Latest / WOAY Podcasts / Bible Answer Man Podcast with Hank Hanegraaff - Q&A: Daniel’s Seventy Weeks, Denominations, and Closing Prayers in Jesus’ Name

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Bible Answer Man Podcast with Hank Hanegraaff - Q&A: Daniel’s Seventy Weeks, Denominations, and Closing Prayers in Jesus’ Name · WOAY Podcasts

• 0:07
  Speaker 1: You're just in time for the Bible Answer Man broadcast
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: with Hank Hanegraaff, the radio outreach of the Christian Research Institute.
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: Our purpose here at CRI is to equip Christians to
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: provide biblical answers to life's most important questions, to read
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: the Bible for all its worth, and counter the teachings
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: of cults and world religions that deviate from the plumb
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: line of God's Word because life and truth matter. For
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: more information, to order resources or donate, call 888-7000-CRI or
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: go online to equip.org. That's equip.org. The following program was pre-recorded.
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: Now here's the president of the Christian Research Institute, Hank Hanegraaff.
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: Thank you very much, Randy. And let's go to the
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: phone lines. First up is Ken, listening in Nashville, Tennessee.
• 0:59
  Speaker 3: Hi, Ken. Hi, Hank.
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: How are you? I'm good. How are you?
• 1:03
  Speaker 3: I'm doing great. I just want to thank you for
• 1:05
  Speaker 3: making my ride home every day so productive.
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: My pleasure.
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: Hey, I have a very.
• 1:12
  Speaker 3: Important question to me. I grew up in a neighborhood
• 1:15
  Speaker 3: that really there were no church-going folks that really knew
• 1:20
  Speaker 3: anything about the faith, and neither did I until the
• 1:24
  Speaker 3: last few years. And I've been trying to use my
• 1:30
  Speaker 3: little knowledge I now have to spread that word a
• 1:33
  Speaker 3: little bit And I really got shaken up a couple
• 1:37
  Speaker 3: months ago, and still remain so, because I had heard
• 1:44
  Speaker 3: and understood in the past that in Daniel 77, this prophecy,
• 1:51
  Speaker 3: I think it's in Daniel 9, he talks about, it's
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: one of the most specific prophecies there are, at least
• 1:59
  Speaker 3: that I've seen. It says, in this exact amount of
• 2:02
  Speaker 3: years will be when the Messiah comes. So I thought,
• 2:06
  Speaker 3: what better way to communicate to my friends and family
• 2:10
  Speaker 3: and to open the door to them to talk about
• 2:13
  Speaker 3: such a specific prophecy that came true in the exact
• 2:16
  Speaker 3: year it was supposed to, and everything was great, and
• 2:20
  Speaker 3: I've talked to them about several other things, and it's
• 2:22
  Speaker 3: really helping. I have read a few of your particular booklets,
• 2:30
  Speaker 3: and actually your book as well, How God Spoken, fully
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: expecting there to be a perfect analysis of how this
• 2:38
  Speaker 3: came true to the exact year, but when I see
• 2:41
  Speaker 3: you reference Daniel, your references to his prophecies typically talk
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: about the succession of nations that took over, you know,
• 2:51
  Speaker 3: following Daniel for the next several hundred years, but they
• 2:55
  Speaker 3: never talk about the specific year matching precisely to when
• 3:00
  Speaker 3: he said that the Messiah would come. So I'm a
• 3:04
  Speaker 3: little nervous now that I may have been telling them
• 3:07
  Speaker 3: the wrong thing. So can you please tell me, is
• 3:10
  Speaker 3: that true? And if it's not, what should I be
• 3:13
  Speaker 3: telling my friends and family?
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: Well, I don't think it's true. In fact, I think
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: that if, in fact, it was true, Jesus himself, as
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: well as the disciples of Jesus, along with early church writers,
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: would have used the 70 weeks prophecy to as proof
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: of the specific timeframe in which Jesus would arrive in history.
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: And instead they don't do that. Not only that, but
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: there's little agreement among commentators with respect to what the
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: 70 weeks prophecy actually says. Commentators are all over the
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: map on that. In fact, there's a long footnote in
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: my book on this very topic. And then the third
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: thing I would say is if you check different versions
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: of the Bible, well, let's say you pull up the
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: NIV or the Revised Standard Version of the Bible and
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: you read the 70 Weeks Prophecy, you're going to read
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: different renditions of the 70 Weeks Prophecy. So the language
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: itself is very difficult from the Hebrew into the Receptor language.
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: Those are three specific reasons why I don't use it.
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: But I certainly think, and I've pointed this out in
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: the book as well, that we can be absolutely certain
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: that only Jesus Christ could emerge from the doorway of
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: Old Testament prophecy based on his ancestry, his birthplace, the
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: circumstances surrounding his death, and the fact that the date
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: of his visitation would be prophesied within historically narrow time parameters.
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: In other words, it'd have to come after the last
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: oracle of the prophet Malachi and before the temple would
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: be destroyed. And then there are many other things, of course,
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: the fact that he would be an extraordinary worker of miracles,
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: that he would have to fulfill the law and the prophets,
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: that it wouldn't be enough for him to be a
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: light to his own people, but he would have to
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: be a light to the Gentiles as well. So only
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: one can emerge from that doorway of biblical prophecy. Now,
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: in addition to that, I've also pointed out that with
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: awe-inspiring precision, Daniel does predict that as you point out
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: in the prologue to your question, a succession of nations
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: from Babylon through the Median and Persian empires to the
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: persecution and suffering of the Jews under the second century
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: Greco-Syrian beast Antiochus IV Epiphanes, including the despot's desecration of
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: the Jerusalem temple, his untimely death, and then freedom for
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: the Jews under Judas Maccabeus. Not only that, but as Daniel,
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: and this I think is really important, as Daniel looks
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: down the corridor of time, he gets a glimpse, the
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: first century coming of Messiah. Because as prophesied by Jeremiah,
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: Jerusalem would experience a partial restoration when 70 years are
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: completed for Babylon, and then as revealed to Daniel through
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: the angel Gabriel, the return from exile was merely a
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: type of the antitypical freedom that would be experienced through
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: Judas Maccabeus, which itself was typological of ultimate restoration through
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: the Messianic Jesus. And therefore, I would say that Daniel's
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: 77s encompass 10 Jubilee eras and thus represent the extended
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: exile of the Jews that would end in the fullness
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: of time, in other words, the quintessential Jubilee, when the
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: people of God would experience ultimate redemption and restoration, not
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: in a holy city, but in a holy Christ who
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: inaugurates a kingdom that, as Daniel makes clear, will itself
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: endure forever. It'll crush all those other kingdoms. So I
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: think there are things that we can say with certainty,
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: and I feel much more secure in sticking with that
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: line of argumentation.
• 7:04
  Speaker 3: Well, I appreciate that. And as you've mentioned, there's a
• 7:07
  Speaker 3: lot of other things that I can talk about. I
• 7:09
  Speaker 3: just really liked that one because it was so precise.
• 7:12
  Speaker 3: But as you're pointing out now, I guess I'm going
• 7:15
  Speaker 3: to leave that one off of my the list of
• 7:17
  Speaker 3: things that I talked about from this point on.
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: Well, at least if you do, make sure that you
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: make the appropriate qualifications. Yes.
• 7:26
  Speaker 3: Hank, I really appreciate it. Thank you so much.
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: You got it. Again, all the details given in my book.
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: There's a particularly long footnote on page 333, and it's
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: kind of interesting that it would be on that page
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: because a lot of people say there are exactly 333 prophecies,
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: Messianic in nature and the Old Testament fulfilled in the New.
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: That also is a bit spurious. I think we're better
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: off as Christians to understate than overstate. Sometimes we set
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: the bar a lot higher than we need to because,
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: believe me, Messianic prophecy is so powerful a proof that
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: we don't want to overstate it because if we overstate,
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: let's say there are 332 instead of 333, the skeptic
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: will seize on that. Just as powerful to mention that
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: there are tens of of prophecies made in the old,
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: fulfilled in the new. Maybe up to 100, but let's
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: not overstate the case, because sometimes the same prophecies are
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: stated in different places, and they're added together as though
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: it's cumulative. So we need to be very careful on
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: how we make the case so we don't overstate the case.
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: Better under-promise, over-perform. The majesty of Scripture is grand enough
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: in and of itself. I want to go back to
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: the phone lines, talk to JB. Hi, JB.
• 8:43
  Speaker 4: All right. I think I got a question I want
• 8:46
  Speaker 4: to ask you. It's kind of bothering me a little bit,
• 8:48
  Speaker 4: the question. I've been looking through the Bible. I've seen
• 8:53
  Speaker 4: one church in the Bible that's the Church of Christ.
• 8:55
  Speaker 4: The only church I see. But I see all the
• 8:57
  Speaker 4: other denominations. You've got the Bakker Church. You've got G. O. K.
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: Whitney.
• 9:01
  Speaker 4: You've got Cassie. You've got all that. It looks like
• 9:04
  Speaker 4: Christ left him, left back, and he left one name.
• 9:07
  Speaker 4: I think I always need a wedding name, Church of Christ.
• 9:10
  Speaker 4: That one guy has to give me an ass on
• 9:11
  Speaker 4: that pretty sucker.
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: Yeah, this is an essential question that I'm asked over
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: and over again about denominations. Remember that the point you're
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: making is a very important point in essentials unity, which
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: is to say we stand with all Christians on the
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: essentials of the historic Christian faith. But there are secondary
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: issues that divide Christians. And we can debate those issues vigorously.
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: We don't have to ultimately separate over those issues. For example,
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: church ecclesiology. or church government is an issue that Christians
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: debate vigorously, but they don't have to divide over it. Eschatology.
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: I was just talking about eschatology with someone earlier today,
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: and eschatology is an interesting subject. The timing of the tribulation,
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: the meaning of the millennium, something that we could debate vigorously.
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: We ultimately do not have to divide over. I have
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: very strong opinions in this area, and I've written about them,
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: but I don't divide with those who hold to different
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: eschatologies as long as they believe that Jesus Christ will
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: appear a second time, and when he does, he will
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: put all things to right. exactly how that cashes out. Again,
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: there are distinctions within denominations on that. But these are
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: secondary issues that divide denominations one from the other. But
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: we are the church universal, standing shoulder to shoulder with
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: one another on essential Christian doctrine, the very essentials for
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: which the martyrs shed their blood. And we should ever
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: remember That Christian doctrine is the foundation on which the
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: very gospel of Jesus Christ himself rests, from his deity
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: to the eschatological certainty that he will appear a second
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: time to judge the living and the dead. Be right
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: back with more answers to your questions.
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: Pastor Martin Niemöller spent the last seven years of Nazi
• 11:04
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• 11:20
  Speaker 1: trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: did not speak out, because I was not a Jew.
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: Then they came for me, and there was no one
• 11:30
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• 11:44
  Speaker 1: That's 888-7000-CRI. Or visit our website at equip.org. Don't tune out.
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: Hank will be back after the break. The number of
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: wolves surrounding the Christian flock is growing, and they relish
• 12:05
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• 12:10
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• 12:14
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• 12:19
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• 12:24
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• 12:48
  Speaker 1: more about the benefits of membership, simply visit equip.org. Once again,
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: that's equip.org. The Complete Bible Answer Book Collector's Edition is
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: the comprehensive collection of the most often asked questions Hank
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: Hanegraaff has received throughout his four decades as host of
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: the Bible Answer Man broadcast. With more than half a
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: million copies already in print, this newly revised and expanded
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: Collector's Edition Help seekers and skeptics alike sort through the
• 13:22
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• 13:27
  Speaker 1: and cults, the resurrection and afterlife, and many more issues
• 13:31
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• 13:34
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• 13:38
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• 13:46
  Speaker 1: and make a gift to support the Christian Research Institute's
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: life-changing outreaches, 888-7000-CRI, or visit us at equip.org. Has God spoken?
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: Are the words of Scripture merely human in origin, or
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: are they in fact the very words of God Himself?
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: Three years in the making and based on two decades
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: of research and reflection, Hank Hanegraaff's monumental book, Has God Spoken?,
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: answers what is surely the most important question facing our world.
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: In Has God Spoken? Memorable Proofs of the Bible's Divine Inspiration,
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: Hank counters the contentions of the Bible attackers and clearly
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: shows that belief in the Holy Scriptures is not a
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: guess or wishful thinking. It is the only logical conclusion
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: after an honest examination of overwhelming evidence. Order Has God
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: Spoken from the Christian Research Institute by calling 888-7000-CRI or
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: go online to equip.org, equip.org. Let's return to your host,
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: Hank Hanegraaff.
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: Let's go back to the phone lines, talk next to Kerri.
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: She's listening in Kansas City, Missouri. Hi, Kerri.
• 15:17
  Speaker 3: Hi, how you doing?
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: I'm doing good. How are you? All right.
• 15:19
  Speaker 3: I have a question.
• 15:20
  Speaker 5: Why do we close our prayers in Jesus' name?
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: Well, we try to be Christocentric. We try to make
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: Jesus Christ the center of everything, even the center of
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: our prayers. In fact, it would do well to recognize
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: that every time we say amen, we are voicing the
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: name of Jesus, because Jesus is called the amen, the
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation. But
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: we're specifically told in John chapter 14, by Jesus himself,
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: I will do whatever you ask in my name so
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: may ask me for anything in my name and I
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: will do it. And again, when we invoke the name
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: of God in our prayers, we are saying, as it were,
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: if it be thy will, because we see a snapshot
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: of He sees the panoply of our lives and he
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: knows what's best for us. But this is something that
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: we see throughout the scriptures. Whatever you ask the Father
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: in my name, said Jesus, he will give it to you.
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: Jesus is the mediator between God and men. He's our
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: high priest. He's our advocate. And that's why we pray
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: in his name. So to pray in Christ's name is
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: to pray in his authority and ultimately to submit to
• 16:41
  Speaker 2: him as Lord of all as we seek not our
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: own agendas, but his agenda, his purpose for our lives.
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: So it's not a magic formula, but it's a way
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: of saying, may it be so in accordance with your will.
• 16:57
  Speaker 5: All right.
• 16:58
  Speaker 3: Thank you, Hank.
• 16:59
  Speaker 5: You're such a blessing.
• 17:00
  Speaker 3: I listen to you all the time.
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: Thank you, Carrie. God bless you. I want to go
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: back to the phone lines, talk to Stephen in San Antonio, Texas. Hi, Stephen. Hello, Hank.
• 17:09
  Speaker 5: How are you?
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: Good.
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: How are you?
• 17:11
  Speaker 5: I'm doing well. I am a non-denominational pastor, and my
• 17:16
  Speaker 5: fiancée is an apostolic Pentecostal oneness believer. And that organization
• 17:23
  Speaker 5: is coming against our union by using the Scripture, being
• 17:27
  Speaker 5: unequally yoked with unbelievers. And I was wondering if you
• 17:31
  Speaker 5: can explain that Scripture to me.
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: Yeah, basically what's going on here is that the oneness
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: people oftentimes in their most cultic permutations are suggesting that
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: unless you are baptized by their formula in their church,
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: you are not really a believer. So that's what's being
• 17:55
  Speaker 2: invoked there. They hold to a litany of legalistic prescriptions,
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: including the test of rebaptism by their formula with evidence
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: of speaking in tongues. So if you don't speak in tongues,
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: you're not saved. And of course, that puts tremendous pressure
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: on adherents to conjure up the gift of tongues. But
• 18:12
  Speaker 2: those who do not speak in tongues are thought to
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: be lacking in faith or even entirely unrepentant, and therefore
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: they're not believers. And so they're invoking this language to
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: suggest that if you were to marry, the two of
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: you would be unequally yoked, a believer and a non-believer.
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: So essentially, unless you adhere to her tradition, you're not
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: a believer. That's the assertion they're making.
• 18:38
  Speaker 3: Wow.
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and this is all based on an error begetting
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: another error. The belief that one must be baptized only
• 18:45
  Speaker 2: in the name of Jesus has led to the further
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: error on their part that Jesus is himself the Father,
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And therefore, if you
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: hold to the Trinity, then you're holding to pagan polytheism
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: in their view. So they don't hold to one God
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: revealed in three persons who are eternally distinct, but they
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: hold to three manifestations of one God revealed in Jesus.
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: And therefore, again, if you're a Trinitarian, if you believe
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: in one God revealed in Three persons who are eternally distinct,
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: and they believe you're not really a Christian. You're holding
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: to pagan polytheism.
• 19:20
  Speaker 4: Yes, sir.
• 19:21
  Speaker 5: You're absolutely right. Thank you, sir. You've been a tremendous help.
• 19:24
  Speaker 5: I love your program, and God bless you for everything
• 19:26
  Speaker 5: that you do.
• 19:27
  Speaker 2: Thank you very much. Appreciate your call. And yeah, this
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: is one of those things that we need to know
• 19:32
  Speaker 2: about oneness Pentecostals. Now, this is not Pentecostalism in general.
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: In fact, Pentecostalism itself exposed oneness. Pentecostalism is heresy. because
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: the oneness Pentecostals believe that unless you are baptized using
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: the correct formula, you are not truly saved. And in
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: their view, the formula is this, I baptize you in
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: the name of Jesus, not I baptize you in the
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Conversely, however,
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: when Peter says we are to be baptized in the
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: name of Jesus, or when Jesus says we are to
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: they are not prescribing different formulas. What they're saying is
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: that we are baptized by the authority vested in the
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: one true God revealed to us in the Bible. Therefore,
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: to be baptized in the name of Jesus is to
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: be baptized on the basis of our belief in his death, burial,
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: and resurrection. And this ought to underscore something. Language does
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: mean something. And the Oneness Pentecostals have distorted the language
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: of Scripture in order to make it a formula that
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: misrepresents the very nature of God. And therefore, they have
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: adhered to modalism, God appearing in different modes or manifestations,
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: as opposed to adhering or bowing their knee before God's
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: self-revelation of Himself. Which is to say, God has taught
• 21:09
  Speaker 2: us how to think about Him. And we should not
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: be philosophically driven, we should be biblically driven. The Bible
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: says there's only one God. The Bible says the Father
• 21:22
  Speaker 2: is God. The Bible says the Son is God. The
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: Bible says the Holy Spirit is God. And in myriad places,
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: the Bible demonstrates that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: eternally distinct. In other words, as Trinitarians, we bow our
• 21:36
  Speaker 2: knee before God's revelation of Himself to us. One what,
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: three who's. I've laid this out in a lot of
• 21:44
  Speaker 2: different places, including the Complete Bible Answer Book Collector's Edition,
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: which is available through the Ministry of the Christian Research Institute.
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: Back to the phone callers. Next up is Ryan listening
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Hi, Ryan. Yes, hi.
• 21:59
  Speaker 5: I hope as a comment, also, I believe in the
• 22:02
  Speaker 5: Gospel of Thomas.
• 22:04
  Speaker 4: Which was Jesus' twin.
• 22:06
  Speaker 5: You know the whole thing about the Holy Grail? He
• 22:09
  Speaker 5: looked like Jesus, Mary, and Magdalene.
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: So you believe in the Gospel of Thomas?
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: Yes, and that he taught past life.
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I have a hard time with the
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: Gospel of Thomas, because... Well, right, but this is written pseudonymously,
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: which is to say it wasn't really written by Thomas.
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: But besides that, you can see that it is colored
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: by Gnosticism and by a completely.
• 22:40
  Speaker 4: Well, Gnostic is a Greek word, means knowledge, and it's
• 22:43
  Speaker 4: written even in St. Paul, because the New Testament.
• 22:45
  Speaker 5: Was written in Greek.
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: Okay, but the difference between the Gospel of Thomas and
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: what is written by Paul or any of the other
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: biblical writers is the difference between night and day. For example,
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: let me give you a passage from the Gospel of Thomas.
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: It's a very famous passage because here we have a
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: conversation between Peter and Jesus. And Simon Peter says... Make
• 23:14
  Speaker 2: Mary leave us, for females don't deserve life. And then
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: Jesus says, look, I will guide her to make her
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: male so that she too may become a living spirit
• 23:26
  Speaker 2: resembling you males. For every female who makes herself male
• 23:33
  Speaker 2: will enter the domain of heaven. My point here is
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: to say that this is dramatically different from a biblical ethic.
• 23:43
  Speaker 5: Did you know the women.
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: Were erased from the Bible?
• 23:46
  Speaker 5: Like Mary Magdalene's gospel.
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: She married... Okay, my point is that the Gnostics, long
• 23:52
  Speaker 2: after the Bible was complete, all of the Bible was
• 23:57
  Speaker 2: completed by AD 70. Long afterwards, they had a kind
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: of ethic in which women were considered to be less
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: worthy than men, which was... the case in the surrounding
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: culture of the first century as well, but the Bible
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: stands completely in opposition to that. If you listen to
• 24:20
  Speaker 2: the Bible's words, the Bible makes clear that there's no
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: distinction between male and female, between Jew and Greek, between
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: slave and free, that we are one in Christ. And
• 24:35
  Speaker 2: in the Bible, you have women who are the first
• 24:41
  Speaker 2: to testify to the most significant event in all of Scripture.
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: You have women as apostles and women as teachers. So
• 24:52
  Speaker 2: the Bible elevates women to complete ontological equality with men.
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: I'm simply pointing out that those who adhere to Gnostic
• 25:03
  Speaker 2: Gospels like the Gospel of Thomas are adhering to anti-female
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: rhetoric that has no part within inspired literature. It is
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: absolutely absurd to suppose that Jesus Christ would say that
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: every female who makes herself male will enter the domain
• 25:25
  Speaker 2: of heaven. This is gnostic, patriarchal kind of language that
• 25:32
  Speaker 2: has no place whatsoever within Christianity. So if you want
• 25:38
  Speaker 2: to believe in it, you're believing in something that is non-canonical,
• 25:43
  Speaker 2: is not rooted in history and evidence, and I've written
• 25:46
  Speaker 2: about this in various places, including Has God Spoken? But
• 25:51
  Speaker 2: I think it's very sad today that people are trying
• 25:54
  Speaker 2: to put the Gospel of Judas or the Gospel of
• 25:57
  Speaker 2: Mary Magdalene or the Gospel of Thomas on the same
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: footing as the canonical Gospels. The difference is the difference
• 26:07
  Speaker 2: between day and night. Thanks to everyone for your support
• 26:11
  Speaker 2: and for tuning in today.
• 26:13
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• 26:16
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• 26:25
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