language is
a heavenly condescension to our inadequacies. The same thing is
true throughout the Old Testament. This is a divine condescension
to human limitation. So it's speaking in our language. But
it certainly doesn't in any sense mean that God has
changed his mind. And I think this is something that
(04:35):
we have to look at throughout all of scripture, because
what we see from the beginning to the end is
the omniscience of God. Isaiah, for example, says that God
knows the end from the beginning, and therefore God's knowledge
is exhaustive, including his knowledge of the things that are
yet future. Not only that, but if God's knowledge of
(04:59):
the future is fallible, then biblical predictions that depend on
human agency might well have turned out wrong. And even
Jesus' prediction in the all of a discourse then could
have failed, and therefore it would have undermined his claim
to deity, a God himself would have failed the biblical
(05:19):
test to be a prophet. And if God's knowledge of
the future is incomplete, then we would be foolish to
trust him to answer our prayers. And therefore we could
not have confidence, as the Bible says we should have
in approaching God. When we ask anything according to his will,
(05:39):
he hears us. And if we know that he hears
us whatever we ask, we know that we have what
we've asked of him. So I think the ramifications of
open theism or finite Godism, neo theism, whatever moniker you
want to use here, has extraordinarily dangerous ramifications. I've written
about this in various places where, including the Complete Bible
(06:00):
answer Book Collector's Edition. Want to go back to the
phone lines. We'll talk next to Alberto listening in Savannah, Georgia. Hi, Alberto,
Good evening, sir, good evening.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
Yeah. I'm much a question about when a rich man
and Lazarus. When a rich man's in hell, how can
a person who's in hell, when he sows burning in
hell in the flames, how can you have a normal
conversation with somebody else? Because imagine if I wasn't golf,
poor gasoline in my whole time, of my whole body,
and let a match. I can't know how a normal
(06:32):
conversation with somebody. How he's constantly be screaming and yelling
and you know, make all crazy noises. Now having a
conversation with somebody, How can a briche may have a
normal conversation with Abraham to tell Lazara to dip his
finger and water.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Yeah, well, good question. And it's great that the question
follows on the heels of the one that preceded it,
the question that wait to ask, because again, what you
have here is a story told by Jesus Christ to
make a point. Now, the story has a basis in reality.
There's a rich man. He's caressed in purple and linen.
(07:08):
He has ample food, he has all the luxuries of life.
He goes in and out of his gates, and he
sees daily a beggar lying by his gates. And then
Jesus makes the point that both of them die, and
the circumstance is reversed. The beggar who was in torment
(07:29):
is now in Abraham's bosom or by Abraham's side, and
is experiencing bliss and joy. And peace and everything that
the rich man had in full measure on this earth.
But the rich man is in the opposite condition. He
is now experiencing torment. Now again, when the Bible uses
(07:51):
the language of flames, there is ample reason for us
to recognize that those flames are pointing to a more
graphic reality. It's not as though he is literally burning up.
Remember that what happens at death is the soul leaves
the body. The soul is non physical, non physical entities
(08:15):
don't even have extension in space. So when the soul
is in torment, it's not a locational statement. Rather, what
it's doing is it's pointing to a relational in this case,
a lack of relationship with God, and therein lies the torment.
But it's only an earnest of what is to come,
because at some future point in time, the soul returns
(08:36):
to the body, and the body rises in mortal, imperishable, incorruptible,
and then the rich man will once again have location
in space, or will have physicality. So again, this is
anthropomorphic language, a language that is a heavenly condescension to
human beings.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
Okay, so in other words, it's like only a figuous
beach type thing.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
Yeah, it's a metaphor, and there's ample biblical precedent for
interpreting the fire of hell metaphorically. For example, consider the
words of James, who describe the human tongue as being
set on fire by Hell. The tongue, says James, is
a fire, a world of evil among the parts of
(09:22):
the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the course
of his life on fire, and it itself is set
on fire. James obviously doesn't intend for us to suppose
the tongue, which is itself a metaphor for human language,
is a literal fire that literally sets on fire the
(09:43):
course of one's life. Nor are human tongues or languages
literally set on fire by Hell. Rather, just as James
uses the language of fire as a metaphor for the
destructive power of words, so too he uses the language
of fire as a metaphor for the destructive nature of hell.
And there are many other examples that could be given.
(10:04):
And I think this is a really important question that
you're asking, and one that stumbles a lot of people.
So let me elaborate. The Bible uses the metaphor of
fire to describe God's jealousy in Deuteronomy chapter four, sexual
lust in Proverbs chapter six, unbridled passion in Hoseah chapter seven.
(10:25):
Not only so, but the Bible also uses the metaphor
of darkness where they'll be weeping and gnashing of teeth,
blackest darkness, all ways of describing hell. There are many
other images that are used to describe the horrors of hell,
but we shouldn't take those images in a wooden literal sense,
(10:47):
but rather in the sense in which they're intended.
Speaker 3 (10:49):
Okay, all right, thank you sir.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
You got it. Thank you so much for your call.
We'll be back in just a few moments right here
on the pipel answer Man Broadcast with more answers to
your questions today. Tuned for that in the meantime. To
remember that this is a ministry supported by listeners just
like you. We need you to support us financially as
well as prayer flee and you can do that in
a say secure fashion on the web at equipp dot org.
Be right back with more answers in just a moment.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
To find out more about the materials mentioned on the show,
call a CRII resource consultant toll free at eight eight
eight seven thousand cri that's eight eight eight seven thousand CRII.
Our website is also an excellent reference destination to help you.
Just go to equip dot org and find articles by Hank, books,
(11:37):
CDs and DVDs. Again, that's equip dot org or write
CRII PO Box eighty five hundred, Charlotte, North Carolina, Zip
two eight two seven one. The Bible answer Man will
continue in just a moment. The Complete Bible answer Book
(12:02):
Collector's Edition is the comprehensive collection of the most often
asked questions Hank Hannigraph has received throughout his four decades
as host of The Bible answer Man broadcast. With more
than half a million copies already in print, this newly
revised and expanded Collector's Edition helped seekers and skeptics alike
sort through the truth on topics such as reliability of
(12:25):
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and Expanded, call eight eight eight seven thousand CRII and
(12:46):
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(13:08):
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In Has God Spoken? Memorable Proofs of the Bible's Divine inspiration,
(13:32):
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From the Christian Research Institute by calling eighty eight seven
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dot org. Has God Spoken? Are the words of Scripture
merely human in origin? Or are they in fact the
very words of God himself? Three years in the making
and based on two decades of research and reflection, Hank
(14:20):
Henagraph's monumental book, Has God Spoken, answers what is surely
the most important question facing our world. In Has God Spoken,
memorable proofs of the Bible's divine inspiration, Hank counters the
contentions of the Bible attackers and clearly shows that belief
in the Holy Scriptures is not a guess or wishful thinking.
(14:40):
It is the only logical conclusion after an honest examination
of overwhelming evidence. Order Has God Spoken from the Christian
Research Institute by calling eighty eight seven thousand CRII, or
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(15:07):
back to the Bible answer Man Broadcast and your host
and canigraph.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Thank you so much, Randy, and in hopes that this
will inspire you to support the ministry of the Christian
Research Institute, want to read a testimony It says, I
want to thank you for writing The Apocalypse Code. Thank
you for your labor in study and your diligence in writing,
organizing and compiling what you've learned. Your book has freed
(15:33):
me from nursery rhymes and has brought me into the
loving classroom of God of a greater respect, a much
greater respect for God and for his word. Why Because
I see more of Him now. You have given me
a key of understanding that keeps opening new drawers in
the scripture. I have not simply traded one school of
(15:56):
thought for another. I'm more flexible now, but much more
assured as well. This comes from knowing truth via the
Holy Spirit. I know by faith that He has led
me to your work done in His name. Thanks. Written
by Tagan from Daily City, California. An encouragement, a recognition
(16:18):
that God is using this ministry not by might nor
by power, but by his spirit. Of course, we need
people to stand with us prayerfully and financially. And as
I say every year at this time, these are make
it or break it months at the end of the year.
They're so important for us to continue doing what we're doing.
We live on a razor's edge month to month to
(16:41):
continue the ministry, and we ask you to stand with us,
prayerfully and financially. Again, you could do so in a safe,
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write me as well as Post Office Box eighty five hundred, Charlotte,
North Carolina as a code two eight two seven. One
of course, has always resource consultants are standing by Triple
eight seven thousand kind of letter see Ronis gerpic the
(17:04):
phone lines doctor John and Nashville, Tennessee Hi John, Hey, HENK,
how you doing it?
Speaker 5 (17:09):
Thanks for taking my call. I had a couple quick questions.
One was just a Commentay, I'd love how you're talking about.
You know, we were losing a generation of givers. My
dad was born in nineteen nineteen. He really taught us.
You know, you had tied and you pay your bills
and then what was left of that you take twenty
percent and give to some other people. So it worked
for me my whole life, and I appreciate its teaching her. Wow,
(17:31):
but it really has It really doesn't wonders for me.
But I had a question. I hear you say a
lot about apologetics Christianity. I know that doesn't mean apologize
to be for being a Christian. I'm just wondering what
Jim mean when when you say that, I don't understand that.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
Yeah. Sure, apologetics is a word that describes what the
Bible defines as a defense of the Christian faith. So
apologetics is rooted in what Peter said, always be prepared
to give an answer, an apologetic to everyone who asks
(18:08):
you to give the reason for the hope that you have.
But do this with gentleness and with respect. So, in short,
apologetics is synonymous with defense.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
So what we.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
Do in apologetics is provide a defense of the faith
once for all, in trust of the saints. And this,
of course, just as you point out on the prolog
to the question, is not an apology for but again
it is giving an answer to those who question the faith.
Speaker 5 (18:39):
Okay, I listened to Show every day, and I tell
what does that mean? This didn't get it, but I
understand it and now completely. Thank you very much, sir.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
Well, I'm glad you asked the question, because if you're
asking the question, a lot of people are as well.
And sometimes we use words and we have used them
so long in house as it were, that we expect
other people to understand the death, an isition and some
things that don't. So it's greatly you ask the question.
Speaker 5 (19:03):
Well, thank you, God, bless you, God.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
Bless you as well. I want to go back the
phone lines. Next up as Daniel listening in Nashville, Tennessee.
Hi Daniel, Hi Hank.
Speaker 6 (19:12):
Thank you so much for your ministry. I have grown
so much listening to you over the years, and you know,
to your appeals for people to support you, I can
think of no better ministry.
Speaker 4 (19:21):
To invest in for sure.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 6 (19:25):
I my question for you today is about something you've
talked about several times on this show, and I might
have I haven't yet gotten a clear picture in my
mind of what to say in these instances. But so
often you have said, and correctly so, that the Bible
is opposed to slavery from from start to finish. It
(19:47):
it's it's it doesn't there's nothing in there that really
supports the concept of slavery. And I agree with that
if you read the scripture in context and in total.
But yet a lot of my non believing friends and
my questioning friends will take individual verses and cite them
(20:08):
as being evidence that the Bible supports the concept of
slavery and so forth. And what I don't have clear
in my mind is how do you successfully respond to
people who who cite those examples, both from the New
Testament and the Old Testament.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
Yeah, well, a couple of things. I think you have
to acknowledge that the Bible as a whole recognizes the
reality of slavery, but it never promotes the practice of slavery.
In fact, I think you can point out on the
basis of the Bible that it was biblical principles that
ultimately led to the overthrow of slavery not only in
ancient Israel, but in the United States of America as well.
(20:47):
So Israel's liberation from slavery in Egypt was a model
for the liberation of slaves in general. And this is
the liberating truth that we're taught in scripture that in
Christ there's no male or female, there's no slavery free.
There's no Jew or Greek where one in Christ. So again,
what you have is a recognition that slavery was a fact,
(21:13):
But while it was a fact, it is never commended.
So it's descriptive but not prescriptive. The other thing that
you have to recognize this is a big difference between
the kind of slavery that you see in the Bible
and the kind of slavery that we have seen practiced
in modern times. In our culture, slavery is charged with
(21:34):
the emotional and sociological overtones that it didn't have in
the Biblical world. For example, sometimes slaves were tied to
military victories, but most often to economic realities, And because
there were no bankruptcy laws, when you got into a
financial hawk, you oftentimes had to sell yourself into servitude
to discharge the debt. So if you're a doctor, you'd
(21:56):
use your skills as a doctor to repay your master
until that debt was fully discharged. So unlike in American slavery,
there was no race tied to slavery. Now, I would
say that you also have the prescriptive passages in scripture
that are very clear. For example, if you look at
First Timothy Chapter one, slave traders are put in the
(22:20):
category of murderers, adulters, perverts, and liars. And when Joseph
was sold into slavery in the Old Testament, it was
considered a great evil. So there's no commendation of slavery.
But the Bible paints reality with all its warts, moles,
and wrinkles.
Speaker 6 (22:38):
Is it fair to say that those passages in the
Old Testament and the one in the New Testament, I suppose,
which deal with slaves and masters, are we talking about
a system of slavery where you can get yourself out eventually,
as opposed to American slavery, which was you were just
considered poverty for.
Speaker 4 (22:55):
Life, and that was that.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
Yeah, although you need to remember they are all kinds
of different uses of the word slavery. For example, if
the king of Babylon came in and conquered the Southern
Kingdom of Israel and then took Jehoia Chin and led
Jehoia Chin into slavery and then installed a vassal king
from one of the Israelites becomes king, and now that
(23:19):
king becomes a vassal of the Babylonian Empire, he's still
considered a slave, but he lives in a palace, he
has all the pomp and circumstance of a king who
rules a people, but yet he's considered a slave. So
slave as a word is not unifical, it's equivocal. It's
used in a lot of different ways in scripture. But
I think again, you have to go back to the principle.
(23:41):
The application of biblical principles ultimately led to the overflow
of slavery. And the biblical precedent is this, that all
humans are created in the image of God, that Israel's
emancipation from slavery in Egypt was a model for the
liberation of slaves in general, and that Paul said in Christ,
there's neither slave nor free. We're one in Christ. So
(24:01):
this is not a matter of one person being less
worthy than another person. It has to do with oftentimes
economic reality or military victories and these kinds of things.
Speaker 6 (24:15):
Well, that's tremendously helpful. You know. I talk to people
who are either they're seeking to find something that grab
onto that we'll say to them, the Bible is true
and I need to be a Christian, or they're looking
for a way to disprove it. And so often slavery
is an easy handle to grab onto to disprove the Bible. Yeah,
(24:39):
you know, why should I follow your God because he
promotes things like slavery.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
Yeah, and again you need to be able to give
an answer and use this as a springboard or an
opportunity to communicate the truth. But there are sometimes where
you find people using this as a pretext to be
able to discount the accountability that they otherwise feel in
a biblical worldview.
Speaker 6 (25:03):
Well that's very good. Well, God bless you and thank
you very much for all you do for us, and
keep up the great work.
Speaker 2 (25:11):
Thank you very much. Appreciate your call. Of course, in
the new world, a slave might well have been a
commodity or a property denuded of rights and privileges. But
that's not the case an ancient Israel. There a slave
was akin to a subject or a servant. As such,
when a Christian calls herself a slave or a bond
(25:33):
servant of Jesus Christ, we don't for a moment mistake
the meaning. While we would never call a modern presidential
aid a slave, an ancient Israelite vassal king, as I
just pointed out, with all kinds of pop and circumstance,
could be so designated. In other words, an ancient israel
slavery denoted subordination in social standing, not ownership. Big difference.
(25:59):
Out of time for this edition of the Bible Lanceman Broadcast.
Look forward to seeing you right back here tomorrow with
more answers.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
We appreciate you tuning in to the Bible answer Man Broadcast.
Before we sign off today, here's our contact information by
phone dial eight eight eight seven thousand CRII, which translates
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(26:26):
You can also write CRII at Post Office Box eighty
five hundred, Charlotte, North Carolina. The zip code is two
eight two seven one. Our prayer is that today's broadcast
has equipped you to better defend your faith and encouraged
you to pursue sound doctrine and godly living. Thank you
for listening. The Bible answer Man Broadcast is supported by
(26:48):
listeners like you. We're on the air because life and
truth matter. The Complete Bible answer Book Collector's Edition is
the comprehensive collection of the most often asked questions Hank
Hannigraph has received throughout his four decades as host of
(27:11):
the Bible answer Man Broadcast. With more than half a
million copies already in print, this newly revised and expanded
Collector's Edition helped seekers and skeptics alike sort through the
truth on topics such as reliability of the Bible, religions
and cults, the resurrection and afterlife, and many more issues
(27:31):
vital to a better understanding of God in Christ and
our relationship to Him. To receive your copy of the
Complete Bible answer Book Collector's Edition, Revised and Expanded, call
eight eight eight seven thousand CRII and make a gift
to support the Christian Research Institute's life changing outreaches eight
(27:51):
eight eight seven thousand CRII or visit us at EQUIP
dot org
From Charlotte, North Carolina. You're listening to the Bible answer
Man broadcast with Hank Hanagraph, president of the Christian Research Institute.
The reason the Bible answer Man is on the air
is to defend the Christian faith, proclaim the gospel of
our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and to teach discipleship
to his followers because life and truth matter. For more
(00:30):
information or to order equipping resources, call eight eight eight
seven thousand CRII, which translates to eight eight eight seven
thousand two seven four, or go online to equip dot org.
That's equip dot org. The following program was pre recorded
(00:50):
and now here's your host, Hank Hanagraph.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Thanks much, Randy. What are you hanging on? First up
Wade in Springfield, Missouri, highwait.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Hello, Pink.
Speaker 4 (01:00):
I want to tell you I thank you and appreciate
your gracious spirit even with those that you with which
you disagree, And I want to get right to my question.
As a proponent of open theism, I was wondering how
you reconcile some of the things that you've said with
(01:23):
regard to allowing scripture to speak for itself, in particular
with prophecy, with some of the contingent language that you
see in the Old Testament, in particular in historical books
like Exodus and others, where you know the word says
that God changes his mind, and where people of faith,
(01:48):
people like Moses as an example, or has A KaiA,
seemed to influence God's decision making. And I'd be glad
to just hear what you have to say about that.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Appreciate your question, and I've said this many times as
the biplanes Man broadcast, I don't think it's God who
changes his mind, but people who change in relationship to God.
By way of analogy, if you walk into a headwind,
you struggle against the wind. If you may go, you
turn on the road, the wind, of course is now
at your back. It's not the wind that's changed, but
(02:21):
you have changed in relationship to the wind. And I
think that's the same thing that you find in the
Old Testament. God's promise to destroy Nineveh, for example, was
not aborted because he didn't know the future, but because
the Ninavites, who had walked in opposition to God, now
turn from walking in their wicked ways to walking in
(02:43):
concert with the will of God. So all of God's
promises to blest or to judge, have to be understood
in light of the condition that God withholds blessings on
account of disobedience and withhold's judgment on account of repentance.
Speaker 4 (03:00):
And I understand that. But I'm thinking in particular of
the incident in the Exodus where the children of Israel
create the Golden Calf, and you know, the whole story.
As moseses is is with God and as he comes
down and sees what's taking place, you know, he ends
up back on the mountain with God. And God says,
(03:23):
you know, Moses, and I'm paraphrasing, obviously, Moses, I've had
it with these with these people, I am going to
to destroy them and start over with you. And Moses
essentially argues with God at that point, and and God
relents and allows Moses to go back down. He punishes Israel,
(03:45):
but he doesn't destroy them as he says he's going
to do. And I'm curious as to how we're supposed
to look at that.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Well, we're supposed to look at it as answerromorphic language
God speaking or condescended me to speak, and language to
which we can relate. So I don't think we want
to take that language in a wooden literal sense. We
want to take it in the sense in which it's intended.
When the Bible says in Genesis chapter one that God
is asking Adam, ware argue, we don't suddenly think that
(04:13):
God has lost his omniscience. We think the language is
a heavenly condescension to our inadequacies. The same thing is
true throughout the Old Testament. This is a divine condescension
to human limitation. So it's speaking in our language. But
it certainly doesn't in any sense mean that God has
changed his mind. And I think this is something that
(04:35):
we have to look at throughout all of scripture, because
what we see from the beginning to the end is
the omniscience of God. Isaiah, for example, says that God
knows the end from the beginning, and therefore God's knowledge
is exhaustive, including his knowledge of the things that are
yet future. Not only that, but if God's knowledge of
(04:59):
the future is fallible, then biblical predictions that depend on
human agency might well have turned out wrong. And even
Jesus' prediction in the all of a discourse then could
have failed, and therefore it would have undermined his claim
to deity, a God himself would have failed the biblical
(05:19):
test to be a prophet. And if God's knowledge of
the future is incomplete, then we would be foolish to
trust him to answer our prayers. And therefore we could
not have confidence, as the Bible says we should have
in approaching God. When we ask anything according to his will,
(05:39):
he hears us. And if we know that he hears
us whatever we ask, we know that we have what
we've asked of him. So I think the ramifications of
open theism or finite Godism, neo theism, whatever moniker you
want to use here, has extraordinarily dangerous ramifications. I've written
about this in various places where, including the Complete Bible
(06:00):
answer Book Collector's Edition. Want to go back to the
phone lines. We'll talk next to Alberto listening in Savannah, Georgia. Hi, Alberto,
Good evening, sir, good evening.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
Yeah. I'm much a question about when a rich man
and Lazarus. When a rich man's in hell, how can
a person who's in hell, when he sows burning in
hell in the flames, how can you have a normal
conversation with somebody else? Because imagine if I wasn't golf,
poor gasoline in my whole time, of my whole body,
and let a match. I can't know how a normal
(06:32):
conversation with somebody. How he's constantly be screaming and yelling
and you know, make all crazy noises. Now having a
conversation with somebody, How can a briche may have a
normal conversation with Abraham to tell Lazara to dip his
finger and water.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Yeah, well, good question. And it's great that the question
follows on the heels of the one that preceded it,
the question that wait to ask, because again, what you
have here is a story told by Jesus Christ to
make a point. Now, the story has a basis in reality.
There's a rich man. He's caressed in purple and linen.
(07:08):
He has ample food, he has all the luxuries of life.
He goes in and out of his gates, and he
sees daily a beggar lying by his gates. And then
Jesus makes the point that both of them die, and
the circumstance is reversed. The beggar who was in torment
(07:29):
is now in Abraham's bosom or by Abraham's side, and
is experiencing bliss and joy. And peace and everything that
the rich man had in full measure on this earth.
But the rich man is in the opposite condition. He
is now experiencing torment. Now again, when the Bible uses
(07:51):
the language of flames, there is ample reason for us
to recognize that those flames are pointing to a more
graphic reality. It's not as though he is literally burning up.
Remember that what happens at death is the soul leaves
the body. The soul is non physical, non physical entities
(08:15):
don't even have extension in space. So when the soul
is in torment, it's not a locational statement. Rather, what
it's doing is it's pointing to a relational in this case,
a lack of relationship with God, and therein lies the torment.
But it's only an earnest of what is to come,
because at some future point in time, the soul returns
(08:36):
to the body, and the body rises in mortal, imperishable, incorruptible,
and then the rich man will once again have location
in space, or will have physicality. So again, this is
anthropomorphic language, a language that is a heavenly condescension to
human beings.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
Okay, so in other words, it's like only a figuous
beach type thing.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
Yeah, it's a metaphor, and there's ample biblical precedent for
interpreting the fire of hell metaphorically. For example, consider the
words of James, who describe the human tongue as being
set on fire by Hell. The tongue, says James, is
a fire, a world of evil among the parts of
(09:22):
the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the course
of his life on fire, and it itself is set
on fire. James obviously doesn't intend for us to suppose
the tongue, which is itself a metaphor for human language,
is a literal fire that literally sets on fire the
(09:43):
course of one's life. Nor are human tongues or languages
literally set on fire by Hell. Rather, just as James
uses the language of fire as a metaphor for the
destructive power of words, so too he uses the language
of fire as a metaphor for the destructive nature of hell.
And there are many other examples that could be given.
(10:04):
And I think this is a really important question that
you're asking, and one that stumbles a lot of people.
So let me elaborate. The Bible uses the metaphor of
fire to describe God's jealousy in Deuteronomy chapter four, sexual
lust in Proverbs chapter six, unbridled passion in Hoseah chapter seven.
(10:25):
Not only so, but the Bible also uses the metaphor
of darkness where they'll be weeping and gnashing of teeth,
blackest darkness, all ways of describing hell. There are many
other images that are used to describe the horrors of hell,
but we shouldn't take those images in a wooden literal sense,
(10:47):
but rather in the sense in which they're intended.
Speaker 3 (10:49):
Okay, all right, thank you sir.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
You got it. Thank you so much for your call.
We'll be back in just a few moments right here
on the pipel answer Man Broadcast with more answers to
your questions today. Tuned for that in the meantime. To
remember that this is a ministry supported by listeners just
like you. We need you to support us financially as
well as prayer flee and you can do that in
a say secure fashion on the web at equipp dot org.
Be right back with more answers in just a moment.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
To find out more about the materials mentioned on the show,
call a CRII resource consultant toll free at eight eight
eight seven thousand cri that's eight eight eight seven thousand CRII.
Our website is also an excellent reference destination to help you.
Just go to equip dot org and find articles by Hank, books,
(11:37):
CDs and DVDs. Again, that's equip dot org or write
CRII PO Box eighty five hundred, Charlotte, North Carolina, Zip
two eight two seven one. The Bible answer Man will
continue in just a moment. The Complete Bible answer Book
(12:02):
Collector's Edition is the comprehensive collection of the most often
asked questions Hank Hannigraph has received throughout his four decades
as host of The Bible answer Man broadcast. With more
than half a million copies already in print, this newly
revised and expanded Collector's Edition helped seekers and skeptics alike
sort through the truth on topics such as reliability of
(12:25):
the Bible, religions and cults, the resurrection and afterlife, and
many more issues vital to a better understanding of God
in Christ and our relationship to Him. To receive your
copy of the Complete Bible answer Book Collector's Edition, Revised
and Expanded, call eight eight eight seven thousand CRII and
(12:46):
make a gift to support the Christian Research Institute's life
changing outreaches eight eight eight seven thousand CRII or visit
us at equip dot org. Has God Spoken? Are the
(13:08):
words of Scripture merely human in origin? Or are they
in fact the very words of God himself? Three years
in the making and based on two decades of research
and reflection, Hank Henigraph's monumental book Has God Spoken answers
what is surely the most important question facing our world.
In Has God Spoken? Memorable Proofs of the Bible's Divine inspiration,
(13:32):
Hank counters the contentions of the Bible attackers and clearly
shows that belief in the Holy Scriptures is not a
guess or wishful thinking. It is the only logical conclusion
after an honest examination of overwhelming evidence. Ordered Has God Spoken?
From the Christian Research Institute by calling eighty eight seven
thousand CRII or go online to equip dot org. Equip
(13:57):
dot org. Has God Spoken? Are the words of Scripture
merely human in origin? Or are they in fact the
very words of God himself? Three years in the making
and based on two decades of research and reflection, Hank
(14:20):
Henagraph's monumental book, Has God Spoken, answers what is surely
the most important question facing our world. In Has God Spoken,
memorable proofs of the Bible's divine inspiration, Hank counters the
contentions of the Bible attackers and clearly shows that belief
in the Holy Scriptures is not a guess or wishful thinking.
(14:40):
It is the only logical conclusion after an honest examination
of overwhelming evidence. Order Has God Spoken from the Christian
Research Institute by calling eighty eight seven thousand CRII, or
go online to equip dot org. Equip dot org. Now
(15:07):
back to the Bible answer Man Broadcast and your host
and canigraph.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Thank you so much, Randy, and in hopes that this
will inspire you to support the ministry of the Christian
Research Institute, want to read a testimony It says, I
want to thank you for writing The Apocalypse Code. Thank
you for your labor in study and your diligence in writing,
organizing and compiling what you've learned. Your book has freed
(15:33):
me from nursery rhymes and has brought me into the
loving classroom of God of a greater respect, a much
greater respect for God and for his word. Why Because
I see more of Him now. You have given me
a key of understanding that keeps opening new drawers in
the scripture. I have not simply traded one school of
(15:56):
thought for another. I'm more flexible now, but much more
assured as well. This comes from knowing truth via the
Holy Spirit. I know by faith that He has led
me to your work done in His name. Thanks. Written
by Tagan from Daily City, California. An encouragement, a recognition
(16:18):
that God is using this ministry not by might nor
by power, but by his spirit. Of course, we need
people to stand with us prayerfully and financially. And as
I say every year at this time, these are make
it or break it months at the end of the year.
They're so important for us to continue doing what we're doing.
We live on a razor's edge month to month to
(16:41):
continue the ministry, and we ask you to stand with us,
prayerfully and financially. Again, you could do so in a safe,
secure fashion on the webity equipped dot org. You can
write me as well as Post Office Box eighty five hundred, Charlotte,
North Carolina as a code two eight two seven. One
of course, has always resource consultants are standing by Triple
eight seven thousand kind of letter see Ronis gerpic the
(17:04):
phone lines doctor John and Nashville, Tennessee Hi John, Hey, HENK,
how you doing it?
Speaker 5 (17:09):
Thanks for taking my call. I had a couple quick questions.
One was just a Commentay, I'd love how you're talking about.
You know, we were losing a generation of givers. My
dad was born in nineteen nineteen. He really taught us.
You know, you had tied and you pay your bills
and then what was left of that you take twenty
percent and give to some other people. So it worked
for me my whole life, and I appreciate its teaching her. Wow,
(17:31):
but it really has It really doesn't wonders for me.
But I had a question. I hear you say a
lot about apologetics Christianity. I know that doesn't mean apologize
to be for being a Christian. I'm just wondering what
Jim mean when when you say that, I don't understand that.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
Yeah. Sure, apologetics is a word that describes what the
Bible defines as a defense of the Christian faith. So
apologetics is rooted in what Peter said, always be prepared
to give an answer, an apologetic to everyone who asks
(18:08):
you to give the reason for the hope that you have.
But do this with gentleness and with respect. So, in short,
apologetics is synonymous with defense.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
So what we.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
Do in apologetics is provide a defense of the faith
once for all, in trust of the saints. And this,
of course, just as you point out on the prolog
to the question, is not an apology for but again
it is giving an answer to those who question the faith.
Speaker 5 (18:39):
Okay, I listened to Show every day, and I tell
what does that mean? This didn't get it, but I
understand it and now completely. Thank you very much, sir.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
Well, I'm glad you asked the question, because if you're
asking the question, a lot of people are as well.
And sometimes we use words and we have used them
so long in house as it were, that we expect
other people to understand the death, an isition and some
things that don't. So it's greatly you ask the question.
Speaker 5 (19:03):
Well, thank you, God, bless you, God.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
Bless you as well. I want to go back the
phone lines. Next up as Daniel listening in Nashville, Tennessee.
Hi Daniel, Hi Hank.
Speaker 6 (19:12):
Thank you so much for your ministry. I have grown
so much listening to you over the years, and you know,
to your appeals for people to support you, I can
think of no better ministry.
Speaker 4 (19:21):
To invest in for sure.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 6 (19:25):
I my question for you today is about something you've
talked about several times on this show, and I might
have I haven't yet gotten a clear picture in my
mind of what to say in these instances. But so
often you have said, and correctly so, that the Bible
is opposed to slavery from from start to finish. It
(19:47):
it's it's it doesn't there's nothing in there that really
supports the concept of slavery. And I agree with that
if you read the scripture in context and in total.
But yet a lot of my non believing friends and
my questioning friends will take individual verses and cite them
(20:08):
as being evidence that the Bible supports the concept of
slavery and so forth. And what I don't have clear
in my mind is how do you successfully respond to
people who who cite those examples, both from the New
Testament and the Old Testament.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
Yeah, well, a couple of things. I think you have
to acknowledge that the Bible as a whole recognizes the
reality of slavery, but it never promotes the practice of slavery.
In fact, I think you can point out on the
basis of the Bible that it was biblical principles that
ultimately led to the overthrow of slavery not only in
ancient Israel, but in the United States of America as well.
(20:47):
So Israel's liberation from slavery in Egypt was a model
for the liberation of slaves in general. And this is
the liberating truth that we're taught in scripture that in
Christ there's no male or female, there's no slavery free.
There's no Jew or Greek where one in Christ. So again,
what you have is a recognition that slavery was a fact,
(21:13):
But while it was a fact, it is never commended.
So it's descriptive but not prescriptive. The other thing that
you have to recognize this is a big difference between
the kind of slavery that you see in the Bible
and the kind of slavery that we have seen practiced
in modern times. In our culture, slavery is charged with
(21:34):
the emotional and sociological overtones that it didn't have in
the Biblical world. For example, sometimes slaves were tied to
military victories, but most often to economic realities, And because
there were no bankruptcy laws, when you got into a
financial hawk, you oftentimes had to sell yourself into servitude
to discharge the debt. So if you're a doctor, you'd
(21:56):
use your skills as a doctor to repay your master
until that debt was fully discharged. So unlike in American slavery,
there was no race tied to slavery. Now, I would
say that you also have the prescriptive passages in scripture
that are very clear. For example, if you look at
First Timothy Chapter one, slave traders are put in the
(22:20):
category of murderers, adulters, perverts, and liars. And when Joseph
was sold into slavery in the Old Testament, it was
considered a great evil. So there's no commendation of slavery.
But the Bible paints reality with all its warts, moles,
and wrinkles.
Speaker 6 (22:38):
Is it fair to say that those passages in the
Old Testament and the one in the New Testament, I suppose,
which deal with slaves and masters, are we talking about
a system of slavery where you can get yourself out eventually,
as opposed to American slavery, which was you were just
considered poverty for.
Speaker 4 (22:55):
Life, and that was that.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
Yeah, although you need to remember they are all kinds
of different uses of the word slavery. For example, if
the king of Babylon came in and conquered the Southern
Kingdom of Israel and then took Jehoia Chin and led
Jehoia Chin into slavery and then installed a vassal king
from one of the Israelites becomes king, and now that
(23:19):
king becomes a vassal of the Babylonian Empire, he's still
considered a slave, but he lives in a palace, he
has all the pomp and circumstance of a king who
rules a people, but yet he's considered a slave. So
slave as a word is not unifical, it's equivocal. It's
used in a lot of different ways in scripture. But
I think again, you have to go back to the principle.
(23:41):
The application of biblical principles ultimately led to the overflow
of slavery. And the biblical precedent is this, that all
humans are created in the image of God, that Israel's
emancipation from slavery in Egypt was a model for the
liberation of slaves in general, and that Paul said in Christ,
there's neither slave nor free. We're one in Christ. So
(24:01):
this is not a matter of one person being less
worthy than another person. It has to do with oftentimes
economic reality or military victories and these kinds of things.
Speaker 6 (24:15):
Well, that's tremendously helpful. You know. I talk to people
who are either they're seeking to find something that grab
onto that we'll say to them, the Bible is true
and I need to be a Christian, or they're looking
for a way to disprove it. And so often slavery
is an easy handle to grab onto to disprove the Bible. Yeah,
(24:39):
you know, why should I follow your God because he
promotes things like slavery.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
Yeah, and again you need to be able to give
an answer and use this as a springboard or an
opportunity to communicate the truth. But there are sometimes where
you find people using this as a pretext to be
able to discount the accountability that they otherwise feel in
a biblical worldview.
Speaker 6 (25:03):
Well that's very good. Well, God bless you and thank
you very much for all you do for us, and
keep up the great work.
Speaker 2 (25:11):
Thank you very much. Appreciate your call. Of course, in
the new world, a slave might well have been a
commodity or a property denuded of rights and privileges. But
that's not the case an ancient Israel. There a slave
was akin to a subject or a servant. As such,
when a Christian calls herself a slave or a bond
(25:33):
servant of Jesus Christ, we don't for a moment mistake
the meaning. While we would never call a modern presidential
aid a slave, an ancient Israelite vassal king, as I
just pointed out, with all kinds of pop and circumstance,
could be so designated. In other words, an ancient israel
slavery denoted subordination in social standing, not ownership. Big difference.
(25:59):
Out of time for this edition of the Bible Lanceman Broadcast.
Look forward to seeing you right back here tomorrow with
more answers.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
We appreciate you tuning in to the Bible answer Man Broadcast.
Before we sign off today, here's our contact information by
phone dial eight eight eight seven thousand CRII, which translates
to eight eight eight seven thousand two seven four On
the Internet, go to equip dot org. That's equip dot org.
(26:26):
You can also write CRII at Post Office Box eighty
five hundred, Charlotte, North Carolina. The zip code is two
eight two seven one. Our prayer is that today's broadcast
has equipped you to better defend your faith and encouraged
you to pursue sound doctrine and godly living. Thank you
for listening. The Bible answer Man Broadcast is supported by
(26:48):
listeners like you. We're on the air because life and
truth matter. The Complete Bible answer Book Collector's Edition is
the comprehensive collection of the most often asked questions Hank
Hannigraph has received throughout his four decades as host of
(27:11):
the Bible answer Man Broadcast. With more than half a
million copies already in print, this newly revised and expanded
Collector's Edition helped seekers and skeptics alike sort through the
truth on topics such as reliability of the Bible, religions
and cults, the resurrection and afterlife, and many more issues
(27:31):
vital to a better understanding of God in Christ and
our relationship to Him. To receive your copy of the
Complete Bible answer Book Collector's Edition, Revised and Expanded, call
eight eight eight seven thousand CRII and make a gift
to support the Christian Research Institute's life changing outreaches eight
(27:51):
eight eight seven thousand CRII or visit us at EQUIP
dot org
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