Speaker 1: You're just in time for the Bible answer Man Broadcast
with Hank Canagraph, the radio outreach of the Christian Research Institute.
Our purpose here at CRII is to equip Christians to
provide Biblical answers to life's most important questions, to read
the Bible for all it's worth, and counter the teachings
of cults and world religions that deviate from the plumb
line of God's Word, because life and truth matter. For
more information, to order resources or donate, 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.
Now here's the President of the Christian Research Institute, Hank Canagraph.
Speaker 2: Thank very much, Randy, and it is good as always
to be in studio as we answer your questions from
around the United States and Canada and from around the
world as well. I want to start the broadcast. We're
going to go right to the calls in just a second,
but I want to start the broadcast today by affirming
what I believe with respect to creation versus evolution. Reason
being that, as many of you know, internet lies travel
halfway around the world before truth has had the chance
to put its boots on. I believe that all evil
in the universe, whether natural catastrophes, nature, red in tooth
and claw, spiritual, physical death, all evil is directly attributable
to the fall of Adam and Eve into lives of
perpetual sin terminated by death. I take Genesis one at
face value. Therefore, I hold that the creation days are
literally solar days. However, they are not intended to provide
a chronology of creation, but to reveal God's purposes in creation.
I do not take an anthropocentric view of scripture. God's
purposes with respect to people, however, is clearly the point
of scripture. We need to recognize that God is revealing
an unfolding plan of redemption for humankind such that we
can be reconciled to Him for time and for eternity.
I also want to say this, I have great differenficulty
stomaching the notion of theistic evolution, and that is not
only from a biblical perspective, it is also from a
scientific perspective. And then I believe that we have to
take seriously interpretation of the Biblical text. If we do not,
we may well find ourselves marching into the kingdom of
the cults. Why is it that Mormons think that God
has feet and hands. It's because they don't know how
to interpret scripture rightly, starting with the early chapters of Genesis,
and unfortunately, there are progressive creationists today that do likewise
with the biblical text. They simply misread the intent of
the author. Job nine is a classic case in point.
He shakes the earth from its place, he makes its
pillars tremble. He speaks to the sun and it does
not shine. He seals off the light of the stars.
He alone stretches out the heavens. That last phrase being
used now to prove Big bang cosmology was a Biblical prescription.
There's an ancient way of talking about Big bang cosmology. Now,
whether or not you believe in Big Bang cosmology is
not the point. The point here is to say that
this passage has nothing whatsoever to do with Big Bang cosmology,
and to use it in that way is to do
violence to the intention of the author. And we might
just as well then say he makes its pillars tremble,
and suppose that the Earth is founded on pillars. The
point simply is this, we must learn to read the
Bible for all it's worth, or as I am more
fond of saying, mine the Bible for all its wealth.
Indeed it is a mine full of wealth, gold nuggets, plentiful.
But you're never going to get to the gold if
you don't know the art and science of biblical interpretation.
I deal with that in a special way in my
book Has God Spoken, which is a book that demonstrates
the Bible to be divine as opposed to merely human
in origin, and laid out in a mosaic by which
you can actually remember the information, and therefore prove in
an epic of time in which the Bible is under siege,
that the Bible is indeed sustainable, not only sustainable, but
ever more brilliant as a literary masterpiece in an age
of scientific enlightenment. We'll go right to our phone callers.
First up today is Aussie listening in Florence, Mississippi. Hi.
Speaker 3: He Hey, how's it going good?
Speaker 2: Hew?
Speaker 3: Are you doing fine?
Speaker 2: Oh?
Speaker 3: Actually, I have a question. My brother is actually dealing
with a little doubt, and his doubt is that he
doesn't understand where God came from? Who made God?
Speaker 4: Why? You know?
Speaker 3: And I try to explain to him. You know, We're
not the ones to you know, question God. We are,
you know, simply who supposed to have faith in God,
you know, but.
Speaker 2: Not blind faith. So it's legitimate to ask questions like that.
We're never called to blind faith. We're called to faith
in evidence. Were called to truth and other words, were
called to believe in that which corresponds to reality. And
I usually explain this in three basic points. I say that,
unlike the universe, which according to modern science, had a beginning,
God is infinite and eternal, and therefore, as an infinite,
eternal being, God logically can be demonstrated to be the
uncaused first cause. Therefore he is uncreated. Secondly, to suppose
that because the universe had to cause, the cause of
the universe must have a cause simply leads to a
logical dead end. In other words, an infinite regression of
finite causes never answers the question of source. It simply
makes the effects more numerous. And that the third point
is this simple logic dictates that the universe is not
merely an illusion. It didn't spring out of nothing, Nothing
comes from nothing, nothing ever could, and it has not
eternally existed as the Greeks once thought the law of
entropy predicts that a universe that has eternally existed would
have died an eternity ago of a heat lost death.
So the only philosophically plausible possibility that remains is that
the universe was made by an unmade cause that is
greater than itself. We simply know intuitively that every effect
has to have a cause equal to or greater than itself.
This is true with respect to the universe in which
we live. But there's no necessity to suppose that the
laws which apply to the universe in which we exist
apply to the creator of the universe in which we exist.
Speaker 3: Wow, Okay, excellent. Well, I appreciate it.
Speaker 2: You got it. And I've written about this in various places.
The most succinct rendering of what I just said is
found in the Complete Bible answer Book Collector's Edition.
Speaker 3: I actually have that boot sitting right here.
Speaker 2: Well, you can look it up. I don't know what
the page number is. We can find it in the index.
Speaker 3: Okay, And what actually would be the question?
Speaker 2: Who made God?
Speaker 3: Who made God? All right, Well, I appreciate it, and God, bless.
Speaker 2: God, bless you. And this gives me an opportunity to
say that the Support Team is a team made up
of people who stand with this ministry prayerfully and financially.
I mentioned this a number of times, but this is
a make it or break a month. This is the
end of our fiscal year June thirty. Of course, that's
not far away. It's right around the corner. And therefore
we're asking people to make a substantial commitment to this
ministry so that we can make up a critical financial shortfall.
And it's crucial to make up this shortfall by June thirty. Again,
that's the end of our fiscal year, and your gift
to help overcome the shortfall by June thirty is critically important.
We're dependent on friends like you, so I'm asking you
to send your best possible gift postmarked by June thirty,
and remember, for those who join, they'll support team. I'll
send you the complete Bible answer Book Collector's Edition, personalized
to yourself, a family member, or to a friend. Is
my way of saying thank you for standing with us,
being part of a team making a difference for time
and for eternity. We're up to station break bey right back.
Speaker 1: If you were going into combat, what would be more
important the number of those who were for you or
the number of those who were with you. Now apply
that question to today's battle for the hearts and minds of
literally millions of people at home and abroad. That's what
makes members of CRI's support teams so vital. They're not
simply for CRI's critical mission. They're standing with CRI each
and every day. If you want your voice and your
values to be heard twenty four to seven through the
outreaches of the Christian Research Institute, become a member of
CRI's support team today. Just call eight eight eight seven
thousand CRII to stand with CRII daily in the battle
for life and truth. And as our thanks, Hank Canagraph
will personalize to you a copy of his Complete Bible
answer Book Collector's Edition, revised and expanded. Call eight eight
eight seven thousand CROI or visit our website at equipp
dot org. Hank will be back right after this. 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 in the arsenal were pivotal.
Our contemporary battle for truth against anti Christian secularists raises
the stakes above the significance of Stalingrad. CRI likewise needs
military partners willing to stand for truth, along with the
financial means to accomplish the mission. Stand with us during
the key month of June to end the fiscal year
in a position of strength. Call eight eight eight seven
thousand CROI and make a gift to support CRI's life
changing outreaches or visit 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 CROI
and make a gift to support the Christian Research Institute's
Life Changing outreaches eight eight eight seven thousand CROI or
visit us at equip dot org.
Speaker 5: 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
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
CRI and make a gift in support of the life
changing work of the Christian Research Institute. That's eight eight
eight seven thousand CRI. Or go online to equip dot org.
Speaker 1: Now back to the Bible answer Man broadcast and your
host and Canigraph.
Speaker 2: Let's go back to the phone lines. Talk to Jonathan,
who's listening in Kansas City, Missouri. Hi, Jonathan, Hey, how.
Speaker 4: Are you, Hank, I'm good. Before I ask you my question,
let me just preface this by saying, I do believe
that the canon is one closed. I believe that God
has preserved his word and that everything we need is
there and available to us. My question has to do
with the Book of Jude, and specifically where it talks
about Satan and Michael the archangel, fighting over the body
of Moses. And I've heard a couple of different schools
of thought on that. One is that the body of
Moses is a reference to Old Testament believers, the nation
of Israel, Moses' leadership as a type of Christ. And
I've also heard that it is something that Jude put
in there to refute Gnostic teachers that were teaching things,
you know, at the time that obviously were aberant in theology,
and I just was wondering if you had any insight
into that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, let me give you a line of reasoning here.
First of all, recognize that the early Church fathers. Let
us know that Jude is alluding to a particular work here.
It's a suit of pigriphul work called the Assumption of Moses.
In verse fourteen. What's going on is Jude quotes from
the Book of Enoch. So you have a precedent for
Jude doing this kind of thing. He not only alludes
to the Assumption of Moses, but he clearly is also
referencing the Book of Enoch all in the same epistle.
And there's a precedent for this because the other New
Testament writers do this as well. Paul, for example, quotes
from pagan poets, and in doing so, he's not claiming
divine inspiration for the pagan poets, but he's recognizing that
all truth is God's truth, and he's using truth wherever
it is found to point to the ultimate arbitra of truth.
Deuteronomy thirty four tells us that God buried Moses in Moab.
No one knows exactly where, but the text tells us that,
and the operative word here is God. God buried Moses,
and as a result, many Jewish traditions built up concerning
the death of Moses in the way in which Moses
was buried. If God did this, did he use an
angel as his agent. So a lot of traditions built up,
and the assumption of Moses was among those traditions. Now,
the point here is that Jude found this illustration in
the assumption of Moses to be helpful. Helpful not because
the assumption of Moses as part of the canon, but
helpful because there's a point here that should be underscored,
and that is the archangel Michael refused to slander the devil,
but rather than doing that, he puts the matter back
into the hands of God, saying to Satan, the Lord
rebuke you. So here's a principle extracted which points to
a precedent. That precedent is we do not slander celestial beings.
This is the prerogative of God. We want to be
more humble, and so we rebuke someone, not directly, but
rather through the agency of our heavenly Father. The Lord
rebuke you. So this is the principle that's being pointed
to I think here, and I do think that it's
reading far too much into the passage or into the
historical context to think that this is somehow or other,
some kind of typology going on here with respect to
Israel and the like. As you mentioned the prolog to
the question back to the phone lines, Jeremy Jackson, Tennessee. Hi, Jeremy, Hi, thank.
Speaker 6: I'm asking about a last chapter mark a verse number eight,
and it's true to go first or not part of
the original manuscript, and I won't hang up to listen.
And if you can just give a detail on that place.
Speaker 2: Sure, yeah, certainly. If you read most modern translations, you'll
find a note inserted between eight and nine in terms
of verses that says something to the effect of most
reliable early manuscripts and other ancient witnesses do not have
Mark sixteen, verses nine through twenty. So that's what you're
going to find as an inserted note between verse eight
and verse nine. The reason for this is what's called
the tenacity of the text. Through the tenacity of the text,
the autograph emerges. So what we have with respect to
the New Testament manuscripts is a wealth of biblical manuscripts,
and what textual critics do is they compare the manuscripts.
The manuscripts all have mistakes, but they don't all have
the same mistakes. So by comparing manuscript with the manuscript,
you can come to a true valuation of what is
the original. So the autograph has been preserved within the
manuscripts that are extant today. So God has miraculously, supernaturally
we might say, preserved his word through volume of manuscripts.
It is our responsibility to make sure that scribal insertions
are not added to the text, and so in cases
where the oldest and most reliable manuscripts don't have the
longer ending, that should be noted. So for example, the
Kmma Johannium, or the added clause of First John chapter five.
It's completely biblical in the sense that it coheres to
the rest of the Biblical text, but it's not in
the best manuscripts. So it was added too good to
leave out, so to speak, in manuscripts, and so as
a result of that, a lot of people think if
you leave it out, you're leaving something out of the Bible. No,
that sentiment in terms of the three or one is
found elsewhere in scripture the same thing in terms of
the long ending to the Lord's Prayer. It is completely biblical.
It comes directly from an Old Testament passage, but it's
not in the best, most reliable manuscripts. While it's added
in passages like Matthew Chapter five, the reality is it's
something that's pasted from an Old Testament passage onto the
ending of the large Prayer. Again, it is completely consistent
with the Bible because it comes from the Bible, but
the tenacity of the text allows the autograph to emerge intact.
And that's the point. Want to go back to the
phone lines. Let's talk next to Jose in Tampa, Florida.
Hi Jose, Hi Hank.
Speaker 7: I'm really I really admire your ministry and the sound
doctrine that you proclaim from this writer station. I'm a
Hispanic pastor and I would like to make a personal
call about this. I'm in a transition from a church
to another place, and I already visited five different churches
in five different places, and they ask for me to
be their pastor. But they offer to me. It was
sufficient for my family to leave about that kind of proposal.
But I'm fighting inside of me if I did well
not going to those states because inside of me is
my passion to serve the Lord. And I would like
to have you know, an answer from you.
Speaker 2: Yeah. The way I would look at this is that
God moves through circumstances and through people. Obviously, if people
are telling you to do something that is other than
what you already find taught in the Word of God,
you wouldn't listen to them. But God does move through circumstances,
and he moves through the Christian community to help show
His will in his way to individuals like you. So
you have a passion in your heart to serve God.
God's opening an opportunity, a door for service in a
particular place, and I think what you need to do
is move in that direction and God will either open
the door wider or He'll close that door. But again,
if you have this passion in your heart, I would
move in that direction again prayerfully, thoughtfully, with good godly counsel.
But I would move in that direction and certainly would
join you in prayer that God would use your move
in that direction to build up his kingdom, edify his body,
and use your talents. God's given you specific talents You've
got talents I don't have. I may have some talents
you don't have, but God is using your specific talents
to edify, equip encourage, exhort, build up the body of Christ.
I'd go for it, man, Yeah.
Speaker 7: I understand what you're saying. But the thing is that
I reject those proposals because I was thinking that I
can hurt so much my family living on those places
without having the proper assistance, financial assistance to live with
that kind of money.
Speaker 2: Well, and that's a very significant consideration. But let me
tell you something. When I went into ministry, I can
tell you that I saw no way in the world
that I could ever support a growing family. And believe me,
our family started to grow rather rapidly, end up with
twelve kids. So I didn't see any way that we
could possibly do it. Sometimes I still wonder today how
I'm going to make it with everything that's going on.
It's difficult, but God is our source, and the ultimate
thing that we want to do is learn to lean
more heavily upon the arm of God rather than the
arm of flesh.
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