August 21, 2025 • 28 mins
On today’s Bible Answer Man broadcast (08/21/25), Hank answers the following questions:
Mormon missionaries told me that Jesus was not the first sinless man; Adam was. Can you explain the error of Mormon theology in this area? Rob - Vancouver, WA (0:56)
What is your perspective on Matthew 27:52-53, where the bodies of saints were raised to life immediately following Christ’s death? Tim - Kansas City, MO (4:58)
Should Christians vote in elections? Sephra - Oklahoma City, OK (16:02)
How do you approach the passage that says we are not citizens of this world, as it relates to voting? Sephra - Oklahoma City, OK (19:35)
Isn’t it true that our primary responsibility is to evangelize and make disciples, not to focus on politics? Sephra - Oklahoma City, OK (20:46)
I feel inadequate to counter my friend’s pro-homosexual arguments. How do I defend what is right? Matt - Portland, OR (22:43)
Mormon missionaries told me that Jesus was not the first sinless man; Adam was. Can you explain the error of Mormon theology in this area? Rob - Vancouver, WA (0:56)
What is your perspective on Matthew 27:52-53, where the bodies of saints were raised to life immediately following Christ’s death? Tim - Kansas City, MO (4:58)
Should Christians vote in elections? Sephra - Oklahoma City, OK (16:02)
How do you approach the passage that says we are not citizens of this world, as it relates to voting? Sephra - Oklahoma City, OK (19:35)
Isn’t it true that our primary responsibility is to evangelize and make disciples, not to focus on politics? Sephra - Oklahoma City, OK (20:46)
I feel inadequate to counter my friend’s pro-homosexual arguments. How do I defend what is right? Matt - Portland, OR (22:43)
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 Canagraph.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Thank very much, Randy. We'll go to our callers. First
step is Rob listening in Vancouver, Washington, listening on.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
The way I Rob, Good afternoon, Hank. Thanks to you
and doctor Walt Martin before. You have been studying Mormonism
extensively for twenty years, and I have many of your resources.
But the other day the Mormons avoid my house. Now
they have me marked, I think. But the two Mormon
missionaries that came to my door here the other week
brought something up that I had not heard before, and
that was their notion of who was first born without sin?
(01:23):
And I try to follow your example and try to
bring them back to the nature and identity of Jesus Christ,
because that, of course is where they fall heavily short.
But I came up with the subject of being born
without sin, and they came back with no, Jesus was
not the first without sin. It was Adam. And I
said that, okay, but Adam was not born of man.
(01:43):
So I think this Isn't this one of those cases
of what you commonly call an onto logical or physitional discrepancy.
Could you please explain?
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Yeah, Well, a couple of things that I would say
about this. Number one is that it is true in
Christian theology that Adam was not created with sin. Adam
was created sin less, but God did create the possibility
or the potential for a sin, which, of course, as
(02:13):
we see in human history, was in fact actualized by Adam.
So Adam was the first man who sinned. And in
Mormon theology that is something they take real exception to.
They don't believe that Adam and Eve really sinned. They believe,
(02:34):
as Bruce McConkie once put it, that it's possible to
transgress a law without committing a sin, and they say
that was precisely what happened in the case of Adam
and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Where As Joseph
Fieldingsmith pontificated, he said something like, I never speak on
the part of Eve in the sense that she took
(02:55):
part in sin, nor do I accuse Adam of a sin,
And many other Mormon apologists or apostles say as much.
In the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, there is no
original sin. So there's a huge discrepancy between what Mormons
believe with respect to original sin and what Christians believe
(03:20):
in that regard.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Granted, I appreciate your explanation, Thanking God bless you in
your ministry, and please keep fighting the good fight.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Thank you, my friend. And by the way, let me
expand on that for just a moment. According to Mormon theology,
spirit children who pre exist in the spirit world need
bodies in order to progress to Godhood, and it's thus
part of the Father's plan from their perspective, to give
human beings the capacity to bear children, a capacity that
(03:50):
they did not originally possess at the creation of the world.
And then they further maintained that prior to the fall,
Adam and Eve were not mortal in the sense of
the Mormon Church redefines the word as able to bear children,
and Mormon apostle Bruce McConkie made that point crystal clear
(04:12):
when he said that, according to the Fadaine plan, Adam
was to fall, that is, in the wisdom of Him
who knoweth all things, Adam was to introduce mortality and
all that attends it, so that the opportunity for eternal
progression and perfection might be offered to all the spirit
children of the Father. Being mortal, he Adam could now
(04:36):
have children, thus providing bodies for the pre existent hosts.
And it's on that basis that Mormon's communicate the convoluted
notion that Adam and Eve transgressed the law well not
actually sinning. I've written about this in a flip chart
called the Mormon Mirage. Check it out at the webbit
equipped dot org. Back to the phone lines, We'll talk
(04:58):
next to Tim and Kansas City Zore listening about radio.
Speaker 4 (05:01):
Hi Tim, Hi, Hank. A question for you. Could you
provide your take or perspective on Matthew Chapter twenty seven,
verses fifty two and fifty three. These verses seem to
be really just kind of coming from out of nowhere
(05:21):
in the Crucifixion narrative. Yep, I am. I'm just curious.
I've tried to do some self steady in which some
commentators blatantly are calling this apocalyptic text, others referring to
a literal fulfillment hearkening back to Ezekiel. And I don't know.
(05:42):
I'm just like I said, we just appreciate your perspective
on it, because even the time frame in the events described,
I'm having trouble reconciling them in that we've got resurrected bodies,
and I just I wasn't sure these are resurrected bodies
or if we can even tell this from the text,
resurrected bodies like that of Lazarus, or are these glorified
(06:07):
bodies that then make an appearance according to verse fifty three,
I believe after the resurrection. Like I said, I just
really would like your contact on these verses.
Speaker 5 (06:21):
Well.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
I think the prolog to your question kind of gives
a great insight of the fact that people are struggling
with this passage for a variety of reasons, and this
is one of the reasons that the whole notion of
apocalyptic language is forwarded. Let me read the passage just
for the benefit of the listening audience. So here you
have Jesus crying out in a loud voice and giving
up his spirit. So this is the moment that Jesus
(06:43):
Christ dies. And at that moment, the text tells us,
if you're reading Matthew twenty seven, that the curtain of
the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. Now,
just parenthetically, that would have been a very apocalyptic event,
to say the least, I adgine this. You have the
temple curtain being torn, being split. It seems to me,
(07:09):
and again this is parenthetical to the real point that
I want to make in a saying. Seems to me
that if that were the case, it would not only
be described as such in Matthew's Gospel, but also in
extra biblical sources. The text goes on to say that
the earth shook and the rock split, the tombs broke open,
(07:30):
and the bodies of many holy people who had died
were raised to life. They came out of the tombs,
and after Jesus's resurrection, they went into the Holy City
and appeared to many people. So here you have those
who are resurrected to life. If you take this in
(07:50):
a plain literal sense, they come out of the tombs,
and after Jesus's resurrection, then they go into the Holy
City and they appear to many people. Now, because Jesus
is the first fruit of those who have been raised
(08:10):
from the dead, there is a lot of consternation with
passages such as this, and I think that's the reason
that this has been regarded as apocalyptic language, not meant
to be taken in a literal sense, but the kind
of language that is used in the first century with
(08:33):
respect to the death of kings, when kings would die,
the language that you read in extra biblical literature is
that of comets going off and the like. So the
language has been said to point forward to the resurrection,
which is itself and an inauguration of the Escaton, and
(08:54):
the Escaton is our hope, the consummation of all things,
including our resurrection, are judgment and absolute righteousness. So this
is the explanation that many people have assigned to this,
saying it's apocalyptic language for all the reasons that I
either alluded to or stated directly. But there are other
people who say, no, we can take this in the
(09:16):
plain sense it's in a narrative. We should take it
in the plain sense in which it's intended. And therefore
there really were people who were raised from the dead,
and they waited up until the time that Jesus was
resurrected three days later to go into the Holy City.
A lot of debate, and quite frankly, I have spent
(09:37):
some time with this passage, but not sufficient time with
this passage, and therefore I don't want to speak out dogmatically.
I just want to give the various positions.
Speaker 4 (09:48):
And I guess what even prompted me to take a
closer look at it was reading an article in which
a person whom I'm a fan of, Mike Lacona, kind
of got into a disagreement with Albert Moehler, you know,
regarding his interpretation of this in his his historiographic work
of I can't remember the title of it, the Historiosity
(10:10):
of Jesus or the Resurrection, And like I said, just
caught my attention in that way that two people, two
intellectual giants of evangelical Christendom, who I really appreciate were
kind of coming to clash over this.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
Yeah, and I hope that the debate will be carried
on in a collegial fashion. In some cases has not been.
But anyway, I thank you for bringing this back to
my attention. It's one of those passages that I wanted
to spend a whole lot more time on. Thank you
so much for your call. We'll be right back in
just a few moments with more of the Bible answer
Man broadcast. So please don't touch that dialogue, and do
look for the resources that I talk about on the
(10:46):
Bible answer Man broadcast on the web at equipped dot org.
Gay back in a moment, and.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien's character Pharimir voices the
thoughts of countless soldiers throughout history. War must be while
we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all.
But I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness,
nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for
his glory. I love only that which they defend. If
(11:14):
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Speaker 6 (12:01):
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Speaker 2 (16:00):
Thank you so much, Randy, and let's go right back
to our phone calls. Next up, stuff for in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Speaker 7 (16:05):
Hi, Hi, Henk, how are you doing good?
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Thank you good?
Speaker 7 (16:11):
First of all, I wanted to say my husband and
I just ordered some DVDs that you suggested, the Intelligent
Design Collection, and I wanted to say thank you for
doing that because they've been extremely helpful and we're planning
on hopefully doing some studies with some kids at church
with those DVDs. And my question. I grew up my
(16:34):
dad is a preacher in the One Cup Churches of Christ,
and while the church doesn't necessarily teach this, I sort
of grew up with my family believing that as far
as presidential elections go, while we can know what God's
mind is on certain specific issues, whenever it comes to
(16:59):
president elections, we can't truly know who God has sort
of in mind to fill that spot. So I guess
my question is, while I grew up in a home
that doesn't necessarily believe in voting in presidential elections, of
(17:20):
course I went to work for a small business and
my boss thought the exact opposite. He thought it was
imperative that we as Christians should be voting. And so
I'm curious as to what you have to say about that.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Yeah, I think absolutely we should be involved in voting,
because it's not a matter of whether or not legislation
is going to be enacted. It's just a matter of
whose legislation will be enacted. So yeah, we should be
involved in the process. The Ten Commandments, by the way,
tell us that there is a rightly ordered Fabrica society
(17:58):
and then describes somewhat of what God's plan would be
for that Fabrica society. And in political terms, that can
be translated, as Francis Beckworth has noted in an article
that we have on the web to the government respecting
the privilege of religious liberty, the right to life, traditional marriage, parented,
and so forth. So a candidate who embraces those ideals
(18:22):
and treats people justly as a candidate whose behavior scripture supports,
even if that person is not a Christian and is
therefore a candidate that a Christian can support with a
clear conscience. I think we should be involved in the
legislative process. We should be involved in voting. We should
(18:42):
be involved in every aspect of society. And there are
great issues at stake. I mentioned some of them, life,
which Frenchis Schaeffer talked about as the watershed issue of
our day, certainly of his day. Then there's the issue
of redefining marriage, which is the bed the fabric of civilization.
(19:03):
And then the Bible, which has been the DNA of
Western civilization, is under siege. People are very critical of
the Bible, and yet we say it gives us the
enduring principles by which to govern justly and rightly and
with equity. There's also the issue of a crushing debt
(19:25):
that is being foisted on the shoulders of our children
yet unborn. So we should take part in the process.
Speaker 7 (19:33):
Yeah, I appreciate your answer. I have one more question
regarding that, and how do you approach the passage that
says that we're not citizens of this world? I mean,
I know, literally we are, but I've had people bring
that up in terms of not voting, and I'm just
curious how you would answer that.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
No, we are ultimately citizens of a heavenly kingdom. We
are citizens of the City of God. But God has
placed us here, and He's placed us here for a purpose,
and we dare not abdicate our responsibility. God has left
us here to transform the world, to both be involved
in the Great Commission and the cultural mandate. So we
(20:12):
can't abdicate that responsibility and say, well, I'm just a
citizen of the City of God and therefore I can't
be involved in the city of Man. No, we are
placed here for a purpose. Indeed, we will be held
accountable for what we did while in this temporary capacity
as citizens of the United States of America or Canada
(20:34):
or whatever. We will be held accountable for what we
did with our time, talent, and treasures. So the notion
that we can abdicate that responsibility is decidedly unbiblical.
Speaker 7 (20:45):
Correct, But is it not? I mean, is it not
true that our primary responsibility while on the earth is
actually to share the Gospel of Christ with people and
convert them to Christ, rather than simply you know, being
I guess more political about things. You know what I mean,
(21:06):
as far as legislation and all that. I mean, I'm
just I'm just seeing what you think about that.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
Well. I think you make a very good point, but
I don't think it's an either or a proposition. First
of all, what you say is absolutely true. Our primary
responsibility is to change the hearts of people, and when
the hearts of people are changed, a society is changed
(21:37):
as well. So that is an enduring responsibility to be
effective tools in the hands of the Holy Spirit. And
I appreciate you saying that for a number of reasons.
We have an opportunity as Christians, and this is an
area we deal with to equip God's people, to reach people,
to transform hearts and lives, because as you pointed out
(22:00):
out earlier, we are citizens of the City of God.
But by the same token, as I said, it's not
an either or proposition. We should also be involved in
the legislative process because someone's morality will be legislated, it
is just a matter of whose it will be. We
should make certain that we have our vote count. We
(22:23):
can obviously not determine what the outcome is singly, but
we're part of a process that does make that determination,
and we shouldn't abdicate that responsibility.
Speaker 7 (22:34):
Right, Okay, Well, thank you, and I want to say
this side note that I really do appreciate what you're doing.
Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
You got it. Thank you so much for your call.
We'll go back to the phone lines. Talk to Matt
in Portland, Oregon. Matt is listening on the web.
Speaker 5 (22:48):
Hi, Matt, Hi, and thanks for taking my call. I
just appreciate you being there for all of us when
we have questions or concerns. I have a friend, and
my question is related to my friends who we get
into a lot of heat debates regarding homosexual theology and
things of that nature, and it has boiled down ultimately
(23:09):
to I don't have the pedigree, and at times I'm
overwhelmed and inadequate to come up with a proper defense
to some of who albeit intelligent arguments, and he's very smart,
and it comes down to he quotes Dietrich Barnhoffer and ethics,
(23:31):
and man is doomed the failure to decide right, I'm wrong,
and I'm just at a loss to properly defend what
I believe is just right. And maybe I shouldn't be
trying to defend what's right. But I'm just trying to
convey in the love and truth with my friend about
(23:53):
where to go.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
Well, first of all, I think it's great that you
call him your friend, and secondly, I think that you
can actually agree with him and point you can say, Yeah,
it's very difficult for us to define what's right or wrong,
what's true and what's untrue. And that's why we look
beyond ourselves to a moral lawgiver, and we say that
(24:14):
God has revealed what's right and wrong in his word,
and we can, through diligence and prudence, demonstrate that the
Bible's divine as opposed to merely human in origin. And therefore,
if God has spoken, we should submit ourselves bow our
need to his revelation to society because ultimately, reason devoid
(24:35):
of revelation always leads to the blind ditch of ignorance.
And I would also say one other thing. You know,
when we started embracing philosophical naturalism and evolutionary theory that's
built on that edifice, we found a new found autonomy,
and in that autonomy we sacrifice truth and the ultra subjectivism.
(24:56):
Ethics and morals were no longer determined on the basis
of objective standard, but rather by the size and strength
of the latest lobby group. But here's the problem. With
no enduring reference points to cietal norms are quickly reduced
to mere matters of preference, and therefore what was wrong
before is right now and we continue changing based on
(25:20):
public opinion, so basing truth on subjective opinions, not on
a moral lawgiver or an ultimate court of arbitration, which
in our view is the word of God. Out of
time for this edition of the Bible Lanceman Broadcast. Thanks
again for tuning in. Please support this ministry. We need
you now more than ever.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
Thank you for joining us for the Bible answer Man Broadcast.
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Speaker 6 (27:01):
Truth Matters, Life Matters More by Hank Hannigraph is essentially
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In Part two, Hank explains why life matters more and
how we can experience the height of human existence union
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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 Canagraph.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Thank very much, Randy. We'll go to our callers. First
step is Rob listening in Vancouver, Washington, listening on.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
The way I Rob, Good afternoon, Hank. Thanks to you
and doctor Walt Martin before. You have been studying Mormonism
extensively for twenty years, and I have many of your resources.
But the other day the Mormons avoid my house. Now
they have me marked, I think. But the two Mormon
missionaries that came to my door here the other week
brought something up that I had not heard before, and
that was their notion of who was first born without sin?
(01:23):
And I try to follow your example and try to
bring them back to the nature and identity of Jesus Christ,
because that, of course is where they fall heavily short.
But I came up with the subject of being born
without sin, and they came back with no, Jesus was
not the first without sin. It was Adam. And I
said that, okay, but Adam was not born of man.
(01:43):
So I think this Isn't this one of those cases
of what you commonly call an onto logical or physitional discrepancy.
Could you please explain?
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Yeah, Well, a couple of things that I would say
about this. Number one is that it is true in
Christian theology that Adam was not created with sin. Adam
was created sin less, but God did create the possibility
or the potential for a sin, which, of course, as
(02:13):
we see in human history, was in fact actualized by Adam.
So Adam was the first man who sinned. And in
Mormon theology that is something they take real exception to.
They don't believe that Adam and Eve really sinned. They believe,
(02:34):
as Bruce McConkie once put it, that it's possible to
transgress a law without committing a sin, and they say
that was precisely what happened in the case of Adam
and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Where As Joseph
Fieldingsmith pontificated, he said something like, I never speak on
the part of Eve in the sense that she took
(02:55):
part in sin, nor do I accuse Adam of a sin,
And many other Mormon apologists or apostles say as much.
In the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, there is no
original sin. So there's a huge discrepancy between what Mormons
believe with respect to original sin and what Christians believe
(03:20):
in that regard.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Granted, I appreciate your explanation, Thanking God bless you in
your ministry, and please keep fighting the good fight.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Thank you, my friend. And by the way, let me
expand on that for just a moment. According to Mormon theology,
spirit children who pre exist in the spirit world need
bodies in order to progress to Godhood, and it's thus
part of the Father's plan from their perspective, to give
human beings the capacity to bear children, a capacity that
(03:50):
they did not originally possess at the creation of the world.
And then they further maintained that prior to the fall,
Adam and Eve were not mortal in the sense of
the Mormon Church redefines the word as able to bear children,
and Mormon apostle Bruce McConkie made that point crystal clear
(04:12):
when he said that, according to the Fadaine plan, Adam
was to fall, that is, in the wisdom of Him
who knoweth all things, Adam was to introduce mortality and
all that attends it, so that the opportunity for eternal
progression and perfection might be offered to all the spirit
children of the Father. Being mortal, he Adam could now
(04:36):
have children, thus providing bodies for the pre existent hosts.
And it's on that basis that Mormon's communicate the convoluted
notion that Adam and Eve transgressed the law well not
actually sinning. I've written about this in a flip chart
called the Mormon Mirage. Check it out at the webbit
equipped dot org. Back to the phone lines, We'll talk
(04:58):
next to Tim and Kansas City Zore listening about radio.
Speaker 4 (05:01):
Hi Tim, Hi, Hank. A question for you. Could you
provide your take or perspective on Matthew Chapter twenty seven,
verses fifty two and fifty three. These verses seem to
be really just kind of coming from out of nowhere
(05:21):
in the Crucifixion narrative. Yep, I am. I'm just curious.
I've tried to do some self steady in which some
commentators blatantly are calling this apocalyptic text, others referring to
a literal fulfillment hearkening back to Ezekiel. And I don't know.
(05:42):
I'm just like I said, we just appreciate your perspective
on it, because even the time frame in the events described,
I'm having trouble reconciling them in that we've got resurrected bodies,
and I just I wasn't sure these are resurrected bodies
or if we can even tell this from the text,
resurrected bodies like that of Lazarus, or are these glorified
(06:07):
bodies that then make an appearance according to verse fifty three,
I believe after the resurrection. Like I said, I just
really would like your contact on these verses.
Speaker 5 (06:21):
Well.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
I think the prolog to your question kind of gives
a great insight of the fact that people are struggling
with this passage for a variety of reasons, and this
is one of the reasons that the whole notion of
apocalyptic language is forwarded. Let me read the passage just
for the benefit of the listening audience. So here you
have Jesus crying out in a loud voice and giving
up his spirit. So this is the moment that Jesus
(06:43):
Christ dies. And at that moment, the text tells us,
if you're reading Matthew twenty seven, that the curtain of
the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. Now,
just parenthetically, that would have been a very apocalyptic event,
to say the least, I adgine this. You have the
temple curtain being torn, being split. It seems to me,
(07:09):
and again this is parenthetical to the real point that
I want to make in a saying. Seems to me
that if that were the case, it would not only
be described as such in Matthew's Gospel, but also in
extra biblical sources. The text goes on to say that
the earth shook and the rock split, the tombs broke open,
(07:30):
and the bodies of many holy people who had died
were raised to life. They came out of the tombs,
and after Jesus's resurrection, they went into the Holy City
and appeared to many people. So here you have those
who are resurrected to life. If you take this in
(07:50):
a plain literal sense, they come out of the tombs,
and after Jesus's resurrection, then they go into the Holy
City and they appear to many people. Now, because Jesus
is the first fruit of those who have been raised
(08:10):
from the dead, there is a lot of consternation with
passages such as this, and I think that's the reason
that this has been regarded as apocalyptic language, not meant
to be taken in a literal sense, but the kind
of language that is used in the first century with
(08:33):
respect to the death of kings, when kings would die,
the language that you read in extra biblical literature is
that of comets going off and the like. So the
language has been said to point forward to the resurrection,
which is itself and an inauguration of the Escaton, and
(08:54):
the Escaton is our hope, the consummation of all things,
including our resurrection, are judgment and absolute righteousness. So this
is the explanation that many people have assigned to this,
saying it's apocalyptic language for all the reasons that I
either alluded to or stated directly. But there are other
people who say, no, we can take this in the
(09:16):
plain sense it's in a narrative. We should take it
in the plain sense in which it's intended. And therefore
there really were people who were raised from the dead,
and they waited up until the time that Jesus was
resurrected three days later to go into the Holy City.
A lot of debate, and quite frankly, I have spent
(09:37):
some time with this passage, but not sufficient time with
this passage, and therefore I don't want to speak out dogmatically.
I just want to give the various positions.
Speaker 4 (09:48):
And I guess what even prompted me to take a
closer look at it was reading an article in which
a person whom I'm a fan of, Mike Lacona, kind
of got into a disagreement with Albert Moehler, you know,
regarding his interpretation of this in his his historiographic work
of I can't remember the title of it, the Historiosity
(10:10):
of Jesus or the Resurrection, And like I said, just
caught my attention in that way that two people, two
intellectual giants of evangelical Christendom, who I really appreciate were
kind of coming to clash over this.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
Yeah, and I hope that the debate will be carried
on in a collegial fashion. In some cases has not been.
But anyway, I thank you for bringing this back to
my attention. It's one of those passages that I wanted
to spend a whole lot more time on. Thank you
so much for your call. We'll be right back in
just a few moments with more of the Bible answer
Man broadcast. So please don't touch that dialogue, and do
look for the resources that I talk about on the
(10:46):
Bible answer Man broadcast on the web at equipped dot org.
Gay back in a moment, and.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien's character Pharimir voices the
thoughts of countless soldiers throughout history. War must be while
we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all.
But I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness,
nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for
his glory. I love only that which they defend. If
(11:14):
you two love what together we defend, our faith, biblical truth,
and our freedoms, become a member of CRI's support team
today by calling eight eight eight seven thousand CRII, and
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(11:35):
and expanded. Call eight eight eight seven thousand CRII or
visit our website at equip dot org. That's eight eight
eight seven thousand CRII, or simply visit our website at
equip dot org. Hank Hanigraph will be back right after
the break.
Speaker 6 (12:01):
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
(12:25):
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
(12:46):
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.
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
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What's more, Support Team members are equipping themselves with criis
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(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. Has
(14:05):
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 Henagraph's monumental book Has God
Spoken answers what is surely the most important question facing
(14:26):
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. It is the
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Order Has God Spoken from the Christian Research Institute by
(14:50):
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(15:12):
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Each month, we depend entirely on God's provision through his
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(15:34):
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eight eight eight seven thousand CRI or visit our website
at equip dot org. Once again, here's your host, Hank Kanagram.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
Thank you so much, Randy, and let's go right back
to our phone calls. Next up, stuff for in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Speaker 7 (16:05):
Hi, Hi, Henk, how are you doing good?
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Thank you good?
Speaker 7 (16:11):
First of all, I wanted to say my husband and
I just ordered some DVDs that you suggested, the Intelligent
Design Collection, and I wanted to say thank you for
doing that because they've been extremely helpful and we're planning
on hopefully doing some studies with some kids at church
with those DVDs. And my question. I grew up my
(16:34):
dad is a preacher in the One Cup Churches of Christ,
and while the church doesn't necessarily teach this, I sort
of grew up with my family believing that as far
as presidential elections go, while we can know what God's
mind is on certain specific issues, whenever it comes to
(16:59):
president elections, we can't truly know who God has sort
of in mind to fill that spot. So I guess
my question is, while I grew up in a home
that doesn't necessarily believe in voting in presidential elections, of
(17:20):
course I went to work for a small business and
my boss thought the exact opposite. He thought it was
imperative that we as Christians should be voting. And so
I'm curious as to what you have to say about that.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Yeah, I think absolutely we should be involved in voting,
because it's not a matter of whether or not legislation
is going to be enacted. It's just a matter of
whose legislation will be enacted. So yeah, we should be
involved in the process. The Ten Commandments, by the way,
tell us that there is a rightly ordered Fabrica society
(17:58):
and then describes somewhat of what God's plan would be
for that Fabrica society. And in political terms, that can
be translated, as Francis Beckworth has noted in an article
that we have on the web to the government respecting
the privilege of religious liberty, the right to life, traditional marriage, parented,
and so forth. So a candidate who embraces those ideals
(18:22):
and treats people justly as a candidate whose behavior scripture supports,
even if that person is not a Christian and is
therefore a candidate that a Christian can support with a
clear conscience. I think we should be involved in the
legislative process. We should be involved in voting. We should
(18:42):
be involved in every aspect of society. And there are
great issues at stake. I mentioned some of them, life,
which Frenchis Schaeffer talked about as the watershed issue of
our day, certainly of his day. Then there's the issue
of redefining marriage, which is the bed the fabric of civilization.
(19:03):
And then the Bible, which has been the DNA of
Western civilization, is under siege. People are very critical of
the Bible, and yet we say it gives us the
enduring principles by which to govern justly and rightly and
with equity. There's also the issue of a crushing debt
(19:25):
that is being foisted on the shoulders of our children
yet unborn. So we should take part in the process.
Speaker 7 (19:33):
Yeah, I appreciate your answer. I have one more question
regarding that, and how do you approach the passage that
says that we're not citizens of this world? I mean,
I know, literally we are, but I've had people bring
that up in terms of not voting, and I'm just
curious how you would answer that.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
No, we are ultimately citizens of a heavenly kingdom. We
are citizens of the City of God. But God has
placed us here, and He's placed us here for a purpose,
and we dare not abdicate our responsibility. God has left
us here to transform the world, to both be involved
in the Great Commission and the cultural mandate. So we
(20:12):
can't abdicate that responsibility and say, well, I'm just a
citizen of the City of God and therefore I can't
be involved in the city of Man. No, we are
placed here for a purpose. Indeed, we will be held
accountable for what we did while in this temporary capacity
as citizens of the United States of America or Canada
(20:34):
or whatever. We will be held accountable for what we
did with our time, talent, and treasures. So the notion
that we can abdicate that responsibility is decidedly unbiblical.
Speaker 7 (20:45):
Correct, But is it not? I mean, is it not
true that our primary responsibility while on the earth is
actually to share the Gospel of Christ with people and
convert them to Christ, rather than simply you know, being
I guess more political about things. You know what I mean,
(21:06):
as far as legislation and all that. I mean, I'm
just I'm just seeing what you think about that.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
Well. I think you make a very good point, but
I don't think it's an either or a proposition. First
of all, what you say is absolutely true. Our primary
responsibility is to change the hearts of people, and when
the hearts of people are changed, a society is changed
(21:37):
as well. So that is an enduring responsibility to be
effective tools in the hands of the Holy Spirit. And
I appreciate you saying that for a number of reasons.
We have an opportunity as Christians, and this is an
area we deal with to equip God's people, to reach people,
to transform hearts and lives, because as you pointed out
(22:00):
out earlier, we are citizens of the City of God.
But by the same token, as I said, it's not
an either or proposition. We should also be involved in
the legislative process because someone's morality will be legislated, it
is just a matter of whose it will be. We
should make certain that we have our vote count. We
(22:23):
can obviously not determine what the outcome is singly, but
we're part of a process that does make that determination,
and we shouldn't abdicate that responsibility.
Speaker 7 (22:34):
Right, Okay, Well, thank you, and I want to say
this side note that I really do appreciate what you're doing.
Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
You got it. Thank you so much for your call.
We'll go back to the phone lines. Talk to Matt
in Portland, Oregon. Matt is listening on the web.
Speaker 5 (22:48):
Hi, Matt, Hi, and thanks for taking my call. I
just appreciate you being there for all of us when
we have questions or concerns. I have a friend, and
my question is related to my friends who we get
into a lot of heat debates regarding homosexual theology and
things of that nature, and it has boiled down ultimately
(23:09):
to I don't have the pedigree, and at times I'm
overwhelmed and inadequate to come up with a proper defense
to some of who albeit intelligent arguments, and he's very smart,
and it comes down to he quotes Dietrich Barnhoffer and ethics,
(23:31):
and man is doomed the failure to decide right, I'm wrong,
and I'm just at a loss to properly defend what
I believe is just right. And maybe I shouldn't be
trying to defend what's right. But I'm just trying to
convey in the love and truth with my friend about
(23:53):
where to go.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
Well, first of all, I think it's great that you
call him your friend, and secondly, I think that you
can actually agree with him and point you can say, Yeah,
it's very difficult for us to define what's right or wrong,
what's true and what's untrue. And that's why we look
beyond ourselves to a moral lawgiver, and we say that
(24:14):
God has revealed what's right and wrong in his word,
and we can, through diligence and prudence, demonstrate that the
Bible's divine as opposed to merely human in origin. And therefore,
if God has spoken, we should submit ourselves bow our
need to his revelation to society because ultimately, reason devoid
(24:35):
of revelation always leads to the blind ditch of ignorance.
And I would also say one other thing. You know,
when we started embracing philosophical naturalism and evolutionary theory that's
built on that edifice, we found a new found autonomy,
and in that autonomy we sacrifice truth and the ultra subjectivism.
(24:56):
Ethics and morals were no longer determined on the basis
of objective standard, but rather by the size and strength
of the latest lobby group. But here's the problem. With
no enduring reference points to cietal norms are quickly reduced
to mere matters of preference, and therefore what was wrong
before is right now and we continue changing based on
(25:20):
public opinion, so basing truth on subjective opinions, not on
a moral lawgiver or an ultimate court of arbitration, which
in our view is the word of God. Out of
time for this edition of the Bible Lanceman Broadcast. Thanks
again for tuning in. Please support this ministry. We need
you now more than ever.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
Thank you for joining us for the Bible answer Man Broadcast.
In today's post truth culture of confusion. The Christian Research
Institute exists to equip listeners like you with answers to
communicate the Gospel of Hope to a world in desperate
need of life and truth. Because life and truth matter
(26:01):
in addition to truth, we want to equip you with life,
not simply to know about God, but truly to know Him.
Experiencing union with Christ enables us to live life not
merely by our own energy, but with the energy of
the Lord Jesus working powerfully through us. For more information,
(26:22):
call eight eight eight seven thousand CRII. That's eight eight
eight seven thousand CRII. You can also write CRII at
Post Office Box eighty five hundred, Charlotte, North Carolina two
eight two seven one, or just visit us online at
equip dot org. That's equip dot org. The Bible answer
(26:47):
Man Broadcast is funded by listeners like you. We're on
the air because life and truth matter.
Speaker 6 (27:01):
Truth Matters, Life Matters More by Hank Hannigraph is essentially
two books in one Because Truth Matters. Part one equips
Christians to defend the essential truth of the historic Christian faith.
In Part two, Hank explains why life matters more and
how we can experience the height of human existence union
with God in Christ. Simply put, the map is not
(27:24):
the territory. The menu is not the meal. We cheat
ourselves of authentic union with Christ when we elevate the
message above the Messiah. Truth Matters, Life Matters More is
a modern classic and the magnum opus of one of
the great theological minds of our time. To receive Truth Matters,
Life matters More, simply call eight eight eight seven thousand
(27:46):
CRI and make a gift in support of the life
changing work of the Christian Research Institute. That's eight eight
eight seven thousand CRI. Or go online to equip dot
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