Christians & the World Today Archives - Page 3 of 6

RABBI MISREPRESENTS BIBLE ON ABORTION

March 6, 2018 BibleAuthenticity Comments 3 comments

What scriptures in the Bible help us to get Almighty God’s viewpoint of abortion? The purpose of this article, and indeed this website, is not to get involved in any partisan politics, but to advocate for God’s Word, the Bible. As the late Billy Graham said late in life, he wished he’d stayed out of politics. Yet, the Bible is very “useful for . . . correction” (2 Timothy 3:16 NIV).

In an opinion column in the Tallahassee Democrat on March 6, 2018, Rabbi Jack Romberg says that “Jewish tradition . . . considers a fetus a life, but not equivalent to a fully formed human life”. That may be true about Jewish tradition. He should know, being a Rabbi. But, he unfortunately, goes on to make a false statement about the Bible. He claims “This is based on Exodus 21:22 through 25, which makes clear the loss of a fetus by human misconduct is not punished the same way as murder”. Since the Rabbi probably uses the TANAKH, which is a Jewish translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, or Old Testament, let’s quote these verses from there: read more

Does the Gospel of Mark End at 16:20, or 16:8?

February 26, 2018 BibleAuthenticity Comments 4 comments

Where does the gospel of Mark end? Modern day snake handlers derive their practice from Mark 16:17-18 (KJV)

Where does the gospel of Mark end?

“I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book”—Revelation 22:18 NKJV

Promoters and believers in faith healing often use Mark 16:17,18 as Biblical support for their healing practices:

“They will lay their hands on the sick and they will recover” (NKJV).

Snake handling “Christians” love these last few verses of Mark because they say: read more

Billy Graham Regretted His Involvement in Politics

February 22, 2018 BibleAuthenticity Comments 0 Comment

Prominent preacher Billy Graham was involved in politics for much of preaching career, and confessed his major life regret in an interview late in life. You would think that anyone who had personally known and associated with so many prominent people for so long, including 12 U.S. Presidents, would be proud of such hobnobbing with the political “stars” of the world. But guess what he confessed?

“If I had to do it over again, I would avoid any semblance of involvement in partisan politics.” read more

WHY AVOID THE WOMAN CAUGHT IN ADULTERY STORY?

February 22, 2018 BibleAuthenticity Comments 6 comments

The woman caught in adultery story is well known today among Christians, and even in popular Western culture, but there are questions about it’s authenticity.

“Yahweh’s promises are promises unalloyed; natural silver which comes from the earth seven times refined”—-Psalm 12:6 NJB

“Every word of God is flawless . . . Do not add to his words or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar”—Proverbs 30:5,6 NIV

“I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City”—Revelation 22:18,19 NIV read more

Who Is The One Mediator Between Humans and God?

February 15, 2018 BibleAuthenticity Comments 2 comments

Jesus the Mediator — Jesus is the Mediator between God and man. Yet Trinitarians claim Jesus is God.

The Bible says there is only ‘one mediator between humans and God.’ Who, or what, is that?

“This, then is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven . . . “—Matthew 6:9 NIV.

“No one comes to the Father except through me”—John 14:6

“There is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus”—1 Timothy 2:5 NIV

While they all give ‘lip service’ (Mark 7:6-13) to the principles that the scriptures above express, Christian denominations have differing views on the exactly how the mediatorial relationship between them and God operates. So, yes, they all “say” that Jesus is the mediator, but in actual practice things are not exactly the way the Bible says they should be. For example, Catholics teach that Christians must go through their priesthood and their hierarchy, including their Pope, to have a relationship with God. Others teach that one can only have a relationship with God through their particular denomination, organization, or church. Some have even thought, or taught that a relationship with God was only possible through one particular pastor. Trinitarians often simply ignore this vital relationship. Let’s make clear what the scriptures say about this:

“The true worshippers will worship the Father”—John 4:23

“I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved”—John 10:8 NIV.

The Father of Jesus, Almighty God, is the only one who should be worshipped, according to the scriptures. But we must go through his Son, Jesus Christ, to have this relationship. Why?

“Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here”—Hebrews 9:11 NIV read more

HOW SHOULD WE VIEW IMMIGRANTS?

February 2, 2018 BibleAuthenticity Comments 0 Comment

We live in a world today where xenophobia (fear of strangers) has taken hold. Many people have a negative view of immigrants. But if we want to follow Bible principles, how should we view immigrants?

“Abraham is the spiritual father of those who have faith” (Rom 4:11 NLT). Did you know that “a severe famine struck the land of Canaan, forcing Abram to go down to Egypt, where he lived as a foreigner” (Gen 12:10 NLT)? How would God view someone who would refuse to help, or even attempt to deport Abram? The Mosaic Law included this principle: “Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves KNOW HOW IT FEELS TO BE FOREIGNERS, because you were foreigners in Egypt” (Ex 23:9 NLT). The entire nation of Israel lived in Egypt as foreigners for many years, and was not treated well during the final years. Instructive for us is: “Yahweh then said, ‘I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt’” (Ex 4:7 NJB). Yahweh sees all. Did you know that young Jesus and his parents lived for a while as refugees in Egypt (Mt 2:13-15)?

The Bible has a number of principles we can apply as to our viewpoint and attitude toward immigrants. Number one, of course, are the two greatest commandments:

1. ”Love the Lord your God with all your heart . . . soul . . . mind”—Mt 22:37 NIV

a. How does this apply? “Love your enemies . . . that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous . . . And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others?”—Mt 5:44-47 NIV. To really apply this greatest commandment, we should welcome immigrants.

b. “Accept one another, then, for the glory of God, as Christ has accepted you”—Rom 15:7 GNB read more

Who is the Rock the Church is Built On?

January 25, 2018 BibleAuthenticity Comments 2 comments

The Roman Catholic Church teaches that Jesus personally appointed Peter as the leader of the church, and the pope is Peter’s successor to that position. At the root of this doctrine is the claim that Jesus appointed Peter as leader when he called him a “rock.” But is this really what the Bible teaches?

Jesus Referred to Peter as a “Rock”

In Matthew 16, Jesus was speaking in front of a rather large cliff face near Caesarea Philippi. There is no doubt that this is historical, that is, it actually took place.

“You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church”—Matthew 16:18 NAB

The Greek word for Peter is “Petros”, which means “a small stone,” whereas the Greek word for

“Rock” read more

Pedophile Priests Problem Treated Lightly by Catholic Church

January 23, 2018 BibleAuthenticity Comments 0 Comment

Pope Francis arriving to celebrate Mass at the Las Palmas Air Base in Lima, Peru

The Pope visited Chile in January 2018 (click here for a news article about it). A prominent priest in Santiago had been exposed as a serial child molester. The Pope had appointed this serial molester’s understudy as Bishop there, under much protest, due to the fact that victims say this newly appointed Bishop witnessed personally, and was obviously well aware of such atrocities, but never voiced any opposition to it. The Pope, in response to these protesting voices, accused these Catholics of slandering the new Bishop. After much protest against his calloused attitude, the Pope has now apologized. So much for “papal infallibility”, despite the fact that he “exalts himself above every so-called god and object of worship, so as to seat himself in the temple of God, claiming that he is a god” (2 Thessalonians 2:4 NAB)! Also, the fact that the Roman Catholic Church has tolerated and covered up their grossly immoral, pedophile priests for centuries, makes it an abomination in the sight of God. Notice the principle expressed at Deuteronomy 23:18: “You shall not bring the hire of a harlot or the wages of a dog into the house of the LORD your God” (NASB), “dog” is footnoted as being “male prostitute, sodomite”. This Hebrew word for “dog” also likely refers to “a pederast, one who practices ANAL INTERCOURSE, ESPECIALLY WITH A BOY”. This is exactly what the RCC has done by allowing these predatory pedophiles to remain in the service of the church! Romans 1:26,27 tells us exactly what God thinks of such: “God gave them over to shameful lusts . . . the men . . . were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men” (NIV). What will God do about this? In his due time, he says “I will remove them from tending my flock so that the shepherds will no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them” (Ezekiel 34:10 NIV). The RCC with its pedophile, immoral priests will be exterminated by God permanently!

How to Reason with Jehovah’s Witnesses

November 16, 2017 BibleAuthenticity Comments 0 Comment

Revised October 12, 2022

Jehovah’s Witnesses (JW’s) have historically been best known for their public and door-to-door witnessing, distributing literature such as The Watchtower and Awake! magazines. But how could Jehovah’s Witnesses be reasoned with about Biblical beliefs?

First, you will not be able to prove JW’s wrong on such things as:

Trinity
Hell
Immortal Soul
Birthdays
Christmas
Political Involvement
War/Fighting for Country

JW’s are taught that these are some primary reasons they’re the only true Christians. JW’s are very well trained on these subjects and armed with scriptures. The scriptures actually do support their positions on the above issues, except for birthdays.

Second, you can easily prove JW’s wrong on:

The Cross

“They nailed him to the stake.” (John 19:18 NWT)

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“This Jesus whom you executed on a stake.” (Acts 2:36 NWT). In other words, a pole.

“This Jesus whom you crucified”—Acts 2:36 NIV read more

Idolatry – Christians Warned in the Bible

October 25, 2017 BibleAuthenticity Comments 0 Comment

The huge ancient city of Corinth was full of idols and idol temples. There was much readily available there to entice and tempt people into various forms of idolatry. The apostle Paul warned Christians: “Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry.” (1 Corinthians 10:14 NIV) He didn’t just say to “avoid” idolatry – he said to run from it!

ancient and modern idolatry — The Bible warns Christians to flee from idolatry

In most places in the western world today, idolatry does not seem so apparent or visible. Nevertheless, the warning is just as important. In the Old Testament (OT) Israel was warned to keep the laws of the Old Covenant, or they would lose God’s favor. The first two of the ten commandments involve having no other gods but Yahweh alone, and not honoring any idol or image. (Exodus 20:2-5) Israel broke this covenant because “they worshipped other gods” and “they worshipped idols.” (2 Kings 17:7, 12 NIV) This idolatry led to numerous other gross sins against Yahweh. The result was that the covenant was finally terminated by God. read more

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