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With all of the different religions, how can I know which one is correct?

Who was Nicodemus in the Bible?​

Nicodemus in the Bible
ANSWER

All that we know of Nicodemus in the Bible is from the Gospel of John. In John 3:1, he is described as a Pharisee. The Pharisees were a group of Jews who were fastidious in keeping the letter of the Law and often opposed Jesus throughout His ministry. Jesus often strongly denounced them for their legalism (see Matthew 23). Saul of Tarsus (who became the apostle Paul) was also a Pharisee (Philippians 3:5).

John 3:1 also describes Nicodemus as a leader of the Jews. According to John 7:50–51, Nicodemus was a member of the Sanhedrin, which was the ruling body of the Jews. Each city could have a Sanhedrin, which functioned as the “lower courts.” Under Roman authority in the time of Christ, the Jewish nation was allowed a measure of self-rule, and the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem was the final court of appeals for matters regarding Jewish law and religion. This was the body that ultimately condemned Jesus, yet they had to get Pilate to approve their sentence since the death penalty was beyond their jurisdiction under Roman law. It appears that Nicodemus was part of the Great Sanhedrin in Jerusalem.

John reports that Nicodemus came to speak with Jesus at night. Many have speculated that Nicodemus was afraid or ashamed to visit Jesus in broad daylight, so he made a nighttime visit. This may very well be the case, but the text does not give a reason for the timing of the visit. A number of other reasons are also possible. Nicodemus questioned Jesus. As a member of the Jewish ruling council, it would have been his responsibility to find out about any teachers or other public figures who might lead the people astray.

In their conversation, Jesus immediately confronts Nicodemus with the truth that he “must be born again” (John 3:3). When Nicodemus seems incredulous, Jesus reprimands him (perhaps gently) that, since he is a leader of the Jews, he should already know this (John 3:10). Jesus goes on to give a further explanation of the new birth, and it is in this context that we find John 3:16, which is one of the most well-known and beloved verses in the Bible.

The next time we encounter Nicodemus in the Bible, he is functioning in his official capacity as a member of the Sanhedrin as they consider what to do about Jesus. In John 7, some Pharisees and priests (presumably with authority to do so) sent some of the temple guard to arrest Jesus, but they return, unable to bring themselves to do it (see John 7:32–47). The guards are upbraided by the Pharisees in authority, but Nicodemus presents the opinion that Jesus should not be dismissed or condemned until they have heard from Him personally: “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” (John 7:51). However, the rest of the Council rudely dismisses Nicodemus’s suggestion out of hand—they appear to have already made up their minds about Jesus.

The final mention of Nicodemus in the Bible is in John 19 after Jesus’ crucifixion. We find Nicodemus assisting Joseph of Arimathea in Jesus’ burial. Joseph is described in John as a rich man and in Mark 15:43 as a member of the Council. He is also described in John 19:38 as a disciple of Jesus, albeit a secret one because he was afraid of the Jews. Joseph asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Nicodemus brought 75 pounds of spices for use in preparing the body for burial and then assisted Joseph in wrapping the body and placing it in the tomb. The sheer amount of burial spices would seem to indicate that Nicodemus was a rich man and that he had great respect for Jesus.

The limited account in John’s Gospel leaves many questions about Nicodemus unanswered. Was he a true believer? What did he do after the resurrection? The Bible is silent on these questions, and there are no reliable extra-biblical resources that give answers. It would appear that Nicodemus may have been similar to Joseph of Arimathea in that perhaps he, too, was a disciple of Jesus but had not yet mustered the courage to declare his faith openly. Perhaps Nicodemus’s final recorded act was his declaration of faith—although we are not told how public it was. His presentation in the Gospel of John is generally favorable, which suggests that his faith was indeed genuine.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES​

The Great Lives from God’s Word Series by Chuck Swindoll

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Are we all related?​

are we all related
ANSWER

Black hair, brown hair, no hair. Black skin, red skin, tan skin. Human beings come in an inexhaustible variety of sizes, shapes, colors, and personalities. But we are all part of a single race, the human race. Genesis 1 and 2 describe in detail how human beings came into existence. In the beginning, there was one man and one woman. God did not create any more humans in the way He had created them, and He gave them the command to “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth” (Genesis 1:28). All other humans came from those first parents, so in that sense, we are all related to each other.

Even many evolutionary theories concede that human beings originated from a single set of parents Dorit, R. L., Akashi, H., and Gilbert, W., 1995. “Absence of polymorphism at the ZFY locus on the human Y chromosome.” Science 268:1183—1185). The theories greatly differ in their ideas of where those parents came from and what their nature was, but it is undeniable that all human being are genetically related (see Highfield, Roger, “DNA survey finds all humans are 99.9pc the same,” The Telegraph online, 20 Dec 2002, accessed 5/29/20). The Bible says that those parents were birthed in the heart of a loving and powerful God (Genesis 1:26). They were designed by Him for fellowship and love, and they were set as gardeners in His perfect world (Genesis 2:15, 19). Before the fall, they would have been genetically perfect. Adam lived for nearly a thousand years (Genesis 5:5), and we can assume Eve lived a similarly long time. Theoretically, the two could have had several hundred children, since their bodies did not age at the rate humans now age. Those children grew up and married each other, exponentially multiplying the human race within the first several hundred years of human existence.

After several generations, human beings became so wicked that God sent a flood to wipe out every living thing on the earth—except one man and his family (Genesis 6:5–7). Noah, his wife, their three sons, and their wives were alone saved through the flood, along with enough animals to replenish the earth (Genesis 7:1–4). So not only are we all related to our first parents, Adam and Eve, but we are also all related to Noah and his wife. God started over with one family and told them to “be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth” (Genesis 9:1). As time went on, each of Noah’s sons had more sons, and their descendants eventually became various nations (Genesis 10). The dispersion of humanity after the Tower of Babel gave rise to the various language groups we see today, and it’s possible that it also contributed to the formation of the various “races.” Regardless of the ethnic and racial differences we observe today, all human beings are genetically related through Adam and Eve.

The fact that we are all related through Adam is spiritually significant. According to the Bible, we are all born with Adam’s sinful nature: we have a predisposition to choose our own paths and be our own gods (Romans 7:14–25). Children do not have to be taught how to sin. It comes naturally because they inherited the same sinful nature that their parents and grandparents inherited. Romans 5:12 says that “sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned.” If Adam were not the father of all humankind, we could not have all inherited his nature. But because we’re all Adam’s children, we are all sinners like he was. “Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners” (Romans 5:19, NLT). Adam passed on to us the judgment his sin earned (Romans 3:23; 6:23).

Understanding that every one of us is born equally undeserving of God’s mercy keeps us from passing judgment on others (Romans 2:1). And understanding that every person is also a unique individual created in the image of God helps us treat all people with respect (Genesis 1:27).

C. S. Lewis explained it this way: “There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. . . . It is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit. . . . This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of that kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously—no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption. And our charity must be a real and costly love, with deep feeling for the sins in spite of which we love the sinner—no mere tolerance, or indulgence which parodies love as flippancy parodies merriment” (The Weight of Glory: And Other Addresses, HarperOne, 1980, p. 46, emphasis in the original).

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES​

Fault Lines: The Social Justice Movement and Evangelicalism's Looming Catastrophe by Voddie Baucham Jr.

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What does the Bible say about child sexual abuse?​

sexual abuse
audio

ANSWER

Sexual abuse perpetrated against a child is a deplorable reality of living in a sin-stricken world. The psychological, emotional, spiritual, and physical damage of the abuse remain long after molestation has ended. The Bible speaks vehemently against hurting children and against sexual sins and perversions of all kinds. It also offers hope for healing and forgiveness.

Why does child sexual abuse happen?

The short answer to “why” abuse happens is that we live in a world marred by sin. Often, those who molest children have themselves been molested. They may have been hurt in some other way as well and choose to victimize children in an attempt to regain a sense of power or worthiness. Sexual abuse can be the result of anger or selfishness or narcissism. Sometimes, it can even stem from a misguided attempt to find intimacy. Whatever the emotional, familial, or psychological history of the molester, sexual abuse is evil.

Molestation or sexual abuse is NEVER the fault of the abused child. Many victims of abuse experience shame and guilt. But children cannot be held responsible for crimes perpetrated against them. This is not to say that victims of abuse are absolved of responsibility for their own actions, including those prompted by scars of the abuse. But there is nothing shameful about having been abused. The shame belongs to the abuser alone.

What does the Bible say about sexual abuse against children?

Caring for children is spoken of highly in the Bible. For example, James 1:27 says that caring for children in need pleases God: “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” Ephesians 6:4 says, “Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.” Psalm 127:3 calls children “a heritage from the Lord.” Jesus’ interactions with children (notably in Matthew 18) demonstrate the value God places on them. The Bible speaks often about caring for the weak, poor, and needy—and this would include at-risk children (Proverbs 14:31; 17:5; 19:17; 31:8–9). Followers of Christ are consistently called to love others. Molesting a child can in no way be mistaken for love.

The Bible also speaks strongly against sexual sin. Sex is a gift given by God meant for marriage. Sexual perversion of all kinds is soundly condemned. Sexually assaulting a child is never justifiable; it is always wrong.

How can I heal from being sexually abused?

If you or someone you know is being molested, or you suspect abuse, you must contact the appropriate authorities. If you were abused as a child and suspect that your abuser is still harming others, please report it. Medical, legal, and psychological intervention are likely necessary. Children should never be left in abusive situations. Check with your local department of human services for reporting procedures.

There is hope and healing in Christ, even for those who have been sexually abused as children. The journey to healing will look different for each person. It begins with a recognition of the abuse and the damage it has done. Healing continues as the abused person learns to trust Jesus and release the pain to Him. The road is long and will require safe companions, such as a counselor, a pastor, and loving family members.

Our Savior, Jesus, said that He is the fulfillment of this prophecy: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18–19). Meditate on those words.

Psalm 72:12–14 encourages those in pain to call on the Lord: “For he will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to help. He will take pity on the weak and the needy and save the needy from death. He will rescue them from oppression and violence, for precious is their blood in his sight” (see also Psalm 22:24 and Psalm 34:18). It requires faith to believe that God sees and that He cares. Coming to a place of acceptance and even forgiveness for one’s abuser will take time, God’s grace, and exerted effort. But it is possible. In Jesus there is healing and freedom. Call out to God in your distress.

Can I be forgiven if I have sexually abused a child?

Yes. God is gracious and merciful. No sin is beyond His ability to forgive (see Romans 5:20). Jesus came to cleanse all sin: “Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins” (Mark 3:28). When we recognize our sin, turn from it, and cry out to God, He forgives. Often, abusers have been abused themselves. In addition to God’s forgiveness, they require professional assistance in stopping their behaviors, healing from their own past wounds, and seeking forgiveness from those they have injured.

Child molestation is a sad reality, but it is not beyond God’s ability to overcome. God can redeem and restore. We praise Him “who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20). The “more than we can imagine” includes healing and forgiveness.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES​

The Wounded Heart: Hope for Adult Victims of Childhood Sexual Abuse by Dan Allender

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What was Jesus’ message to the church in Sardis in Revelation?​

church in Sardis
audio

ANSWER

Revelation 2 begins a series of brief letters to seven churches in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey) that existed during the apostle John’s time. Each of these messages includes specific information for each church, and there are lessons in each letter for believers today. The fifth letter is to the church in Sardis (Revelation 3:1-6). Sardis was one of the oldest and best defended cities in the region and the wealthy capital of the ancient kingdom of Lydia.

The message to Sardis is from the Lord Jesus Christ through an angel or messenger (possibly a reference to the pastor): “To the angel of the church in Sardis write . . .” (Revelation 3:1). This was not John’s message to the church at Sardis; it was a message from the Lord. The description at the end of verse 1 further verifies the author: “These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.” Only Jesus has the seven spirits (or “seven-fold Spirit,” meaning the complete or perfect Spirit of God), and only Jesus holds the seven stars, i.e., the seven angels (or pastors) of the seven churches (Revelation 1:20).

Jesus quickly and clearly condemns the lifeless state of the Sardian church: “I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead” (Revelation 3:2). This church may have had a good reputation, but they were spiritually lifeless. In other words, the church was filled with unsaved people going through the motions of religion. There were many tares among the wheat (Matthew 13:24-30).

Jesus then calls them to repent of their sin: “Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. Remember, therefore, what you received and heard; obey it, and repent” (Revelation 3:2-3a). To “wake up” means to start paying attention to their need of salvation, to stop being careless about their heart’s condition before God.

Jesus notes the judgment that would take place if they did not repent: “If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you” (Revelation 3:3b). A dead church, and one unrepentant in its deadness, will be disciplined by Jesus Himself.

After the warning, Jesus encourages those in Sardis who had remained faithful: “Yet you have still a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy” (Revelation 3:4). The faithful remnant had not soiled their garments (participated in sin). They are “worthy.” The idea of walking worthily is also found in Paul’s teaching in Ephesians 4:1; Colossians 1:10; and 1 Thessalonians 2:12. To be “worthy” is to “match up” with something—the profession of faith in the mouth matches the reality of faith in the heart. The faithful ones are promised to walk with Jesus in white (see Matthew 22:11-12; Revelation 19:8).

Jesus makes a final promise to the believers in Sardis: “He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels” (Revelation 3:5). The one who “overcomes” is anyone who is born again (1 John 5:4). The overcomer will receive a white garment (a token of righteousness), he will never have his name removed from the book of life (a promise of eternal security), and he will be confessed by Jesus in heaven (cf. Luke 12:8).

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES​

The Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia in Their Local Setting by Colin Hemer

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What is the rock in Matthew 16:18?​

Peter rock Matthew 16:18
audio

ANSWER

The debate rages over whether “the rock” on which Christ will build His church is Peter, or Peter’s confession that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the Living God” (Matthew 16:16). In all honesty, there is no way for us to be 100% sure which view is correct. The grammatical construction allows for either view. The first view is that Jesus was declaring that Peter would be the “rock” on which He would build His church. Jesus appears to be using a play on words. “You are Peter (petros) and on this rock (petra) I will build my church.” Since Peter’s name means rock, and Jesus is going to build His church on a rock – it appears that Christ is linking the two together. God used Peter greatly in the foundation of the church. It was Peter who first proclaimed the Gospel on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:14-47). Peter was also the first to take the Gospel to the Gentiles (Acts 10:1-48). In a sense, Peter was the rock “foundation” of the church.

The other popular interpretation of the rock is that Jesus was referring not to Peter, but to Peter’s confession of faith in verse 16: “You are the Christ, the son of the living God.” Jesus had never explicitly taught Peter and the other disciples the fullness of His identity, and He recognized that God had sovereignly opened Peter’s eyes and revealed to him who Jesus really was. His confession of Christ as Messiah poured forth from him, a heartfelt declaration of Peter’s personal faith in Jesus. It is this personal faith in Christ which is the hallmark of the true Christian. Those who have placed their faith in Christ, as Peter did, are the church. Peter expresses this in 1 Peter 2:4 when he addressed the believers who had been dispersed around the ancient world: “Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

At this point, Jesus declares that God had revealed this truth to Peter. The word for “Peter,” Petros, means a small stone (John 1:42). Jesus used a play on words here with petra (“on this rock”) which means a foundation boulder, as in Matthew 7:24, 25 when He described the rock upon which the wise man builds his house. Peter himself uses the same imagery in his first epistle: the church is built of numerous small petros “living stones” (1 Peter 2:5) who, like Peter, confess that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and those confessions of faith are the bedrock of the church.

In addition, the New Testament makes it abundantly clear that Christ is both the foundation (Acts 4:11, 12; 1 Corinthians 3:11) and the head (Ephesians 5:23) of the church. It is a mistake to think that here He is giving either of those roles to Peter. There is a sense in which the apostles played a foundational role in the building of the church (Ephesians 2:20), but the role of primacy is reserved for Christ alone, not assigned to Peter. So, Jesus’ words here are best interpreted as a simple play on words in that a boulder-like truth came from the mouth of one who was called a small stone. And Christ Himself is called the “chief cornerstone” (1 Peter 2:6, 7). The chief cornerstone of any building was that upon which the building was anchored. If Christ declared Himself to be the cornerstone, how could Peter be the rock upon which the church was built? It is more likely that the believers, of which Peter is one, are the stones which make up the church, anchored upon the Cornerstone, “and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame” (1 Peter 2:6).

The Roman Catholic Church uses the argument that Peter is the rock to which Jesus referred as evidence that it is the one true church. As we have seen, Peter’s being the rock is not the only valid interpretation of this verse. Even if Peter is the rock in Matthew 16:18, this is meaningless in giving the Roman Catholic Church any authority. Scripture nowhere records Peter being in Rome. Scripture nowhere describes Peter as being supreme over the other apostles. The New Testament does not describe Peter as being the “all authoritative leader” of the early Christian church. Peter was not the first pope, and Peter did not start the Roman Catholic Church. The origin of the Catholic Church is not in the teachings of Peter or any other apostle. If Peter truly was the founder of the Roman Catholic Church, it would be in full agreement with what Peter taught (Acts chapter 2, 1 Peter, 2 Peter).

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES​

Reasoning from the Scriptures with Catholics by Ron Rhodes

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Should a Christian have hobbies?​

ANSWER

Webster’s dictionary defines a hobby as “a pursuit outside one’s regular occupation engaged in especially for relaxation.” God knows we need to relax from time to time and just have fun, but we need to have clean and godly fun, not worldly, sinful fun. So is it wrong for Christians to have hobbies? Not necessarily. Hobbies themselves are neutral and are neither right nor wrong. The key is the attitude of the person participating in the hobby.

Paul wrote this, “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father” (Colossians 3:17). He also wrote, “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). The true barometer for our hobbies should be whether or not they glorify God, whether or not we see them as gifts from God for which we are thankful, and whether or not they draw our attention away from Him. So much of our entertainment today is rooted in sin, glorifying it and feeding the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes. We have to be careful that our hobbies are not rooted in sin.

Hobbies can be wrong if we have them to escape from God or have them with the wrong attitude. We can participate in sports and enjoy the camaraderie and exercise sports provide. But if our competitive nature causes us to curse when we lose or play poorly, if we cheat on the scorecard, or if we begin to see our opponents as the enemy, then that would be wrong and not glorify God. The sports themselves are not wrong, but our participation in them becomes sinful because of our attitudes and approach to them. But if we enjoy these activities with an attitude of thanksgiving to God and participation in them does not hamper our relationship with Him, then the sport or hobby is a positive influence in our lives.

The temptation with hobbies is to use them as an escape from life and consequently from God. They can rob us of time, become idols in our lives, and distract us from our “regular occupation” of glorifying God in everything. We have amazing freedom in Christ, but Paul offered this caution: “For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another” (Galatians 5:13). We all know people who worship sports and watch the television for hours on end, especially on weekends. It is literally a religion for them. They know more batting averages than Bible verses and are more familiar with the lives of professional athletes than the life of Christ. Clearly, this is wrong and displeasing to God.

Again, hobbies are not necessarily wrong, but when they consume us and take our eyes off Christ, then they are definitely wrong. Even the most innocent hobbies that consume us are encumbrances that we must lay aside because they slow us down in our race, which is the Christian life (Hebrews 12:1). A good test is this: how important is this hobby to me? Is the Lord alone enough? If it were stripped away from me, would I still be content in Christ? So, yes, Christians can have hobbies, but we have to make sure they never replace Christ. That is the temptation, and we must be sure to avoid it.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES​

Something Needs to Change: A Call to Make Your Life Count in a World of Urgent Need by David Platt

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What are the Lord’s appointed times (Leviticus 23)?​

appointed times
ANSWER

In Leviticus 23:1–2, the Lord told Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and tell them: These are my appointed times, the times of the LORD that you will proclaim as sacred assemblies” (CSB). “Appointed times” were the holy days, feasts, and festivals that God required the people of Israel to set aside as consecrated to the Lord and to observe faithfully throughout the year.

Part of ancient Israel’s commitment to worship and holy living involved the proper observance of sacred days and annual religious gatherings. The appointed times corresponded with the Jewish calendar and were tied to lunar and solar cycles.

The Lord called these solemn observances “my appointed times,” indicating that the focus of the gatherings would be on Him. They included the weekly Sabbath and the monthly new moon festival. The annual spring festivals were the Lord’s Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread, Feast of Firstfruits, and the Feast of Weeks, which was called Pentecost in the New Testament. The fall festivals consisted of the Feast of Trumpets or New Year’s Day, the Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur, and the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths.

The Sabbath (Leviticus 23:3) was an important religious celebration for the Hebrews because it was observed every week as a sign of Israel’s covenant relationship with God (Exodus 31:12–17). On the Sabbath, the Israelites were forbidden to do any work at all, whether plowing or reaping (Exodus 34:21), baking or food preparation (Exodus 16:23), lighting a fire (Exodus 35:3), or gathering wood (Numbers 15:32–36). Sabbath comes from a Hebrew word that means “to rest, to cease from labor.” The Sabbath remembered God’s rest on the seventh day following the six days of creation (Exodus 20:11) as well as God’s deliverance from slavery in Egypt (Deuteronomy 5:15).

The new moon observance marked the first day of every new month. During the new moon festivals, several different sacrifices were offered (Numbers 28:11–15), trumpets were blown (Numbers 10:10), all labor and trade were suspended (Nehemiah 10:31), and feasts were enjoyed (1 Samuel 20:5).

The appointed time of the Passover (Leviticus 23:4–5) was at the beginning of the bright season of the year when the moon was full in the first month of spring. The name Passover originates from the Hebrew term pesach, meaning “to leave or spare by passing over.” This great festival commemorated Israel’s salvation and deliverance from Egypt. Along with the Feast of Weeks and Tabernacles, it was one of three annual pilgrimage festivals (Deuteronomy 16:16) in which all Jewish males were required to travel to Jerusalem to worship.

The seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23:6–8) immediately followed Passover and was always celebrated as an extension of the Passover feast. During this week, the Israelites ate only unleavened bread to commemorate Israel’s hurried departure from Egypt. On the second day, Israel incorporated the Feast of Firstfruits (Leviticus 23:9–14) when the priest presented the first sheaves of grain from the spring harvest as a wave offering to the Lord. The Jews could not partake of their crops until the first fruits had been given. This act symbolized that the first and the best of everything belongs to God and that Israel would put the Lord first in every part of life. It was also an expression of thanksgiving for God’s gift of the harvest and for supplying their daily bread.

The next appointed time on the Jewish calendar was the Feast of Weeks (Leviticus 15—22; Deuteronomy 16:9–10), which fell in late spring, on the fiftieth day (or a full seven weeks) after the Feast of Firstfruits. In the New Testament, this commemoration is called “Pentecost” (Acts 2:1), from the Greek word meaning “fifty.” As one of the harvest feasts, the Feast of Weeks involved offering the first loaves of bread made from the wheat harvest to the Lord. On this day, the Israelites also read from the book of Ruth and the Psalms.

The Feast of Trumpets (Leviticus 23:23–25; Numbers 29:1–6) or Rosh Hashanah (New Year’s Day), which was observed in the fall, marked the start of a new agricultural and civil year in Israel. This appointed time was announced with the blast of trumpets, commencing ten days of solemn dedication and repentance before the Lord.

The Day of Atonement (Leviticus 23:26–32; Numbers 29:7–11) or Yom Kippur was the highest and holiest day of the Lord’s appointed times, falling ten days after the Feast of Trumpets. This day called for solemn fasting, deep repentance, and sacrifice. Only on this day, once a year, could the high priest enter the holy of holies in the tabernacle or temple and make an atoning blood sacrifice for the sins of all the people of Israel. As a complete Sabbath, no work was done on the Day of Atonement.

Five days later, Israel celebrated its most joyous appointed time of the year with the fall harvest festival (Sukkot), also known as the Feast of Tabernacles (Leviticus 23:33–36, 40, 42–43; Numbers 29:12–40) or Feast of Booths. During this week-long celebration, the Jewish people built small, makeshift shelters where they lived and ate their meals as a reminder of God’s provision and care during their 40 years of wandering in the wilderness when they lived and worshiped in temporary tents.

The Lord’s appointed times were celebrations of God’s divine protection and provision. Each one recognized different aspects of God’s work of salvation in the lives of His people. Ultimately, these holy days, feasts, and festivals found their fulfillment in the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Israel’s Messiah, Jesus Christ. Together, these observances prophetically convey the message of the cross, the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, and the glorious promise of His second coming. As we gain a richer, fuller understanding of the Lord’s appointed times, we are rewarded with a more complete and unified picture of God’s plan of salvation as presented throughout the whole of Scripture.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES​

A Biblical Theology of the Old Testament edited by Roy Zuck

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How is Jesus different from other religious leaders?​


ANSWER

In a sense, asking how Jesus differs from other religious leaders is like asking how the sun differs from other stars in our solar system—the point being that there are no other stars in our solar system!

No other “religious leader” can compare to Jesus Christ. Every other religious leader is either alive or dead. Jesus Christ is the only one who was dead and is now alive. Indeed, He proclaims in Revelation 1:17–18 that He is alive forevermore! No other religious leader dares make such a claim, which, if not true, is utterly preposterous.

Another important difference between Jesus and other religious leaders is found in the very nature of Christianity. The essence of Christianity is Christ, the One crucified, resurrected, ascended into heaven, and returning someday. Without Him—and without His resurrection—there is no Christianity. Compare that with other major religions. Hinduism, for example, can stand or fall entirely apart from any of the “great Swamis” who founded it. Buddhism is the same story. Even Islam is based upon the sayings and teachings of Mohammed, not upon the claim that he came back to life from the dead.

The apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:13–19 says that, if Christ were not raised from the dead, then our faith is empty and we are still in our sins! The truth claims of Christianity are based simply and solely upon the resurrected Jesus Christ! If Jesus did not, in fact, come back from the dead—in time and space—then there is no truth to Christianity whatsoever. Throughout the New Testament, the apostles and evangelists base the truth of the gospel upon the resurrection.

One other significant point is the exceedingly important fact that Jesus Christ claimed to be the “Son of God” (a Hebraism meaning “characterized by God”) as well as the “Son of Man” (a Hebraism meaning “characterized by Man”). In many passages, He claims to be equal with the Father (see, for example, John 10:29–33). To Jesus are ascribed all the prerogatives and attributes of Deity. Yet He was also a man, born of a virgin (Matthew 1:18–25; Luke 1:26–56). Having lived a sinless life, Jesus was crucified in order to pay for the sins of all men: “He Himself is the satisfaction of God’s wrath for our sins; and not for ours only, but for those of the whole world” (1 John 2:2), and then He was resurrected from the dead three days later. He is fully God and fully Man, the theanthropos [from the Greek for “God” (theos) and “Man” (anthropos)]; yet He is one person.

The Person and Work of Christ poses an unavoidable question: What will you do with Jesus? We cannot simply dismiss Him. We cannot ignore Him. He is the central figure in all of human history, and if He died for the sins of the whole world, then He died for yours as well. The apostle Peter says, “There is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). If we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior from sin, we will be saved.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES​

God the Son Incarnate: The Doctrine of Christ by Stephen Wellum

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Are there errors in the Qur'an (Koran)?​

errors Qur'an, errors Koran
audio

ANSWER

Though Muslims often argue for the divine origin of the Qur’an on grounds that “no error, alteration, or variation” has touched its copies since its inception, such a view does not accurately represent the facts. While it is indeed correct to say that the Qur’an of today is a nearly perfect copy of its seventh-century counterpart, the notion that these copies reflect the exact words as handed down by Muhammad is becoming increasingly problematic.

Historical sources prove that there were several different texts circulating in Syria, Iraq and Armenia prior to the final revision produced by Uthman. Zaid, Muhammad’s long-time secretary, was called in by Uthman to oversee the final and definitive authorized version of the Qur’an. All other copies of the Qur’an were then burned so that there could be no challenge to the authorized text. It remains to be answered why Uthman would have had to produce an authorized version of the Qur’an, if indeed the Qur’an had been perfectly preserved from the beginning!

To quote Alfred Guillaume, one of the best-known non-Muslim scholars on Islam:

“Only the men of Kufa refused the new edition, and their version was certainly extant as late as A.D. 1000. Uthman’s edition to this day remains the authoritative word of God to Muslims. Nevertheless, even now variant readings, involving not only different readings of the vowels but also occasionally a different consonantal text, are recognized as of equal authority one with another!”

When one compares the different transmitted versions of the Qur’an, it becomes evident that there are, in fact, variants among them. While these variants usually involve differences in individual letters, vowels or diacritical marks, the Muslim claim of perfect unity in the copies of the Qur’an is incorrect.

Moreover, since part of the Islamic claim is that God has been giving revelations to mankind throughout history, including the Psalms of David and the four Gospels, one wonders why it is claimed that Allah miraculously preserved the Qur’an in infallible copies, whereas Allah was apparently singularly incapable of accomplishing the same feat with the previous revelations.

Let us weigh the validity of the claim at hand. Just how excellent is the literary quality? Ali Dashti, himself a committed Shiite Muslim, wrote, “The Qur’an contains sentences which are incomplete and not fully intelligible without the aid of commentaries; foreign words, unfamiliar Arabic words, and words used with other than the normal meaning; adjectives and verbs inflected without observance of the concord of gender and number; illogical and ungrammatically applied pronouns which in rhymed passages are often remote from the subjects. These and other such aberrations in the language have given scope to critics who deny the Qur’an’s eloquence. . . . To sum up, more than 100 Qur’anic aberrations from the normal rules and structure of Arabic have been noted” (G. Allen & Unwin, 1985, p. 47). With all the linguistic “aberrations” and instances of incorrect grammar, the Qur’an can hardly claim to be flawless.



Are there errors in the Qur’an? – What about fulfilled prophecy?
Islamic apologists make the claim that the Qur’an predicts Muslims would be victorious at home and abroad (Surah 30:1-5). But this can hardly be utilized as an argument for a divine origin. The prediction that Muslims would be militarily victorious (especially when one considers Muhammad’s overwhelming military force) is not very impressive.

Not only is the time between these predictions and their subsequent fulfillment almost nil, but some argue the prediction of Islamic victory is better understood as a pre-battle victory speech from Muhammad to boost the morale of his troops.

Islamic prophecy does not even come close to the level of the prophecies in the Bible, many of which were written hundreds of years in advance, such as the prediction that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2).

Are there errors in the Qur’an? – What about scientific insights?
In A Brief Illustrated Guide to Understanding Islam, Islamic apologist I. A. Ibrahim argues:

“The Qur’an, which was revealed fourteen centuries ago, mentioned facts only recently discovered or proven by scientists. This proves without doubt that the Qur’an must be the literal word of God, revealed by him to the Prophet Muhammad, and that the Qur’an was not authored by Muhammad or by any other human being.”

How valid is this claim? First, conformity to science is not proof of divine inspiration. As modern scientists will admit, scientific models are constantly changing, so they are not an absolute gauge for what is true or false. Second, there are some highly suspect scientific statements in the Qur’an which are ignored by modern Islamic apologists. For example, Surah 23:14 makes the claim that human beings are formed from a clot of blood. Surah 18:86 claims that the sun sets in a spring of murky water. Clearly, even if the claims with respect to scientific insights were valid, the above statements would immediately falsify any such notion of divine inspiration.

Are there errors in the Qur’an? – Are there historical inaccuracies?
While the list of historical inaccuracies and anachronisms is vast, one has been selected for discussion here. Surah 20 relays the incident of the golden calf. In Surah 20:85-88, 95 we read:

“He [Allah] said, ‘We have tempted thy people since thou didist leave them. The Samaratin has led them into error.’ Then Moses returned…and we cast them [(gold) ornaments], as the Samaritan also threw them, into the fire.’ (Then he brought out for them a Calf, a mere body that lowed; and they said, ‘This is your god, and the god of Moses, whom he has forgotten.’)…Moses said, ‘And thou, Samaritan, what was thy business?’”

Now, let us consider this for just a moment. How can a Samaritan have led the Israelites astray at the time of Moses (approx 1400 B.C.) when the city of Samaria was founded by King Omri about 870 B.C.? The Samaritans did not exist until after the exile of the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the resettlement of the area under King Sargon II in 722 B.C. with non-Israelites who then adopted a syncretism (mixture) between the religion of the Jews and their own polytheistic background. The Samaritans did not exist until 530 years after Moses. By this mistake alone, the Qur’an can be rendered unreliable and certainly not an inerrant work of God.

Are there errors in the Qur’an? – Conclusion
Having outlined just a handful of many problems and difficulties pertaining to the Qur’an as a divinely inspired work, we are all but forced to reject the Islamic claim that the Qur’an represents an error-free word of God to humanity. When a similar standard is applied to the Bible, the result is self-vindicating, for the Bible emerges flawless.

Recommended Resource: Answering Islam: The Crescent in Light of the Cross by Norm Geisler.
 

What is the Nazarene Church, and what do Nazarenes believe?​

Nazarene Church, Nazarenes
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ANSWER

The Church of the Nazarene is a denomination in the Wesleyan-Holiness tradition. The roots of the Nazarene Church go back to the teachings of John Wesley, as well as to various elements of the Holiness movement of the 19th century. Today there are about 1.8 million members in the Church of the Nazarene, making it the largest of the Holiness movement denominations.

The full history of the Nazarene Church is woven with threads from many sources, but the primary ones will be identified here. In 1895 Phineas Bresee and others formed a church in Los Angeles, California, which they named the Church of the Nazarene. This church was organized as the “first of a denomination that preached the reality of entire sanctification received through faith in Christ.” Entire sanctification is the idea that the soul of the believer attains such a work of the Spirit that it loses its desire to participate in acts of sin. Most churches within the Methodist movement taught some form of this doctrine, but, until the Nazarenes came along, none had formalized it and made it a distinctive of their organization.

In 1907 a general conference was called to draw together the various independent groups that were part of the Holiness movement. The result was the merger of the Church of the Nazarene and the Association of Pentecostal Churches of America. The merged body was named the Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene. In 1908 more groups joined the merger: the Holiness Association of Texas, the Pennsylvania Conference of Holiness Christian Churches, and the Holiness Church of Christ. The Pentecostal Church of Scotland and the Pentecostal Mission joined in 1915. In 1919 the church dropped the name “Pentecostal” because of the rise of the modern tongues movement within Pentecostalism.

From the very beginning, the focus of the Nazarene Church has been personal holiness for believers. According to the Church of the Nazarene website, the goal of the Nazarenes is that all believers “experience a deeper level of life in which there is victory over sin, power to witness and serve, and a richer fellowship with God, all through the filling of the Holy Spirit.” In contrast to modern Pentecostalism, which teaches that the evidence of Spirit baptism is speaking in tongues, the Nazarene Church teaches that the evidence of Spirit baptism is the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22–23).

Following the Arminian doctrine of Wesley, the Nazarene Church teaches that a person can renounce his or her salvation and walk away from a saving relationship with Christ. In rejecting eternal security, Nazarenes have no assurance of salvation. As a result, there is a real emphasis on working to maintain a right relationship with God within the Nazarene tradition.

The Church of the Nazarene is an evangelistic, missions-minded body that takes their relationship with God seriously and desires to share the gospel with the world around them.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES​

Complete Guide to Christian Denominations: Understanding the History, Beliefs, and Differences by Ron Rhodes

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What is the difference between fornication and adultery?​

fornication adultery
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ANSWER

The modern dictionary definitions of fornication (voluntary sexual intercourse between persons not married to each other, which would include adultery) and adultery (voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and a partner other than the lawful spouse) are simple enough, but the Bible gives us greater insight into how God perceives these two sexual sins. In the Bible, both are referred to literally, but both are also used figuratively to refer to idolatry.

In the Old Testament, all sexual sin was forbidden by the Mosaic Law and Jewish custom. However, the Hebrew word translated “fornication” in the Old Testament was also in the context of idolatry, also called spiritual whoredom. In 2 Chronicles 21:10-14, God struck Jehoram with plagues and diseases because he led the people into idolatry. He “caused the people of Jerusalem to commit fornication” (v. 11, KJV) and “to go lusting like the fornications of the house of Ahab” (v. 13 NKJV). King Ahab was the husband of Jezebel, a priestess of the lascivious god Baal, who led the Israelites into idol worship of the most egregious kind. In Ezekiel 16, the prophet Ezekiel describes in detail the history of God’s people turning away from Him to “play the harlot” with other gods. The word “fornication,” meaning idolatry, is used numerous times in this chapter alone. As the Israelites became known among the nations round about them for their wisdom, riches, and power, which was a snare to them as a woman’s beauty is to her, they were admired and courted and complimented by their neighbors, and so drawn into idolatrous practices. The word “fornication” is used in connection with pagan idolatry because much of pagan “worship” included sex in their rites. Temple prostitutes were common in the worship of Baal and other false gods. Sexual sin of all kinds was not only accepted in these religions, but encouraged as a means to greater blessings from the gods for the worshipers, particularly in the increase of their flocks and crops.

In the New Testament, "fornication" comes from the Greek word porneia, which includes adultery and incest. Porneia comes from another Greek word that also includes indulging in any kind of unlawful lust, which would include homosexuality. The use of the word in the gospels and the epistles is always in reference to sexual sin, whereas "fornication" in the book of Revelation always refers to idolatry. The Lord Jesus condemns two of the churches of Asia Minor for dabbling in the fornication of idolatry (Revelation 2:14, 20), and He also refers to the “great harlot” of the end times, which is the idolatrous false religion “with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication” (Revelation 17:1-2, NKJV).

Adultery, on the other hand, always refers to the sexual sin of married people with someone other than their spouse, and the word is used in the Old Testament both literally and figuratively. The Hebrew word translated “adultery” means literally “breaking wedlock.” Interestingly, God describes the desertion of His people to other gods as adultery. The Jewish people were regarded as the spouse of the Lord, so when they turned to the gods of other nations, they were compared to an adulterous wife. The Old Testament often referred to Israel’s idolatry as a wanton woman who went “whoring after” other gods (Exodus 34:15–16; Leviticus 17:7; Ezekiel 6:9, KJV). Further, the entire book of Hosea likens the relationship between God and Israel to the marriage of the prophet Hosea and his adulterous wife, Gomer. Their marriage was a picture of the sin and unfaithfulness of Israel which, time after time, left her true husband (God) to commit spiritual adultery with other gods.

In the New Testament, the two Greek words translated “adultery” are nearly always used, from their contexts, to refer literally to sexual sin involving married partners. The only exception is in the letter to the church of Thyatira which was condemned for tolerating the “woman Jezebel who calls herself a prophetess” (Revelation 2:20). This woman drew the church into immorality and idolatrous practices and anyone seduced by her false doctrines was considered to have committed adultery with her.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES​

Something Needs to Change: A Call to Make Your Life Count in a World of Urgent Need by David Platt

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What is nominal Christianity?​

nominal Christianity, nominal Christian
ANSWER

Outside of arcane discussions in medieval philosophy, nominalism is the possession of a baseless name, title, or description. A nominal presidency, for example, is one in which the president is nothing more than a figurehead. A nominal vacation is one in which the vacationers must still work. Nominalism has to do with empty formalities, things so-called, and meaningless labels.

Nominalism exists in religious circles. Nominal Christians are church-goers or otherwise religious people whose “faith” does not go beyond being identified with a church, Christian group, or denomination. They are Christians in name only; Christ has no bearing in their lives. Nominal Christians may attend church and Christian functions, and they self-identify as “Christians,” but it is just a label. They view religion primarily as a social construct, and they do not allow it to require much of them in terms of morality or responsibility. Nominalists take a minimalist approach to their faith.

Nominalism is of concern to many pastors, preachers, and Christian theologians, as it appears to be on the rise today. Many identify themselves as Christians, but the overall impact of Christianity in the West is not what it once was. But what causes nominalism? Why do people prefer a nominal or in-name-only type of Christianity? One possible reason is that nominal religion is easy. It does not require a changed life. A nominal Christian can point to membership in a church as evidence of his salvation. Church attendance and participation in routines, activities, and programs become the measuring stick rather than a changed life, a new heart, a love for God, and obedience to the Word (see 2 Corinthians 5:17; John 14:23).

Another cause of nominal Christianity is the habit of declaring oneself a Christian because of custom or culture. Whole countries, including Costa Rica, Norway, Denmark, and England, have a form of Christianity as the official state religion. This allows a Norwegian, for example, to culturally identify as a Christian—he is a member of the Church of Norway by default, having been registered in infancy when he was baptized. Even in countries with no state religion, such as the United States, cultural Christianity can lead to nominalism. Someone who was reared in a Christian family, attended church all his life, was baptized, lives in the Bible Belt, etc., often claims allegiance to the Christian faith, in spite of evidence in his life to the contrary.

Another cause of nominalism within the church is legalism, the attempt to transform oneself (or others) inwardly by working on the outward behavior. Some people, especially those raised in the church, conform to standards imposed upon them by parents, other Christians, or the church hierarchy without the inner transformation that can only be produced by the Spirit through the Word (Galatians 6:15). Legalists substitute good deeds for saving faith and compliance for conversion. This naturally leads to nominal Christianity, as church-goers and rule-keepers claim the label “Christian” but have no relationship with Christ.

Jesus dealt with nominal Christianity in one of His letters to the churches. The church in Sardis wore a Christian label, but Jesus saw the truth behind the label: “To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead” (Revelation 3:1). Or, as the KJV says, “Thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.” God is not interested in the labels we tag ourselves with. Having a “name” that we belong to Christ is not enough. Nominal faith is not faith.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES​

Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview by William Lane Craig & J.P. Moreland

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What is Shincheonji?​

Shincheonji
audio

ANSWER

Shincheonji, sometimes spelled “Shinchonji” or abbreviated as SCJ, is a pseudo-Christian religion primarily practiced in South Korea. The religion’s official name is “Shincheonji Church of Jesus, the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony.” It was created by Lee Man-Hee in the 1980s and currently claims just under 200,000 adherents. The word Shincheonji itself is a combination of the Korean terms for “new,” “heaven,” and “earth.” The group has been criticized for shallow, academically weak teachings, taking an extremely figurative view of biblical texts, a cult-like atmosphere, and its members’ involvement in various social, civil, and legal troubles.

The sect’s twisting of Scripture has actually inspired several anti-Shincheonji task forces. Some are run by church groups, others by organizations like newspapers and television stations. The general Korean strategy for opposing Shincheonji uses social and internet media to discourage people from joining it. These materials also warn people about evangelism efforts that seem Christian but are actually coming from a Shincheonji group. Many Christian churches in South Korea actively work to keep their members from being dragged into Shincheonji’s aberrant theology.

The Shincheonji church is very active in cultural and volunteer efforts. The church runs several social-action organizations which disguise their relationship to Shincheonji teachings. One of their more famous events is an Olympics-style athletics festival.

The word cult is controversial and can be difficult to define. By the most common use of the term, however, it would be fair to consider Shincheonji a very large, very successful cult. The group is headed by a single, charismatic leader, Lee Man-Hee, who claims to have a special ability to interpret the Bible. When challenged about his authority, Lee can be evasive, but he frequently implies that he is immortal and that salvation requires faith in him, rather than in Jesus Christ. In fact, Lee’s Shincheonji church teaches that the Bible is primarily composed of metaphors, and he alone has the spiritual gift for correctly interpreting them.

Cults typically practice indoctrination rather than education. Shincheonji offers free Bible classes, which of course are slanted toward their theology. However, those involved in SJC are also taught that counter-evidence or other forms of discussion are tests of their faith. This causes them to ignore facts, reasons, and evidence that contradict Lee Man-Hee’s teaching. In some cases, Shincheonji disciples are discouraged from reading the news or using the internet, as these media can contain potentially damning challenges to their faith.

False teachings are a hallmark of cults, as well. Shincheonji teaches that the 144,000 mentioned in Revelation 7:4 are members of the 12 “tribes” of Shincheonji. The group denies the Trinity. It claims all angels are humans and, of course, that Lee Man-Hee alone has the ability to correctly interpret the Word of God. In fact, Shincheonji goes so far as to claim that Revelation 7:2 is a specific reference to Korea (“East”) and to Lee (the first “angel”) himself.

Unfortunately, the most significant aspect of Shincheonji in South Korea is its success. By some estimates, there are as many as fifty heretical, home-grown, pseudo-Christian sects—or cults—in South Korea. Most are relatively small and have a low impact. The Shincheonji Church of Jesus, the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony, however, is a major diversion from the true gospel.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES​

The Kingdom of the Cults, 6th edition: The Definitive Work on the Subject by Walter Martin

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What should be the Christian view of anime?​



The term anime—the Japanese word for “animation”—generally refers to animation that comes from Japan. Strictly speaking, anime is just another medium used to convey a story or artistic idea. While the actual art style in the form of angles and shading, etc., is morally neutral, there are some more ambiguous points to be addressed regarding anime. The same goes for anime’s printed counterpart, manga.

To begin with, Japanese culture is very different from Western culture. While Western culture has historically sprung from monotheistic roots and embraced a Christian moral code, Far Eastern cultures such as exist in Japan lean toward mystical superstition and polytheism. Specific to Japan is Shintoism, a religion that deems the Japanese islands and people divine. According to Shintoism, the Japanese people are direct descendants of the many gods and spirits (kami) living throughout the islands.

Shrines to the different gods or spirits are common in Japan, and the themes of Shintoism are also very common in anime and manga. Some anime thrives on the topic of religion, using Japanese culture as a setting for fantasy adventures in which the spirit world and humanity mingle, either pleasantly or unpleasantly. Given the mystical foundation of Eastern culture, anime also tends to employ elements of the occult such as tarot cards, incantations, and more. Personal honor and success are also common themes in anime. But a focus on personal honor and personal success can lead to pride, which clouds our need for God (Psalm 10:4).

Another thing to consider is anime’s reputation for permeating violence and sexual content. While not every anime movie is extremely sexual or extremely violent, most examples of anime do come with varying levels of salacious and/or violent content, ranging from light innuendo and slapstick violence to full-on porn (though this is its own subcategory, called hentai) and gore-fests.

As Christians, we’re supposed to dwell on “whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute” (Philippians 4:8). Additionally, Colossians 3:2 says, “Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.” For the Christian, guarding what comes and stays in our minds is very important. We are to “take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5).

While there can be a lot of questionable things in anime, there are strong Christians who enjoy the medium. They appreciate the style, the futuristic settings, and the imaginative storytelling in anime. And they might see and be encouraged by some biblically approved themes present in anime such as self-sacrifice, kindness, loyalty, endurance, and courage.

Other Christians, however, might decide that something with so many lurid landmines is not worth the time required to navigate it safely. Or they’ve been convicted against placing themselves in positions to be exposed to something that could hurt their spiritual walk.

What should be the Christian view of anime? Carefully. What might be beneficial for one person could be devastating for another person (Romans 14; 1 Corinthians 10:24–29). Be aware of what the Holy Spirit might be saying. If He’s saying to stay away, then stay away (1 Thessalonians 5:19; Ephesians 4:30). But if you have no conviction against anime, and you’ve thoroughly searched your heart and motives, then approach with caution and bear in mind that you are called to, “whether . . . you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES​

Prince of Media: The Anime Cartoon Attack by D.J. Harris

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Does the Bible prophesy a one-world government and a one-world currency in the end times?​

ANSWER

The Bible does not use the phrase “one-world government” or “one-world currency” in referring to the end times. It does, however, provide ample evidence to enable us to draw the conclusion that both will exist under the rule of the Antichrist in the last days.

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In his apocalyptic vision in the Book of Revelation, the Apostle John sees the “beast,” also called the Antichrist, rising out of the sea having seven heads and ten horns (Revelation 13:1). Combining this vision with Daniel’s similar one (Daniel 7:16-24), we can conclude that some sort of world system will be inaugurated by the beast, the most powerful “horn,” who will defeat the other nine and will begin to wage war against Christians. The ten-nation confederacy is also seen in Daniel’s image of the statue in Daniel 2:41-42, where he pictures the final world government consisting of ten entities represented by the ten toes of the statue. Whoever the ten are and however they come to power, Scripture is clear that the beast will either destroy them or reduce their power to nothing more than figureheads. In the end, they will do his bidding.

John goes on to describe the ruler of this vast empire as having power and great authority, given to him by Satan himself (Revelation 13:2), being followed by and receiving worship from “all the world” (13:3-4), and having authority over “every tribe, people, language and nation” (13:7). From this description, it is logical to assume that this person is the leader of a one-world government which is recognized as sovereign over all other governments. It’s hard to imagine how such diverse systems of government as are in power today would willingly subjugate themselves to a single ruler, and there are many theories on the subject. A logical conclusion is that the disasters and plagues described in Revelation as the seal and trumpet judgments (chapters 6-11) will be so devastating and create such a monumental global crisis that people will embrace anything and anyone who promises to give them relief.

Once entrenched in power, the beast (Antichrist) and the power behind him (Satan) will move to establish absolute control over all peoples of the earth to accomplish their true end, the worship Satan has been seeking ever since being thrown out of heaven (Isaiah 14:12-14). One way they will accomplish this is by controlling all commerce, and this is where the idea of a one-world currency comes in. Revelation 13:16-17 describes some sort of satanic mark which will be required in order to buy and sell. This means anyone who refuses the mark will be unable to buy food, clothing or other necessities of life. No doubt the vast majority of people in the world will succumb to the mark simply to survive. Again, verse 16 makes it clear that this will be a universal system of control where everyone, rich and poor, great and small, will bear the mark on their hand or forehead. There is a great deal of speculation as to how exactly this mark will be affixed, but the technologies that are available right now could accomplish it very easily.

Those who are left behind after the Rapture of the Church will be faced with an excruciating choice—accept the mark of the beast in order to survive or face starvation and horrific persecution by the Antichrist and his followers. But those who come to Christ during this time, those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life (Revelation 13:8), will choose to endure, even to martyrdom.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES​

End Times Prophecy by Paul Benware

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Does the Bible prophesy a one-world government and a one-world currency in the end times?​

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Does the Bible prophesy a one-world government and a one-world currency in the end times? How will the antichrist rule over all the nations of the world in the end times?

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What is the Russian Orthodox Church?​

Russian Orthodox Church
audio

ANSWER

According to tradition, the Russian Orthodox Church is what came of a community of believers founded by the apostle Andrew, who visited Scythia and Greece, along the northern part of the Black Sea. According to the tradition, while on his missionary journeys, Andrew eventually reached Kiev, the current home of St. Andrew’s Cathedral. Later, Princess Olga of Kiev converted to Christianity, and eventually her grandson, Vladimir the Great, made Byzantine Rite Christianity the official religion in Kiev. This marked the birth of what became the Russian Orthodox Church, part of the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Like other Orthodox churches, the Russian Orthodox Church is trinitarian, believes the Bible to be the Word of God, and teaches that Jesus is God the Son. In these matters, the Russian Orthodox Church aligns with Scripture. However, their doctrine has much more in common with Roman Catholicism than with evangelical Christianity. Russian Orthodox services are liturgical and filled with symbolism. Mary has a special place in Russian Orthodoxy as the Mother of God. The Russian Orthodox Church promotes the use of icons (sacred images) and teaches that salvation is conferred through the observance of the sacraments—the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith alone is not taught in Russian Orthodoxy. Members of the Russian Orthodox Church regard the decisions of their church councils to be infallible.

Count Leo Tolstoy, author of novels such as Anna Karenina and War and Peace, was baptized (as an infant) into the Russian Orthodox Church. In 1880, Tolstoy raised the church’s ire by publishing Critique of Dogmatic Theology. The church excommunicated Tolstoy in 1901, blacklisted his books, and decreed that no candles could ever be burned for Tolstoy within any of its churches.

The word orthodox refers to adherence to a set of beliefs as they were originally set forth. Orthodox churches, including the Eastern, Oriental, Celtic, Polish, and other types of Orthodoxy, claim to adhere to the Christian faith as it was practiced by the early church. However, the biblical descriptions of the early church bear little resemblance in belief or practice to Orthodox Churches or any of the other high church orders.

The Russian Orthodox Church is one of the autocephalous (self-governing) Eastern Orthodox churches. Being the head of a self-governing body, the bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church does not report to a bishop higher than himself. There is no pope in Russian Orthodoxy. While the minimization of bureaucracy is commendable, the fact remains that the Russian Orthodox Church, like all other churches of this type, depends on a wide and many-faceted power structure consisting of bishops, monks, priests, archbishops, cardinals, nuns, and so on. In contrast, the early church, in obedience to Christ’s teachings, considered themselves all brothers and sisters and did not hold any one man above another, because God was their Father and Teacher (see Matthew 23:8–10).

The Russian Orthodox Church claims exclusive jurisdiction over any Christian living within the former republics of the USSR. The Russian Orthodox Church is not to be confused with the Orthodox Church in America or the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, an institution created in the 1920s by communities of Christians who wished to disassociate themselves from communism. In any case, it is clear that the Russian Orthodox Church is largely a socio-political, rather than spiritual, institution. The body of Christ is a spiritual brotherhood of believers and is not limited by borders or nationalities or political beliefs, nor does it hold physical jurisdiction or control over any man (1 Corinthians 12:27; Ephesians 3:6; 4:12; 5:23; Colossians 1:24). With Christ as its head, the Church spans ages, crosses borders, defies human control, and thrives despite persecution. There are undoubtedly members of the body of Christ who are also members of the Russian Orthodox Church, but religious institutions are not to be confused with Christ’s body or followed as if they held His authority.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES​

Eastern Orthodox Christianity, 2d ed.: A Western Perspective by Daniel B. Clendenin

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What does the Bible say about killing in war?​

killing in war
audio

ANSWER

There are many wars mentioned in the Bible. Wars of conquest (Joshua 1:6), civil wars (2 Samuel 3:1), and even a war in heaven (Revelation 12:7). Of course, wars involve killing; there is no way around it. We know that murder is sin (Exodus 20:13). But what about the killing of an enemy combatant during wartime?

First, we know that not all killing in wartime is a sin because there have been times when God Himself commanded battles to be fought. God told the ancient Israelites to possess the Promised Land; in fact, just before the conquest, the Lord appeared to Joshua as “commander of the army of the Lord”—a man of war (Joshua 5:14). God laid out the battle plans for the fight against Ai (Joshua 8:1–2). God told King Saul to “go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them” (1 Samuel 15:3). King David defeated the Philistines by following God’s strategy concerning the battle (2 Samuel 5:23–25). God never tells people to sin, so the Israelites who followed God’s commands to wage war were not sinning. Killing in war cannot be equated with murder.

This is not to say that killing in war has no effects. David wanted badly to build the temple in Jerusalem, but God did not let him. The Lord wanted a man of peace to build the temple, and David’s history had been anything but peaceful. God said to David, “You are not to build a house for my Name, because you are a warrior and have shed blood” (1 Chronicles 28:3).

There is no theocracy today. No nation has a command from God to wage war, and God is not handing out battle plans as He did to Joshua, Saul, and David. Yet wars continue to be fought. It is part of a fallen world’s existence. The Bible never condemns the actions of a soldier following orders on a battlefield. In fact, the New Testament has examples of soldiers who had faith in God—Jesus commended a centurion’s faith in Matthew 8:10; and another centurion, Cornelius, was saved in Acts 10. These men of war were not rebuked for performing the duties of a centurion, nor were they told they must change professions.

Most tellingly, some soldiers came to John the Baptist as he was baptizing in the Jordan River. The soldiers asked John, “What should we do?” This would have been the perfect opportunity for John to tell them to stop engaging in warfare, stop killing, or stop being soldiers. Instead, John replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay” (Luke 3:14). Being a soldier is not inherently sinful.

Paul uses the soldier life as an illustration of spiritual truth (see 1 Corinthians 9:7 and 2 Timothy 2:3). Other references mention battles and warfare (see 2 Corinthians 10:4 and 1 Timothy 1:18). Ephesians 6 contains an extended comparison of the Christian life and warfare (verses 10–17). If being a soldier (and doing the things soldiers are required to do) were sinful, it is unlikely the Holy Spirit would have used soldiering as a metaphor for anything good.

Throughout the Bible, warfare is presented as a grim reality in a cursed world. There are forces of evil that must be stopped, and bloodshed is sometimes the result. Whether a Christian should serve in the military is a matter of one’s own conscience, but killing an armed combatant in the context of warfare is not sinful in itself. There is a time and season for everything, including war (Ecclesiastes 3:8).

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES​

War: Four Christian Views by Robert G. Clouse

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If the Bible teaches gender equality, why has gender inequality always been the norm?​

gender equality, gender inequality
ANSWER

Gender equality is a status in which both genders receive equal treatment and are not discriminated against due to gender. Under gender equality, both genders share the same civil rights, have the same access to social goods and opportunities, and bear the same obligations. The idea is that every person is given the same legal rights and regarded by society as being equals. Neither gender is valued less.

Whether there exists gender equality within a society can be difficult to judge. In many ways, no two people—regardless of gender—can be fully said to have equal opportunity and access to everything. One’s socio-economic status and geographical locale aside, there is the simple matter of genetics and natural ability. Can a 5'2" man really have the same opportunity to become a professional basketball player as can a 6'9" man? That being said, there have been and are many societies in which people of a certain gender, race, class, age, religion, etc., are discriminated against. If being strictly equal is an impossibility since we are not robots living in a non-diverse world, and since what constitutes a reasonable level of equality is rather subjective, how are we to address the issue of gender equality?

First, what is a biblical concept of gender equality? The Bible teaches that God created Adam out of the dust of the ground. He put Adam in the Garden of Eden to work it and commanded him not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God then said it was not good for Adam to be alone and that He would make a suitable helper. First, though, God had Adam name the animals. We surmise that, in watching the parade of animals, Adam saw that the animals each had another of their kind whereas he did not. There was not a suitable helper for Adam among the animals; there was none of his kind. God put Adam into a deep sleep and, out of Adam’s rib, formed Eve. God brought Eve to Adam, and “the man said, ‘This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called “woman,” for she was taken out of man.’ That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame” (Genesis 2:23–25). The Bible also provides a summary statement of mankind’s creation: “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27). God created both man and woman, and both are made in His image. This implies equality of worth.

The equal worth of men and women—and the equality of their spiritual need—is affirmed in Galatians 3:28–29: “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Salvation is offered for all people, regardless of race or gender or social status, and that salvation is offered through Jesus Christ alone (John 14:6; Acts 4:12). In the matter of salvation, there is true gender equality.

Some argue that the Bible does not, in fact, teach gender equality. In particular, several Old Testament passages regarding the treatment of women are disconcerting to modern ears. For example, Deuteronomy 22:28–29 and Exodus 22:16–17 seem to command that a victim of rape marry her attacker. But the reality of those verses is a bit more complex. These laws stipulate that a man who had sex with a single woman, essentially negating her opportunity for marriage, must pay the appropriate bride price and marry her. He was not permitted to ever divorce her, despite whatever legal allowances for divorce were found in other laws (Deuteronomy 24:1–4). Note also that the woman was not forced to marry the man; her father could refuse to give her in marriage, but the man would still pay the bride price. These laws were meant to punish the man who violated a virgin and to protect the woman from further exploitation.

Many of the laws in the Old Testament regarding the treatment of women had to do with protection of women living in a society in which they did not have as many rights or opportunities as men. Because societies are made up of people who sin, many social laws have to do with mitigating evil. The laws on divorce are an excellent example. In Matthew 19 Jesus explains to the Pharisees that God did not command divorce, but rather it was permitted “because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning” (Matthew 19:8). Similarly, the Old Testament laws that seem to suggest a lesser status for women are better understood as legal provisions in a society in which women were already treated as lesser. It is not God who sees women and men as unequal in value, but humans who choose to mistreat one another.

Having established that men and women are of equal value in God’s eyes, we can say that they should be treated as being of equal value by one another. So why has this not been the case throughout history?

The simple answer is sin. When Adam and Eve sinned, there was a breakdown in humanity’s relationships: with God, with one another, and with creation. After their sin, Adam and Eve hid from God. When God asked them where they were and why they had hidden, Adam blamed Eve (and God, indirectly). Eve blamed the serpent. In Genesis 3:16, God told Eve, “Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” Or, as the NLT translates it, “You will desire to control your husband, but he will rule over you.” Sin became part of human nature, and with sin came gender inequality and the battle of the sexes.

It is our sinfulness that causes us to be proud and selfish. It is sinfulness that causes us to fear, exclude, or mistreat those who are different from us. It is sinfulness that results in our unfair treatment of one another. In short, the root cause of gender inequality, in a meaningful sense of the term, is sin.

A point of clarification is in order. The Bible advocates for equal value and the worth of all humans. But it does not advocate for sameness. Men and women are given different, complementary roles in the family (Ephesians 5:21–33) and church (1 Timothy 2:12). Believers are given different spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12). But the fact that different people have different roles or different gifts is not a testament to inequality. Rather, it is a display of God’s wisdom and creative power. Psalm 139 pictures God knitting someone together in his mother’s womb and says that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. Ephesians 2:10 speaks of the good works God has prepared in advance for those who put their faith in Jesus. The genders are of equal value before God and both should be treated with dignity and respect.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES​

What’s the Difference? Manhood and Womanhood Defined According to the Bible by John Piper

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​

 

What is the Nation of Islam?​

Nation of Islam
audio

ANSWER

The Nation of Islam is a religious organization based in the United States that encourages black nationalism in the name of Islam. Depending on whom you ask, the Nation of Islam is considered a religion, an arm of Islam, a hate group, or a cult. The Nation of Islam holds to a form of Islam, but it is considered heretical by traditional Muslims. It incorporates aspects of Scientology and many beliefs tied to black supremacy.

The Nation of Islam was started in 1930 by Wali Farad Muhammad (born Wallace Fard), an African-American in Detroit, Michigan. Like many others, Fard was highly frustrated with the amount of racial discrimination he faced, and he wanted to create change. However, W. Muhammad chose a very different path than Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who chose to fight racial injustice through the values inherent to nonviolence and Christianity. W. Muhammad decided that Christianity was the religion of “the white man” and thus an integral part of the oppression he and other African-Americans experienced. So W. Muhammad chose to embrace an altered form of Sunni Islam and added many of his own ideas to the belief system he built for the Nation of Islam.

After W. Muhammad’s disappearance in 1934, Elijah Muhammad (born Elijah Poole) took over leadership of the Nation of Islam until his death in 1975. E. Muhammad claimed direct revelation from Allah and instituted the formation of places of worship called temples or mosques. He also called white people “devils,” opposed integration, and preached that Armageddon was when the black man finally conquered the white man. Malcolm X was the Nation of Islam’s most prominent figure during the 1950s, but he split from the group in 1963 and later converted to traditional Sunni Islam. In 1977, after a couple years under the leadership of E. Mohammad’s son, Louis Farrakhan took leadership of the Nation of Islam, and he remains its leader today. In 2010 Farrakhan added aspects of Scientology to the Nation of Islam, specifically Dianetics.

The form of Islam practiced by the Nation of Islam is not generally accepted by the wider Muslim community. In fact, in 1998 the Italian Muslim Association issued a fatwa against the Nation of Islam for its twisting of Islamic doctrine.

The beliefs of the Nation of Islam go far beyond simply encouraging African-Americans to embrace Islam. The Nation of Islam has a number of goals and beliefs that place it in the black supremacist camp. A stated goal of the Nation of Islam is to create an all-black state in which people of African descent can run their own society without people of any other race being involved. In the meantime, the Nation of Islam promotes segregation in the here and now: African-Americans should establish separate schools, places of worship, and businesses. During his time in the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X claimed that black people were genetically superior to white people (he later changed his position).

The Nation of Islam is blatantly anti-Semitic, teaching that, originally, humanity was exclusively black, but then “Yakub” (the biblical Jacob) created the white race using eugenics. W. Muhammad taught that this “new” white race were to be considered devils because of how they were created. Farrakhan is on record making many anti-Jewish statements, and he promotes the theory that the Jews control America in order to corrupt society.

How should Christians respond to the Nation of Islam? We must recognize that the Nation of Islam is not in any way biblical. Its association with Islam and, more recently, Scientology makes it a false religion. Beyond that, the Nation of Islam holds to many dangerous ideologies about human value and race relations that are unacceptable to a Christian understanding of humanity. The Bible teaches that all human life is valuable and therefore racism in all forms is deplorable. The civil rights movement in the USA was and is important, but fighting racism with racism is not right. Holding the same beliefs about racial supremacy and segregation as what started the problem (only now with blacks as the preferred race) is not the answer to the problem of racism.

God desires all people to love each other (Leviticus 19:18; Matthew 7:12; John 13:34). No matter our race or the race of those we interact with, we are to treat others with respect and Jesus’ love. The answer to the world’s problems is not one race “winning” over another race; it’s all races humbly recognizing their need for salvation in Jesus Christ.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES​

Fault Lines: The Social Justice Movement and Evangelicalism's Looming Catastrophe by Voddie Baucham Jr.

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