Will people go to hell because they haven’t heard about Jesus?

     Some people ask this question to cast doubt on whether God is fair. But it is a legitimate question, so let’s explore it.

• The bible is very clear that no one comes to God except thru Jesus (John 14:6, Acts 4:12)
• 1^st Timothy 2:4 declares that God “…desires all men to be saved.” 2^nd Peter 3:9 says that God desires that “…no one should perish but that all should come to repentence.”
• Job 34:12 says that God is fair & just
• Acts 8:26-35 describes a sincere person seeking to know the truth. So God sent him a missionary, Philip, to explain everything to him.
  

• God reveals Himself to people where the gospel isn’t preached, thru dreams & visions. This happened to the gentile Cornelius in Acts 10:1-48. God gave him a vision (and then sent him a missionary, the apostle Peter, to explain everything to him). Today, in the Middle East, many Muslims are having dreams & visions of Jesus and are coming to faith in Him thru them (charismanews.com/opinion/63635-dreams-and-visions-of-jesus-are-fueling-the-explosive-growth-of-christianity-in-muslim-nations-worldwide).

Another good example of this is Helen Keller. She was blind & deaf. When she finally learned to communicate with the outside world, someone told her about Jesus. Her response was…So that’s His name. I’ve known Him for years, I just didn’t know His name. God had revealed Himself to her even though she was blind & deaf.

• Finally, all people know instinctively, that there is a God. But some of these people won’t believe in God no matter what. They are without excuse (Romans 1:18-20 & 3:11)

     So it’s not the case of God not getting His message to someone who is seeking after the truth (Acts 10:34,35). To anyone who honestly desires to know God, He will somehow reveal Himself to them. He gives everyone some light. If they want more, He will give them more. If they don’t want more, He will honor that also. Will people go to hell because they haven’t heard of Jesus? No! God will reveal Himself to everyone that wants to know. What they do with it is up to them.

For His kingdom,
Dave Maynard
https://BSSSB-LLC.com

Alleged errors in the bible

Do you feel embarrassed when someone points what seems to be an error in the bible and you have no answer for it? Fear not! Chances are very good that this question has been asked and answered many times in the last 2,000 years. All you have to do is a little digging to find the answer. Such a questioning spirit, far from being denounced, is endorsed by the bible itself when it says to “…test everything. Hold on to what is good.” (1^st Thessalonians 5:21).

     A funny thing about skeptics is that they know what they believe but most of them have NEVER sought out what Christians believe about their “errors”. We’ll look at 5 types of errors in the bible;
– inconsistencies
– New Testament quotations of Old Testament passages
– historical errors
– scientific errors
– moral errors

Bible Inconsistencies:

– Genesis 7:4 says the Flood lasted 40 days but Genesis 7:11 says it lasted one full year. Verse 4 says the rain fell for 40 days while verse 11 says it took one year for the waters to dry up enough for Noah and his family to leave the Ark and step on to dry land.
– Genesis 6:19 says at least 2 of “all that lives” went into the Ark.  But Genesis 7:2 says that 7 pairs of clean animals and 2 pair of every unclean animal went into the Ark. Genesis 7:2 is just more specific than Genesis 6:9, delineating the difference between clean and unclean animals.
– Genesis 11:31 says Abraham came from Ur (in southern Iraq) but Genesis 29:4-13 says he came from Haran (in northern Iraq). If you look at an ancient map, you’ll see that Abraham originally came from Ur, then his family moved to Haran where he received his call from God.
– Genesis 22:2 calls Isaac Abraham’s only son but Genesis 16: 1,2 15 said he had Ishmael before that and Genesis 25:1,2 says he had other sons. Ishmael was conceived with a concubine and his other sons were conceived with his 2^nd wife. Isaac, who was conceived with his 1^st wife Sarah, was the child of promise (Genesis 17:16,19) and the rightful, primary heir (Genesis 25:5,6). Isaac was the only “son of the covenant”.
– the two separate creation accounts in Genesis 1:1-2:3 and Genesis 2:4-25. But they’re not separate accounts. Genesis 1 is a more general, chronological account of the creation of the cosmos and earth. Genesis 2 is a more specific account of Adam and Eve’s creation. They’re
not separate accounts but complimentary accounts.

Alleged Errors of New Testament quotations of Old Testament scriptures:

     New Testament authors appear to misquote Old Testament scriptures often. Matthew 4:14-16 quotes Isaiah 9:12 but the quotation doesn’t match Isaiah in either the Greek or Hebrew version. These types of examples can be easily explained by knowing something of Jewish culture. Jews in Jesus’ time quoted the bible by memory. Copies of the scriptures were not plentiful as the printing press hadn’t been invented yet. But quoting anything from memory usually doesn’t come out verbatim. Also, they sometimes only had access to a very loose Aramaic paraphrase of the Hebrew quotation. Its little wonder that the texts are not word-for-word quotations, but none of them are contradictory to the other scriptures. The Jews of that time understood these quotations quite well. There was never a disagreement with what they meant until hundreds of years later.

Alleged Historical Errors:

     For example, Genesis 14:14 describes Abram pursuing the surviving kings of Sodom and Gomorrah to the city of Dan, which wasn’t called that in Abram’s day. But this isn’t an error. Some of the Old Testament events were passed on orally before they were written down. When they were written down, the writer often referred to their names at that point. It would be like someone saying the Indians occupied the land of Detroit (even though it wasn’t named Detroit at that time).

     A more serious discrepancy is when Genesis 23 refers to Abraham buying a cave from a Hittite…or that Bathsheba’s husband Uriah was a Hittite (2^nd Samuel 1). Until 1906, we knew nothing of Hittites archaeologically. Many archaeologists thought this was an error in the bible. But in 1906, archaeologist Hugo Wuickler found more than 10,000 clay tablets of the royal Hittite library. The Hittite nation was located right where the bible said it was. There are still many people, places and events in the bible that we don’t have proof that they existed…yet. But we have proof of so many other things that it’s probably just a matter of time before we find them. Remember, archaeology is a relatively new science. It’s just in the 19^th & 20^th centuries that most of these places have even been excavated.

     Nearly 100 biblical people, dozens of biblical cities and over 60 historical details in John’s Gospel, plus many other things have been confirmed thru archaeological research. The Israeli Antiquities Authority has over 100,000 artifacts that have been discovered in Israel alone since 1948.

Alleged Scientific Errors:

     Leviticus 11:19 calls a ‘bat’ a bird. Leviticus 11:21-24 says grasshoppers and beetles “walk on all fours”. But insects have 6 legs, not 4.
But these “errors” are just an attempt to impose scientific language on passages that weren’t meant to be read that way. Today, we often say that the Sun rises at 6AM. Scientifically speaking, the Sun doesn’t move. So, are we lying when we say that? Of course not!  That language is not meant to be taken scientifically.  Now let’s look at the above examples in light of this:
-Leviticus 11:19…the Hebrew word for “bird” could also be translated “flying thing”. In other passages, the same word is used for birds and bats. It just refers to them “flying”.
-Leviticus 11:21-24…the phrase “walks on all fours” is just a colloquial expression, not a scientific one. It just means they’re walking on their legs. The modern phrase “the 4 corners of the Earth” doesn’t mean that the Earth is flat. It’s just a way of describing how far points on the Earth are separated from each other. In Psalm 6:6, the psalmist says he cried so much that he drenched his couch with tears. Do you really think if you touched his couch it would be wet? Of course it wouldn’t be. It’s just a colloquial expression that means he cried a lot. The bible, being written in the everyday language of its time, has many such expressions.

     Other errors skeptics say are impossible are things like:
-Jesus walking on water (Matthew 14:24) or
-a burning bush that isn’t consumed (Exodus 3:2-5)
These aren’t refutations. They’re dogmatic assertions that miracles can’t happen. We can answer these questions in two ways;
1)…just because we cannot understand it now doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. Many things we’ve discovered in the last 100 years, past peoples would have said couldn’t happen. An airplane flying is one of them.
2)…if there is an all-powerful God who created the physical laws of the universe, does it make sense to say He couldn’t abrogate those laws at His discretion?

Alleged Moral Errors:

     This is probably the biggest area of attack that skeptics and atheists launch against the bible. Noam Chomsky says, “The bible is one of the most genocidal books in history”. Richard Dawkins says, “The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction…a petty, unjust, unforgiving control freak; homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously, malevolent bully”. WOW! What a mouthful! But are these charges true?
In looking at the following verses, we have to say that God did order the Israelites to kill certain nations. Exodus 23:32-33  34:11-16 and Deuteronomy 7:1-6  20:16-18
It’s important to point out that these verses apply to these Canaanite nations only and are  not meant to apply to just any nation.
OK, so what was it that God had against these Canaanite nations? We know from other scriptures and from history that the Canaanites practiced…
– sacrificing innocent children to their gods by burning them on altars
– bestiality (having sex with animals)
– gang rape
– very perverted sexual practices

     But God did not quickly judge the Canaanites. He gave these people hundreds of years to change their ways. Genesis 15:13-16 says that “the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure”. There comes a point in some peoples lives where they will never change, no matter what. At that point, God stepped in to stop the carnage. These nations were cut off to prevent the corruption of the rest of the world and Israel (Deuteronomy 20:16-18).
Deuteronomy 9: 5 says, “It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations”. When a nation starts burning its children as a gift to the gods (Leviticus 18:21) and practices sodomy, bestiality and all sorts of sinful behavior (Leviticus 18:25-30), judgement will come to stop the sin from spreading. Just as surgeons do not hesitate to amputate a gangrenous limb, so God will do the same. This is not doing evil so good may come. It is removing the cancer that would have eventually killed the good.

     People who attack the bible on moral grounds usually make the mistake of anachronism. They apply our standards of justice to God acting back then. They don’t realize that our standards of justice come from applying biblical standards over hundreds of years. God meets people where they’re at, not where we’re at, and applies His justice to them. We forget that throughout history, barbarism has been the rule rather than the exception. Some examples are…
– archaeological excavations at Carthage, the west African colony, have found 20,000 urns of sacrificed infants. They believe that child sacrifice took place continuously for nearly 600 years. Child sacrifice was done for a number of reasons. Because some god demanded it, because you wanted a good harvest that year, or success in your business, etc.
– in the palace relief of Assyrian king Ashur-nasir-pal II (884-859 BC), his armies are cheerfully depicted skinning captured enemies alive, cutting off hands and feet and ears, pulling out tongues and eyes and decapitating mounds of heads to further terrify their enemies.

     But gradually, over centuries thru the words of His prophets, God lead His people to greater levels of compassion and mercy. Much of this can be seen in our course “How Christianity Changed the World” on this website.

     Modern critics who say the bible justifies war and genocide are looking at isolated passages taken out of their historical and textual context. Remember war is just one of the punishments that God metes out for injustice and bloodshed. Isaiah 4:26,28 affirms this.

     What about the moral laws of Leviticus chapters 18 thru 20? I’ve done an FAQ on this at http://BSSSB-LLC.com/why-are-some-old-testament-laws-valid-for-us-today-but-others-aren%27t.

     I’ve also done an FAQ on bible errors and contradictions at http://BSSSB-LLC.com/what-about-all-those-errors-and-contradictions-in-the-bible/.

References:
Books;
“Hard Sayings of the Bible” by Kaiser, Davids, Bruce & Brauch
“When Skeptics Ask” by Geisler & Brooks
“The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Bible” by Robert Hutchinson
“Answers to Your Bible Questions” by Ed Strauss

Websites;
www.comereason.org/bible-contradictions-explained.asp
www.defendinginerrancy.com/bible-difficulties/ 

For His Kingdom,
Dave Maynard
https://BSSSB-LLC.com

How is Jesus Different from Other Religious Leaders?

      Many religions believe in Jesus. The Bible even says the demons believe in Jesus (James 2:29—“You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder”). But what we need to determine is :
– what do they mean by “believe”?
– how do they define Jesus? There is more than one Jesus (Matthew 24:23-26  “…For false Christs…will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect-if that were possible…”). I can say I believe in Dave Maynard who lives in Jackson, Michigan but there are 3 Dave Maynards who live in Jackson, Michigan and they are all quite different people. You need to be more specific.
– you need to determine if their definition of Jesus is correct. Three people may give you direction to a certain destination but if two of them are wrong and you believe them, you’ll never reach your intended destination.

     Now let’s look at the two different types of belief.
– one is just an acknowledgement of something. I believe the sky is blue but that doesn’t impact my life. I will not dedicate my life to proving the sky is blue. This type of belief or acknowledgement has no effect on my life. The demons believe that Jesus is Lord but they don’t allow that belief to transform them (James 2:29).
– the other belief is a transformational belief. Christians not only believe in Jesus, they have received Him into their life. He comes in and transforms our lives (John 1:12  “Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.”).

     According to the most basic of laws, the law of non-contradiction says that “A” cannot be “non-A”. If Islam says Jesus is one thing and Christianity says He is something different, both cannot be right. Either they’re both wrong or one is wrong and one is right.
Now let’s look at how certain religions/belief systems define Jesus.

     Christianity…Jesus is God in the flesh, a part of the trinity, God the Son, who came down from heaven, died for our sins, rose from the dead for our justification and will come back to set up Kingdom for all eternity.

     Judaism…Jesus was just a human being, a Jew who some people mistakenly believed was the promised Jewish Messiah. He was a Jewish prophet who lived and died in 1^st century Palestine. There is only one God, not a trinity, and Jesus is not Him.

     Islam…Jesus was a great prophet in a line of prophets (Moses, David, Solomon, Jonah, etc.) but Mohammed was the greatest prophet of all. Jesus lived and died in 1^st century Palestine. To say Jesus is God is blasphemy. Jesus was only a human being. They don’t believe in the trinity  nor do hey believe he was crucified.

     Hinduism…God is an impersonal force, an undefinable thing. Hinduism recognizes thousands of lesser gods but they’re all part of one big impersonal force called Brahma. Jesus may be one of these lesser gods or just a human being. They don’t believe in the trinity. He lived and died in 1^st century Palestine.

     Buddhism…most Buddhists are atheists. Some Buddhists believe that Buddha was a god. Jesus may have been a teacher who lived and died in 1^st century Palestine. Jesus isn’t really much of a factor in Buddhism. Obviously, they don’t believe in the trinity.

     Transcendental Meditation…Jesus is not God Almighty. He had the divine essence as a man. Unlike most people, He discovered His divine essence. Each part of creation makes up “God”. God is in you and me and in that tree, the mountains, sky, etc. God is not personal. God is an “it”. They don’t believe in the trinity. Jesus, as an enlightened man, lived and died in 1^st century Palestine.

     Unity School of Christianity…Jesus is only a man who gained a “Christ consciousness.” Jesus had been reincarnated many times and lived many lives before. Jesus didn’t die for our sins and will not return a 2^nd time. God is an impersonal entity, a principle. They don’t believe in the trinity. Jesus was a human being who lived and died in 1^st century Palestine.

      Mormonism…God is an office that you can be elevated to. Our God was once a man with a physic al body the same as ours. If you’re a good Mormon in this life, you may become a Jesus on another world. Eventually you may become God on another world also. Jesus was created as a spirit child of God the Father and the Heavenly Mother. His earthly body was created thru a sexual union of God the Father and Mary. Mormons don’t believe in the trinity.

     Jehovah’s Witnesses…There is one God called Jehovah. They do not believe in the trinity. Jesus is not God Almighty but he is a Mighty God, just lesser than God Almighty. Before He came to earth, he was Michael, the Archangel. Jesus is the first thing that Jehovah God created. Jesus’ body decayed in the grave but his spirit was resurrected. Their belief is similar to the Arian heresy of the 4^th century that the early church condemned at the Council of Nicea (which is where we get the Nicene Creed from).

     Christian Science…Jesus was not God. God has never been a human. He didn’t die on the cross, wasn’t resurrected and isn’t coming back again. God is an impersonal life force. God is all that exists. Anything material (like you and me) is just an illusion. Jesus was just a man who displayed the Christ consciousness. Sin, evil, sickness and death are not real, only illusions. Jesus was a man who lived and died in 1^st century Palestine.

     While there are many other religions, in all of them Jesus is either just a man who lived and died in 1^st century Palestine or he is one of many “divine” people.
– in the Bible, Jesus claims to be God (John1:1, 8:58)
– that all other gods are false gods (Isaiah 44:6,8,9).
– He claims to be the only way to God (John 14:6)
Jesus claimed to be God and backed up those claims by fulfilling over 300 messianic prophecies, something that no one has come close to since. He also proved it by His resurrection from the dead. He left many historical proofs of this.

     Either Jesus is who He claims to be or He is not. There is no middle ground. Who your definition of Jesus is, is extremely important. He only leaves you with 3 choices. Either Jesus is who He says He is or He is not. If He is not, then He is either a liar or a lunatic. But Jesus told people not to lie. How could a lunatic or a liar give the world the highest ethical teachings the world has ever known, a fact endorsed even by His critics? Not many sane people would call Jesus a lunatic or a liar. That only leaves one choice…that He is God.
To those people who say He was only a good teacher, consider these claims of His;
-He told people that if they ate His flesh and drink His blood, they would have eternal life (John 6:53,54).
-He can give life to people after they die (John 11:25,26). In other words, He told people to trust Him with their eternal destiny.
-He is God (John 10:30)
– He will raise Himself from the dead (John 2:19-21)
If your science teacher said these things about himself, I’m sure you’d run for the door and never come back. Jesus did not leave the good teacher option open for us.

     All the other prophets or messiahs of other religions have died and are in the grave. Jesus is the only major religious figure to have conquered the grave. He is the only major religious figure to predict His own death….and resurrection. The bodies of all the other religious figures are in the grave. Jesus’ grave has been empty for 2,000 years.  Even the Jewish religious leaders of His day didn’t disagree that His grave was empty. They only tried to explain why it was empty. Their explanations fell flat (see “The Real Easter Story” on this website for verification of the empty grave).
Jesus was so different from all the other gods, guru’s, messiahs, teachers or founders of all the other religions. He is so popular that all the other religions try to incorporate Him into their religion. While his has happened with a few other religious leaders that were put into a few other religions, Jesus has been put into almost every religion. No other religious leader comes close to His popularity.

     Then there are these other milestones:
– the Bible is the best selling book of all time
– Christianity has stood the test of time despite periods of severe persecution
– the Bible is quoted more than  any other book in history
– our calendar is centered around this obscure peasant born in a remote backwater village
– His short 3 years of ministry has effected the world more than any other person’s entire life has.
– more people will willingly lay down their life rather than deny belief in Him
– more people have testified that He has changed their life for the better than any other person or god in the world throughout history.
– more books have been written about Him than any other person or movement in all of history.
– more compassionate ministries (Salvation Army, soup kitchens, orphanages, food pantries, medical care, grief care, etc.) have started and existed because of His command to feed the hungry, cloth the naked, etc.

     Yes, indeed, Jesus is far different from any other leader, religious or not, that world has ever known.
Who do you think Jesus is? Your eternal destiny hangs on your answer.

Recommended Resources:
Books;
“Kingdom of the Cults” by Walter Martin
“So What’s the Difference” by Fritz Ridenour
Plus many, many more that can be purchased at www.christianbook.com

Websites;
https://carm.org
https://www.watchman.org/

For His Kingdom,
Dave Maynard
http://BSSSB-LLC.com