Questions and Answers (Part 5)

Proof

Question: “How much proof do you need of adultery before you can divorce your spouse and remarry? Do you have to be a witness of the actual act?”

The answer to the last question is no. Jesus presumed that a person could know (in most cases) that a mate was unfaithful (Matt. 19:9). There are at least four ways that one can know.

Direct admission, although this is a rare occurrence.

Logic. If a person finds himself with an STD, and he or she has not been promiscuous, then the mate must be guilty. Or if a husband is sterile, but the wife becomes pregnant, then something is amiss.

Reliable witnesses can also settle the matter (Deu. 17:6; 19:15).

A couple might be caught in the act by the mate or a private detective, who is expensive. So, a suspicious mate might guess as to when such an event might be occurring and have someone reliable check on it. Once a preacher and a member of the church were observing a house for that very purpose, and they were threatened with arrest. A professional should be consulted.

Anyone who has any doubts should wait until the sin has been verified before entering another marriage.

Nimrod

Question: “Why is Nimrod a mighty hunter before the Lord (Gen. 10:8-9)? Was he arrogant or a great man?” Two other verses mention him: 1 Chronicles 1:10 says he began to be a mighty one on the earth. Micah 5:6 simply refers to the land of Nimrod.

The name Nimrod comes from a word that means “to rebel.” He was a mighty hunter. Perhaps he hunted dinosaurs and other large game now that they were edible (as of Genesis 9:3-4). The kingdoms he founded were Babylon in the land of Shinar and in Assyria he built Nineveh (Gen. 10:10-11). Both of these eventually became empires. Nineveh took Israel captive, and Judah was later captured by Babylon and taken there.

Peter and the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven

Question: “What does Matthew 16:19 mean? Does Peter literally have the ‘keys’ to heaven? Catholics use this passage to defend the idea of Peter as the first ‘pope.’ Please explain how we can give an effective argument to rethink this idea of theirs.”

Keys are for locking or unlocking a door. Up to the Day of Pentecost, people did not yet have the information they needed in order to be saved under the new covenant It had not yet been revealed; figuratively, it was locked up, but Peter, in preaching the first gospel sermon, used the keys to provide people with the knowledge they needed to enter the kingdom (Acts 2). Among the things the apostle told them was that:

Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, who was crucified for our sins, but resurrected from the dead. He is now both Lord and Christ. Understanding the truth concerning Jesus’ identity caused them to ask what they ought to do. Peter delivered to the multitude two more keys:

Repent of the sins they just acknowledged that they had committed (Acts 2:38).

Be baptized in order for their sins to be forgiven (Acts 2:38). 3,000 chose to be baptized (Acts 2:41), and they were added to the kingdom / church (Acts 2:47; cf. Matt. 16:18-19). Peter had unlocked the door, and they entered in.

Peter was not the only one who preached from that day onward; the other apostles also taught the people (Acts 2:42). They all spoke by inspiration and taught the truth; they enjoyed complete unity with one another. Peter was the first, however, to preach both to the Jews and later the Gentiles (Acts 10).

Concerning the word pope, however, it is not found in the Scriptures. Peter could not qualify as pope today since he was married (Matt. 8:14-15). He was still married 25 years later (1 Cor. 9:5). Also, Peter did not tell Cornelius to kiss his ring—he told him specifically NOT to worship him (Acts 10:25-26). Peter never presents himself as supreme in the church—but as a fellow elder to other brethren overseeing a church (1 Peter 5:1).

Nowhere is a universal ruler over the church mentioned—except for Jesus (Matt. 28:18), who is Head over it (Eph. 1:22-23). The structure of the church is quite simple; elders lead God’s people and uphold the truth. They do not invent doctrine; Jesus is the only authority (John 12:48; 2 Peter 1:3).

Hell

Question: “What is the difference between the great Lake of Fire and Hell?” Matthew mentions Gehenna seven times, Mark records Jesus referring to it three times; Luke and James have one reference apiece. Matthew 5:22 says “Hell fire,” and James 3:6 says the tongue is “set on fire by hell.”

In the Hadean realm, the rich man was tormented in flames (Luke 16:24). Jude refers to “the vengeance of eternal fire” (v. 7); the Book of Revelation also describes the torment of fire and brimstone (Rev. 14:10-11). The Lake of Fire is found in Revelation 19:20 and 20:10, 14-15). They are different expressions for the same reality.

Islam and Violence

Question: “You made the claim that ‘Islam was spread by violence.’ What evidence or record from expert eyewitnesses can confirm that violence was generally employed in its spread?”

First, the information consulted came from a book by Robert Payne (1911-83). Payne was “an armament officer and chief camouflage officer for British Army Intelligence at Singapore in 1941. In the summer of 1946, Payne traveled to China and visited with and interviewed Mao Zedong in Yenan. During the interview Mao correctly predicted that “it would only take the Communist forces a year-and-a-half to conquer China once the armistice with Chiang Kai-shek and his followers was broken” (Wikipedia).

Payne had more than 110 books published: novels, histories, and biographies. He was best known for the biographies, which included studies of Charlie Chaplin, Greta Garbo, Hitler, Lenin, Stalin, Trotsky, Gandhi, Albert Schweitzer, Dostoyevsky, Ivan the Terrible, Chiang Kai-shek, Karl Marx, Mao Zedong, Sun Yat-sen, Shakespeare, and Alexander the Great.

The History of Islam by Payne was initially published as The Holy Sword in 1957; it was republished under the current title in 1959. In other words, the author is a world-recognized historian who wrote long before our modern problems with Islam. It is not a slanted piece of journalism; he records in an objective fashion the history of the spread of Islam. There is a chart of important dates covering 4 full pages, beginning with the birth of Muhammad in 570 A.D. and ending with 1958, the year the United Arab Republic was proclaimed. Included is a 6-page selective bibliography, which comprises his list of sources. Below are a few significant dates.

610 – Vision in a cave, but he had no followers until the men of Yathrib (Medina) began to support him 12 years later (28).

622 – He and his men won some battles, although they lost a humiliating defeat in which Muhammad was wounded. He made an agreement with Jews in a city if they would surrender but then violated it and put all the men to death. He took 5 or 6 Jews at a time and had them sit before an open trench. They were beheaded and their bodies and heads fell into the trench.

632 – Muhammad dies. Jihad just missed becoming one of the five requirements (47). “Dead, he was more powerful than when he was living. The earthly man with his wives and concubines, his blazing visions and sudden bloodthirsty passions, was not forgotten …” (66).

632-34 – Abu Bakr reigned.

634-44 – Umar, kingdom expanded to the north (Israel, Syria). Umar had once asked Muhammad why the women were showing less respect to Muhammad than to himself. Muhammad laughed and answered, “Umar, if the devil himself were to meet you in the street, he would dodge into a side alley” (95). Umar “rode roughshod over the wishes of his people, introduced harsh punishments…and dealt remorselessly with any generals suspected of undermining his position” (99).

644-56 – Uthman reigned.

656 – Infighting between two warring factions for supremacy left 13,000 dead on the battlefield. “Muhammad envisaged a time when the whole world would be conquered for Islam, and Walid very nearly did conquer the whole world” (136-37).

732 – The advancement of Islam stops. Charles Martel (the Hammer) defeats the Muslims just south of Paris in 732. This religion was advanced by the sword. Islam’s history is well known.

Mental Faculties

Question: “What about the elderly who no longer have the mental faculties to understand what to do to be saved?” As James 4:14 states: “Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow, for what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”

We do not know how long we shall live. We may have three score and ten or fourscore, but we have no promises (Ps. 90:10). Many die long before that age as a result of an accident, disease, or even murder. One youth was shot and killed to death while eating a hamburger at Checker’s. For all these reasons, “now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2). It’s too important to put it off. Other things can happen besides death. One can have a stroke or develop dementia. When one’s mental faculties are gone, it is too late to be saved.

Clapping Hands

Question: “I’ve been to two churches of Christ this summer that clapped while singing. Here at South Seminole, we do not clap while singing; why is that? Should those churches of Christs stop their practice?”

Yes. And they should be ashamed that their leadership is so weak as to allow such a practice. If they have elders, they should resign immediately because they are not qualified. Elders must know the Word and be able to teach it. Colossians 3:17 states that we must have authority for what we teach and do. Are we authorized to clap while singing? If so, where is it. If not, then we cannot do it. Did Jesus and the apostles teach it? Then those in Acts 2:42 did not learn it. None of the churches did so in the New Testament. Nothing implies that the practice ought to be engaged in. It is not authorized and is, therefore, wrong (Lev. 10:1-2). Brethren need to remember that unauthorized worship is vain worship.

Third, the purpose for singing (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16) is spiritual, Clapping can do none of those things.

Fourth, it is not true worship (John 4:23-24). If there, leave.