Speaker 1: Welcome to the best of the Bible answer Man broadcast
with your host, Hank Anagraph. The Bible answer Man is
the radio ministry of the Christian Research Institute, designed to
equip believers to defend their faith and become true disciples
of the Lord Jesus Christ, because life and truth matter.
Our phone number is eight eight eight seven thousand CRII.
That's one eight eight eight seven thousand, two seven four.
You can find us on the internet at equip dot org.
That's equip dot org. The following program was pre recorded
and now to begin today's broadcast, here's Hank Canagraph.
Speaker 2: Thank you very much, Randy. Our contact information on the
web equipped dot org and via the mail AT's box
eighty five hundred Charlotte, North Carolina, zip code two eight two.
This month we're moving into the category of reading. During
the summer, a lot of people do what they don't
normally do, and that is read, and we have some
good resources available for those who support the ministry. This
month the Last Disciples series. It's a trilogy. It's historical fiction.
What it does, though, is it gives you a handle
on the logical truth propositions that are part and parcel
of a healthy worldview on eschatology. I think you'll find
the books incredibly insightful, stimulating their page turners. Again available
for those who support the ministry, check it out on
the web at equip dot org. Should also mention that
June is a very significant month in our history. Each
and every year, December is the most critical month, and
lagging not far behind is June. This is the end
of our fiscal year, not obviously the calendar year, but
the fiscal year, and so if you can support the ministry,
it would be deeply appreciated, used for God's glory and
for the extension of his kingdom. Getting back to reading,
the numbers of people not reading is simply staggering, and
I hope that you will become the exception to the rule.
A full quarter of the population did not so much
as read a single book in the past year. But
the good news is that, as with technology, all of
us can get hooked on reading all over again. There
are so many benefits to reading it's hard to know
where to begin. Reading improves discipline, vocabulary, it improves memory, creativity,
and even relaxation. Plus it can even stave off diseases
such as Alzheimer's. More importantly, reading engages you with another mind,
and when it comes to reading scripture, the implications are
simply staggering. By its words, we are brought into direct
communication with the mind of God, and not only so,
we have access to the minds of writers directly inspired
by the Divine. Thus, in the pages of the inspired
text we have mind to mind connection with minds that
were awash in uncreated energy. Well as much more I
could say about reading, and maybe I will, But we
have a number of books, as I just mentioned available
The Last Disciple trilogy has God spoken Muslim. These books
available as my other books available for those who support
the ministry. All this the critical month of June. It
is so important that we achieve a financial stability as
a result of the month of June. Each year you've
given a safe, secure fashion on the web equipped dot
org or as I mentioned, via the mailbox eighty five
hundred Charlotte, North Carolina, zip code two eight two seven
to one. Let's go to the phone lines. Judy listening
in Oklahoma.
Speaker 3: Hi, Judy, Hi, thank you for taking my call. It
was told to me to call the babl answer man
to get the solution to our discussion here. In Duterominy
twenty four, it talks about a couple being married, the
husband divorces the wife, he remarries another, and it says like,
if she dies or they divorce, he's not allowed to
go back and marry the original spouse because that was
an abomination to God. So is that true for today?
Is that just are we under grace that God redeems
and forgives or for the abomination is a huge word.
Speaker 2: So well, there's a historical context, and you're right in
pointing that out. Divorce was wide spread in the ancient
Near East, and therefore the commands given in Deuteronomy were
given in order to regulate an existing practice. And in
the context, remarried to her former husband would be tenemount
to legal adultery, and therefore it was detestable to the Lord.
But if you look at what Jesus Christ says in
the Sermon on the Mount, it has said anyone who
divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.
But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife
except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress.
And anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery, gives
you the intent of what the law was. And furthermore,
Jesus Christ makes clear that what's going on is a
detestable practice for the reason that men would put away
women for any or every reason. In other words, they
use the lever right law. They used the laws given
within the context of an ancient theocratic kingdom as the
basis to do what they wanted to do. So it
was tantamount to tithing your mint, but neglecting the way
to your matters of the law, justice, righteousness, and equity.
And that's what really is at the heart of this.
We are not to see the other sex as an
object for our own enjoyment or use some kind of
legalistic prescription to do what we want, but we are
to treat another person self lesslie as opposed to selfishly.
So there's an intent behind the law. The law originally
to protect a woman in the Old Testament, but ultimately
to subscribe to that which the Bible ultimately appeals to,
and that is complete ontological equality and not the abuse
of another person.
Speaker 3: Okay, So is that just are we under grace now
that that can happen? Or you know, like if they repented,
got right with the Lord, wanted to get the original
family intact, are they allowed to do that or not?
Speaker 2: Well, if in fact there is a door to reconciliation
that is open, yes, we must always walk through the
door of reconciliation because that is the ultimate goal. The
ultimate goal is reconciliation. Reconciliation and always requires two parties.
There's someone who is willing to forgive and someone wanting
to be forgiven, and so that is the ultimate good
that we should always strive towards. And there are some
cases in which that door to reconciliation simply isn't open,
and that is because someone has married someone else and
then unscrambling the egg leads to a multiplicity of problems.
Speaker 3: Right, So I can see that. And I didn't know
if it was like in the Old Testament that they
didn't want wife swapping, you know, back and forth to this.
But I thought, well, if if a wife was never
married again and the other marriage ended, I just didn't
know if that would be an abomination to God in
this day and age to consider that.
Speaker 2: So the question becomes, you get divorced, and the question
is is an abomination to get remarried to.
Speaker 3: The original one. If that the marriage that he was
in doesn't work out.
Speaker 2: Well, again, there's a whole lot of conjecture there. I mean,
there's a lot of explaining to do. Why did the
marriage not work out? Ultimately, the intent here is love
and reconciliation as opposed to using every reason possible to
do something that becomes selfish instead of self less. I mean,
that's the intent. So the intent is the protection of
a person. But you can't look at a situation where
a man is married to a woman, then the man
gets out of that marriage and marries the original person
that they were married to. That's the metaphor I was
using with respect to unscrambling the egg, which can't do.
So if someone gets a divorce, that's one mistake. They
get remarried. Now they're going to compound the error by
getting divorced again and marrying the original person. No, you
have to move on and be faithful to the commitment
that you have at that point.
Speaker 3: Okay, Well, I found, like you know, said in the Bible,
if that spouse dies, if there's.
Speaker 2: Anod well, if that spouse dies. I mean that's why
I said there's a lot explaining to do. There are
a lot of converging factors that are possible. Certainly, if
that spouse dies, it would not be an abomination if
the Lord led you to get remarried to the original person,
you know, in other words, if there's no obstacle in
the way morally or ethically in doing that. I don't
see anything that would preclude that. But I do think
that that has to be done in concert with prayerful
consideration before the Lord and good counseling within the context
of a healthy, well bounced church.
Speaker 3: Right, all right, well, thank you, I appreciate it.
Speaker 2: You got it. Thank you so much for your call
coming to the station. Break will be right back.
Speaker 1: In our post truth age of confused usion, the need
for Christians to be equipped with answers has never been greater.
The Christian Research Institute exists to provide those answers, and
this provision is made possible only by people like you,
people unafraid to stand up for truth while it's under assault.
People like you, whose contributions to our many outreaches are
making a difference for time and eternity. Stand with Hank
Hanagraph and the Christian Research Institute during the key month
of June to ensure that we end the financial year
in a position of strength. To make a gift to
support CRI's life changing outreaches, simply call eight eight eight
seven thousand croi. That's eight eight eight seven thousand croi
or visit us at equip dot org. Thank you, don't
go anywhere. We're coming right back with more answers from
the Bible answer Man. The Soviet Red Army won the
Battle of Stalingrad. It appeared at first the Nazi war
machine would secure the victory, but the Soviets battled back
from near certain defeat with extraordinary courage and resoluteness to
turn the tide of the battle and ultimately the war.
The lesson is that both men and material people and
provisions played a critical role. Willingness to fight and munitions
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against anti Christian secularists raises the stakes above the significance
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Stand with us during the key month of June to
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Has God Spoken? Are the words of Scripture merely human
in origin? Or are they, in fact the very words
of God himself? Three years in the making and based
on two decades of research and reflection, Hank Henagraph's monumental
book Has God Spoken answers what is surely the most
important question facing our world. In Has God Spoken? Memorable
Proofs of the Bible's Divine inspiration, Hank counters the contentions
of the Bible attackers and clearly shows that belief in
the Holy Scriptures is not a guess or wishful thinking.
It is the only logical conclusion after an honest examination
of overwhelming evidence. Ordered Has God Spoken? From the Christian
Research Institute by calling eighty eight seven thousand CRII, or
go online to equip dot org. Equip dot org. The
Complete Bible answer Book Collector's Edition is the comprehensive collection
of the most often asked questions Hank Hannigraph has received
throughout his four decades as host of the Bible answer
Man broadcast. With more than half a million copies already
in print, this newly revised and expanded Collector's Edition helped
seekers and skeptics alike sort through the truth on topics
such as reliability of the Bible, religions and cults, the
resurrection and afterlife, and many more issues vital to a
better understanding of God in Christ and our relationship to Him.
To receive your copy of the Complete Bible answer Book
Collector's Edition Revised and Expanded, call eight eight eight seven
thousand CRII and make a gift to support the Christian
Research Institute's life changing outreaches eight eight eight seven thousand
CRII or visit us at EQUIP dot org. Why not
drop us a line at CRI today. We'd love to
hear from you. You can get in touch with us
several ways. You can call us toll free at eight
eight eight seven thousand CRI. That's eight eight eight seven
thousand CRI. Also right to us sat VO Box eighty
five hundred, Charlotte and North Carolina ZIP two eight two
seven one, or if you're on the Internet, look us
up at www dot equip dot org. And now once
again here is Hank Hanagraph.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Grandy. We'll go right back to our callers.
Next up, Jeremy listening in Steelwater, Oklahoma. Hi Jeremy, Hi Hank.
Speaker 4: How are you today?
Speaker 2: I'm hanging in there. How are you doing?
Speaker 5: Oh wonderful? Thank you. Just got a fork a little
bit of good so it's a good day.
Speaker 4: I've got a question, and I've asked people this in
the past, and the answer that I get is that bentually,
it's from more than one's point of view. So I'm
hoping you don't give me that kind of answer. But
my question is in the Book of Matthew, I guess
docter a jolly one that says two men. But for instance,
in Luke, whenever Jesus cast out the demon named Legion,
h how come in in all the other books there's
only one man at the tunes. But in the Book
of Matthew there's two men.
Speaker 2: Sure, And that's a good question. And I think you're
referring to the two demon possessed men, right, and they're
healing in Matthew chapter eight. Yeah, So yeah, Matthew says
there are two. Well, Mark and Luke say one. And
critics have for some odd reasons suggested this to be
a contradiction. But obviously, wherever you have two people, there
is always, always, always, one hundred percent of the time
one person. So if Mark or Luke said there was
only one person present, there'd be a contradiction. But the
text does not say that. So what you have is
Matthew focusing on two demon possessed men that were healed,
and then you have Mark and Luke, for their own reasons,
focusing on one. And this is what you have with
the synoptics in general. If the Synoptics gave all the
details of every story in exactly the same way, the
first thing we would say, especially if this was presented
in a legal sense, we would say, there's collusion here.
So they all present the story from their own perspective,
with their own purpose, as they're led by the Holy Spirit.
There's no reason whatsoever for each gospel to communicate events
exactly in the same way. Now, if there was a contradiction,
that would be a problem. This is obviously not a
contradiction unless you have, as I just mentioned, Luke and
Mark saying that there's only one demoniac and therefore Matthew
was mistaken when he was talking about the healing of
two demoniacs. Obviously, this is not what's going on.
Speaker 4: So we're looking at the word femian. It's just Mark
and Luke just chose us talk about the second person.
Speaker 2: That's exactly right. And again that's why you have the
Synoptic Gospels, because reading them in unison, as it were,
you have the rest of the story, or you have
the complete story. If you would have the story told
in exactly the same way by one witness Matthew, and
another witness Mark and yet another Luke. Again, in a
legal situation, you would immediately suspect collusion. That's the one
thing you don't find in the Gospels. You find harmony,
but not collusion. Hopefull that helps. Let's go back to
the phone lines. Stephen fort Worth, Texas.
Speaker 5: Hi, Stephen, Hi, Hank, appreciate what you do, Hank. The
other day I was listening to the radio and this
well known preacher was talking about our God and he
said that in part of the contact, he said, God
is in control. But God is in control. Well, if
God is in control, this world is chaotic. And I
don't think our God is a is a god of chaos.
I know there have been times in my life as
a Christian that he hadn't been in control, because I haven't, lady.
And also in Genesis, does it not say that He
gave created man and woman and gave them demion. I
guess that's kind of a control of the animals and
over all the world. Kind of your comment on that,
I know ultimately he is in control.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's an antinomy. There's a tension here,
isn't there? Because on the one hand, we know for
certain that God is in sovereign control of every detail
of our lives, that not a hair falls from our
head that our heavenly Father does not know or care
about it. On the other hand, what we do really matters.
So we can't just live in some kind of a
magical world and say, you know, my hands are dirty,
but if God wants them to be clean, then he'll
make them clean magically. Now you go and wash your hands.
God works through means. So I think there is a
tension here on the one hand. But look, the world
is in a mess, not because God created the mess,
but God created the potential for a mess. Why did
he create the potential for a mess? Well, he gave
us freedom of choice. If we did not have that choice,
then there would be no genuine love. Our lives would
be fatalistically determined in the sense that the atheist believes
that everything is determined by brain, chemistry and genetics.
Speaker 5: Sure, thank you, appreciate it.
Speaker 2: Thank you, you got it. Back to the phone lines.
Talk to Michelle. She's listening in Fadville, Arkansas. Hi.
Speaker 3: Hi.
Speaker 6: First of all, I want to thank you for your ministry.
I am a monthly supporter and I just appreciate all
that you do.
Speaker 2: Bless you, Thank you.
Speaker 6: I was listening to the broadcast when you had Joe
dallas on regarding his article is gay Christian an acceptable identity?
He used the comparison which I have long used to alcoholism.
As far as you know, ultimately, regardless of your desires
or your tendencies, you choose whether to act on them
or not. My question is regarding the labels that you
put on yourselves. And because I was thinking about as
far as drunkenness and alcoholism. When people go to AA meetings,
even if they've recovered from it, they still say, Hi,
my name is SO and so I'm an alcoholic, So
they are putting that label on themselves based off of
actions that they had. Is that a fair comparison to homosexuals?
Maybe saying I'm a recovered homosexual or do you understand
what I'm sure?
Speaker 2: Yeah, And Joe actually addresses that in one of the articles.
But you know, context is very, very important, because if
you're in an AA meeting, introducing yourself as Hi, I'm Joe,
I'm an alcoholic is perfectly acceptable. But you wouldn't do
that in a church situation when you're introducing yourself because
we all recognize intuitively and rightly that every one of
us has a besetting sin and in many sins, so
we don't enumerate those sins. We just assume that the
other people know that we're sinners and that the church
is a hospital for sinners who have come to faith
in Christ. The other thing I think that's important to
recognize is that homosexuality is a behavior, not an identity,
and you have to always keep that straight. And I
think Joe therefore says in the article, and again I
agree with what Joe says on the subject. I don't
know if anybody that knows the subject better. He says
that homosexual is a word best used as an adjective,
as in I experience homosexual temptations, rather than using it
as a noun, I am a homosexual Because the result
of the latter usage is labeling, and with labeling comes limitation.
The former offers a broader, more biblical self view. Okay,
and again Joe talks about this in length in the
article is gay Christian unacceptable identity?
Speaker 6: Okay, Well, I appreciate your answer. Thank you very much
for taking my call.
Speaker 2: You got it. My pleasure Back to the phone lines,
Al Washington, d C.
Speaker 7: Hi, L how you doing, hank A pleasure to speak
to you. I've been having some conversation that's an atheist
on a social media website, and the answer that they
always give me for you know's not a God is
that we don't believe.
Speaker 5: God due to lack of evidence. And I don't really know.
Speaker 3: How to.
Speaker 7: Come back on that, because I mean, it's obviously gods.
You can't touch it. And I think that's kind of
what it's saying is we can't touch them, we've never
seen them.
Speaker 5: I'm just trying to get some better answers through how
I can address that statement.
Speaker 2: Yeah, quite frankly, as the irrational to say that God
doesn't exist because you can't touch or feel him. There
are a lot of things you can't touch and feel
that you know exists, including gravity and black holes and
many other things that we could talk about. But the
reality is is that there's plenty of evidence for God.
If you were stumbling around on a desert island and
you happen to bump into a basketball, you would immediately think, Ah,
someone made that basketball. There is a basketball maker. Maybe
he inhabits this island. I don't know, but the idea
that there would be a basketball mate would be foremost
in your mind. And when you look at the universe,
the universe is absolutely clear. The heavens declared the glory
of God, the skies proclaimed the work of his hands, or,
in the words of the apostle Paul, God's invisible qualities,
his eternal power, and divine nature have been clearly seen,
being understood from what has been made. Not only that,
but there's something else I think important. God has written
a knowledge of himself on the canvas of our consciousness,
and therefore we are without excuse, and the more light
we respond to, the more light we get. The problem
is atheists want to remain in darkness, oftentimes saying that
nothing creates everything. Life comes from non life, and the
life that comes from non life creates metaphysical realities. That's
what is really hard and takes a tremendous amount of
faith to it. Here too, not the Christian point of view.
We're out of here for today. Stand with us, shoulder
to shoulder in the battle for life and truth.
Speaker 1: Thank you for joining us today. June is one of
the most important months for the Bible answer Man Broadcast.
That's because we close out another financial year, and we
can do so successfully only if listening friends like you
stand with us prayerfully and financially. With your gift, you'll
help see our I impact even more lives with God's
truth and equip Christians as authentic Disciples of Christ. Please
call eight eight eight seven thousand CRI and make a
gift to support CRI's life changing outreaches eight eight eight
seven thousand CRII. You can also write CURI at Post
Office Box eighty five hundred, Charlotte, North Carolina two eight
two seven one, or simply visit online at equip dot org.
The Bible Answerman Broadcast is funded by listeners like you.
We are on the air because life and truth matter.
Winston Churchill once declared, you may have to fight when
there is no hope of victory, because it is better
to perish than to live as slaves. Churchill sought to
awaken those who were reluctant to fight against the advancing
Nazi war machine. Today, a spiritual battle is taking place.
Atheism advances in the West, and slavery to secularity is
imprisoning more and more hearts and minds in the United States.
For this reason, crii's ministry is critical, but we need
people willing to stand for truth along with the financial
provisions to accomplish its mission. Stand with Hank Hanigraph and
the Christian Research Institute during the month of June to
end the fiscal year in a position of strength. Call
eight eight eight seven thousand CreI and make a gift
to support CRI's life changing outreaches eight eight eight seven
thousand CreI or visit equip dot org. Equip dot org