ABOUT THE COVER

This month's "Update" (beginning onpage 14) features "What Is the WorldwideChurch of God?" Pictured are members ofthis church - a church unique in practicingChristianity as a way of life as well as afaith. Be sure and read the fascinating storyof a church that is motivated with purpose,and understands the way that makes lifetruly meaningful, rewarding and abunda nt.

Ambassador College Photo

ADDRESS ALL COMMUN ICATIONS TO THE GOODNEWS OFFICE NEAREST YOU.• United State s: P. O. Box 111. Pasadena, California91123• Canada: P. O. Box 44 , St ation A. Vancouver 1. B.C.• Mexico: Instttuclcn Ambassador , Apartado Postal S-S95.Mexlcc 5. D.F.• United Kingd om, Europe, India. Africa and the We'"Indies: P. O. Box 111. S t. Albans, Herts., England• South Africa, Mauritius and Maun..·;: P. O. Box 1060.Johannesburg• RJrOlks;a: P. O. Box A94 . Avondale. Sa lisbury• Australia and So utMcut Asia: G.P.O . Bo x 345, Sy dney,NSW 2001, Australia• New Zeakuui: P. O. Box 2709. Auckland I. New Zealaod• ThL Philippines: P. O. Box 1111. Ma kati. Rizal D-708.Be sure to notify us immediately of any change in youraddress. Please includ e your old mailin g label and lour newaddress . The publisher assumes no responsibili ty for returnof unsoli cited art work, photograp hs, or manuscrip ts.

December 1973

Volume XXII Number 5

The Good News

CONTENTS

ARTICLES

Even if you don't believe it .. . It's Still Going to Happen

4 The Resurrection: The Hope of Mankind

7 Discover Your Bible

10 Which Translations Should You Use?

19 "I'm Just Following Orders"

25 The King Who Tried to Forget

28 Does Christmas Honor God?

Publi shed monthly by Ambassa dor Colleg e. 300W. G reen sr., Pasad ena. Ca lif. 91123

Edito r in ChiefHerbert W. Armstro ng

EditorGa rne r Ted Armstrong

Executive EditorC. Wayne Co le

Sen ior Edito rs: Da vid Jon Hill. Raymo nd F.McNair

Managing Edi tor: Brian W. Know les

A rt Director: Allen Merager

Associate Editors: Gary L. Alexander . Lawso n C.Briggs. Rob er t L. Kuhn . Joh n E. Portu ne . Rich­ard H. Sedli acik. John R. Sch roed er

Cont ributing Edito rs: David L. Antion. DibarAparti an, Rob ert Boraker, Arch Bradley. AlfredE. Carrozzo. Rona ld L. Dar t, Cha rles V. Doroth y.G una r Freibe rgs, Rob ert Gente r, Char les F.H unt ing, G eorge L. John son . Ron ald Kelly,Den nis G . Luker , Step he n Ma rtin. G erha rdO. Marx. Leslie McCull ou gh , Rod erick C. Mer e­dit h, L. Leroy Ne ff, G eo rge Ritt er . Paul S. Royer ,Eugene N. Walte r, Clint Zimmerma n

Copy Editors: Ronald Beid eck , Kathleen Proh s

Arl Editor: G regory Sm ith

Staff A rtist: Wi llia m Schuler

Edito rial Staff: Lucy Ba rnes. Hazel Cooper.Michael Heiss. Leila McM ichael. Nina Provence.Ja mes Recto r. Ja net C. Schroe de r, Mack Tay lor

FEATU RES

14

21

Update

Science

Business Manager: Albert J. Portune

Director ofPublishing: C. Wayne Co le

Circulation Man ager: Da vid Jon Hill

R egional Circulati on Managers: U.K.. Ind ia.Middle Eas t. West Africa : Cha rles F. Hun ting;Can ada : G eo rge Pat rickso n; Au stra lia an dSo utheast Asia: Gene R. Hughe s; South Africa :Adri aan J. Borha: New Zea land: Graemm eMa rshall

Printed monthly by Ambassad or Co llege Press.Pasadena. Ca lifo rnia . © 1973 Ambassador Col·lege. All Rights Reserved .

Applicati on to mai l at second-class postage rat esis pen din g at Pasad ena . Ca lifornia ,

Even if you don't believe it...

IT'S STILL GOING TO HAPPENIby Garner Ted Armstrong

Millions know the story of"The Great Disappointment"when a denomination set aspecific date for Christ's return- only to see the date pass,and their hopes frustrated. Mil­lions know the Bible co ntainsmuch prophecy, but falliblehumans have time and againmisinterpreted prophecies ofthe Bible: setting dates forspecific events - only to seethose dates come and go with­out any prophetic fulfillment!Does this mean prophecy isfallible? Or does i t only meanthat human beings have beenall too prone to use prophecyas a badge of their own credi­bility, only t o see th eir in ter­pretations fail? It 's time youknew the truth about the su­rest prophecy of all - andknow i t i s not an inter­pretation of any man.

TE scene is the United NationsGeneral Assembly.

Speaking before the as­sembled dignitaries from nations allover the world , the Secretary Gen­eral is soberly summarizing several.days' lengthy speeches . Those ad­dresses have covered the incrediblecrunch of the population explosion,global pollution, the energy crisis,the worldwide economic crisis, thethreatened trend toward new inter ­national alliances and the breakupof old ones, and the ominous mili­tary build-ups by several of the ma­jor powers.

Peace has been the topic. How toachieve peace in a world of chaoticunrest, squa lor, disease, filth, pov­erty, and the threat of war.

At the final "thwack" of the gavel,the Secreta ry General takes the ros­trum , and all eyes are fixed on hisgraying head as he faces the hugeassembly of internat ional represen­tatives.

" G ent lemen," he begins, "wehave been assembled here to assessthe accomplishments of this grea tbody through the trying period fol­lowing World War II, in attemptingto achieve a peaceful world whereall mankind may realize the fullestbenefits of personal and nationaldevelopmen t.

"We have hea rd through the am­bassadors to the Uni ted Nations acomplete summary of the monu­men tal problems facing all nations;facing this body; facing humanityitself.

"It is my gravest and most seri­ously considered opinion ...," hecontinues in a voice rising with emo­tion, causing a greater quiet to de­scend on the big room , ". . . thatonly one great event can ever savethis world from the spectre of nu­clear war.» . ." Glances of sharp­ened interest are exchanged;members of the press lean forward ,check their tape recorders to insurethey are running properly; the U.N.secretaries pause momentarily fromtheir dutiful, swiftly typing short­hand machines to glance up in ex­pectancy.

What is he about to say?Minds speculate; perhaps he will

say something really different thistime - or will it only be another ofthe endless speeches about the U.N.itself, or "brotherhood and coopera­tion among nations," or "m ulti-lat­eral diminution of the arms race,"or "absolute cessation of nucleartesting, with inspections." or "de­mand for greater support from thebig powers for the United Nations"?A few yawns are bare ly stifled asti red dignitaries shift position,glance at thei r watches, and wonderwhether they're going to be late totheir luncheon date.

".. . That only one great eventcan ever save this world from thespectre of nuclear war, whereinmore than half of all mankindwould surely die - and that greatevent is the return of Jesus Christ ofNazareth to this earth!"

The Obvious Reaction

A ripple of laughter softly flowsthrough the big room, as dignitariesshift positions , cross and uncrosslegs. look at one another incredu­lously, doodle on note paper, andwonder how the Secretary Generalof the United Nations ever came incontact with some idiotic, "pie-in­the-sky" idea such as that.

Has he gone crazy? Since whenhas the Secretary General of theUnited Nations taken up withAmerican fundamentalist religion?Reporters snatch up recorders andnotes , and dash to exits and waitingtelephones. The Afro-Asian blocstands, almost as one, and beginsangrily and purposefully striding to-

(Continued on page 3)

OI

The 2nd Comingof Christ NI

Mal. 3:1-2 "Behold, I will send my messenger, and heshall prepare the way before me : and the Lord , whomye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even themessenger of the covenant. ... But who may abide theday of his coming? And who shall stand when he ap­peareth? For he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers'soap."

Jer. 23:5 "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that 1will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a Kingshall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgmentand justice in the earth."Dan. 7:13-14 " I saw in the night visions, and beholdone like the Son of man came with the clouds ofheaven, and came to the Ancient of days ... And therewas given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom,that all people, nations, and languages, should servehim: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, whichshall not pass away . ..."Psa. 96:13 "Before the Lord: for he cometh, for hecometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the worldwith righteousness, and the people with his truth."Isa. 40:10 "Behold, the Lord God will come withstrong hand, and his arm shall rule for him : behold,his reward is with him, and his work before him."Micah 1:3 "For, behold, the Lord cometh forth out ofhis place, and will come down , and tread upon thehigh places of the earth."Isa. 26:21 "For, behold, the Lord cometh out of hisplace to punish the inhabitants of the earth for theiriniquity : the earth also shall disclose her blood, andshall no more cover her slain ."Isa. 13:9-11 "Behold, the day of the Lord cometh,cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the landdesolate.... And 1 will punish the world for theirevil. . .."Zech. 14:1-4 "Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, andthy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For 1will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle....And his feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount ofOlives. . . ."Job 19:25 "For 1 know that my redeemer liveth , andthat he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth."Dan. 2:34-35 "Thou sawest till that a stone was cut outwithout hands, which smote the image upon his feetthat were of iron and clay, and brake them topieces ... and the stone that smote the image becamea great mountain, and filled the whole earth."

Acts 1:9-11 "And when he had spoken these things ,while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud re­ceived him out of their sight. .. . this same Jesus,which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so comein like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven."Heb. 9:28 "So Christ was once offered to bear the sinsof man y; and unto them that look for him shall he ap­pear the second time without sin unto salvation."I Cor. 11:26 "For as often as ye eat this bread anddrink this cup , ye do shew the Lord's death till hecome. "I Pet. 5:4 "And when the chief Shepherd shall appear,ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth notaway."Luke 12:37-40 "Blessed are those servants, whom theLord when he cometh shall find watching... . Be yetherefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at anhour when ye think not."I Cor. 4:5 "Therefore judge nothing before the time,until the Lord come, who both will bring to light thehidden things of darkness, and will make manifest thecounsels of the hearts: and then shall every man havepraise of God ."Matt. 26:64 " . .. Hereafter shall ye see the Son of mansitting on the right hand of power, and coming in theclouds of heaven."Matt. 24:27 "For as the lightning cometh out of theeast, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also thecoming ofthe Son ofman be."Matt. 16:27 "For the Son of man shall come in theglory of his Father with his angels ; and then he shallreward every man according to his works."Matt. 24:30 "And then shall appear the sign of theSon of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes ofthe earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of mancoming in the clouds of heaven with power and greatglory."Luke 9:26 "For whosoever shall be ashamed of meand of my words, of him shall the Son of man beashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and inhis Father's, and of the holy angels ."I Thes. 4:16-17 "For the Lord himself shall descendfrom heaven with a shout, with the voice of the arch­angel , and with the trump of God: and the dead inChrist shall rise first: then we which are alive and re­main shall be caught up together with them in theclouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall weever be with the Lord."

(Continued from page 1)ward the exits. After all, they aremostly either the . major Orientalfaiths, such as Hinduism, Shintoism,Buddhism, Taoism , or Con­fucianism, or perhaps Muslim Oranimist, or holding with tribal reli­gions or Communism (and there­fore atheistic).

To hear a leader of a respectedinternational body propose such aridiculous solution to world affairs isto wonder if the poor man has suf­fered a stroke. But at least they canplainly demonstrate their in­dignation at this terrible effron tery;that someone could inject religion ~and at least what would seem to beProtestant, American, fire-and­brimstone, second-advent, Bible­thumping religion at that - into theformal speech in this vast assembly,concluding days upon days of themost serious discussions of the big­gest problems facing mankind.

The meeting is obviously over ­with several at the main dais stand­ing in small knots gesticulating andwildly waving hands. The SecretaryGeneral's cheeks are red, as he isconfronted by several other leaderswho instantly surround him de­manding an explanation.

The throngs head for the exits.while the Secretary General's wife,who was seated in the place ofhonor, !s slumped in her chair, withan aide vainly dipping his handker­chief into a wate r pitcher in futileattempt to restore her to conscious­ness after her dead faint followingher husband's shocking words .

Shouts of disbelief and anger arefollowed by pushing matches nearat least two of the exits, which, onone occasion, erupts into a fistfightbetwee n two Muslims dressed in.their Arabic robes and two "Chris~

tians."Unlikely?Sure , it is! That is: it's unlikely

the Secretary General of the UnitedNations would ever make such astatement in public, or, for that mat­ter, in private either - bu t if heshould, then the reaction is verylikely - though I believe I have un-

GOOD NEWS December 1973

derstated the actual chaos whichwould occur.

But Do We Believe God?

Can we get the picture?To seriously suggest that Jesus

Christ of Nazareth is this world'sonly hope for world peace placesone in the position of "religiousfanaticism," instantly destroying hiscredibility as a member of the in­telligentsia and upper-diplomaticcircles of the world, and would , forall practical purposes, ruin his fu­ture political and diplomatic career,just as surely as a Justice Depart­ment indictment! He would proba­bly be called "insane."

But this is no new reaction to boldassertions of impending divine in­tervention.

As one ad on TV goes, "Theylaughed at Fulton, at the Wrightbrothers, etc.," and , to be sure , themillions have chuckled, chortled,sniffed, and sneered, or laughedopenly at either the loud Bible-beltsermons warning of Jesus' impend­ing return, or the more-polished as­sertions of some such futuristicevent in the more-cultured tones ofaccepted evangelists who are recog­nized by heads of state.

Even during Jesus' day, when Hesaid He would heal the girl whomHe claimed was ".. . not dead, butsleepeth," the peop le "laughed himto scorn" (Matt. 9:24).

Since when do people believeGod?

When does the general public, letalone governments, BELIEVE biblicalprophecy? And , more importantly,since when does whether men be­lieve or not believe determine theoutcome of prophecy?

Does the disbelief of man negatethe power of God?

Does the fulfillment of biblicalproph ecy - the SUREST prophecy ofall - that of the return of a glori­fied, all-powerful Jesus Christ ofNazareth to this earth to ru le it witha rod of iron, totally depend uponthe number of human beings whoultimately··believe it?

3

The Surest Prophecy

Is Jesus waiting in heaven, impa­tiently glancing at His heavenlywatch, hoping against hope thatmore and more of the churches,evangelists , missionaries, and vari­ous denominations and sects can fi­nally learn to cooperate together, sothat a brand-new wave of second­advent evangelism can sweep theearth until finally there will be asufficient number expecting His re­turn that He will say, "All rightthen, they have talked me into it"?

Again, can we get the point?Whether this article convinces

you or not about the surest proph­ecy in the entirety of your Biblemakes no difference whatsoever toJesus Christ of Nazareth, except asit may involve His own personal de­sires where your life, your happi­ness, and your future are concerned.Your rejection or acceptance of bib­lical truth does not alter the divineplan of God one whit.

God's Word makes this eminentlyclear - He has said, "Let God betrue , though every man be found aliar." God also says, "I change not,"and "My purpose shall stand"!

Please believe one thing! Thecombined thousands of sermons,whether screaming, sobbing, gasp­ing and wheezing, or whether se­date, carefully prepared, andintellectually stimulating; the tensof thousands of ceremonies occur­ring in churches all over the world;the missionary efforts; the millionsupon millions of tons of printed lit­erature; the combined efforts of allevangelical preaching and teachingfrom the time of Jesus to this daydo NOT represent God's own per­sonal struggles and God's " BEST EF­

FORT" to prepare this world for thesecond coming of Jesus Christ!

Perhaps you should read thatagain! Jesus Christ of Nazarethspea ks to you with authority fromHis Word - and tells you He hasnot tried to save this world in thepast, and is not trying to save itnow!

(Cont~nued on page 31)

THE HOPE OF MANKIND

THERESURRECTION:by Raymon d F. Mc Na ir

What is mankind's true hope?Is it an immortal existence inheaven - looking on God'sface throughout eternity? Or isthe hope of the Christian a res­urrection to eternal life - andrulership in the Kingdom o fGod through endless ages?

TODAY, Christianity is dividedin to literally hundreds ofsects and denominations ­

with many interpretations aboutlife, death, and the hereafter.

But why sho uld there be so manydifferent ideas regarding man's af­terlife? Why should there be such astate of confusion regarding whatthe reward of the Christian really is?

Why do so many believe they are(or have) an immortal soul whichsurvives death in heaven, limbo,paradise or hell?

The biblical teaching on this sub­ject of man - what he is, his pur­pose in this life, his destiny and howto reach that destiny - is crystalclear.

Isn't it high time that we clearedaway the cobwebs of denomina­tional and sectarian confusion andlooked into the Word of God to seewha t it says about man's ultimatedesti ny - and how he is to attainthat goal?

A Common Assumption

As a young boy I was tau ght bymy parents, by churchmen, teachersand others, that we were born withimm ortality, and that every believerin Jesus Christ was destined forheaven - way up beyond theclouds. I full y bel ieved thi s. Ithought, like all others who ac­cepted Chri st, I would some da y goto heaven and live there forever.

Concurrent with this idea that Iwas immortal, or that I had an im­mortal soul somewhere in me, I alsoheard a great deal about a resurrec­tion of the dead. These two conceptsseemed, even to my young mind, tobe contradictory. If I were immortal.then why would I need to be resur­rected?

I found that men had variousidea s to attempt to reconcile thisparadox. Some taught that at deaththe righteous go off immediatel y totheir reward in limbo, paradise orheaven, but the wicked go instantlyto hell, where these immortal soulswould burn forever and ever.

Notice how firmly this same ideaof an "immortal soul" was fixed inthe mind of Benjamin Franklin. Inhis autobiography, Franklin tellsthat he once considered starting hisown "sect," to be called "The So­ciety of the Free and Easy." He saidhis " intended creed" for this new

religion was to contain what he be­lieved to be " the essentials of everyknown religion ." Not ice how his listof "essentials" included a belief inthe imm ortality of the soul.

"Tha t there is one G od , whomade all things. That he governs theworld by his pro vidence.... Th atthe soul is immortal. And that Godwill cer tainly reward virtue andpunish vice, either here or her eaf­ter."

To the best of my memory, I wastaught as a child that at death yougo imm ediately to your reward (usu­ally in heaven) or punishment (usu­ally to hell fire) and remain thereuntil the final Judgment Da y. Onthis day the souls of the righteous inheaven and those in hell were sup­posed to be reunited with thei r res­urrected bodies - where they wouldthen sha re the joys (or pains) ofeternity - depending upon whetherthey were saved or lost.

Let's face it. A lot of contradi ctoryideas rega rdi ng wha t happ ens afterdeath have been promulgat ed .There is much confusion on this im­portant question - and "God is notthe author of confusion" (I Cor.14:33).

Where di d th ese unscrip tur al,confused ideas about what man isand his ult imate destiny rea lly origi ­na te? When I began studying theBible di ligently, I found it did notcontradict itself. Rather, I found thesame consistent teaching rega rdingwhat man is - and what is his des­tiny - in both the Old and NewTestaments.

Egyptian Belief in aResurrection

Before we go to the Bible, let usbr iefly see what some of the ancientstaught on this subject.

A few years ago , I visited theempty tombs of some of the ancientEgyptian Pharaohs in the Valley ofthe Kings, near Luxor, Egypt. I wassurprised to see that Egyptian hier­oglyphics on the wa lls of the Pha­raohs' tombs de picted a rising up (orresurrection ) to life after death.

But how could those anc ient

GOOD NEWS December 1973

Egyptians, steeped in paganism andcut off from the truth of AlmightyGod, have known the truth aboutthe resurrection? Thi s puzzled me.

King Tut (Tutankhamen) wasburied in a most elaborate tomb.His remains were later removed andplaced in the Cairo Mu seum, alongwith many articles and artifacts(chairs, table, bed, etc.), whe re theyhave since been viewed by millions.

But why did these Phar aohs makesuch elaborate burial preparations,including having the ir dead bodiesmummified? The simple answer isthat they believed in an afterlife,when they would open their eyes ina resurrection. Then they would beable to enjoy all of these materialobj ects (includ ing , in some in­sta nces, food) at the very instant oftheir resur rection.

But where did the ancient, paganEgyptians learn this truth? TheBible or history does not reveal thisclea rly. Noah knew abou t the resur­rection. So did his sons Shem, Japh­eth and Ham - and the Egyptiansdescended from Mizra im, the son ofHam. So you can see why the Egyp­tians were not igno rant of this truth.

But we also must remem ber tha tthe patriarchs Abraham (who be­lieved in the resurrection - see Heb.11:19,35), Jacob , and Joseph (Pha­raoh's Prime Minister), had spentmany yea rs in Egypt. Since the pa­triarchs understood that Go d wouldresurrect the dead , it is possible thateven they may have communicatedthis truth to the Egyptians.

Immo rtality and the Greeks

Notice what the famous historianEdward Gibbon, in his The Declineand Fall of the Roman Empire, hasto say about the development of theidea of man's immortal soul :

"The writ ings of Cicero representin the most lively colours the igno­ran ce, the errors, and the unce r­tainty of the ancient philosopherswith rega rd to the immortality of thesoul . . . . the philosophers who trodin the footsteps of Plato ded uced avery unjustifiabl e conclusion, sincethey asserted, not only the future

5

immortality, but the past eterni ty ofthe hum an soul . . ." (The ModernLibrary Series, New York, RandomHou se, I, 15, 2, pp. 398-399).

Then Gibbon shows how the be­lief in an immorta l soul came to belooked upon as "tru th." "The im­portant tru th of the immortality ofthe soul was inculcated with morediligence as well as success in India,in Assyria, in Egypt, and inGaul . . " It is incumbent on us toadore the mysterious dispensationsof Providence, whe n we discoverthat the doctrine of the immorta lityof the soul is omitted in the law ofMoses . . ." (ibid., pp. 400-40 1).

How did this belief affect the Jew­ish people? Gibbon says that theSadducees "rejected the immortalityof the soul as an opinion that re­ceived no coun tenance from the di­vine book" (ibid , p. 402). He thenadds that "the immortality of thesoul became the prevailing senti­ment of the synagogue under thereign of the Asmonaean princes andpontiffs.

"Their [the Jews'] zeal, however,added nothing to its evidence, oreven probability; and it was stillnecessary that the doctrine of lifeand immortality, which had beendictated by nature, approved byreason, and received by superstition,should obtain the sanction of divinetruth from the [so-called] authorityan d example of Christ" (ibid.).

But Christ, by teaching and ex­ample, never gave credence to thespurious doctrine of the immortalityof the soul.

But what about the Greeks? Theyand other ancient peoples did notbelieve in a resurrection. They be­lieved man had an immortal soulwithin him, and when he died thissoul went off to some place of after­life. It was this Hellenistic idea of animmortal soul which later in­fluenced the beliefs of some of theJewish people, and many professingChristians.

But, remember, this idea of manbeing immorta l, or having an im­mortal soul, did not come from Godor His Wo rd. It came directly from

6

th e pagans. For proof of th is, lookup this subject in any good encyclo­pedia. For example, check the ar­ticle "Eschatology" in an y of thelater editions of the EncyclopaediaBritann ica.

Do Souls Die?

What does the Bibl e teach aboutman? What happens to him atdeath? Is man an immo rtal soul ?

We are told, "The Lord Godform ed man of the du st of theground, and breathed into his nos­trils the breath of life; and man be­came a living soul " (G en. 2:7).

Man was created a "living soul "(Hebrew, nephesh), but it does notsay th at man was crea ted an imm or­tal soul. Rather, it goes on to showthat man was mortal - that hewould "die" (Gen. 2: 17).

This word nephesh (translated as"soul") is also used throughout theHebrew Scriptures to refer to thelower creatures God had created.

Can the soul die? "The soul thatsinneth, it shall die" (Ezek. 18:4,20).

In many instances the Biblespeaks of souls being killed, of themdying and perishing.

When the New Testament writersquoted the Old Te stament passageswhere the word nephesh ("soul")was used, they used the Greekequivalent, psuche, meaning "a liv­ing being," ide nt ical in meaning tothe Hebrew word nephesh.

Notice what Jesus said regardingthe soul (psuche): " Fear him [God]which is able to destroy both souland body in hell [Gehenna, the lakeof fire]" (Matt. 10:28) .

Mortal Man

Job, quoting Eliphaz, wrote:"Shall mortal man be more just thanGod?" (Job 4: 17.) And in Deu teron­omy we are told that it was possiblefor a man to "smite him [his neigh­bor] mortally that he die" (Deut.19: I I). "Mortal" means that whichcan die .

In the New Testament Paultaught that a Christian sho uld notlet sin rule in his "mortal body "

GOOD NEWS December 1973

(Rom. 6: 12). He also spoke of aChristian's "mortal body" beingquickened or made alive (Rom.8: 1I).

At the resurrection "this mortalmust put on immortality " (I Cor.15:53,54). Paul spoke of Christians'bodies as "our mortal flesh" (II Cor.4:11). But he added that the time iscoming (in the future) when our"mortality" will be "swallowed upof [eternal] life" (II Cor. 5:4).

Paul was also inspired to pen apromise of immortality: "To themwho by patient continuance in welldoing seek for glory and honour andimmortality, [they will be gra nted]ete rnal life" (Rom. 2:7).

Did you not ice that man mustseek, as a gift from God , immortal­ity. Why? Only God has immortal­ity to give: "Who only [referring tothe King of kings - verse 15) hathimmortality " (I Tim. 6: 16). "Nowunto the King eternal, immortal, in­visible, the only wise God, be ho­nour and glory for ever and ever"(I Tim. 1: 17).

Eternal life or future immortalitywas nowhere offered to ancientIsrael or to the Gentile nations dur­ing the Old Testament period. ButGod's grace, His free gift of eternallife, "is now made manifest by theappearing of our Saviour JesusChrist, who hath abolished death,and hath brought life and immortal­ity to light through the gospel"(II Tim. 1:10).

Is Man Conscious in Death?

If man is mortal, not immortal,then what happens to him at death?Does his soul immediately waft offto heaven, hell or someplace wherehe is conscious; or does man go tothe grave to "sleep" until the time ofthe resurrection?

David was insp ired to write: "His[man's] breath goeth forth , he re­turneth to his earth; in that very dayhis thoughts perish" (Ps. 146:4). Thisscripture reveals that man ceases tothink at the time of his death.

David's son Solomon revealedthat "there is no work, nor device,nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the

grave [sheo/], whither thou goest"(Eccl. 9: 10).

This is the clear teaching of yourBible from Genesis to Re velation .Man is mortal. He will die. In deathhe is as one who is "asleep," await­ing the resurrection. There is abso­lutely no mental or physical activityin the gra ve! (Ps. 6:5; 115: 17.)

Numerous resurrections (back toa physical life) are recorded in th eBible, bu t there is not one wordabout the dead having had anyknow ledge of wha t occurred duringthe interval whe n they were dead.

Lazarus had been de ad "fourdays" (John 11:17), but was raisedfrom the dead by Jesus Christ. Andhe had no knowledge or conscious­ness during that peri od of time ­rather he was as one in a deep sleep- in a state of unconciousness.Christ said: "Our friend Lazarussleepeth; but I go, that I may awa kehim out of sleep" (verse 11).

Also, in our time, there have beennumerous examples of people ac­tually brought back to life throughheart massage and electrical or drugstimulation - after their hearts hadstopped for some time - yet no suchperson ever reported having anyconsciousness during the time whenhe was technically "dead."

Does science have the answers toexplain what man is, what happensat death, what man's ultimate des­tiny is to be, or how man can reachthat destiny? No , for only God canreveal the answers to these vitalquestions; and He has made knownthis truth only in the Bible.

What Is Ma n's Hop e?

Man ha s no other hope held outto him - other than the hope of theresurrection. According to the Bible,this is man's only hope.

In the next installment, we shallexamine the scriptures pertaining tothe resurrection in the Old Testa­ment, and we shall see the biblicalproof that the resurrection, asshocking as it may seem , is Old Tes­tament theology as well as new .Don't miss reading the next articlein this three-part series . D

THE book called "The Holy

Bible" is the most maligned,criticized, and misused book

ever compiled. "You can prove any­thing by the Bible," is a commonlyheld belief. No volume in historyhas ever been subjected to so muchscrutiny as this Book of books . Is theBible really of any relevance in the20th century? Should you bother toread and study it? Can it be reliedupon as an accurate guide for liv­ing? These questions cry out for an­swers in an age when seeminglynothing is sacred.

What Is the Bible?

Is the Bible merely a collection ofHebrew and Greek religious litera ­ture? Is the re more to the Bible thansimple human wisdom and folklore?Is there anything truly supernaturalabout this ancient Book?

"All scripture is given by in­spiration of God, and is profitablefor doctrine, for reproof, for correc­tion , for instruction in righteous­ness ...," explained the ApostlePaul to the Evangelist Timothy(II Tim . 3: 16).

The words of the Bible are in­spired by God - they are "God­breathed." The Bible is the word ofGod in print. You might say it is the"Maker's Instruction Book." It is themanual by which the human cre­ation is to be operated.

God's written Word explains whythe Creator created human beings.It instructs us how to live. It givesinstructions on how to handle emer-

by Brian Knowles

gencies and breakdowns - bothphysically and spiritually speaking.The Bible explains how any personmay realize his maximum potentialas a human being - how he mayachieve "self-actualization."

Nor is the Bible an ordinary book.It is unique in that it contains re­vealed knowledge. It includes infor­mation man could not normallyobtain by conventional investiga­tion.

The motto of Ambassador Col­lege sums up the real purpose of theBible: The Word ofGod is the Foun­dation of Knowledge. It is the basisby which all other knowledge andphilosophy may be evaluated. It isthe standard, the only really reliablepoint of reference. While the Bibledoes not contain all scientific andtechnical knowledge , it does containthe philosophical basis for correctlyplacing such information in its rightperspective.

The Maker's Instruction Manual

helps crack open the understandingof history. It sheds light on the realsignificance of the human chronicle.Neither history nor science can becorrectly understood without the re­vealed basis of biblical light. Yet theBible is neither a science textbookor a comprehensive history text.

Human behavior cannot be cor­rectly interpreted apart from theBible. Why do we see evil? What issin? What is good? What is normaland what is deviant? Only the Wordof God can supply the true answersto these important questions.

And what lies ahead for man­kind? Will we survive the presentdirection the human race is taking?Will there be a brighter day tomor­row - or oblivion? The Bible re­veals the answers to these and othercrucial questions with which hu­manity is faced.

The Bible - a DeadlyWeapon!

While the Word of God does usethe term "two-edged sword" in self­description, some unscrupulous menhave used it as a club over the headsof gullible "believers." Dishonestmen, claiming to represent God ,have twisted scriptures to their ownends and advantage. They havecapitalized on the ignorance of themasses of biblical illiterates. Peterspoke of such individuals:

"Wherefore, beloved, seeing thatye look for such things [new heavensand a new earth] be diligent that yemay be found of him in peace , with-

8 GOOD NEWS December 1973

many of today's theologians andscholars are actually biblical illiter­ates!

The Prophet Isaiah offers an in­teresting commentary on the ques­tion of scholarship:

"And the vision of all this is be­come unto you as the words of awriting that is sealed , which mende liver to one that is learned,saying: 'Read this, I pray thee'; andhe saith : 'I cannot, for it is sealed' ;and the writing delivered to him

sive brothers, all of whom were de­ceased. Jesus was quick to isolatetheir problem: "Do ye not thereforeerr, because y e know not the scrip­tures, neither the power of God?"(Ma rk 12:18-24.)

And as Matthew's account puts it:"Ye do err, not knowing the scrip­tures" (Matt. 22:29).

While the Sadducees were highlyeducated by contemporary stan­dards, they were actually unlearnedin the Scriptures. By the same token,

Who May Understand?

To whom will God reveal thesimple truth of His Word? Can the

that is not learned" (lsa . 29: 11-12,Jewish Society Publication).

The real problem is the fact thatmen pay lip service to God's way,but are not really willing to simplyobey Him! Verse 13 point s this out :

"Wherefore the Lord said , Foras­much as this people draw near mewith their mouth, and with their lipsdo honor me, but have removedtheir heart far from me, and theirfear toward me is taught by the pre­cept of men."

Jesus Christ later quoted this veryscripture to show the Scribes andthe Pharisees their real problem : Allthe human rhetoric, tradition andceremony in the world is no sub­stitute for the pure truth of God'sWord! Only a knowledge of, andobedience to, the Bible will providethe real base needed for true con­version and spirituality.

The world of theology is in a sadstate. There are as many theories asthere are scholars to propoundthem! Few things are considered ax­iomatic in the world of biblicalscholarship . Priests, ministers, rab­bis and theologians of all stripeshave served up a tableful of theo­logical inconsistencies.

"But they also have erred throughwine, and through strong drink areout of the way; the priest and theprophet have erred through strongdrink . .. they err in vision, theystumble in judgment. For all tablesare full of vomit and filthiness, sothat there is no place clean" (Isa .28:7-8).

Yes, the heady wine of humanlyoriginated tradition and theologyhas rendered its adherents ill. Thesheer intellectual vanity of modernscholarship has indeed created agreat spiritual sickness in this age.When theologians - who claim tobe the custodians of theologicaltruth - can seriously consider andpropound the idea that God is dead,you know that all is not well in theworld of theological scholarship!

The BookNobodyKnows!

More than seven million Bib­les were sold last year. Fortydifferent publishing companiesprint this Book and the totalnumber of hundreds of millionsof copies printed and distrib­uted is impossible to estimate.It has now been translated into1400 different languages.

The Bible consistently isevery year's best seller by avery wide margin, yet it is littleread. It is the most-printed,most-purchased, most freelydistributed, and certainly least­understood book known toman! You need to know thisBook; to know it you have toread and study it.

But how? What are the bestmethods? To answer thesequestions, we have publishedtwo booklets explaining whatyou need to know. RequestRead the Book and How toStudy the Bible. Mailing ad­dresses are on the inside frontcover.

The Sadducees' Problem

This appears to have been theproblem with a group of religiousleaders in Christ's day known as theSadducees. The Sadducees weremen very learned in the forms ofcontemporary religion. Yet theylacked understanding with regard tothe doctrine of the resurrection ofthe dead. They were reasoning withJesus about the mechanical diffi­culties of such an event. The ac­count is qu ite revea ling:

"Then come unto him the Sad­ducees , which say there is no resur­rection. . . ." They then asked Jesuswhose wife a woma n would be if shehad been married to seven succes-

out spot, and blameless. And ac­count that the longsuffering of ourLord is salvation; even as our be­loved brother Paul also according tothe wisdom given unto him hathwritten unto you; as also in all hisepistles, speaking in them of thesethings; in which are some thingshard to be understood, which theythat are unlearned and unstablewrest, as they do also the other scrip­tures, unto their own destruction"(II Peter 3:14-16).

Notice , it is those who are un­learned and unstable who twist scrip­tures! The word "unlearned" istranslated from the Greek amatheiswhich refers to someone who is rudein knowledge and uninstructed. Suchpeople are uneducated in what theBible really says. They are unstablein the faith of Jesus Christ - lackinga solid relationship with God.

Secular education is not the crite­rion. Many highly educated men ­scholars of considerable note ­have not truly understood the Bible,even after decades of study. Wholecommentaries have been writtenwithout basic understanding. Manyhave been prevented from under­standing because they have notbeen willing to be corrected byScripture (II Tim. 3: 16). " . .. A goodunderstanding have all they that dohis commandments" (Ps. Ill: 10).Those who read and don't do, rarelyunderstand!

GOOD NEWS December 1973 9

IIn /I such words were written of oldM for our instruction, that by re­

maining stedfast and drawingencouragement from the s criptures w emay cherish hope"

"unlearned" average person cometo understand the deep spiritualtruths of the Bible? Is it possible? Oris advanced schola rship necessary?

Paul said to the Church of God inCorinth: "I fear , lest by anymeans . . . your minds should becorrupted from the simplicity that isin Christ " (II Cor. 11:3).

Granted, there are some thingsthat are more difficult to understandin the Bible. Not everything is child­ishly simple. But the basics are.Those fundamenta l principles inwhich every Christian should bewell-grounded are not really thatdifficult to grasp - with the help ofGod's Spirit.

It is necessary to first come to un­derstand the simpler principles ofthe Bible. The more advanced"meat" of the Word follows later.

Isaiah answers the question askedearlier:

"Whom shall he teach knowl­edge? and whom shall he make tounderstand doctrine? them that areweaned from the milk, and drawnfrom the breasts . For precept mustbe upon precept, precept upon pre­cept ; line upon line, line upon line;here a little, and there a little" (Isa.28:9-10).

We may learn several things fromthis important scripture.

God reveals truth to those whoare humble as a child - to thosewho tremble at His Word. This isexplained in Isaiah 66:2: "... But tothis man will I look, even to himthat is poor and of a contrite spir it,and trembleth at my word. "

Jesus said only those who had thehumility of a small child would everenter into the Kingdom of God!And this is the attitude one musthave toward God and His Word be­fore one can progress spiritually.

Once an attitude of respect for theBible is developed, then one mustlearn step by step - from simple tocomplex - the fundamentals of theMaker's Instruction Book. All thescriptures on a subject must be com­pared and considered together. Noscripture is of any private inter­pretation (II Pet. 1:20).

How God Revealed Truth

The Bible has been a devel­opmenta l process over the centuries .God did not give the whole story ina single package at the outset. Hehas revealed truth on a number ofsubjects more or less piecemeal overthe millennia. Human experiencehas provided a rich chronicle of casehistories. The basic law of God hasbeen in force since creation week,

but God has progressively ex­plained its application as new situ­ations have arisen.

Much of the Bible is a record ofwhat has happened when God'sgreat law of love has been violated- both individually and nationally.The entire Bible really rotatesaround the two great principles ofthe Decalogue - love toward Godand love toward neighbor. God in­tends that we should learn from therecord contained in the Bible.

The Lessons of Biblical

History

If there's one thing we may learnfrom history , it's the fact that wehaven't learned from history ! Hu­manity today seems to continue inthe same path it has for millennia.We make the same mistakes withthe same results. Yet, if man wouldonly learn from history , we wouldnot have to repeat it!

Speaking of the recorded biblicalevents , the Apostle Paul stated: "Itall happened to them by way ofwarning for others, and it was writ-

ten down for the purpose of instruct­ing us whose lot has been cast in theclosing hours of the world" (I Cor.10:II , Moffatt translation).

Again , speaking of the Old Testa­ment record, Paul said : "All suchwords were written of old for our in­struction, that by remaining stedfastand drawing encouragement fromthe scriptures we may cherish hope"(Rom. 15:4, Moffatt) .

God has laid bare the lives of

- Rom. 15:4, Moffatt

those with whom He has workedover the centuries so that those whoread and study their Bibles mightlearn and avoid the mistakes madein the past. The Bible is the mostmeaningful assemblage of case his­tories of human behavior ever re­corded! No wonder Paul called theScriptures "living oracles"!

Your Best InsuranceAgainst Error

A thorough knowledge of yourBible is the best insurance you haveagainst being led astray into doctri­nal error. The strident voices ofthose who claim to represent Godare being raised everywhere. Howcan you know who does and whodoes not? Simply by getting yournose into the Maker's InstructionBook! Read it. Study it. Drinkdeeply of its teaching and examples.Become familiar with it. Pray andask God to help you understand HisWord.

If you do so, you will be able tosay along with David : "Thy word isa lamp unto my feet, and a lightunto my path" (Ps. 119:105). 0

TRANSLATIONSWHICH

SHOULDYOU

USE?by lester l. Grabbe

There are dozens of trans­lations and paraphrased ver­sions on the market, withmore being produced contin­ually. Which ones have merit?Which are less valuable? Thisarticle gives principles inchoosing and using a trans­lation.

P OR centuries the word "Bible"in English has been prac­tically synonymous with the

King James Version of 1611. As onelady naively commented, "If theKing James Version was goodenough for Jesus and the apostles ,it's good enough for me."

Of course, most people are awarethe Bible was originally written andinspired in Greek and Hebrew. Un­less you read these languages flu­ently , you have to depend upontranslations.

Yet the fact is there are no perfector inspired translations.

How can you find a sound trans­lation or know when a translation isin error? In order to answer thisquestion, it is necessary to give alittle background on the originaltext of the Bible.

Old Testament

The Old Testament was inspiredmostly in the Hebrew language,with portions of Daniel and Ezra inAramaic. The painstaking accuracywith which the Jewish communitycopied and proofread each officialmanuscript through the centuries isnothing short of amazing. Thegeneral reliability of the Masoretictext has recently been confirmed bythe Dead Sea Scrolls.

We have already discussed theimportance of using the Masoretictext as the basis for a translation ofthe Old Testament in the article"The Significance of the Dead SeaScrolls." To save space here , we sug­gest you read or review that article .(Write for a free reprint if you donot have one.)

A .L ew'Iran lari

_ByJAMES

MOFFAT

•

New Testament

Our knowledge of the New Testa­ment text comes from approxi­mately 5,000 Greek manuscripts,most of which are of the so-calledByzantine text type and differ verylittle among themselves. The KingJames Version was based on thistype of text. The earliest of theseByzantine manuscripts goes backonly to about the 7th century. (MostHebrew Masoretic text manuscriptsare even later in date.) But a fewolder Greek New Testament manu­scripts and papyri, now available,have a somewhat different type text,which scholars generally follow.

Thus modern translations some­times read a little differently thanthe King James. Yet we have to re­alize that the actual differences gen­erally involve only words or phraseswhich do not change significantlythe message of the passage. As onescholar put it, no major Christiandoctrine depends on a particulartextual reading. God has seen to itthat doctrine is gained from aknowledge of the Bible as a wholerather than through an understand­ing of one verse alone.

GOOD NEWS December 1973

Also, many of the Byzan tine read ­ings which were thought to havearisen long after the apostles havenow been shown to be as early asany other portion of the New Testa­ment. In the final analysis, only twosections of any length have beencalled into question by variations inthe non -Byzantine text type. Theseare Mark 16:9-20 and John 7:53­8: I!.

While the ending of Mark is notfound in some of the oldest non­Byzantine manuscripts, it is foundin some very old copies. It is alsoquoted in whole or in part as earlyas the 2nd cent ury A.D. Scholarshave noted that it differs slightly inlanguage from the rest of the book .Some have suggested it was writtenby Peter himself, who, according totradition, was Mark's master for along time.

The story of the woman taken inadultery is not found in any of theearly non-Byzantine manuscripts.But even those who do not believe itwas originally part of the book ofJohn agree "the account has all theearmarks of historical veracity."

Almost all modern translations

11

include both these sections either inthe text or in the footnotes. Further­more, modern translations correctlyomit certain passages (such as the"trinitarian" statement in I John5:7-8) which the King James Ver­sion includes. The sense of any par­ticular passage is generally thesame.

Problems of AncientLanguages

From the fall of Rome to the Re­naissance, only a few knew ancientGreek or Hebrew. Not untilthe 15th century did a revival of thestudy of these languages occur. Al­most fifty of the best Greek andHebrew scholars in England trans­lated the King James Version. Butsince that time, by the diligent studyof these languages by many scholars(both Christian and Jewish), knowl­edge and understanding has takengreat strides forward.

Since 1890 new discoveries ofpapyri and other linguistic evidencefor the Greek of New Testamenttimes have completely revolu­tionized our knowledge. Today, vo­cabulary, grammar and idiom of

12

New Testament Greek are very wellunderstood. The meaning of certainidioms is still debated. But these arerelatively few and far between.

Old Testament Hebrew, on theother hand, still presents difficultiesin both idiom and vocabulary. TheDead Sea Scrolls and other discov­eries, plus continued work by Semi­tic scholars in many lands, havehelped elucida te the language of theHebrew Bible. But our knowledgeof biblical Hebrew is not on a parwith our bibli cal G reek. So twotranslations of the Old Testamentmay differ widely in thei r renderingof a particular passage.

So lving the Difficulties

Translators may do several thingsif present-day knowledge of Hebrewdoes not elucidate a particular pas­sage . Attempt to find a similar wordor expression in another Semi ticlanguage such as Arabic (this hasbeen done a great deal in The NewEnglish Bible) . Follow an ancienttranslation such as the Septuagint,Ta rgums, or Vulgate. Or resort totextual emendation on the assump­tion that the text has been corruptedduring centuries of copying byhand. Of course, each method hasits drawback and may not derive theoriginal meaning.

Further study and new discov­eries will help solve the difficultiesin the Old Testament. But untilthen, we have to realize the mean­ing of certain passages is still un­sure. We cannot blame a translatorwhen he has done his best.

But at times the text is emendedeven when the Masoretic text isquite clear on its own . An exampleis Hosea II :5. Every word of theMasoretic text is perfectly under­standable : "He shall not return intothe land of Egypt." But the RevisedStandard Version reads, "They shallreturn to the land of Egypt. . . ." Thetext has been emended because thetranslator thought it contradictedHosea 8: 13 and 9:3. Of course , thisis subjective and should not bedone.

Many modern translations will

GOOD NEWS Decembe r 1973

give a footnote if the translator hasfollowed an ancient translation orhas emended the text. But not al­ways. If a modern translation givesa smooth and clear reading wherethe King James sounds awkward, beaware that the translator may nothave followed the Masoreti c text inthat particular case. He may evenhave amended the Hebrew text ar­bitrarily. You would want to checkother translations and even com­mentaries which might tell you whathas been done.

We are now ready to look at dif­feren t versions and the principlesused by the translators in producingthem.

Two Basic Types ofTranslation

Translations can be broken downinto two broad categories accord ingto the technique used by the trans­lato r. These are the more literaltranslations and the more free ren­derings. At least one translationdoes not really fall in either cate ­gory bu t is in between in a medi­ating position.

The more literal translation is bestrepresented by the King James Ver­sion . It attempts to follow the Greekor Hebrew text very closely, evenword for word if possible. This isfine where the wording of the origi­nal corresponds closely to Englishidiom. But that is often not the case.That is why such literal translationstend to sound awkward and areeven occasionally incomprehensible.The King James Version sometimessounds odd simply because theEnglish of 1611 was different from20th century English, but quite fre­quently also beca use it follows theGreek or Hebrew very literally.

Included among the literal trans­lations are such translations as theRevised Version, the AmericanStandard Version , and the JewishPublication Society translation of1917. These are heavily based onthe King James Version eventho ugh advertised as new trans­lations.

The freer method of translating is

that used by most recent versions .Here the attempt is made to rendersense for sense rather than word forword. The tra nslator first tries to un­derstand the text. Then he does hisbest to get this sense across to thereader in idio matic Engl ish. He mayhave to paraphrase and even addwords or phrases not actually in theoriginal. He may render weightsand measures by those in currentuse (such as inches or pounds) in­stead of the Greek or Hebrew terms(as homer or denarion) .

Examples of the more free ver­sions are the Phillips ', Williams',and Today's English version of theNew Testament, or the Moffatt ver­sion of the whole Bible. The NewEnglish Bible and the New AmericanBible are more conservative thansome of the free translations. Butthey still tend to fall in the free­rendering category.

The Revised Standard Version ,however, is a mediating translation,avoiding both extremes. It is inmodern and idiomatic English with­out using slang. Yet it attempts tobe fairly literal while avoiding awk­wardness. It is one of the most neu­tral translations available today .The major objection is its occasionaltextual emendation. But this is rela­tively infrequent and is usuallynoted in the footnotes.

Each Has Its Place

Some prefer the King James Ver­sion. Others find its language diffi­cult and prefer something moremodern. Actually, both the literaland the free translations have theirplace and use. Most people canlearn more by using both types andcomparing them.

As one expert on translationsnoted, the literal translation takesyou back to the thought world of theoriginal. You find yourself wrestlingwith ancient measurements andcoinage (cubits , shekels, etc.). Yousee the bare straightforwardness ofHebrew narrative and the beauty ofHebrew poetry. You realize whyPaul's writing contains "some thingshard to be understood" when you

see his complex sentences renderedliterally into English .

On the other hand, the free trans­lation tries to bring the Bible worldto the present and give it to youalready interpreted into modernconcepts. Greek denaria becomedollars or pounds. A bath measure­ment is rendered into gallons. Thismeans one can learn the more tech­nical expressions with less effort.Yet one has to dep end on the trans­lator's j udgment. If the translatormisunderstood the original, then thereader may believe an error.

Generally, a one-man translationwill tend to be more extreme andsubjective tha n one done by a com­mittee. A committee translation willusually be more mode rate an d cau­tious because many different peoplehave criticized the proposed text.The one-man translation is likeQuite Contrary Mary: "When it isgood, it is very, very good, but whenit is bad, it is awful." A single trans­lator may have more individu al flairand bring out certain passa ges in asuperb way. But he is also morelikely to make errors and give abiased rendering.

The judicious Bible student willmake use of both free and literaltranslations, both one-man effortsand committee productions. Thatway he can obtain the flavor of theworld of biblical times through theliteral version while checking hisunderstanding through the freetranslations of expert scholars . Hecan also benefit from the individualinsight of single translators, yetavoid their pitfalls by comparingtheir renderings with those done bygroups who put their heads to­gether.

Representative Translations

We have already discussed sometranslations, such as the KingJames, Revised Standard Version,and The New English Bible. Hereare some others:

New American Bible. This is anew Catholic translation in modernEnglish, a scholarly translation andbased on the original Greek and

GOOD NEWS December 1973

Hebrew texts . Admittedly, Catholicbias shines through in a few pas­sages. In the Old Testament the an­cient versions or textual emendationhas often been resorted to withoutany footnote to say so.

Moffatt translation. This was oneof the first translat ions into modernEnglish. It is often helpful. But Mof­fatt has frequently made subjectivereshuffiings of the text.

Today 's English Version, popu­larly known as Good News for Mod­ern Man . This is an idiomatic, veryfree but quite uninspiring trans­lation. Only the New Testament hasbeen done , but the Old Testament isbeing worked on.

Phillips' translation of the NewTestament. This is a very free trans­lation. Phillips often adds phrasesand whole sentences to present hisunderstanding of the text. He is usu­ally very clear and seems to capturethe flavor of the original Greek. Butsometimes he wrongly interprets (asin I Corinthians 11 :30 where he has"spiritually asleep" though the con­text plainly shows it is really "dead"as most commentators realize).

Jewish Publication Society trans­lation. Although this is made fromthe Masoretic text, it often followsthe King James very closely. A newtra nslation in modern English isbeing prepared, but only the Pen­tateuch is comp lete.

The New Tes tament from 26Translations. This draws on 26 mod­ern translations of the New Testa­ment. Only two or three of these 26translations are usually cited for anyone verse. But the editors have at­tempted to pick the most diverserenderings for each passage .

Two Non-Translations

The Amplified Bible. The glowingadvertisements for this version areexaggerated and inaccurate. As pro­fessional translators have pointedout, it is really a paraphrase andcommentary. It can be helpful in thesame way a commentary is. But itcannot claim to be a translation.

The Living Bible. This is a para­phrase made by a layman from the

13

Revised Version. It can be goodwhere the author has understoodthe text. He frequently condenseslengthy Old Testament verses andgives only the "core." This can beuseful in getting an overview of asection or a whole book. But realizeyour chances of being misled aregreater with a nonprofessional's un­derst anding of an English trans­lat ion tha n with a translation byprofessional scholars. Further infor­mation about The L iving Bible canbe found in our free booklet How toStudy the Bible (see pages 24 and25).

Putting It All Togeth er

Each person should have a goodstudy Bible. Many people prefer theKing James because of familiarityand the fact that it tries to be asfaithful to the original as possible.For others, however, who might pre­fer a more modern translation, theRevised Standard Version wouldprobably be the best choice.

A moderate or fairly literal trans­lation would probably be best asone 's basic Bible. One can then sup­plement his Bible study from othertranslations, many of which may beobtained in inexpensive paperbackeditions. A change of translationmay bring new light on a passagewhich familiarity has made hack­neyed. But after using different freetranslations, one will want to comeback to the more stable and less­interpretative text of his study Bible.

Where a particular translationgives a new twist to a passage andseems to bring out a new under­standing, one should carefullycompare the passage in other trans­lations . If no others bear out thisnew understanding, chances are it isa subjective judgment on the part ofthe translator. So compare trans­lations . Also especially check thecontext and compare one passagewith other relevant sections in theBible itself.

The proper use of different trans­lations and study aids can makeyour personal Bible study muchmore interesting and profitable. D

14

EDITOR'S NOTE: Last month's" Update" brought our new readerscurrent on developm ents in Am­bassador College and its ExtensionPrograms. Th is article will bring youup to date on the Church that spon­sors those activities, the WorldwideChurch of God.

What IsTheWorldwideChurch of God?This is the true story of aunique Church that has foundthe solution for the world'sills, and puts it into a livingapplication that is producing aharvest of peace, happinessand a bunda nt well-beingworldwide.

To PUT it mildly , the visitor wasastonished. Suddenly he wasexperiencing something he

would never have believed to exist.He was the professor of Compar­

ative Religions at one of the world'sgreat universities, visiting a churchconvention in southwestern Canada.Seven thou sand were assembled.Immediately he was impressed byan atmosphere refreshingly differ­ent. Had these people been odd orfanatical, it would have been nonew experience. He had attendedmeetings of religious and churchgroups all over the world. He wasfamiliar with those who were stiff,formal - and unhappy. With thosewho appeared happy temporarilyduring a service. And with thosewho generated an emotional excite­ment or fervor in meetings, andeven those who were odd , weird orfanatical. But this was a new anddifferent experience.

GOOD NEWS December 1973

To one of the ministers accom­panying him he exclaimed : " I havenever seen so many so universallyand genuinely happy. This is real.These people are stable and solidcitizens, sincere and unpretent ious,just naturally rad iating an innerhappiness. Life seems to have pur­pose and meaning. You couldn'treally describe it in words - one hasto experience the difference."

WHY Unique

These people are members of theWorldwide Church of God. ThisChurch is unique in practicingChristianity as A WAY OF LI FE aswell as a faith - even as it did origi­nally in the days of the first-centuryapostles.

Its members are motivated withpurpose, inspired by knowing thetranscendent human potential. Theyknow the true values. They havefound the way that makes life trulymeaningful, rewarding, abundant!

Ask the world's average churchmember how much biblical teachinghas to do with his everyday life ­his business, his social life, his homelife, his entertainment and rec­reational life . He will probablyreply: "Wh y, nothing, I suppose."

But the Church of God, fromA.D. 31 to now, has lived by God'srevealed way of life, as well as bythe faith of Jesus Christ. It 'is ahappy Church.

And in that it is indeed unique!

Importance of the Name

This Church has always recog­nized the importance of the namegiven the Church. And it has beenalways kept in that name . Twelvetimes in the New Testament thename of God's own Church is calledjust that - "the Church of God. "Christ is revealed to be the livingHead of that Church. And in this

connection It IS In one place onlyspoken of as the " Churches ofChrist." But it is composed of thebegotten children of God, who col­lectively as a Church are named af­te r their Father. In some NewTestament instances , a descripti veadjective is added to the nam e, asthe Church of God at Corinth, orthe Churches of God in Jud ea. Andtoday, it is called the WorldwideChurch of God.

A Worldwide Function

But when Jesus Christ said "I willbuild my Church," it was for a pur­pose that is more than merely pre­serving members in the way thatproduces happiness and successfulliving for themselves.

It has a serious and worldwidefunction to perform . It is a missionof love - of outgoing concern forhum anity worldwide. Its commis­sion is to proclaim to the world thegood news of the Kingdom (govern­ment) of God - not to convert the 'world, but merely as' "a witness."That government has been takenfrom the earth . It is to be restored(Acts 3: 19-21 ). God governs - as doall governments (or kingdoms) - bylaws. Primary of God 's laws is thespiritual law - the way of life thatcauses - produces - every good re­sult.

For carrying out that commission,the Church is called , in the NewTestament, the "Body of Christ."

Few understand why. Jesus hadcome in human flesh, among otherpurposes, to start the Work of God.He said that ofHimself He could donothing. It was the power of theHoly Spirit of God in Him that em­powered the Work.

He called and chose His disciples,who became the original apostles.He taught and trained them to be­come, with Him and the prophets,the foundation of the Church. Hegave His life for the Church - topay the penalty for the sins of thewhole world - for all who will re­pent and accept His shed blood infull payment. God raised Him fromthe dead, that by His life we might

,

"I have never seen so many so universallyand genuinely happy. This is real.These people are stable and solid citizens,sincere and unpretentious, justnaturally radiating an inner happiness.Life seems to have purpose andmeaning . You couldn't really describeit in words - one has toexperience the difference."

Ambassador College Photos

16

receive eternal life as God 's free giftby grace.

But, after His resurrection, andjust before He was taken up toGod's throne of the universe inheaven, Jesus "commanded themthat they should not depart fromJerusalem, but wait for the promiseof the Father" - that is, receivingwithin them the same Holy Spiritthat had empowered Him. "But yeshall receive power, after that theHoly Spir it is come upon you," Hesaid (Acts 1:4-8).

Powe rful Wo rk Today

The Spirit which had startedGod's Work in Jesus' single humanbody would now carry it on in thecollective body of the Church.

That Work - that commission ­was dual :

I) "Go ye into all the world andpreach the gospel to every creature"(Mark 16:15). And , for this presenttime in which we now live: ". . . Thisgospel of the kingdom shall bepreached [and published - Mark13:!O] in all the world as a witnessunto all nations; and then shall theend [of this age] come" (Matt.24:14).

And, 2) Feed the flock - that is,spiritually feed the Church mem­bers from our Maker's InstructionBook, on the way of life, and fortheir part in carrying on God'sWork.

The first great commiss ion be­comes a far more complex and siz­able operation today than it was inthe first century. The world's popu­lation has multiplied many timesover. We live in a different, far moremechanical and complex world .

The Church of God was not, inthe first century, a world power ei­ther religiously or politically . It isnot today. At times it has undergoneviolent persecution. It is not , today,a multimillion-member Church.

Yet today it carries on in greatpower worldwide the Work, by thedyna mic e d ucational programthrough its associated AmbassadorCollege. Through this program - asa public service - it is reaching by

GOOD NEWS December 1973

radio, television, and large-spaceadvertising in many mass-circula­tion magazines and newspapers,150,000,000 people with the inspiredmessage of the WAY OF LIFE that isthe CAUSE of all GOOD - of peace ,happiness, prosperity, abundantwell-being - truly the good life.

The faith and way of life of theChurch is precisely the same todayas it was in the first century. It is thetrue faith "once delivered to thesaints. " That never changes . Buttoday the Church lives and func­tions in a vastly different and highlycomplex and mechanized world. Ac­cordingly, modern conditions neces­sitate different procedures, andmodern methods of organizationand operation.

Early Church History

Jesus Christ had personallytaught and trained His disciples tobecome His original apostles andleaders. Then on the day of "Pente­cost" 31 A.D., they were infusedwith dynamic power by the verySpirit of God.

Thus the Church of God startedout imbued with vitality andstrength. On that very day of Pente­cost three thousand were added tothe Church. A day or two later theirnumber became 5,000 (Acts 4:4).Miracles were performed by theapostles, and soon that 5,000 mem­bership was multi plied (Acts 6: 1).

A little later, however, there was agreat persecu tion against theChurch at Jerusalem, and most werescattered throughout Judea and Sa­maria (Acts 8: I). Then entered thefalse leader, Simon the magician(Acts 8:9-14). Jesus had warned theChurch would be severely per­secuted (John 15:20), and would behated by the world in general (John15:18-19) and He had spoken of itas the "little flock" (Luke 12:32) ­not a great world power.

By 70 A.D. the real Work of Godof proclaiming the good news of thecomi ng worldwide Kingdom ofGo d, had lost its momentum, due tothe Roman invasion and Romanpersecution. That worldwide Work

of God had ebbed through the cen­turies to scarcely a trickle.

It had been given a JOB to do ­proclaim the message to the worldin POWER. And it had not been get­ting the job done!

That vital power of God 's Spiritthat had worked dynamically inChrist and in the first centuryapostles, had not been working inthe Church. That Work , by the earlytwentieth century, had become vir­tually dead (Rev. 3: 1).

By 1927 in the United States,members continued to assembleregularly in their local congrega­tions scattered over the country. Thelocal congregations were small , inmost cases not more than 35 to 50.There was at that time a limitedevangelistic effort, though mostly in­effective. But now God's time hadcome for His last warning messageto go to the whole world.

In 1930 the Oregon members, inorder to revitalize the Work of God,incorporated under the name, "Ore­gon Conference of the Church ofGod ."

New leadership Drafted

Meanwhile, since 1927, followingthe conversion of Herbert W. Arm­strong , Mr. and Mrs. Armstronghad been meeting with these Ore­gon brethren. But until the summerof 1928 he had refused to speak be­fore them because he felt the minis­try was a profession no man oughtto choose himself. Finally he wasvirtually drafted into doing so.

Realizing that he had had thetraining and unusual experience inthe business world, the education,the know-how , the vision, the initia­tive and experience in utilizingmodern methods necessary to getthe Work of God going out in amodern complex world, they lookedmore and more to Mr. Armstrong forleadership. And finally it became evi­dent to all that the call to the ministrywas genuinely from God , and not aself-chosen one. In June, 1931, Mr.Armstrong was ordained by this Ore­gon Conference, and entered theWork of God full time.

A New Era - New Life

It was under his leadership that anew era of the Church of God wasentered, revitalizing the Church, in­jecting into it new life and vigor bythe Spirit of God to get Christ's gos­pel - His educational message ­going out with power to the wholeworld.

Much more than human experi­ence and know-how was required.

Once again God was sendingforth and infusing into His ChurchHis Spirit of power.

The time had come for the finalmessage of God for this presentworld to go with great impact. Thetime had come for God's Work toprepare the way for the soon­coming wonderful world tomorrow!The time when by act of God Hisgovernment will be restored onearth. It will be a world of peace , ofhappiness, joy in abundance andplenty , under the governmentworldwide of the Great Godthrough the living Jesus Christ!

In the summer and autumn of1933, Mr. Armstrong gave a seriesof lectures in and around Eugene,Oregon, on the way of life that pro­duces peace , true success, and realhappiness. The response was spon­taneous and beyond expectation.An invitation followed to speak onradio station KORE, then Eugene'sonly radio outlet. Frank Hill, owner ,suggested a weekly half-hour pro­gram to give this missing dimensionin education exposure to a wideraudience. He, himself, contributedsubstantially to its cost.

Phenomenal Growth

God now began opening doorsfor a Spirit-empowered Work toleap forth (Rev. 3:7-8). The Workfrom this point grew in power andscope at the rate of 30% per yearover the next 35 years .

The first week in 1934 The WorldTomorrow program went on the air.It met with an immediate response,considering the small power andlimited coverage of the station. Itwas then of the very smallest wat-

GOOD NEWS December 1973

tage for commercial broadcasting ­100 watts. Gradually the programwent on more and more stations. By1942 the program had gained na­tional coverage in the United States,and by 1945 it became a daily pro­gram.

Today it purchases the largestwattage of any radio program,worldwide - more then 50 millionwatts of power weekly reaching anestimated 100 million listeners, be­sides many additional millionsreached by other media.

On February 1, 1934, The PlainTruth magazine made its mosthumble bow. That Volume I, Num­ber I had a circulation of approxi­mately 250 copies. The Plain Truthwas offered radio listeners gratis,but subscriptions were entered onlyon personal request. It has neverbeen the policy to put a price on themagazine, nor to request financialsupport in its columns or on the air.

Today The Plain Truth is one ofthe finest quality magazines in theworld, 40 pages of solid reading ­no advertising, full color, with circu­lation more than three millioncopies worldwide - published si­multaneously at Pasadena, Califor­nia ; Radlett, England and NorthSydney, Australia.

Why a College?

As the Church and its work ex­panded, the need of a college be­came imperative. There were anumber of reasons for this.

The Church of God had neverbeen a proselyting church. JesusChrist set the example. He neverurged people to "get saved ," or "beconverted." When the woman at Ja­cob's well in Samaria asked Him togive her of God's Spirit, which Hehad referred to as "living water," Hemade no effort to convert her.

He did proclaim the good news ofthe Kingdom of God, saying "Re­pent ye, and believe the gospel"(Mark 1:1, 15). He chose His dis­ciples, and simply said, "Followme." They followed unquestion­ingly. He made no emotional ap­peals for converts. He made no

17

pleading "altar calls" accompaniedby sentimental hymns. Nor did theapostles . The Church of God fol­lows the example they set.

Its Commission

Instead, its commission is first toproclaim the good news of thecoming Kingdom of God - not toconvert the world, but merely "as awitness" to the world.

This actually is an educationalmessage of the way of life to belived in the Kingdom of God - theway that leads to success, to peace,happiness, to the full, enjoyableabundant life. It involves the knowl­edge of the purpose of human lifeon this planet - the real meaning oflife - the knowledge of the true val­ues in a world pursuing the false ­the knowledge of what man is, whyhe is, and the way to his transcen­dent potential.

That is not a sentimental, emo­tional message about Christ as aperson - it is not a message ofpleading with people to "give theirhearts to the Lord ," but an educa­tional message showing people whatthey need to turn from, and the waythat will cause the results they reallywant - here and now, as well as thegift of eternal life.

The second commission is to feedthose who do become converted ­and the word means changed to adifferent attitude and way madepossible by receiving God's Spirit ­to feed them the spiritual food ofpractical common-sense Christianliving by God's way of life.

Ambassador CollegeFounded

Therefore the Church of Godfound the establishment of an edu­cational institution of higher learn­ing imperative. It was needed toprovide an educated ministry. It wasneeded to educate people for theworldwide Work of proclaiming thisgood news worldwide - by radio , bytelevision, in print.

Jesus chose His apostles . They didnot choose Him. They did notchoose the ministry as a profession

18

- as one chooses medicine, law, orarchitecture. They were speciallycalled by Him.

He rose from the dead, and Helives in mighty power today. Since itis not His way for men to choose theministry for themselves, Ambassa­dor College could not be a semi­nary, or a church or Bible school,but had to be a liberal arts college.It was expected that perhaps one in40 students might be called to theministry. Actually it has been closerto one in ten .

Pasadena, California was chosenas the locale for the college. Am­bassador College swung open itsdoors to students October 8, 1947. Itwas separately incorporated in 1951.

Since the first commission of theChurch is actually an educational ­not an evangelistic - one, this entireoperation became the activity ofAmbassador College. All broad­casting, publishing, and the exten­sion program worldwide, is theactivity of the College. ThereforeAmbassador College has remainedChurch associated, though orga­nized and operated independentlyof the Church. It is largely Churchfinanced and therefore enjoys aunique financial stability and pres­tige in financial circles.

The Church of God has alwaysbeen a tithe-paying church. It knowsGod has promised, scripturally, toprosper the tithe-payer. This prac­tice has caused members to be morecareful in budgeting personal fi­nance s. These members have pros­pered financially and , consequently,so has the Church.

Today both Worldwide Church ofGod and Ambassador College standin an enviable financial position ofstability and strength. This is wellknown and highly respected bymany major banks in such financialcenters as New York, Philadelphia,Los Angeles , London, Geneva.

Nonproselyting, Nonpolitical,Nonmilitant

As stated above, the Church ofGod from A.D. 31 has been non-

GOOD NEWS December 1973

proselyting, entirely noncompeti­tive, in accordance with biblicalprinciples. In no sense is it militant,nor has it ever participated in anyagitating moveme nt to bring aboutany objectives by action. It partici­pates in no groups or mass action ,political or otherwise. The Churchof God, in all its history, has hadonly an attitude of love for all racesand peoples, regardless of color,creed, or religion .

Always its teaching has been sub­mission to whatever authority isover one - whether human govern­ment, or the authority of God.

The Worldwide Church of God ,while not "activist" or militant, doesnevertheless believe in and offersactive, daily application of solutionsto the many human problems.

Through' its continual teachingover radio , television, and in itsmagazines and special booklets , ithas profound impact upon societyin many ways.

Millions of Lives Changed

Millions have read literaturewhich changed their personal livesin many constructive, useful ways.The television, radio broadcasts,and booklets about pollution, fam­ine, the population explosion, andthe space race, deal with the big,worldwide issues. And TV and radioprograms, and booklets about mari­juana, smoking, dating, marriage,motherhood, managing personal fi­nances and the laws of success dealwith daily practical, personal infor­mation that literally changes lives.

More than a million have re­ceived the booklet concerningcrime, the causes of it, and how,without resorting to joining pressuregroups or becoming activists, to pro­tect themselves, their children andtheir property from criminals.

Millions have experiencedprofound changes in their maritallives through broadcasts and read­ing the instructional booklets andmagazine articles they have re­ceived. From New Zealand to Af­rica, and from the Swiss Alps to

Puget Sound, the tens of thousandswrite of the deep and far-reachingchanges effected in their homes andfamilies through better understand­ing of the God-revealed ways ofright, clean, wholesome living.

Only a tiny percentage of thosewhose lives have been enriched,helped , made more completethrough this Work ever becomebona fide members of the Church.

In that sense, the members of theWorldwide Church of God are sogenuinely concerned toward others,and with the problems of the worldat large that they give of their ownsubstance to aid in this worldwideeffort to apply the solutions to theproblems suffered in common by allmankind.

The Church members do applythose solutions to themselves!Where the Church owns property,operates machinery, drives automo­biles, works with the soil, or man­ages income , it enforces the realcause of the right result on itself - itdoes not seek to enforce those samecauses upon others. Ra ther, by liv­ing the way that produces the rightbenefits, it seeks to set the examplefor others to follow.

Not only are members of theWorldwide Church of God, then,having a hand in effecting far­reaching and important changes inmillions of lives, they are being anexample in their communities. Themillions are also being benefited incountless ways - as a positive andforceful message of how to livereaches them through the work ofthis Church and its associated edu­cational institution.

The divine commission to theWorldwide Church of God is to pro­claim the coming world of peaceunder the soon-coming divine Mes­siah . It is merely in the role of areporter, reporting events of historyas advance news reports, reported asacts of God , not of this Church.

It is changing lives into happierand better citizens everywhere!

And that is the WorldwideChurch of God! D

WASHI N G T O N , D. c., 1973.

Squirming before a SelectSenate subcommittee, doz­

ens of men of unimpeachable loy­alty to President Nixon are foundguilty of "zeal in a righteous cause"following the break-in and cover-upof the Democratic headquarters atWatergate. Multiple other high­level appointive officials com­promised ethics in favor of loyaltyto their boss.

* * * * *

Ft. Benning, Georgia, 1969. Lt.William Calley claimed he was "justfollowing orders" after his companywiped out over 100 defenselesswomen, children, and elderly citi­zens of My Lai, South Vietnam.Those under Lt. Calley also claimedthey "just followed orders," puttingobedience to authority over theirpersonal standards of morality.

* * * * *

Washington, D. c., 1953. SenatorJoseph McCarthy cross-examinedhundreds of prominent Americansfor their alleged sympathies withCommunism. The careers of the wit­nesses were effectively terminated,as McCarthy's "zeal in a righteouscause" ruined many ethical men.

* * * * *Nuremburg, Germany, 1946. A

dozen leading Nazi officials weresentenced to death or imprisonmentfor "just following orders ," whilehundreds of other "loyal" Nazileaders escaped to exile or to becaptured later (such as Adolf Eich­mann). Their unanimous reply:"We had to obey orders - you havenot seen the Fuhrer in his anger!We must obey him."

* * * * *

Salem, Massachusetts, 1692.Nineteen "witches" were hangedand one was pressed to death. How­ever, over 100 alleged "witches"saved their skin by signing a con­fession and proclaiming their loy­alty to the church.

FDLLDW~NG

DRDER5~~

by Gary Alexander

20

London, 1520. Utopian philoso­pher Sir Thomas More was exe­cuted for putting personal ethicsbefore the th rone of England.

Athens, 399 B. C. Greek teach erSocrates was executed for puttinghis loyalty to ethics before his loy­alty to Greece.

Jerusalem, 31 A.D. Jesus Christwas crucified for pu tt ing God beforema n's government.

* * * * *

Similar examples could be listedindefinit ely, but the one commondenominator in all these conflicts isthe eternal war between freedomand authority, between God andMammon, or between loyalty andethics. "Loyalty" here means an un­swerving devotion to a man, an or­ganization, or a cause. "Ethics," inits proper Christian definition,means loyalty to God, His laws andHis morality.

The Apostle Peter put this conflictin bold relief when he appeared be­fore the council in Jerusalem. Thehigh priest, the captain of theTemple, and the' chief priests con­tinually arrested Peter and his fel­low apostles for insubordination,saying: "Did we not straitly com­mand you that ye should not teachin this [Jesus'] name? and, behold,you have filled Jerusalem with yourdoctrine, and intend to bring thisman's blood upon us" (Acts 5:28).

"Then Peter and the otherapostles answered and said, WE

OUGHT TO OBEY GOD RATHER THAN

MEN" (verse 29). Ah! There's therub . Peter and the high priest weretwo different religious leaders whoeach believed in a different God.One of them, however, happened tobe in power enough to inflict his owninterpretation upon the other. Itwould be easy to compromise, butPeter courageously put God beforeman.

[Author's note: Of course, every­one should respect constituted gov­ernmental authority as Peter himselfdid (I Pet. 2: 13-17). Many times it is

GOOD NEWS December 1973

not in conflict with God's law. Writefor our free article ent itled "TheChristian Attitude - Respect Gov­ernment Authority."]

After countless hundreds of suchmoral conflicts - from Adam toWatergate - you would think man­kind migh t learn the lesson tha t itdoesn't pay to be so "sincere" in thewrong cause. Th ere is always a dayof reckoning. For some, that day ofreckoning is the hot sea t of a Sena teinves tigating committee. For tru eChristians "the time is come thatj udgment mus t begin at the houseof God .. ." (I Pet. 4: 17). For others,there is this:

The Wh ite ThroneJudgment

"And I saw the dead, small andgrea t, stand before God; and thebooks were opened .. . and the deadwere judged out of those thingswhich were written in the books, ac­cordi ng to thei r works" (Rev. 20: 12).This time is called the White ThroneJudgment (verse 11); it is a timewhen every human being who hasever lived will be resurrected to life.Over a certain period of time, eachman will have a chance to answerfor his actions, repent before Godand live a new way of life. Contraryto some pagan "Christian" tra­ditions, this has nothing to do withgoing to heaven or hell , but is rathera "first chance" for billions ofpeople who never heard and under­stood Christ's message.

In that day of judgment, therewill be no controversy about whosaid what, at which meeting, orwhat day , to whom , where, why,and how. God will judiciously usethe "tapes" of what everyone hassaid: "But I say unto you , Thatevery idle word that men shallspeak, they shall give accountthereof in the day of judgment"(Matt. 12:36).

This by no means pictures God assome "hanging judge" in heaven,waiting for the slightest slip of thetongue so He can damn a man forall time . God will forgive any and

all sins up on repentanc e. But thesescriptur es are telling His followers,who kn ow better, that they dare notmake a practice of breaking Hislaws in secret. If they do, Godreserves the right to "play backthe tapes" and ask for an account­ing.

The lesson for you and me issimple: Obey God's standard of be­havior, follow God's ethical andmoral principles as revealed in theBible. Then, and only then, we needfear no "Watergate" witch hunt, ei­ther on earth before a just judge, orat the resurrection before a justGod.

This assurance does not necessar­ily mean that Christians will live aserene and tranquil life betweennow and the year 2000. "All thatwill live godly in Christ Jesus shallsuffer persecution" (II Tim. 3:12).And, " . . . We must through muchtribulation enter into the kingdom ofGod" (Acts 14:22). This does notrefer to religious arguments and an­tagonistic literature alone. JesusChrist foretold the time when pro­fessing Christians would kill trueChristians. "Yea, the time cometh,that whosoever killeth you will thinkthat he doeth God service" (John16:2). In other words, righteous menwill be slain for being "disloyal" totheir church or nation.

Daniel was nearly put to deathfor merely continuing in prayer to­ward God (Dan. 6). Jeremiah wasaccused of treason (Jer. 38:4), im­prisoned in a slime pit , and nearlyexecuted. God's prophets have al­ways suffered persecution and pri­vation for not being "loyal" to anation's or church's corrupt lead­ership.

"In the long run we are alldead," quipped economist John M.Keynes . But in a much longer runwe will all live again! It is our moralstanding at that "point in time" (asWatergate witnesses say) that willdetermine our eternal fate . Is yourloyalty directed toward God and theBible? Or will you stand accused ofbeing loyal to the wrong cause? 0

I ISCIENCE

I I,a

Is it Believable?DURING the past few

hundred years,the credibility of

the Bible has come underserious question.

Many have found itdifficult to believe in abook which speaks of Jo­nah and the "whale"; anextra-long day in the timeof Joshua; Christ walkingon water; Shadrach,Meshach and Abednegosurviving the fiery fur­nace; Adam and Eve; theIsraelites crossing theRed Sea; and a host ofsimilar accounts writtenin a positive, it-actually­did-happen fashion .

Perhaps the long bibli­cal account of Noah'sFlood in Genesis hasevoked more questionsthan any other. Is it un­reasonable to believe inthe Flood? In the Ark?Have modern scientificfindings truly made thescriptural account out of date?

While the many ramifications ofthe Flood cannot be discussed in ashort article, this article will exam­ine the main objections to the bibli­cal Flood and the Ark. We will seethat the Bible is consistent withother fields of knowledge. Scriptureis reasonable!

Let's examine the various major

by Robert E. Gentet

Is the Flood merely a Hebrewmyth? Does the biblical recordof the Noachian Deluge andthe Ark make sense in thelight of modern, scientific

findings?

questions voiced aboutGenesis 6-9 and see howrecent data actually veri­fies this ancient record.

Was the Flood Local?

It has now becomepopular among many tothink of the Flood asmerely a limited regionalevent. During the pastcentury, the once com­monly accepted univer­sality of the Flood metwith great opposition.One by one leading scien­tists and theologianssided with evolutionaryand uniformitarian con­cepts. Soon no place wasfound for a worldwidedeluge. Surely, it was rea­soned, if the Flood is areality, it was only a localMesopotamian event.

It is not my purpose topresent a comprehensivebiblical exegesis on theuniversality of the Flood.

However, to assume anything else isclearly contrary to the weight of bib­lical revelation and reason.

The need for a sea-going Ark is acompelling reason to believe in theFlood's intercontinental effects.Why command Noah to build anArk when he could have simply mi­grated to a non-flooded region? Nei­ther would it make sense to take

22

animal representatives of all kindsaboard the Ark if only a limitedarea of the earth were to be in­undated (Gen. 6: 19-20).

The specific reason for the Floodwas to destroy all air-breathing landlife - especially man himself (Gen.6: 17). Archaeology demonstratesthat man had migrated around theworld. Anything less than a univer­sal destruction would not have ac­complished God's primary purposeof the Flood.

So it is logical to believe that theFlood was of universal scope whenboth Scripture and reason are con­sidered.

Where Do You GetEnough Water?

But what , then, of the origin ofthe Flood waters? Is there enoughwater on the earth to entirely coverit?

If one observes a globe carefully,he might come to the conclus ionthat "earth" is an inapt name. Forinstead of being mainly terra fir ma,its surface is over 71 percent water.We live on a watery planet.

In addition, bear in mind theoceans average 12,450 feet in depth,while the average surface height ofthe land is only 2,600 feet. The pro­portion is clearly overwhelmingly infavor of the ocean and not the land.

We are not told in the Bibleexactly how God flooded the earth.Remember the Flood was not a nat­ural event. It was brought on super­naturally by God, though He usednat ural agents .

What are the na tural facilitiesGod could have used in accomplish­ing His purpose? Here are some ofthe possibi lities: 1) Elev at e theocean basins and thus force wateronto the land, 2) · lower the conti­nents as units, or 3) add water to theoceans from underground basins(see Scient ific American, May 1966,article, "Water Under the Sahara.")God undoubtedly used a com­binat ion of factors to bring aboutHis will.

In the same way, when the Floodwaters receded , they would have

GOOD NEWS December 1973

drained back into the place Godmade for them - the ocean basinsand underground reservoirs.

What About " A ll ThoseAni mal s"?

Did the Ark have sufficient capac­ity to carry representatives of all theland animals?

Consider the stated size of theArk. "The length of the ark shall bethree hundred cubits, the breadth ofit fifty cubits, and the height of itthirty cubits" (Gen. 6: 15).

Historical records for the exactlength of the cubit in modern termsare vague . Our research places it ataround 22.5 inches. If valid, thiswould mean the Ark was 563 feetlong, 94 feet wide, and 56 feet high.Its three-million cubic-foot volumewould have had a displacement inwater weight of 66,000 tons. This isthe same capacity as 1000 Americanrailroad freight cars. That's ocean­liner size!

But if the cubit were equivalent to18 inches, there would still havebeen plenty of room in its 450-footlength, 75-foot breadth, and 45-footheight hulk . This would still havegiven it a 500 freight car, 1.5 millioncubit feet, carrying capacity.

It was not until the 19th centurythat larger vessels were constructed.

It shows the existence of skilledknowledge and ability in that an­cient world not again demonstratedunt il recent times. Archaeologistsare confirming this generally unex­pected level of knowledge as theyfind more and more evidence of ad­vanced skills among early humans.(See such books as Mysteries fromForgotten Worlds by Charles Berlitz,Doubleday & Co., Inc., 1972.)

How much room did Noah needfor "all those animals"? Some mis­understand, thinki ng that the Arkhad to house representa tives ofevery variety of animals. One pair ofevery KIND of unclean (unedible)and seven pairs of each clean KIND

(edible) were taken aboard. Each"kind" of creat ure represented anumber of varie ties. For example,over 100 breeds of dogs have now

been developed. They are all of thesame Genesis "kind." Only one pairof the dog kind needed to be on theArk.

God originally put within each"kind" of creature a fantasticgenetic capability. As time passed,more and more varieties appeared,but these variations of the same"kind" of creature did not all haveto be aboard the Ark bod ily. Theywere there genetically within thepair (or seven pairs, as the case maybe) taken on the Ark.

It isn't necessary to conside r sealife. It survived in the Flood waters.There were also many other simpleforms of aquatic life that were notharmed by water.

Consider that some 60 percent ofthe anima l kingdom live in the sea,and 28 percent of the animal king­'dom are insects. The remaining 12percent average the size of a rhesusmonkey.

IF insects had to be taken on theArk (and this is a moot question),with every pair of known modernspecies of insect given 16 cubicinches of space , only 21 freight carsof space would be required. (Count­ing Genesis kinds only, the requiredspace is far less.)

Accurate estimates of the numberof mammal, bird , reptile and am­phibian species on earth today isabout 18,000. (Again, recognizingthat only kinds, not necessarily spe­cies, were included, there wouldhave been far fewer actual animalsaboard the ark.) Most animals areunclean, and there were a pair ofeach unclean animal. But let's beliberal and say 40,000 rhesus-mon­key-size animals were on the Ark.

How much space would be re­quired to house them? A letterabout animal housing was sent tothe London Zoo. Their answer was:"Most animals can be maintained invery close confinement indeed forlong periods and remain perfectlyhealthy. A rhesus monkey, say, canbe maintained indefinitely in a cageabout 2 ft., 6 inches cubed" (15 cu­bic feet).

If the cubit were 22.5 inches long,

40,000 cages, each large enough fora rhesus monkey, would have onlytaken up 20 percent of the Ark'sthree-million cubic-feet carrying ca­pacity.

So it becomes plain that the inte­rior of the Ark was totally adequatefor the animals, the food supply,and the humans aboard it duringthe Flood.

How Did the Animals GetWhere They Are Today?

Each isolated land mass or conti­nent has animals or birds not foundelsewhere. Australia has its kanga­roo, koala bear, duckbilled platypus,and Tasmanian devil. North Amer­ica boasts the beaver, rattlesnake,raccoon, turkey and opossum. SouthAmerica offers the llama, capybara,and sloth. Asia has its peafowl andpanda bear. Africa has the giraffe,hippopotamus and zebra. Certainisland groups also have kinds of ani­mals not found elsewhere. How didall these animals become segregatedafter leaving the Ark?

Consider that God - not Noah ­originally brought the animals tothe Ark (Gen. 6:20). It would nothave been a difficult matter for Himto see to it that they also redistri­buted themselves after the Flood.God is the Originator of animal mi­gration. It was His will that the ani­mals - as well as mankind ­replenish and repopulate limitedgeographical realms after the Flood(Gen. 9:1; 10:5; 11:8-9). It shouldbe no surprise to see both men andanimals even today basically segre­gated around the world. This prin­ciple oug ht to seem basic. All formsof life exist in the specific land areaswhere they can best flourish .

Neither are the major landmasses of the earth as isolated asone might suppose. They have beeneven less isolated in the past. Wit­ness the existing land bridge be­tween Asia and Africa - the SinaiPeninsula - and Central Ameri cabetween the North and Sou thAmerican continents. The BeringStraits between North Ame rica andAsia are quite sha llow. Th ousands

GOOD NEWS December 1973

of squa re miles are covered by wate rless then 150 feet deep. Large areasof resent ocea n between Sou th­eastern Asia, the East Ind ies, andAustralia are less than 600 feet

. deep. This illustrates that suchpresent-day isolated communitiesare not impossibly separated fromeach other by grea t expanses ofdeep ocean. This factor may playapart in animal migration after theFlood.

Also, as men travel and migrate,they traditionally take with them fa­miliar plants and animals. Some gowith them accidentally. Many ani­mals have spread to new areas inthis manner - the rabbit to Austra­lia, the English sparrow and Euro­pean corn borer to the Americas,etc.

Recent discoveries are showingthat much sea traffic existed in theancient world . The Bible itselfshows that Solomon's ships pliedthe seas and brought back preciousitems and animals to the MiddleEast from great distances (I Kings9:26-28; 10:22; II Chron. 9: 10). It islogical to conclude that animalswere shipped between other areas aswell.

It has also been demonstratedthat animals have reached isolatedislands on floating masses of vegeta­tion or on storm and flood debris.This has been pointed out by suchauthors as Rachel Carson in hernow classic work The Sea AroundUs. Whenever an island emergesfrom the sea, it soon becomes thehome of various sorts of animalsand plants.

Where Is the Floodin Geology?

Prior to the nineteenth century itwas commonly believed the Floodwas responsible for practically allgeologic phenomena. Whenever afossil was found, the finder wouldimmediately think of Noah's Flood.But soon cracks in the idea devel­oped. If Noah's Flood was truly re­sponsi ble for most or all of theearth's fossils, then why isn't the fos­sil record thoroughly mixed up?

23

Why do certain layers only containcertain fossils? Why, for example,aren't dinosaur remains ever foundmixed with tigers, lions and otherfor ms of modern mam mal life?Mammal remains are almost en­tirely missing from the world of the"terrible lizards."

This enigma multiplies when oneconsiders that the stratigraphic rec­ord can only be understood to rep­resent a passage of time greaterthan the year of Noah's Flood. Thebulk of the geologic record rep re­sents a sequence of events whichcannot be fitted into the short timespa n of the Flood itself.

For this reason, there was often adifference of opinion among theolo­gians and nineteenth-century Bible­believing scientists as to where theevidence of the Flood is to be foundin the rocks. Estimates have rangedfrom the entire geologic column to athin clay layer at the site of ancientUr! (Sir Leonard Woolley, Excava­tions at Ur, London, Ernest Bonn,Ltd. , 1954.)

A proper understanding must be­gin with a knowledge of both theBible and the earth's silent , yet re­vealing, fossil record.

The avowed purpose of God inthe Flood was to destroy both manand beast from the face of the earth.This is clearly the reason God sent aflood of waters. It was a time ofgreat extinction. This is the first vitalclue.

But we also need to rememberthat the Flood was a relatively re­cent event. Biblical chronologywould place it about 43 centuriesago. Therefore we should expect tofind the evidence for the Flood to­wards the top of the earth's layeredsequence.

The third clue involves man him­self and his world. We live in aworld of mammals, birds, and flow­ering plants.

It should be a world quite similarto the pre-Flood world. The Ark,remember, housed representativesof all kinds of air- breathing land lifeforms. What we find around ustoday should fundamentally be the

24

same type of life Adam and his pre­Flood descendants saw aroundthem. It would be logical to expectcertain varieties to become extinctin the Flood, but their kind and typeshould still be with us today.

In summary, we could expect tofind geological evidence of theFlood by: 1) noting a time of ex ­tinction in the fossil record , 2) look­ing toward the top of the geologicsequ ence of rocks, and 3) lookingfor an extinction of animal typeswhich are familiar to us toda y.

What evidence is. there, then , inthe geological column which wouldlend weight to the worldwid e catas­tro p he precip it a t ed by Noah'sFlood?

Extinction Mystery

Dr. George Miller, form er super­visor of the famous Los Angeles LaBrea Tar Pits, had this to say aboutthe "sticky" problem of extinc tion.

"We have had two eras of massvertebrate extinction in the world 'sexistence: that of the dinosaurs . . .and that of the large mammals atthe end of the Pleistocene or IceAge. . . . When that period was over ,mammoths, mastadons and saber­toothed cats were extinct - all overthe globe .

" It is a mystery. The saber­toothed cats, for instance,were verysuccessful animals. They .. . . diedout completely. Why? Catastrophe?Plague? Earthquakes? A change inenvironment or climate? We do notknow.

"We do not know, either, the an­swer to the mysteries within themysteries. For example: horses wentthrough their own evolution only inthe Western Hemisphere - so com­pletely that it takes an expert to tellthe bones of the last ancient horsesfrom those of modern ones. Theyspread throughout the world ­reaching the other continents, wethink , across the land bridge inwhich is now the Bering Strait.Camels followed almost the samepattern. Yet . .. bo th horses andcamels became extinct in the West­ern Hemisphere. Horses remained

GOOD NEWS December 1973

wiped off the face of the Americasuntil the Span iards reintroducedthem a mere 500 years ago. Again ,why?" (Holliday, Kate, West maga­zine, July 30, 1972, "By Tar Pre­served," pp . II , 14.)

This revealing quote gives somefundamental facts of paleontology- points we will do well to consider.

Note there have been TWO timesof mass vertebrate extinction in theentire history of the earth. The firstwas the extinction of the dinosaurs(and it could also be added, flyingreptiles and marine reptiles). Thesecond and more recent vertebrateextinction was that of mammals(co mm only giant size comparedwith those living today) .

The mammalian extinction is es­pecially intere sting. It is recent.Mam mals are the dominant verte ­brates of today. And , as might besuspected , th ei r selecti ve dis­appearance after a period of suc­cessful life is a mystery to science.

End of Giants

Take, for exam ple, North Amer­ica. At the end of the Ice Age, hunt­ers in North America were killingthe imperial mamm oth in the westand the mastodon in parts of thenortheast. Further north, the woollymammoth lived carefree along thefringes of the glaciers. Nor th Amer­ica was an elephant's paradise.

But these giant, now extinc t,forms of elephants were not alone.In that day of giants , we find bea­vers as big as bears , giant arma­dillos, giant ground sloths weighingas much as present-day elephants,bison with fantastic six-foot hornspans, the great saber-toothed catsand giant jaguars. These , along withhorses and camels, vanished. Why?The land was well suited for them .The Ice Age was over. Yet about 70percent of all native North Ameri ­can mammals with an adult bodyweight of over 100 pounds becam eextinct in a time of plenty.

About a hundred years ago, scien­tists began to see the magnitude ofthe extinction problem. Alfred R.Wallace, who developed the idea of

biological evolution simultaneouslywith Charles Darwin, was struck bythe abrupt, strange and recent deci­mation of mammal life.

In 1876, Wallace noted : "We livein a zoologically impoverishedworld , from which all the hugest,and fiercest, and strangest formshave recently disappeared ... yet itis surely a marvelous fact, and onethat has hardly been sufficientlydwelt upon, this sudden dying outof so many large Mammalia, not inone place only but over half theland surface of the globe" (AlfredRussel Wallace, Geographical Distri­bution of Animals, New York : Haf­ner, 1962, Vol. I, p. 150).

Now after 100 years, scientistsknow the effect was worldwide. Aglobal disaster struck the earth afterthe Ice Age that hit the animal king­dom very hard. South America lostnearly all its large animals. Europeand Asia suffered losses as well. Theday of giant mammals had come toan end.

One writer wisely noted: "The di­nosaurs and the saber-toothed catsdid not die out because they hadsomehow failed . They apparentlydied out because of some powerfuland unusual forces ent irely beyondtheir control" (Science Digest, "TheGreat Dinosaur Disaster," DanielCohen, March 1969, p. 52).

"Powerful and unusual" forces?Yes, indeed! And in the case of therecent mammal extinction, theagency appears obvious - the Noa­chian Flood! (The earlier dinosau rextinction has its place in time be­fore the crea tion of man.)'

Those readers who wish more in­forma tion abou t the Flood are in­vited to write for our reprint articleentitl ed "Worldwide Mammal Mas­sacre."

We have seen how the scripturalrecord presents a viable solu tion toa long-standing scientific mystery.Although many details are yet to beclearly understood, the Christiancan remain confident that the find­ings of science continue to supportthe words of Scripture. D

MANASSEH 'S father was righ­teous and prosperous KingHezekiah. In his boyhood

he revelled in the luxurious appoint­ments of a young prince.

He had everything a boy couldever hope for: royalty, comforts,secu rity, and a father who obeyedGod and was richly blessed for it.But what was most important toyoung crown prince Manasseh wasthat someday he would rule theKingdom of Judah.

That day was not far off, beca useHezekiah died when his son wasonly twelve years of age. Now theyoung king had a full chance to"sow his wild oats" with the totalresources of the kingdom as hislong, 55-year reign began.

Manasseh Forgets God

The very name "Manasseh"means making to forget - and Ma ­nasseh very quickly forgot wha tevergood his father had taught him . Thefirst thing the new king did was todiscard God's laws. Josephus, theancient Jewis h historian, mentionsthat Manasseh "departed from the

Does the m ost wicked kingwho ever ruled the land of Ju­dah still have a chance to enterthe Kingdom of God? Or washis so -called "change ofheart" merely a "death-bed"repentance - too lit tle, toola te ?

by C. Roy Hunter

conduct of his father, and fell into acourse of life quite contrary thereto,and showed himself in his mannersmost wicked in all respects, andomitted no sort of impiety . . ." (An ­tiquities, X, 3, I).

But one trait he rememberedfrom his father. When Hezekiahsought God, he did it with all hisheart (II Chron. 31:21). What Ma­nasseh did was also done whole­heartedly, and this included sinning.

"A nd he did that which was evilin the sight of the Lord, after theabominations of the heathen, whomthe Lord cast out before the chil-

dren of Israel" (II Kings 21:2). Hewas as wicked as King Ahab ofIsrael had been some years earlier(verse 3). Manasseh actually had acontempt for our great Creator, andhe proved it by his actions.

To begin with, he rebuilt the"high places" that Hezekiah had de­stroyed - altars for pagan worshipplaced in conspicuous locations. Healso made altars for Baal, and hebuilt altars for "all the host ofheaven" (sun, moon, and star wor­ship) inside the House of God. Heeven put a graven image in theTemple itself (verses 4, 5). But as ifall this wasn't enough, he sacrificedhis own flesh-and-blood son in theValley of Hinnom (Gehenna) as anoffering to a pagan god! Further­more, he dealt with evil spirits ­rank demonism - and he practicedwitchcraft and enchantments (verse6).

Manasseh also lived by astrology,as do many today who check theirhoroscopes in the daily newspapers.But this was only one of the ma nygrievous sins God was holding

.against him.

26

When a Leader Goes Wrong

The new king didn 't stop by pol­luting just his own life. He set aboutto cram his new pagan religiondown the throats of his subjec ts. Heled the whole nation astray. "SoManasseh made Judah and the in­habitants of Jerusalem to err, and todo worse than the heath en, whom theLord had destroyed before the chil­dren of Israel" (II Chron. 33:9).

It became extremely dangerousfor anyone to worship God. Judah'swicked ruler simply would not toler­ate any warnings from Go d's ser­vants, because he wasn't about tochange his way of life. "He barba­rously slew all the righteous menthat were among the Hebrews; norwould he spare the prophets, for heevery day slew some of them, tillJerusalem was overflown withblood" (A ntiquities, X,3,I).

Tradition has it, according toClarke's Commentary, that Isaiahthe prophet was put to death byManasseh , saw n asunder by awooden saw. (See Hebrews 11:37.)

And the Bible vividly states thatManasseh had shed innocent blooduntil "he had filled Jerusalem fromone end to another" (II Kings21:16).

God Gives Warning First

But even though Isaiah was exe­cuted for his loyalty to his country,God still spoke through otherprophets. There was Hosea, Joel ,Nahum, Habakkuk - and others.

The warning was plain. God saidHe would wipe Jerusalem as a dish,turning it upside down (II Kings22: 13); and He would send the in­habitants of Judah into captivity(verses 14-15). He said that Hewould bring such evil upon Hispeople for their sins that "whoso­ever heareth of it, both his ears shall'tingle" (verse 12).

The message was equally plain ­REPENT. But neither the king nor hispeople would listen. Instead, Ma­nasseh felt that anyone who daredto show the faults of their king orhis religion was disloyal - so he hadthem executed.

GOOD NEWS December 1973

God in His great mercy gaveplenty of time for repentance - butto no avail. Not only did the kinglive a sinful life as a "know-it-all"teen-ager who thought his way ofruling was better than his father'sway, but he continued from bad toworse throughout all his twenties ­and on into his early thirties.

By this time the roots of paganismwere so deeply plan ted throughoutthe land of Judah that God knewthere was only one way to totallyupro ot them - by uprooting thepeople themselves.

Now, finally, God was ready fo raction.

For a starter, He brought armiesfrom the king of Assyria, which (ac­cording to Josephus) laid waste thecountry. They caught Manasseh andtook him cap tive, binding him withchains and hooks to take him awayto Babylon. It looked like the Jewishking was done for.

But maybe even God changedHis plans .. .

Manasseh Obtains Mercy!

Some historians believe that Ma­nasseh started praying first to theheathen gods for release from hisenemies - and , this having failed ,decided to go to the real God as alast resort.

Whether or not he talked to falsegods first is not mentioned in thebiblical account. But one thing iscertain. The Bible does not exagger­ate when stating that Manasseh"humbled himself GREATLY beforethe God of his fathers" (II Chron.33: 12).

Suddenly the wretchedness of hiswhole life stared him in the face ­his stinking sins in full, painful andunforgettable view. Not only did herealize that he was at the mercy ofthe Babylonian king, in danger ofdeath, but he also had weighing onhis conscience the fact that he him­self had been responsible for thou­sands of his own people dyingmerciless deaths. (Compare the ac­count in Josephus.) He was about toreap what he had sown.

Now, put yourself in Manasseh'sshoes for a minute. Suppose youknew that Go d had added fifteenyears to your fath er's life after heprayed? Undoubtedly Hezekiah toldhis own son fi rsthand how the greatGod had supernaturally caused thesun to ret reat ten degrees - simplyto show Hezekiah tha t his life wouldbe spared .

If you knew you had been awicked tyrant, having killed count­less righteous men, what thoughtswould race through your mind?Wouldn 't yo u ask for anotherchance? And, realizing that youwere not worthy of that secondchance, wouldn't you promise Godtha t things would be different?

The Bible doesn't record Manas­seh's prayer; but whatever he saidwas effective. It got results. Ourgreat and merciful God forgaveeven wicked King Manasseh and re­stored him to his kingdom ! Yet thisman had sinned habitually year af­ter year - despite God's warnings ­for well over two decades!

If you had been God, would youhave been willing to forgive? Fur­ther, would you have even beenwilling to put this man back intooffice? Think about it.

But Was Manasseh'sRepentance Real?

Jesus Christ said, "Wherefore bytheir fruits ye shall know them"(Matt. 7:20). By looking at the fruitsin Manasseh's life, we can find outwhether or not he meant business.

To begin with, the reinstated Jew­ish king was apparently only in hisearly or mid-thirties when he wascarried off to Babylon. But he livedto be 67 years old. This means that,while he had ruled in tyranny for alittle more than 20 years, he wasgiven over 30 years to reign righ­teously!

Upon reading the account in IIChronicles 33: 13, you can find thatGod "heard his supplication, andbrought him again to Jerusalem intohis kingdom. Then Manasseh knewthat the Lo rd he was God." He notonly knew the Lord was God, but he

did something about it! Read verses15 and 16:

"And he took away the strangegods, and the idol out of the houseof the Lord, and all the altars thathe had built in the mount of thehouse of the Lord, and in Jerusalem,and cast them out of the city. Andhe repaired the altar of the Lord,and sacrificed thereon peace offer­ings and thank offerings, and com­manded Judah to serve the Lord Godof Israel. "

Read between the lines. It tookguts and character to publicly admithe needed to change his life! He hadto swallow a lot of pride to com­mand his people to serve God afterhe had spent years telling them justthe opposite. God still caused theJewish people to go into Babyloniancaptivity for turning to paganism,but it did not happen during Ma­nasseh's life - thi s occurred acouple of generations later, whenJudah had another king who wouldnot repent.

Josephus' account goes into moredetail about Manasseh's later life:"So Manasseh was released by theking of Babylon, and escaped thedanger he was in; and when he hadcome to Jerusalem, he endeavoured,if it was possible, to cast out of hismemory those his former sinsagainst God, of which he now RE­

PENTED, and to apply himself to itvery religious life. He sanctified thetemple, and purged the city, and forthe remainder of his days he wasintent on nothing but to return histhanks to God for his deliv­erance ..." (Antiquities, X,3,2, em­phasis ours) .

Manasseh didn't just pray, hechanged his whole way of living!

Josephus goes on to show that "heoffered the legal sacrifices as Mosescommanded; and when he had re­established what concerned the di­vine worship, as it ought to be, hetook care of the security of Jerusa­lem."

The biblical account in II Chron­icles mentions the building of thewall - the security of Jerusalem ­in the verse preceding the ones

GOOD NEWS December 1973

about Manasseh taking away the"strange gods"; but the account inthe Bible does not necessarily saywhich came first. But if the accountin Josephus is correct, Manassehwanted to get right with his Godbefore worrying about the securityof the country - apparently trustingGod to protect Jerusalem while hewas busy destroying the evil thatbrought on the punishment.

Josephus continues his account bysaying , "He did not only repair theold walls with great diligence , butadded another wall to the former.He also built very lofty towers, andthe garrisoned places before the cityhe strengthened, not only in otherrespects, but with provisions of allsorts that they wanted . . . ." WHOwanted? His subject s! ApparentlyManasseh had finally learned to lis­ten to the people under him.

But was his repentance lasting?Read on: ". .. And, indeed, when

he had changed his former course ,he so led his life for the time tocome, that from the time of his re­turn to piety towards God, he wasdeemed a happy man, and a patternfor imitation. "

Truly an inspiring example ofchange for a man who had madesuch a mess of his life.

A Message for All WhoServe God

In his youth, King Manassehtried to forget God. In his maturity,he tried to forget the sins of hisyouth.

Do you suppose Christ had Ma­nasseh in mind when He said, "Hewho is forgiven much loves much"?

Yet God didn't expect penancefrom Manasseh, but He did expecthim to change. And Manasseh,rather than living in sorrow the restof his life because of his wickedyouth, was deemed a happy man!He couldn't have been happy if hewasn't forgiven.

It takes a lot of love to forgive ­and God loved even wicked KingManasseh. Would you have beenwilling to forgive King Manasseh?Are you even willing to forgive your

27

brother unto "seventy times seven"?(Matt. 18:21-22 .) If not, God willnot forgive your sins (Matt. 6:14­15), and we ALL do sin - now ­whether we believe it or not!

Notice I John 1:8 - "If we saythat we have no sin, we deceive our­selves, and the truth is not in us."

But, on the other hand, "If weconf ess our sins, he is faithful andjust to forgive us our sins, and tocleanse us from all unrighteousness"(verse 9).

God always blesses any one whoconfesses and turns from sin. Ma­nasseh's repentance is one of themost profound in all the Bible, be­cause it shows that our God is sofilled with compassion that He willhonor the sincere repentance ofanyone, no matter how unregene­rate and rotten his past deeds.

Surely no king of Israel or Judahever provoked God' s wrath morewith his blatant idolatry. Only Ahabcould begin to rival Manasseh inwickedness (II Kings 21 :3). Yet ourGod is so brimful of mercy that Healso honored even Ahab's humility,though in Ahab's case he neverreally repented (I Kings 21:29) .

God will forgive any person whomakes a full surrender to Him with­out any reservations - no matterhow terrible or how many havebeen his sins. God will forgive themall! (Matt. 12:31.) "For as theheaven is high above the earth, sogreat is his mercy toward them thatfear him. As far as the east is fromthe west, so far hath he removed ourtransgressions from us. Like as afather pitieth his children, so theLord pitieth them that fear him"(Ps. 103:11-13).

God made sure that His Wordcontained examples of the real re­pentance of grievous sinners. So noone should ever say, "My sins are sobad that God couldn't possibly for­give me."

And no matter how you may feelabout your personal sins, that samemerciful God stands ready to forgiveyou upon genuine repentance (Ps.86:5). D

POR ME Christmas was one ofthe most joyous times of theyear. Well do 1 remember, as

Igrewup in New York and Chicago,thecut pine trees in the public squares,and the colored orbs and bulbs withwhich they were hung. 1 rememberhow the ringing of bells and carolsfilled the air, and how the streets andboulevards were carpeted with newlyfallen layers ofclean white snow. Oh,the excitement of anticipating a visitfrom St. Nick !

But strangely enough, not till ageeleven or twelve did I begin to graspthat the central figure of Christmaswas not supposed to be Santa Claus;instead, this merry holiday was sup­posed to celebrate the birth of JesusChrist.

The reason for this was simple.My family was not devout. 1 had

Santa Claus,' reindeer, deco­rated trees and candy canes.What have these to do w ithChrist? Is Christmas Christian?And should it be observed?

received no religious instruction ortraining of any kind during my for­mative years . Consequently, when itcame to God and religion, 1 justcouldn't have cared less. As Christ­mas rolled around, Christ and salva­tion were the last things to enter mymind. 1 simply thought of SantaClaus, reindeer, colored lights, gifts,and my stocking full of "goodies."

What about you? Did you thinkof Christ in Christmas - or of SantaClaus, candy canes, and getting?

Years later as a young m.an enter-

by E. Michael 'Heiss

ing my twenties, a marvelous thinghappened. The great creator Godopened my mind and began to workwith me. He caused me to begin tounderstand some basic truths andprinciples. He made me realize 1needed a Saviour, who 1 learnedwas Jesus Christ - whose birthdaywe supposedly celebrate at Christ­mas time.

But somehow the whole thing stillseemed so vague and nebulous.Since God's Word, the Bible, admo­nished me to "prove all things; holdfast that which is good" (I Thess .5:21), and since 1 knew very littleabout God and salvation, 1 set outto learn more about Jesus Christ ......:and to cement the connection 1 sup­posed existed between Christ andChristmas.

Was 1 ever III for a shock!

II'F or the customs of the people are vain:for one cutteth a tree out of thefores t, the work of the hands of the

workman, with the axe. They deck it withsilver and with gold; they fasten it with nailsand hammers , that it mo ve not"

Jeremiah 10:3,4

Not in the Bible

To begin with, I found that theword "C hristmas" is nowhere men­tioned in the Bible. Furthermore,there is no biblical evidence thatany of the original apostles ever ob­served what we know as Christmas.In fact, historians and biblical schol­ars have clearly demonstrated thatChristmas was never observed bythe early New Testament Church.

Wh at' s more, we observe thewrong day. Jesus was born nowherenear December 25th . This is bestillustrated by a well-known Christ­mas carol, The First No el. Thewords, you probably remember, golike this : "The first Noel , the angeldid say, was to certain poor shep­herds in fields as they lay. In fieldswhere they lay keep ing their sheep,on a cold winter's night that was sodeep. "

The song is beautiful, but thewords do not make sense and arecontradictory. What shepherd in hisright mind is going to keep his sheepout in the open on a freezing "win­ter's night"?

True enough, the New Testamentsays there were ". .. shepherds abid ­ing in the field, keeping watch overtheir flock by night" (Luke 2:8). Butit is a historical fact that shepherdsin Judaea brought in their flocksfrom the fields when au tumn com­menced (September-October), andsent them back at the beginning ofspring (March-April). There is noway Christ could have been born onDecember 25th. (Write for our freear ticle "When Was Christ Born?"for a more detailed explanation.)

How Many Wise Men?

How many times have you gazedupon "nativity scenes" depictingJesus as a babe in a mange r withMary and Joseph nearby and thethree wise men presenting theirgifts?

Were you. led to think there werethree wise men? And were you ledto think that they presented theirgifts to Jesus while he lay in amanger?

GOOD NEWS December 1973

I was - bu t I was wrong.The Bible does not tell us how

many wise men came to Jesus. Itsays only that they present ed Christwith thre e kinds of gifts - gold,frankincense, and myrrh . See Mat­thew 2:1-11.

Three types of gifts are not proofthat there were three wise men. Ac­counts preserved in the Near Eaststate there were twelve wise menwho were accompanied by a retinueof as many as one thousand persons .It does seem likely there were morethan three in their party, because Idoubt very much that all Jerusalemwould be troubled because threestrangers came asking questions(Matt. 2:3).

The Wrong Setting

Furthermore, these wise men didnot present their gifts to Christwhile he lay in a manger. To besure , Jesus was laid in a mangershort ly after being born (Luke 2:7).But by the time the wise men ar­rived on the scene, he was in ahouse (Matt. 2:11). By this timeJesus was already several weeksor mon th s old. The eve nt heredescribed is not what you couldconside r a typical birthda yparty.

So not only do we have no bibli­cal evidence for our Christmas ob­servance, but we've got the wrongday , possibly the wrong number ofwise men, and certainly the wrongsett ing for their visit.

Outside of Christ's being laid in amanger, you may begin to wonder if

29

ther e is anything biblically correctabout the Christmas story. In fact,yo u ma y well question whetherthere is any connection at all be­tween Chr ist an d Christmas, andwhether observance of Christmaseven honors Christ.

Why Gifts for Christ?

Most people seem to like the cus­tom of giving and receiving gifts atChristmas time. Gift giving is sup­posedly based on what the wise mendid . True enough, the wise menbrought gifts; but they gave theirgifts to Christ - not to each other.

And understand, they did notpresent their gifts to Jesus because itwas His birthday. The wise menbrought gifts to Christ because Hewas a king. Remember what theyasked upon arriving in Jerusalem?"Where is he that is born King ofthe Jews? for we have seen his star[angel - Rev. I:20] in the east, andare come to worship him" (Matt.2:2).

It was the universal custom topresent a gift to a king when beingushered into his presence for thefirst time. The same holds true fortoday. If for some reason you aregranted an audience with a king,president or prime minister - thehead of a "sovereign" state - it isstill customary to present a gift ofsome sort in honor of that leader'soffice.

That's exactly what the wise mendid. They gave Jesus gifts becauseHe was born to be a king - destinedto rule over all twelve tribes of Israel(Matt. 2:6). Other prophecies reveal

30

He is destined to rule over far morethan Israel. He is described as Kingof kings and Lord of lords (Rev.19:16). All power in heaven andearth has been given to Him (Matt.28:18). No wonder these dignitariesfrom the East came bearing suchcostly gifts as gold, frankincense andmyrrh.

Christmas Doesn't HonorChrist

Jesus sa id absolutely nothingabout celebrating His birthday. Sowhy do it? Especially on a daywhich is nowhere near His birthdate- with decorations and customs to­tally foreign to Him, and giving giftsto each other rather than to Christ.

Look at it this way. Suppose agrou p of your close friends decide tocelebrate your birthday withoutsaying a word to you or taking intoconsideration any of your thoughtsor desires . They go about it bychoosing a date which is not yourbirthday and a location where youwon't be. They arrive at the ap­pointed time and place and proceedto enjoy themselves thoroughly ­singing, fea sting and presentingeach other with gifts in your name.And all the while they are in realitytotally ignoring you - not givingy ou so much as a single gift.

Yet these "friends" of yours claimthey are celebrating y our birthday ­that they are doing all this in y ourhonor. But are they? How wouldyou feel about it?

Well, I wonder what Christ thinksabout Christmas. After all, it's sup­posed to be His birthday. We say weare doing it in His honor. Yet weobserve it on a day which is not Hisbirthday, and we give Him very fewgifts - if any. Are we rea lly doingall this in Chr ist's honor? Have weever taken the time to ask whetherwe should observe Christmas?

If not , it's time we did!

No Connection

It is time we faced the simple factthat there is no link between Christand our Christmas with its SantaClaus, re indeer, decorated pine

GOOD NEWS December 1973

trees, candy canes, wreaths, etc.that it just doesn't honor Christ. Ifyou can find any such link or validconnection, it's more than I can do.You may try - and if you find it, Iwould appreciate hearing from you- I really would. But I can tell youright now that it's a lost cause. Iknow, because I tried - and I failed .And it's no use trying to "put Christback in Chri stmas" - because Hewas never in it in the first place.

Certainly our Christmas symbolsdo honor someone, but that some­one is not Jesus of Nazareth. You'dbe amaz ed to find out who it is. Ifyou would like to understand thehistorical origins of Christmas andwhose birthday it honors, then writefor our free booklet The Plain TruthAbout Christmas. As its title in­dicates, it will make the matter plainto you, and you will be as shockedand astonished as I was.

God's Holy Days

One final thought about Christ­mas. It overshadows and obscureswhat the Bible calls the "feasts ofthe Eternal." Yes, God does havefestivals which He calls His feasts ­days which are holy to Him. ButChristmas isn't one of them.

Do you know what these HolyDays are? Can you name them?Probably not. You may never evenhave heard of them . Yet you canfind them listed in your Bible in thetwenty-third chapter of Leviticus.

Jesus kept these days. So did Pe­ter, James, John, Paul , and all theoriginal apostles. In fact, the entireearly New Testament Church ob­served these "feasts of the Eternal."Shouldn't you?

If you would like to honor JesusChrist by observing the feast daysHe observed, then write for our freebooklet Pagan Holidays - or God'sHoly Days - Which? It will makeplain to you the meaning of thesefestivals , and why God places suchimportance upon them. These feasts ofGod actually picture God's plan forall mankind. This booklet explainsthat plan step by step. Don't hesitate- write for your free copy today. 0

How yourGood Newssubscriptionhas beenpaid

Jesus said, " This gospel of thekingdom shall be preached [andpublished - Mark 13 : 10] in allthe world for a witness unto allnations" (Matt. 24: 14) at thist ime , just before the end of thisage . A pr ice must be paid for th ismagazine , the CorrespondenceCourse , booklets and other litera­tu re.

But how? Christ forb ids us tosell it to those w ho receive it :" Freely ye have received, freelygive, " said Jesus to His disciplesw hom He was send ing to pro­claim His gospel. "It is moreblesse d to give, " He said , " t hanto receive" (Acts 20:35).

God 's way is the way of love- and that is the way of g iving .God expects every ch ild of His togive freewill offerings and tot ithe, as His means of pay ing thecosts of carrying the gospel toothers.

We, therefore, simply trust theLiv ing Chr ist to stir the mindsand hearts of His follow ers togive generously, th us paying thecost of putting this prec ious gos­pel truth in the hands of others.

The fa ithful , t i the-pay ingmembe rs o f the Wor ldw ideChurch of God and our ever­g rowing fam ily of co-workersgladly give of their incomes thatwe may give this precious gospelto an ever-widening number ofreaders .

The living, dynamic ChristHimself enables us to send youthis Good News magazine with­out charg ing a price. God 's wayis right - the way of giving toothers.

(Continued from page 3)Now He is only warning this

world , by send ing it a powerfu l WIT­NESS of the promised intention ofGod Almighty and Jesus Christ ofNazareth, His Son, to intervene inhuman affairs - but He is not beg­ging, pleading, nagging at human­kind to BELIEVE Him.

I hope I have made this clear .Your belief or my belief does notchange or alter the purpose or theplan of God.

Even the Disciples Did NotBelieve Jesus

Even Jesus ' own closest compan­ions, His own disciples, didn't be­lieve Him much of the time. Theydidn 't really believe He would beresurrected from the dead. In theGarden of Gethsemane ~ . on thenight just befor e He was crucified ­they so doubted Him that ". .. theyall forsook him, and fled" (Mark14:50).

Later, even after they had all seenand recogn ized Jesus (John 20:19­29), Pete r said, "I go a fishing," obvi­ously mean ing he was return ing tohis former occupa tion as much as tosay, "What's the use? It was a goodthing while it lasted, but now thatthey've killed Him, what's the usegoing on any further?"

Several of the disciples followedPeter back up to Northern Palestineand the Sea of Galilee, to his fishingbusiness (John 21:3).

Likewise, others scattered to theirsepara te ways - fully expecting topick up the reins of their formerlives. Jesus had to prove by manyinfallible proofs, even personallymaking them HANDLE Him, as inThomas' case, before He couldMAKE them believe He had evenbeen resur rected!

Then they KNEW! The disciplesbecame belie vable after that ;preaching in real power, and withreal FAITH, and backed up by fan­tasticMIRACLES, because they bee.lieved! No, not just "believed" in theway YOU might believe - not just"believed" in the way people areaccustomed to that word in "Chris­tian " parlance - they didn't just

GOOD NEWS December 1973

"believe" the way millions claim to"believe" in God for feeling, forblessings, or "believe" on His Wordtoday.

They KNEW! They knew and knewthat they knew Jesus Christ ofNazareth was alive - that He hadwalked out of that tomb . and thatHe was the glorified Son of Godwho was going to return to thisearth just as He .had said!

But all during that 3Y2 years' ex­perience prior to their real con­version and begettal with the HolySpir it, those disciples "believed on"Jesus. But deep down inside, theyjust didn't BELIEVE HIM!

Do You Just Believe" On Jesus"?

Today - it's no different. Mil­lions of professing Chris tians may"believe on" Jesus; they believe HeWAS the Christ; believe He was theSon of God; even believe in Hisshed blood for remission of theirpersonal sins - but those same mil­lions DO NOT BELIEVE WHAT HESAID; don't believe HIM!

What about you? If you "believeon" Jesus - believe He is your Sav­iour , and the only name given underheaven whereby men must besaved , do you also believe what H esaid?

One prophecy of Christ simplytowers above them all. The surestprophecy involves no dates, no spe­cial understanding of Greek or He­brew, no inside knowledge ofbiblical types or symbolism, re­quires no knowledge of vague orobscure verses in Zechariah, Joel orMalachi. It requires no knowledgeof Babylonian or Egyptian chronol­ogy, or time-cycles, or numericalmeanings or the . interpretations of"times and seasons." You don'tneed to memorize dates for the Cre­ation, the Exodus, the Flood ofNoah, memorize the ages of patri­archs, or knowjhe dates of the fallof Babylon, or the rule of 'Arta­xerxes. You need only BELIEVEJesusChrist !- You need only understandwhat He said - and believe it! Youneed to KNOW it is true !

31

Jesus made one specific pro miseover and over aga in. When He wastaken up to heaven , that samepromise was repeated to His dis­ciples even by angels, as the veryfirst message ever to come down outof heaven after Jesus was taken up.

That message was: "And whenhe had spoken these things, whilethey beheld , he was taken up; and acloud received him out of theirsight. And while they looked stead ­fastly toward heave n as he went up,behold, two men [angels] stood bythem in white apparel; which alsosaid, Ye men of Galilee, why standye gazing up into heaven? Thissame Jesus, which is taken up fromyou into heaven, shall so come inlike manner as ye have seen him gointo heaven" (Acts 1:9-11).

Jesus said over and over again Hewould come back to this earth . Hetold His disciples, "For the Son ofman shall COME in the glory of hisFather with his angels; and then heshall reward every man according tohis works" (Matt. 16:27). He said,"For whosoever shall be asha med ofme and of my words, of him shallthe Son of man be ashamed, whenhe shall come in his own glory, andin his Fa ther's, and of the holy an­gels" (Luke 9:26).

Jesus said to His disciples then,and He says to all of us today,"Blessed are those servants, whomthe Lord when he cometh sha ll findwatching .. .. And this know, that ifthe goodman of the hou se hadknown what hour the thief wouldcome, he would have watched, andnot have suffered his house to bebroken through. Be ye thereforeready also: for the Son of mancometh at an hour [or time] when yethink not" (Luke 12:37, 39-40).

There are millions upon millionsof professing, churchgoing "Chris­tian" people who have a deep affec­tion and sentiment toward "JesusChrist. "

Those millions no doubt feel theyhave a direct relationship with Jesus- they may have signs over theirdining room tables or in their kitch­ens which say "God bless our

32

home ," or "Jesus is the silent guestat every meal in this home," andthey may have pictures in their Bib­les, an d even various religious pic­tures or articles in their hom es.

And those same millions j ust donot believe much of what JesusChrist of Nazareth said!

Today, ther e seems to be a strongrevival of "fund am entalist Chris­tianity" with a resurgence of beliefin the second coming of Christ onthe part of many evangelists, to­gether with large numbers of the"Jesus people ," and literally dozensof other sects and churches.

While this may appear to be verygood on its surface - it makes onewonder if those same people reallyunderstand that the second comingof Jesus Christ is with "fury pouredout" and is at the culmina tion of theDay of the Lord - tha t great day ofgloominess, "a day of clouds and ofthick darkness" (Joel 2:2), andthat God's Word thunders a warn­ing to all when it says, "Woe untoyo u that desire the day of theLord! . .. the day of the Lord isdarkness, and not light" (Amos5:18).

What Is Needed!

While a converted Christian canearnestly desire the second comingof Jesus Christ to once and for allsolve this world's problems, andbring the world peace, as well assave tha t individua l by putting himinto God's Kingdom - a convertedChristian will also know that theglorified Jesus Chr ist is going tocome, followed by "a rmies" (Rev.19:14) and tha t He is coming as apowerful, war-making and conquer­ing KING, not as a sweet and kindly"h um ble carpenter from Nazareth."

In order to really UNDERSTANDthe second coming of Jesus Christ asa pragmatic and practical FACT, yousimply MUST allow God's Spirit towash out of your mind all the cob­webs of past sentimentality and"doctrine" in the sense of acceptingand believing in the second comingof Jesus Chris t on ly as a "tenet offait h." You need to look out your

GOOD NEWS December 1973

window at the landscape aro undyour own home, the hills and moun­tains where you live, thinking of theent irety of the country around you,the .state, the count y, or nation inwhich you reside .;::.. this broad earthwith all of its continents and its vast,heaving seas.

Focus your mind on the fact ofthe earth as being a little pinpoint oflight out in the midst of the black­ness of the universe, our bright littlespaceship upon which all we hum anbeings depend in our narrow eco­sphere for our very day-to-day sus­tenance, an d come to KNOW in yourmind that Jesus Chris t of Nazarethis coming to this earth just as surelyas you may have witnessed the re­turn of a space capsule from a lunarland ing! You need to UN DERSTANDthe second coming of Jesus Christ asa practical fact of future world his­tory, just around the corner fromyou, as a grea t EVENT, and not justas a biblical "argument" or some­thing you "believe," as you believesome mora l dogma, political sloganor historical fact.

You need to capture a personalvision of what the second coming ofJesus Christ will really be LIKE ­just as surely as Jesus in His trans­figuration gave His own disciples aforetaste of what He would be likeand who would be there du ring Hismillennia1 reign .

The Reality of Jesus'Second Coming

Jesus continually tried to get Hisdisciples' minds to focus on the real­ity of His second coming as apragmatic FACT of future history.He said, "And then shall they seethe Son of man coming in a cloudwith power and great glory!" (Luke21:27).

When Jesus was on trial for Hislife, knowing that He would have toendure a brutal and wretched beating,coupled with having spikes driventhrough his hands and feet into anupr ight pa le, having Himself "raisedup" as the prophecies implied,naked, bleeding, before men - andthen to die with the thrust of a huge

Roman spear into His side, He said,looking levelly into the eyes of theHigh Priest, " ... Here after shall yesee the Son of man sitting on theright hand of power, and coming inthe clouds of heaven" (Matt. 26:64).

Not onl y d id Jesus know Hewould inspire those words to be pre­served for you and for me to readtoday, but I'm sure He also wantedthe impact of those words to burndeeply into the consciousness of tha tsuper-critical priest, searing, like ahot knife into his vitals, so that atsome future day when he is resur­rected and beholds that very samepersonage, only this time with H~eyes blazing as the sun, he too willfall to his knees in comple te andtotal repentance and say, "Behold,my King and my God." -

Jesus did a great dea l of His ownpersonal "wi tnessing ," but it wasnot like the kind of "witnessing"you see prated about today - suchas a nagging, wheedling "Won't youplease believe?" or "Do you knowwhat the Lord has done for me?" or"Smile, Jesus loves you!"

There is not a single writer of theNew Testament who does not alludeto or directly talk about the secondcoming of Jesus Christ. (See themany New Testament scriptures onpage 2.) The Apostle Paul referredto it again and again, and his entirefifteenth chapter of I Corinthiansdea ls with the second coming ofJesus Christ and the resurrection.He wrote to the Church at Thessalo­nica, "For this we say unto you bythe word of the Lord . . . for theLord himself shall descend fromheaven with a shout, with a voice ofthe archangel, and with the trumpof God ..." (I Thess. 4:15-16).

And also he used that great eventas a SURE PROPHECY - even as if itwere something to be used as in avow or "oath," though Jesus com­mands that we swear no oath.The Apostle Paul said, "Now webeseech you , brethren, by the com­ing of our Lord Jesus Christ .. . ."(II Thess. 2: 1), just as someonemight earnestly urge someone bysome great fact or event which is as

immovable as the Rock of Gibra l­tar!

Paul told Timothy, "I give theecharge in the sight of God ... thatyou keep this commandment with­out spot, unrebukeable, until the ap­pearing of our Lord Jesus Christ"(I Tim. 6: 13-14).

Late r, when Paul knew his ownma rtyrdom was impending, hewrote to Timothy, "For I am nowready to be offered , and the time ofmy departure is at hand . .. hence­forth there is laid up for me a crownof righteousness, which the Lord,the righteous Judge, shall give me attHat day: and not tome only, but allthem also that love his appearing"(II Tim. 4:6, 8).

The Book of Revelation

The Apostle John. that disciple"whom Jesus loved," wrote of thesecond coming of Jesus Christ con­tinually. He said, ".. . But we knowthat when he shall appear, we shallbe like him. for we sha ll see him ashe is" (I John 3:2 ). The closing idea- the next to last verse - of theentirety of the New Testament sum­marizes the most vital impact of allthe New Testament by saying, "He[Jesus] which testifieth these thingssaith, Surely I come quickly. Amen .Even so, come, Lord Jesus" (Rev.22 :20) .

1.The book of Revelation, i nspiredto be written of John on the Islandof Patmos, is a book which givessuch shocking and mind-bogglingpictures of the last plagues and theeffects upon land, crops, cattle, fishin the sea, mankind, and our entire~90sphere 0 or biosphere, that itseems there could be hardly anyhuman beings surviving at the cul­mination of all these events.

The book of Revelation does notgive any "sentimentality" to the sec­ond coming of Jesus Chri st.

Rather, "it shows the arrival ofJesus Christ at the last moment ofsuch hugely destructive plagues ­many of them brought about di­rectly by man himself, and others asa result of the divine wrath and in­tervention of Go d, that one wonders

GOOD NEWS Decembe r 1973

in reading of those shocking biblicalsymbolisms, whether there couldbe a man , woman , or child leftalive.

It is only through Jesus' ownpromise that "for the elect's sakethose da ys shall be shortened"(Matt. 24:22), that you can knowthat Jesus Christ of Nazaret h is go-ing to cut short the awful globalconflict which could spell cosmo­cide.

Old Testa me nt Prophecies

Christ's second coming is virtuallythe whole THEME of the New Testa­ment , and, in practical fact, is amain part of all of the Old Testa­ment prophecies, including wholechapters in the book of Ezekiel.Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel and othersin Hosea, Amos, and the wholebook ofZ:phaniah, as well as much'of Zechariah and Malachi. (Seepage 2 for detailed biblical quotes.)

Factually, the obvious impact ofthe Old Testament prophecies con­cerning the arrival of a conqueringKING to RULE is the reason why theJewishleadershippf Jesus' day com­pletelymisunderstood, in th eircarnal vanity, the prophecies con­cerning "Emmanuel," and tha t con­cerning "a virgin sha ll conceive,"and those concerning Jesus' ear thlyministry and messiahship .

They so firmly expected a grea tconquering King that they over­looked the obvious prop hecies con­cerning God sending His Son to thisearth to qua lify for its future worldrulership - but appearing the firsttime to "magnify the Law and make

sit honorable," as well as to die forthe sins of the world which, after all,was the workm anship of His ownhands (see John I).

A Warning and a Witness

The purpose 0Uhis ar ticle is notto "nag" you into "believing" thestrongest and surest prophecy in allthe Bible! It is, rather, to warn youthat the second coming of JesusChrist is a soon-to-be-accomplishedf act of history - to be the properWITNESS to you, as Jesus said in

Matth ew 24: 14, and to let you dowhateyer you will with this knowl­edge.

It is the commission of JesusChrist's servants on this earth todayto "Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thyvoice like a trumpet, and show mypeople their sins"! There can be nomistakin g the absolute and in­controvertible FACT of the sooncoming intervention of AlmightyGod by sending Jesus Christ to thisearth.

It is not our job to use persuasivepsychology, repetition, pleadings orbeggings, or any "gimmicks" of manto get.mo re and .more people to "be­lieve" that great fact of future his­tory. It is, rather, our commission to"preach this Gospel of the KingdomofGod," that Jesus is the Son of God,born of the virgin Mary, that Helived a righteous and perfect life asan example for us, died to shed Hisblood for our own past guilt , wasresurrected and ascended to theright hand of God the Father, whereHe awaits the "time of restoration ofall things" - and after we preachthis Gospel of the Kingdom of God,"THEN shall the end come."

Remember, understanding thefact of Jesus' future arrival on thisearth (and the countdown has nodoubt already begun in heaven!)does not depend upon the clever in­terpretation of some "lost" orobscure portion of Holy Writ , schol­arly knowledge of other languages,or the use of various "signs andsymbols."

It was the entire message of theearly New Testament apostles, andthe very reason they died. It is theentire message of God's trueChurch today, and the very reasonwe live - and may yet still die.

Jesus Christ IS coming back tothis earth - the real earth uponwhich you walk, eat, sleep andbreathe.

Are you going to DO anythingabout your own life now - or willyou claim, even after reading an ar­ticle such as this, when you look intothe face of Jesus Christ of Nazarethin future years, "But I didn't know- no one ever told me"? 0

WHATISA REAL

CHRISTIAN?

Perhaps you've heard many definitions. But what

is the biblical defin ition? Is a person a Christianif he professes a pe rsonal bel ief in Jesus

Christ? Is that enough?And what are the very bas ic down-to-earth fun­

damentals of Christianity - the ve ry heart, the rootand core of the teach ings ofChrist? What makes a person areal Christian?

Is Christianity a way oflife? Must an individual changehis basic way of living to be­come a Christian? Is repen­tance necessary? Or i sCh ristianity just a matter of" sw earing off" smoking orsome ot her unch rist ian hab it?

An d w hat abou t wa te rbaptism? Is this biblical cere­mony a pre-cond ition to realChristianity? Does it matterwhich mode or method is used?Are sprinkl ing and pouring justas valid as total immersion inwater?

All these questions andmany more are answered inthis booklet written by GarnerTed Armstrong - he answers

in depth, What Is a Real Christian? Write fo r you rfree copy.

Just send your request to:

The GOOD NEWSPasadena, California 91123

If you live outside the United States, please seethe inside front cover of th is magazine for the ad­dress of our office nearest you .

'Va11\aa-ID :0

i~~ ~.. a5° .. 0;- .D.. n

DIa~ - 0c: :;; >c

0'" "I ...?> ~ ...

~ ~_. ...a00--to.)Co)

()(Jl3: ...JC(]I;O N0(Jl(J) 0l>\7I (]I

I 0 N"<,(J);> ~

< I........ 0ZO (Jl0 0.... » wl> Izm 10»Al

l> N:El>C ~

.... <z ~

m~

(Jl ~

W N... W...0