THE K ING ’ S BUSINESS
DR. TALBOT'S QUESTION BOX The beloved President of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles a n s we r s your Bible Questions.
Luke, on the other hand, uses dif ferent phraseology throughout. Omit ting the words in italics, which al ways in our English Bible are put in by the translators to make the mean ing clear, we have Luke 3:23 reading as follows: “And Jesus himself began to he about thirty years of age, be ing (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which' was of Heli.” Thus, ac cording to Matthew, “Jacob begat Joseph” ; and, according to Luke, “Joseph. . . was of Heli,” that is, the son-in-law of Heli. You see, it was the custom of the Jews to keep all their genealogies in the names of men, not women. And do you note how, again, the Holy Spirit sacredly guards the truth of the Virgin Birth of Christ, according to Luke? It is interesting to note that Joseph came through the k i n g l y line of Judah and David and So Ion? on; whereas Mary came t h r o u g h the kingly line of Judah and David, yet through another son of David, Nathan (Luke 3:31). Anyone who calls these tWo gene alogies contradictory only manifests his ignorance of the way to read the original Greek—or, for that matter, our English translation; or he shows that he doubts the infallible Word of God. In either case, he belongs to the class d e s c r i b e d by Paul in Romans '1:22, who “professing them selves to be wise. . . became fools.” And so it is with all the so-called contradictions of the Bible. There are no contradictions! The Master-Mind that wrote it knew how to do it per fectly. Only the unregenerate, finite mind of some skeptic would presume to doubt it! ^ QUE .: Please explain the dif ference in the time o f the cruci fixion, as given by Mark and John. Is there not a discrepancy here? Not at all. The common and correct .explanation is that Mark 15:25 speaks according to the Jewish computation of time, saying, “And it was the third hour” ; whereas John 19:14 speaks ac cording to the Roman computation of time of “the sixth hour.” Of course, we know that Rome ruled the civilized world in the day of Christ, including the land of Palestine. And many Roman customs prevailed, along with many Jewish customs strictly ad hered to by the Hebrew people. In a word, Mark is speaking of Jewish time: John, of Roman time.
^ QUE.s What is the Unity School o f Christianity? The Unity School of Christianity is like Christian Science, New Thought, and Theosophy, in that it denies the blood atonement of Jesus Christ. If was founded about forty-two years ago by Mrs, Myrtle Fillmore. We might summarize its contradiction of the Word of God in six denials of “the faith once for all delivered unto the saints.” These are as follows: 1. Unity denies that the Bible is uniquely inspired. In the magazine, Unity, published February, 1929, page 152, Mrs. Fillmore says: “Beginning with the very first chapter of Genesis, the Bible is an allegory.” “Everybody can be inspired; if we think that in spiration ceased with Jesus, or with Paul and the apostles, we hinder the stream of God-thought from flowing to us; and we get no direct revelation.” 2. Unity denies sin and the per sonality of Satan. In Unity (No. 5, page 403) there is the statement: “There is no sin, sickness, or death.” In “Lessons in Truth,” page 185, there is the statement: “ God is good, -and God is all; therefore, I refuse to be lieve in the reality of the devil or evil in any of its forms.” 3. Unity denies that salvation is by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It teaches that we achieve per fection by a realization that we are God through constant affirmation. “Matter and mind are one,” says Unity, “we all have a God-mind.” Followers of Unity know nothing about the blood of Christ,’ and at tempt to find salvation by the denial of the reality of sin and by the con stant affirmation, “I am good, and therefore I am God.” 4. Unity denies that Jesus is the Christ any more than any man. Ac cording to Unity, it is the privilege of every man to be everything that Jesus was. In the booklet, Christian Healing, page 172, there is the state ment: “He became the Word of God incarnate because He fulfilled- all the requirements of the law. But this is the privilege of every man.” Such statements as these are to be found all through the writings of Unity. 5. Unity denies that death is uni versal, and teaches that Unity dis ciples may never die. 6. Unity also denies a real Heaven, and teaches reincarnation.
^ QUE.i Are there two con flicting genealogies o f Christ? I do not believe there are, for I ac cept the whole Word of God. But I heard a minister say that Mat thew and Luke contradict each other. Please explain. Matthew gives Joseph’s genealogy; Luke gives Mary’s. But why did the Holy Spirit record Joseph’s genealogy, since he was not the father of Jesus? Because through him, the head of the Nazareth home, Christ had the legal right to the throne of His father, David—through Mary He had the natural right to the throne of David. Had there been a king of the Jews in the time of Joseph, he would have been that king. And as the eldest Son of Mary, the e l d e s t Son in that Nazareth home, Christ had every right to be King. But back to the two genealogies: It is marvelously interesting to study them closely. In the first place, Mat thew traces Joseph’s ancestry back as far as Abraham; for he was writing especially for the Jews; and this proved the point in question—that Jesus was the Heir to Abraham’s land, and the covenant •Heir t o David’s throne. Luke, however, traces Mary’s ancestry back to Adam, "which was the son of God;” for Luke is showing that Christ is the perfect Son of Man, the Saviour of the whole world. But please note in these genealogies how carefully the Spirit of God pro tects the doctrine of the Virgin Birth of Christ. Matthew uses the word “be gat” until he comes to verse 16 of the first chapter. He does not say that Joseph begat J e s u s ; for he sacredly guards the fact that our Lord was born of the .virgin Mary.
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker