August 25, 2025 • 28 mins
On today’s Bible Answer Man broadcast (08/25/25), Hank discusses his book Afterlife: What You Need to Know about Heaven, the Hereafter and Near-Death Experiences, detailing the three phases of life: life in the present, life after life—the separation of the physical and nonphysical aspects of our humanity, and life after life-after-life—the time in the future where our humanity will be reunited with our perfected physical body in the new heaven and new earth.
Hank also answers the following questions:
Is there biblical support for the closing of the canon of Scripture? Matthew - Turlock, CA (4:33)
According to Luke 18:15-17, what is the age of accountability? Sean - Fresno, CA (6:39)
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:
Is there biblical support for the closing of the canon of Scripture? Matthew - Turlock, CA (4:33)
According to Luke 18:15-17, what is the age of accountability? Sean - Fresno, CA (6:39)
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):
Heard all across the United States, Canada and around the world.
This is the Bible answer Man broadcast with Hank Annagraph.
Hank as President of the Christian Research Institute at CRI.
Our desire is to equip you not only to defend
the historic Christian faith, but to become a winsome witness
to a spiritually hungry but skeptical world, because life and
(00:31):
truth matter. To learn more or to find resources to
help you grow in grace, call eight eight eight seven
thousand CROI or go online to equip dot org. That's
equip dot org. The following program was pre recorded and
now here's Hank Canagraph.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Thank you how much Randian will go to your calls
in just a moment. For some of you, you are
already aware of the fact that I have written a
book titled After Life. The living know that they will die,
said Solomon. But then, what what happens when your life
on earth comes to an end? For some this might
(01:14):
be your last year, your last month, perhaps even your
last day. No amount of wealth or status can thwart
the grim reaper. The question, of course, is then what
life comprises three phases? First, is life in the present?
(01:41):
When your mother conceived you. She did not merely conceive
your body. She conceived both the physical and the metaphysical
aspects of your humanity. And from that moment to the
present moment you can rightly be said to be experiencing
the nectar of life. But there's also life after life.
(02:02):
At some future point in time, you and I will
experience the separation of the physical and non physical aspects
of our humanity. For my dad, that's already happened. To
borrow the words of the apostle Paul, my father is
now away from the body, and he's at home with
the Lord. In other words, he is even now experiencing
(02:24):
life after life. To say that life after life, the
very life after life that my father now experiences as extraordinary,
is to understate reality. Paul goes so far as to
say that to depart and be with Christ is actually
better by far. But there's another phase. I call it
(02:44):
life after life after life. My dad then is poised
to experience that realm of existence in the future. In fact,
that's the very quintessence of the Christian worldview. Jesus died
and was physically resurrected, and so it will be for
you and me. As Jesus rose, we too will rise.
(03:07):
As such, when Jesus appears the second time, the non
physical aspect of my father's humanity, now at home with
the Lord, will be reunited with a real, physical, flesh
and bone body, perfectly engineered for a new Heaven and
a new Earth. And then, of course raises a lot
of questions. If heaven is for real? Who gets to
(03:28):
go there? Does Heaven have pearly gates and streets of gold?
What happens to those who have never heard of Jesus?
Do people in Heaven know what is presently happening on Earth?
How old are we going to be an eternity? What
about ghosts? Is hell for real? Do demons torment the
(03:52):
damn there? Even now, a host of related questions are,
no doubt percolating in your mind. And unfortunately, men, any
of those questions in the present are being answered by
faulty interpretations of scripture, by out of body experiences, and
now through the popular craze of near death experiences. And
again that's why I produced the book After Life. You
(04:15):
can check it out on the web at equipped dot org.
You can get your copy by writing me at post
office box eighty five hundred, Charlotte, North Carolina, zip code
two eight two seven one, or as always you can
talk to our resource consult z number triple eight seven
thousand and a letter C or a lot of you
hanging on will go right to the phone lines. First
up as Matthew listening in Turlock, California on the web.
(04:38):
Hi Matthew, how are you doing good? Thank you Greed.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
My question is I have a friend and there's a
couple of things I was hoping you're able to help
me with. Basically, he is trying to say that there
is no difference between when God inspired the apostles to
write scripture in comparison to God in hiring any Christian
author or theologian today to write something. And I was
(05:06):
hoping you could help me be able to show him
scriptures that so we do have a closed Hannon.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Yeah, Well, you know, I've wat many books, and while
I am very, very happy with the work I've done
in writing, I would never claim to the status of
my writing to be on par with the writing of
the Bible. And there's a reason for that. God himself
set the conditions by which new revelations must be ratified
(05:35):
and that was confirmation by those who were eye witnesses
to the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and therefore, with the
death of the apostles, there can be no new revelations,
and the Apostle Paul is the quintessential test case. The
Apostolic community validated him as an eyewitness to the resurrection
(05:56):
and as an apostle, and therefore revelation received through the
Apostle Paul, unlike revelations received through modern revelators, can be
deemed reliable and binding on the body of Christ. When
I write something, I always say, test what I've written
in light of scripture, and hold fast to that which
(06:18):
is good, which is to say, whatever I communicate has
to be tested in light of the final court of arbitration,
which is the word of God given through the prophets
and apostles, which Jesus Christ the cornerstone.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
Awesome, awesome, Thank you so much for that, and I
praise cause for your ministry, Ink and everyone there at CRI.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
God bless you, God bless you. Back to the phone lines,
We'll talk next to Sean listening in Fresno, California. Hi, Sean, Hey,
how you doing heny doing well? Thank you?
Speaker 4 (06:47):
Thank My wife and I were reading through lou when
Jesus is taking the little child and said, the kingdom
of having belonged to such a these got us talking
about the age of accountability for the life of me.
Cannot find an answer to this question, So I'm finally
calling in after about ten or eleven years of listening to you.
(07:08):
Is that a literal verse or just metaphorical?
Speaker 5 (07:10):
What are your taught?
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Yeah? I mean I think you find that in Matthew
chapter eighteen, and you find it in the other gospels
as well, where Jesus is pointing to children as examples
of those who will inherit the kingdom of heaven. But again,
I think that that is a theological deduction that we're
making from that passage to say that children who die
(07:35):
before a particular age are automatically part of the kingdom.
It's a theological deduction. I don't think that the text
is metaphorical. I think the text is a historical narrative
where Jesus Christ is pointing to a child that is
before him in a historical context and using that child
(07:56):
as an example of what true faith really entail. But
I would say on the whole scripture remains largely silent
on the subject. And that's why I use that phrase
theological deduction. In other words, from the corpus of scripture,
we deduce that those who die prior to having the
(08:21):
knowledge of Jesus Christ, or prior to coming to an
age of accountability, are yet part of the kingdom. And
that theological deduction comes from a plethora of texts, both
New Testament the one you mentioned, but also Old Testament passages.
For example, we look at what happened to David's child
(08:41):
when David's child died, David washed his face, and he
put on clean garments, and he rejoiced because ultimately he
went from sorrow to rejoicing for the phrase that he
now knew that his child was in heaven with God,
and that one day he would indeed be reunited with
his child, and therefore he could legitimately rejoice. But again,
(09:05):
this is a theological deduction based on those passages as
well as others.
Speaker 5 (09:12):
Well, that's very helpful.
Speaker 4 (09:13):
I appreciate it, and that's what I figured.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
I was making a deduction there.
Speaker 4 (09:18):
I just wanted to know if I was missing something
in the text.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Now I don't think so, and I think Also, we're
banking on the nature of God. Right, we're saying, even
though that answer isn't specifically addressed, we know that God
is ultimately a god of love and justice, and so
we are therefore making the deduction based on the nature
(09:44):
of God, who is not willing to keep anyone out
of the kingdom, who's not trying to provide obstacles to
keep people out of the kingdom, but wants everyone to
have a relationship with Him for time and for eternity. Now,
different theologians look at this in different ways. Some say
that God looks down the court of time, sees what
that child would have done had they lived past the
(10:06):
age of accountability, and therefore judges them based on what
they would have done. So there are various explanations that
people give, and that's why I say, ultimately, we don't
want to scream where the Bible is largely silent, but
we can make legitimate theological deductions.
Speaker 5 (10:25):
Yeah, I appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (10:27):
Thank you, it's very helpful.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
You got it. Thank you so much for your call.
And do remember a ministry like the Christian Research Institute
doesn't happen by osmosis. It happens as a direct result
of people that stand with the ministry prayerfully and financially.
And so as we go to break do want to
mention that this is a ministry supported by listeners just
(10:48):
like you. Without you, we couldn't do what we do.
So we ask you to stand with us, prayerfully and financially.
You can give it a safe, secure fashion on the
webitequipped dot org, or just write me at box eighty
five hundred Charlotte, North Carolina, zip code two eight two
seven one. As always, of course, resource consultants are standing
by that number triple eight seven thousand and the letters
(11:10):
cr right. Be right back with more answers.
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 p O. Box eighty five hundred, Charlotte, North Carolina,
Zip two eight two seven one. The Bible answer Man
will continue in just a moment.
Speaker 6 (12:01):
Hank Hannagraph has dedicated his life to defending truth because
truth matters. However, his life and ministry were radically transformed
by another three word phrase, Life matters more. Truth matters
because Christianity is rooted in history and evidence. Life matters
more because it is the experience of union with God.
The goal of Christian life is union with God. All
(12:24):
attempts to understand Christianity from a solely rational perspective put
us in danger of devolving into a transactional rather than
transformational relationship with God. Truth Matters, Life matters More will
equip you to move beyond intellectually knowing about God to
experientially knowing Him in christ. To receive your copy of
Truth Matters, Life Matters More called eight eight eight seven
(12:47):
thousand CRI, and make a gift to support the Christian
Research Institute's Life changing outreaches eight eight eight seven thousand
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Speaker 1 (13:01):
The number of wolves surrounding the Christian flock is growing,
and they relish nothing more than Docile's sheep, utterly incapable
of defending themselves from militant secularists at home to militant
Islamists abroad. The assaults on biblical Christianity are growing dangerously,
but Christian Research Institutes Support Team members aren't in favor
(13:22):
of feeding these wolves. Instead, each day they're making possible
an array of outreaches that defang these wolfpacks with solid
arguments and evidence that have stood the test of time.
What's more, Support Team members are equipping themselves with criis
Equipping Essentials, a handpicked collection of the best apologetics tools around.
(13:43):
Your selection of resources are just our way of saying thanks.
To learn more about the benefits of membership, simply visit
equip dot org. Once again, that's equip dot org. Doctor
(14:03):
Evan Alexandra's wildly popular near death experience book Proof of
Heaven assures us that no matter what we do in
this life, only unconditional love and joy await us in
the world to come. But our Lord warned that while
the gate to Hell is wide, the road to it broad,
and those who enter through it are many, the gate
is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life,
(14:26):
and those who find it are few. Your generous support,
let's hank hanograph and see Uri speak out against the
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.
(14:48):
Call eight eight eight seven thousand CROI or visit equip
dot org. Now again that's equip dot org and now
(15:08):
here's Hank Canagraph.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
Thanks so much FORRNDY. We'll go right back to our
phone callers. Next up as Dave. He's in Brunswick, Georgia.
Hi Dave, Hey Hanks, how you doing doing well?
Speaker 7 (15:17):
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 from the organization and have the question
(15:42):
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 of maybe spiritual adultery. So just that's the
(16:03):
question I have. Can a Christian be a Mason? And
if not, if there's some as a scripture that you.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
Can lead me to to 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
(16:31):
the Masonic Bible, in fact, 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
(16:53):
therefore I think it's 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
(17:14):
on the web at equipped dot org.
Speaker 7 (17:16):
All right, okay, Google, I will go there and check
into that.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
Okay, wonderful. Thank you, yeah, well, thank you so much
for your call. You Ryan next listening in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
How you're Ryan?
Speaker 8 (17:27):
Hellu Yeah, I'm 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 moments in
(17:48):
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 focus to
(18:09):
a guide'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 iron that comes
from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ.
And when Christ quotes the Psalmist. We need to be
(18:32):
in tune with what the psalmist says in context, 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.
(18:55):
Who may ascend the hill of the Lord, who may
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 8 (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
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 sugg as myself, a student gets misled,
(20:59):
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 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 have
(22:21):
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 going to go back to the
phone lines. Doctor Josh and Lexington, Kentucky. Hi, Josh, Oh,
I'm doing well.
Speaker 5 (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 Book of Mark 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.
And I don't know if his disciples could actually heal
people by their touch, but if so, why not in
(23:05):
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
(23:29):
want to suggest that, but I do want to suggest
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 5 (24:57):
So the possible or a were they able to heal
people by other touches, Well, yes.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
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 presentation
(25:24):
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 5 (25:35):
What's your opinion on that? For as the day of
now well we're living in it. 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, as Benny
hint Is, claimed literally thousands and thousands of miles. I
had dinner with him one night, and I asked him
(26:02):
to 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 a book called Christianity
Crisis twenty first Century. Before to see you 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. That's eight eight eight
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 6 (27:01):
Hank Hanigraph has dedicated his life to defending truth because
truth matters. Yet, an encounter with Christians in the underground
Church of China left Hanograph contemplating his Christian experience. They
were experiencing something beyond truth. They were experiencing life. Truth matters.
Life matters. More by Hank hanigraph is two books in one,
Because Truth Matters. Part one equips Christians to defend the
(27:25):
essential truths 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. Prepare
to move past intellectually knowing about God to experientially knowing
God in Christ. To receive your copy of Truth Matters,
Life Matters More, the unexpected beauty of an authentic Christian
(27:46):
life called eight eight eight seven thousand CRI, and make
a gift to support the Christian research institutes Life Changing
Outreaches eight eight eight seven thousand CRI or visit us
at equipped dot org.
Heard all across the United States, Canada and around the world.
This is the Bible answer Man broadcast with Hank Annagraph.
Hank as President of the Christian Research Institute at CRI.
Our desire is to equip you not only to defend
the historic Christian faith, but to become a winsome witness
to a spiritually hungry but skeptical world, because life and
(00:31):
truth matter. To learn more or to find resources to
help you grow in grace, call eight eight eight seven
thousand CROI or go online to equip dot org. That's
equip dot org. The following program was pre recorded and
now here's Hank Canagraph.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Thank you how much Randian will go to your calls
in just a moment. For some of you, you are
already aware of the fact that I have written a
book titled After Life. The living know that they will die,
said Solomon. But then, what what happens when your life
on earth comes to an end? For some this might
(01:14):
be your last year, your last month, perhaps even your
last day. No amount of wealth or status can thwart
the grim reaper. The question, of course, is then what
life comprises three phases? First, is life in the present?
(01:41):
When your mother conceived you. She did not merely conceive
your body. She conceived both the physical and the metaphysical
aspects of your humanity. And from that moment to the
present moment you can rightly be said to be experiencing
the nectar of life. But there's also life after life.
(02:02):
At some future point in time, you and I will
experience the separation of the physical and non physical aspects
of our humanity. For my dad, that's already happened. To
borrow the words of the apostle Paul, my father is
now away from the body, and he's at home with
the Lord. In other words, he is even now experiencing
(02:24):
life after life. To say that life after life, the
very life after life that my father now experiences as extraordinary,
is to understate reality. Paul goes so far as to
say that to depart and be with Christ is actually
better by far. But there's another phase. I call it
(02:44):
life after life after life. My dad then is poised
to experience that realm of existence in the future. In fact,
that's the very quintessence of the Christian worldview. Jesus died
and was physically resurrected, and so it will be for
you and me. As Jesus rose, we too will rise.
(03:07):
As such, when Jesus appears the second time, the non
physical aspect of my father's humanity, now at home with
the Lord, will be reunited with a real, physical, flesh
and bone body, perfectly engineered for a new Heaven and
a new Earth. And then, of course raises a lot
of questions. If heaven is for real? Who gets to
(03:28):
go there? Does Heaven have pearly gates and streets of gold?
What happens to those who have never heard of Jesus?
Do people in Heaven know what is presently happening on Earth?
How old are we going to be an eternity? What
about ghosts? Is hell for real? Do demons torment the
(03:52):
damn there? Even now, a host of related questions are,
no doubt percolating in your mind. And unfortunately, men, any
of those questions in the present are being answered by
faulty interpretations of scripture, by out of body experiences, and
now through the popular craze of near death experiences. And
again that's why I produced the book After Life. You
(04:15):
can check it out on the web at equipped dot org.
You can get your copy by writing me at post
office box eighty five hundred, Charlotte, North Carolina, zip code
two eight two seven one, or as always you can
talk to our resource consult z number triple eight seven
thousand and a letter C or a lot of you
hanging on will go right to the phone lines. First
up as Matthew listening in Turlock, California on the web.
(04:38):
Hi Matthew, how are you doing good? Thank you Greed.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
My question is I have a friend and there's a
couple of things I was hoping you're able to help
me with. Basically, he is trying to say that there
is no difference between when God inspired the apostles to
write scripture in comparison to God in hiring any Christian
author or theologian today to write something. And I was
(05:06):
hoping you could help me be able to show him
scriptures that so we do have a closed Hannon.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Yeah, Well, you know, I've wat many books, and while
I am very, very happy with the work I've done
in writing, I would never claim to the status of
my writing to be on par with the writing of
the Bible. And there's a reason for that. God himself
set the conditions by which new revelations must be ratified
(05:35):
and that was confirmation by those who were eye witnesses
to the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and therefore, with the
death of the apostles, there can be no new revelations,
and the Apostle Paul is the quintessential test case. The
Apostolic community validated him as an eyewitness to the resurrection
(05:56):
and as an apostle, and therefore revelation received through the
Apostle Paul, unlike revelations received through modern revelators, can be
deemed reliable and binding on the body of Christ. When
I write something, I always say, test what I've written
in light of scripture, and hold fast to that which
(06:18):
is good, which is to say, whatever I communicate has
to be tested in light of the final court of arbitration,
which is the word of God given through the prophets
and apostles, which Jesus Christ the cornerstone.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
Awesome, awesome, Thank you so much for that, and I
praise cause for your ministry, Ink and everyone there at CRI.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
God bless you, God bless you. Back to the phone lines,
We'll talk next to Sean listening in Fresno, California. Hi, Sean, Hey,
how you doing heny doing well? Thank you?
Speaker 4 (06:47):
Thank My wife and I were reading through lou when
Jesus is taking the little child and said, the kingdom
of having belonged to such a these got us talking
about the age of accountability for the life of me.
Cannot find an answer to this question, So I'm finally
calling in after about ten or eleven years of listening to you.
(07:08):
Is that a literal verse or just metaphorical?
Speaker 5 (07:10):
What are your taught?
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Yeah? I mean I think you find that in Matthew
chapter eighteen, and you find it in the other gospels
as well, where Jesus is pointing to children as examples
of those who will inherit the kingdom of heaven. But again,
I think that that is a theological deduction that we're
making from that passage to say that children who die
(07:35):
before a particular age are automatically part of the kingdom.
It's a theological deduction. I don't think that the text
is metaphorical. I think the text is a historical narrative
where Jesus Christ is pointing to a child that is
before him in a historical context and using that child
(07:56):
as an example of what true faith really entail. But
I would say on the whole scripture remains largely silent
on the subject. And that's why I use that phrase
theological deduction. In other words, from the corpus of scripture,
we deduce that those who die prior to having the
(08:21):
knowledge of Jesus Christ, or prior to coming to an
age of accountability, are yet part of the kingdom. And
that theological deduction comes from a plethora of texts, both
New Testament the one you mentioned, but also Old Testament passages.
For example, we look at what happened to David's child
(08:41):
when David's child died, David washed his face, and he
put on clean garments, and he rejoiced because ultimately he
went from sorrow to rejoicing for the phrase that he
now knew that his child was in heaven with God,
and that one day he would indeed be reunited with
his child, and therefore he could legitimately rejoice. But again,
(09:05):
this is a theological deduction based on those passages as
well as others.
Speaker 5 (09:12):
Well, that's very helpful.
Speaker 4 (09:13):
I appreciate it, and that's what I figured.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
I was making a deduction there.
Speaker 4 (09:18):
I just wanted to know if I was missing something
in the text.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Now I don't think so, and I think Also, we're
banking on the nature of God. Right, we're saying, even
though that answer isn't specifically addressed, we know that God
is ultimately a god of love and justice, and so
we are therefore making the deduction based on the nature
(09:44):
of God, who is not willing to keep anyone out
of the kingdom, who's not trying to provide obstacles to
keep people out of the kingdom, but wants everyone to
have a relationship with Him for time and for eternity. Now,
different theologians look at this in different ways. Some say
that God looks down the court of time, sees what
that child would have done had they lived past the
(10:06):
age of accountability, and therefore judges them based on what
they would have done. So there are various explanations that
people give, and that's why I say, ultimately, we don't
want to scream where the Bible is largely silent, but
we can make legitimate theological deductions.
Speaker 5 (10:25):
Yeah, I appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (10:27):
Thank you, it's very helpful.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
You got it. Thank you so much for your call.
And do remember a ministry like the Christian Research Institute
doesn't happen by osmosis. It happens as a direct result
of people that stand with the ministry prayerfully and financially.
And so as we go to break do want to
mention that this is a ministry supported by listeners just
(10:48):
like you. Without you, we couldn't do what we do.
So we ask you to stand with us, prayerfully and financially.
You can give it a safe, secure fashion on the
webitequipped dot org, or just write me at box eighty
five hundred Charlotte, North Carolina, zip code two eight two
seven one. As always, of course, resource consultants are standing
by that number triple eight seven thousand and the letters
(11:10):
cr right. Be right back with more answers.
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 p O. Box eighty five hundred, Charlotte, North Carolina,
Zip two eight two seven one. The Bible answer Man
will continue in just a moment.
Speaker 6 (12:01):
Hank Hannagraph has dedicated his life to defending truth because
truth matters. However, his life and ministry were radically transformed
by another three word phrase, Life matters more. Truth matters
because Christianity is rooted in history and evidence. Life matters
more because it is the experience of union with God.
The goal of Christian life is union with God. All
(12:24):
attempts to understand Christianity from a solely rational perspective put
us in danger of devolving into a transactional rather than
transformational relationship with God. Truth Matters, Life matters More will
equip you to move beyond intellectually knowing about God to
experientially knowing Him in christ. To receive your copy of
Truth Matters, Life Matters More called eight eight eight seven
(12:47):
thousand CRI, and make a gift to support the Christian
Research Institute's Life changing outreaches eight eight eight seven thousand
CRI or visit us online at equipp dot org.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
The number of wolves surrounding the Christian flock is growing,
and they relish nothing more than Docile's sheep, utterly incapable
of defending themselves from militant secularists at home to militant
Islamists abroad. The assaults on biblical Christianity are growing dangerously,
but Christian Research Institutes Support Team members aren't in favor
(13:22):
of feeding these wolves. Instead, each day they're making possible
an array of outreaches that defang these wolfpacks with solid
arguments and evidence that have stood the test of time.
What's more, Support Team members are equipping themselves with criis
Equipping Essentials, a handpicked collection of the best apologetics tools around.
(13:43):
Your selection of resources are just our way of saying thanks.
To learn more about the benefits of membership, simply visit
equip dot org. Once again, that's equip dot org. Doctor
(14:03):
Evan Alexandra's wildly popular near death experience book Proof of
Heaven assures us that no matter what we do in
this life, only unconditional love and joy await us in
the world to come. But our Lord warned that while
the gate to Hell is wide, the road to it broad,
and those who enter through it are many, the gate
is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life,
(14:26):
and those who find it are few. Your generous support,
let's hank hanograph and see Uri speak out against the
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.
(14:48):
Call eight eight eight seven thousand CROI or visit equip
dot org. Now again that's equip dot org and now
(15:08):
here's Hank Canagraph.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
Thanks so much FORRNDY. We'll go right back to our
phone callers. Next up as Dave. He's in Brunswick, Georgia.
Hi Dave, Hey Hanks, how you doing doing well?
Speaker 7 (15:17):
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 from the organization and have the question
(15:42):
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 of maybe spiritual adultery. So just that's the
(16:03):
question I have. Can a Christian be a Mason? And
if not, if there's some as a scripture that you.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
Can lead me to to 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
(16:31):
the Masonic Bible, in fact, 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
(16:53):
therefore I think it's 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
(17:14):
on the web at equipped dot org.
Speaker 7 (17:16):
All right, okay, Google, I will go there and check
into that.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
Okay, wonderful. Thank you, yeah, well, thank you so much
for your call. You Ryan next listening in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
How you're Ryan?
Speaker 8 (17:27):
Hellu Yeah, I'm 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 moments in
(17:48):
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 focus to
(18:09):
a guide'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 iron that comes
from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ.
And when Christ quotes the Psalmist. We need to be
(18:32):
in tune with what the psalmist says in context, 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.
(18:55):
Who may ascend the hill of the Lord, who may
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 8 (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
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 sugg as myself, a student gets misled,
(20:59):
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 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 have
(22:21):
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 going to go back to the
phone lines. Doctor Josh and Lexington, Kentucky. Hi, Josh, Oh,
I'm doing well.
Speaker 5 (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 Book of Mark 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.
And I don't know if his disciples could actually heal
people by their touch, but if so, why not in
(23:05):
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
(23:29):
want to suggest that, but I do want to suggest
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 5 (24:57):
So the possible or a were they able to heal
people by other touches, Well, yes.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
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 presentation
(25:24):
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 5 (25:35):
What's your opinion on that? For as the day of
now well we're living in it. 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, as Benny
hint Is, claimed literally thousands and thousands of miles. I
had dinner with him one night, and I asked him
(26:02):
to 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 a book called Christianity
Crisis twenty first Century. Before to see you 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. That's eight eight eight
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 6 (27:01):
Hank Hanigraph has dedicated his life to defending truth because
truth matters. Yet, an encounter with Christians in the underground
Church of China left Hanograph contemplating his Christian experience. They
were experiencing something beyond truth. They were experiencing life. Truth matters.
Life matters. More by Hank hanigraph is two books in one,
Because Truth Matters. Part one equips Christians to defend the
(27:25):
essential truths 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. Prepare
to move past intellectually knowing about God to experientially knowing
God in Christ. To receive your copy of Truth Matters,
Life Matters More, the unexpected beauty of an authentic Christian
(27:46):
life called eight eight eight seven thousand CRI, and make
a gift to support the Christian research institutes Life Changing
Outreaches eight eight eight seven thousand CRI or visit us
at equipped dot org.
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