EVEN JESUS DID NOT PRESUME TO ACT WITHOUT AUTHORITY (II)

By Bob Myhan

Jesus established authority for His teaching on the general resurrection by appealing to that which was implied, though not explicitly stated, in Scripture. When questioned by the Sadducees [who believed in neither spirits nor angels—Acts 23:8] about the general resurrection, Jesus quoted from the first five books of the Old Testament [the only part of the Old Testament that the Sadducees accepted as Divinely inspired] to defend His teaching.

The same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, saying: "Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. Now there were with us seven brothers. The first died after he had married, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother. Likewise the second also, and the third, even to the seventh. Last of all the woman died also. Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had her." Jesus answered and said to them, "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven. But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living." And when the multitudes heard this, they were astonished at His teaching. But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together (Matthew 22:23-34).

His implied defense ran thusly:

(1) Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had been dead for hundreds of years when YHWH first appeared to Moses.

(2) But YHWH identified Himself to Moses saying, "I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob."

(3) In saying this, YHWH implied [and we necessarily infer] that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were alive—in some sense—at the time of Moses.

(4) To deny this is to implicitly affirm that YHWH is "the God of the dead." This proved that there is a part of man that survives physical death and can be resurrected. If this is not the case, why did Jesus bring it up? This was such a forceful argument, that it "silenced the Sadducees" (v. 34).

If the very Son of God did not presume to act without authority, who is mere man that he should do so? &

WHAT ABOUT ALL THOSE MISTAKES IN THE BIBLE?

By Jon Quinn

It is quite amazing to me that a com­mon complaint made about the Bible is that it has so many contra­dictions and mistakes. It is not sur­prising that such a charge would be made by some unbelieving scholar who will investigate the Bible's pages and turn logic on its ear in order to force a mistake into it here and there.

The sur­prising part is that so many will use such alleged mis­takes as an excuse not to obey its teach­ings, but when asked for an example sim­ply do not have a single one.

Most want you to think that they have made a careful examination, and only af­ter months of painstaking search have reluctantly come to the conclusion that the Bible is not reliable because of all the mistakes they have found. But when asked to show one, it is quickly apparent that no such examination has taken place, no specific error is in mind, and it is all an excuse. "Oh, I just heard that mistakes are in there...."

But what of the "scholar" who has in­vestigated and does have a list of con­tradictions? Well, each alleged mistake has to be treated individually. We have to consider whether it has merit, or is just an unfair attack on the Bible by an unbe­liever who is either ignorant or malicious.

I have several books in my library that deal with such matters. If it were not so serious a matter, some of these "mistakes" would be funny. For example, a passage which says God dwells in heaven (Psalm 123:1) and another which says He dwells in Zion (the mount upon which the temple was built in Jeru­salem) (Psalm 9:11). He can't dwell at both places, can He? Contradiction! But only if one ignores the omnipresence of God, a characteristic that is taught throughout the Bible. "'Do I not fill the heaven and earth?' Saith the Lord" (Jeremiah 23:24). Yes, God can dwell in both places, and many more.

Concerning the execution of Christ, John records the words of Jesus' ene­mies. In one passage, they say, "We have a law, and by our law he ought to die" (John 19:7). But just a bit earlier, they are recorded as saying, "It is not lawful for us to put any man to death" (John 18:31). Another contradic­tion! How could the same people say both things? They could easily do so if they were talking about two different laws, which they were. The first law they are referring to is the law of Moses. They considered Jesus a blas­phemer which was a sin for which the Law of Moses prescribed death. However, Judah was not an independent nation at the time Jesus was crucified. By Roman law, the Chief Priests did not have the authority to execute those they deemed as crimi­nals. For this reason, they had to se­cure the Roman governor's permission, which they did. Once Pilate granted the permis­sion, the roadblock of civil law was over­come and Jesus was crucified.

There are others, but you get the pic­ture. Rather flimsy, weren't they? How sad that so many have heard that there are some "discrepancies" in the Bible, and use that as an excuse not to believe, but never take the time to investigate the charge. One must not let Satan win the victory so easily. Examine the Scriptures daily! (Acts 17:11) &