His Last Editorial
Before I was converted to the Lord Jesus Christ, I had a few friends who claimed to believe in Jesus but, for various reasons, had rejected any necessary urgency in following Him. At that time, the only thought I had was to agree with them. After I was converted to the Jesus of the Bible, I held to a commitment of following Him with the urgent conviction that He may return at any time as He promised with need to be ready to meet Him (1 Thessalonians 1:3; 2:4; 4:1, 7; 5:8-11).
Once converted to Jesus, I never had any doubt that God exists, the Bible is the word of God, and Jesus is the Son of God. In my early ministry, I longed for clearer and deeper thoughts on these all important biblical doctrines realizing that the Lord Jesus Christ does not simply want us to know things about Him, but to know Him as Savior, Lord, brother, friend, etc. Providentially, I found the writings and friendship of Thomas B. Warren, James D. Bales, Roy C. Deaver, Charles C. Pugh III, and other Classical Apologists who enabled me to read, study, and research Christian Evidences, which helped solidify my faith. I will ever owe them my
deepest gratitude.
Sufficient Evidence: A Journal of Christian Apologetics is a great journal containing unique articles from the perspective of Classical Apologetics. Our writers pen great articles from this perspective. Our Spring issue contains seven articles spanning almost 100 pages.
The initial article is an extensive review by Dick Sztanyo of the tremendously valuable book by Rubel Shelly, Male and Female God Created Them: A Biblical Review of LGBTQ+ Claims, which is a hardcover of over 400 pages in length.
Sztanyo masterfully reviews each chapter and points out the care Shelly took to address the explosive topic that “shows love for all human beings who are created in the image of God and who, therefore, have intrinsic value, as over against the need to teach truth about human sexuality without compromise.” Shelly accomplished his objective in writing this great book without showing any “bigoted,” “homophobia,” or “anti-people” thought. Having read great portions of the book when first published, I wish I had access to Shelly’s thoughts when I ministered to a congregation with those present who were inactive bisexual and/or homosexual. It would have been a tremendous help to me. The money for the book will be well spent to help you grasp all of the many nuances of the topic.
Our second article, Life After Death, is written by the late Thomas B. Warren for whom the Warren Center is named in honor of great apologetics work. The article answers the question by the Sadducees about life after death. It is set forth in Warren’s simple, and yet profound, manner of exegesis. Warren begins his study of the question of “Life after Death” in the context of the death of Lazarus, Jesus’ dear friend, when Jesus said, “I am the resurrection, and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whosoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26). Jesus makes “the claim that where He is, there is life.” Warren sets forth that Jesus “has the power of the resurrection without limitation. No sane and moral man could have made such a claim if He had not truly been the Son
of God.”
Warren points out that Jesus used the occasion to teach the Sadducees regarding three basic topics in which they erred by their denial: 1) the existence of angels, 2) the existence of souls separated from their bodies, 3) and the resurrection of men’s bodies. Surely, one would think that their materialistic counterpart of today—the Jehovah Witnesses—would have accepted Jesus’ definitive answer, but sadly they do not!
Warren’s textbook answer to the subject on life after death should help our interpreting both the immediate and remote Scriptures. Warren writes that one should allow this argument by Jesus to serve as: 1) “conclusive proof that the resurrection would occur,” and 2) the common people were astonished that He was able to find such doctrine in the first five books of the Bible known as the Pentateuch which silenced the Sadducees.
Many ministers have wrestled, at least earlier in their preaching career, with how to interpret certain biblical passages. Many problems that arise in congregations could be avoided if the minister, elders, and members correctly understood how to properly interpret the Bible, also known as interpretation or hermeneutics. David Lipe pens our third article involving proper interpretation of the Bible, “How to Properly Interpret the Bible.”
Lipe, who was trained under Thomas B. Warren, has written an article that preachers and Bible students need to read and study. The article employs the following approach: 1) the importance of properly interpreting the Bible, 2) to properly interpret the Bible, one must know: a) What is meant by the total evidence and b) why the total evidence relevant to any biblical question must be gathered and 3) to properly interpret the Bible one must reason correctly about the evidence gathered.
The Scripture teaches the importance of truth (Proverbs 23:23; John 8:32; 18:37-38). People of all ages and in various walks of life have played loosely with biblical truth. In countering this problem, Lipe argues that “one must learn not only what the Bible says but also what it means.” So many “have perverted the truth, thus making the present time one of enormous proclamation of error. . . . Christians have the obligation both to preach the truth and defend the truth.” If the gospel is perverted, it loses its power to save (Romans 1:16-17) and becomes an instrument of condemnation (Galatians 1:6-9).
The article sets forth the role of interpreter involves that “one must reason correctly about the evidence gathered [so that evidence can] now be shown to be true.” An excellent definition of logic is given by Dr. Warren: “Logic is that discipline which attempts to determine whether conclusions are warranted from given evidence.” Any student has only two alternatives in handling the total evidence he has gathered: 1) to be rational or 2) to be irrational. Lipe has demonstrated the basic thesis of his article of interpreting the Bible that one must first, gather the total evidence relevant to the question, and second, reason correctly about that evidence. Dr. Lipe respectfully acknowledged that he is indebted to the late Thomas B. Warren for his book, When Is an “Example” Binding? for “the substance of this article.” Warren Apologetics Center republished this book in 2023.
Bart Warren, a grandson of the late Thomas B. Warren, reviews David Lipe’s excellent tome, Equipping the Saints: Fifty Years of Lectures and Articles. Lipe offers his readers an explanation as to why he printed his fifty years of research covering over 600 pages on various needed biblical topics. “My prayer is that this collection will help readers come to a better understanding of what the Bible teaches on a variety of subjects, resulting in ‘the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry’” (Ephesians 4:12). His prayer is answered when each read and apply the materials to his service in the kingdom of God.
The book shows the influence of David Lipe having sat at the feet of the late Thomas B. Warren especially the first three sections which discuss the truth of the existence of God, the Bible is the revelation of God, and the Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Man cannot be saved without acknowledging the truthfulness of these three affirmations.
Warren’s review, while brief, is full of suggestions why elders, preachers, teachers, and members need to purchase and read Lipe’s book, which is the result of fifty years of solid research and teaching. Those who have sat at Lipe’s feet are richer and better prepared to serve the Lord.
Your editor supplies the next article, “Mercy More Than Calves” based on Micah 6:6-8 which I consider one of, if not, the greatest of Golden Texts of the prophets in teaching the believer’s role as a faithful servant of God. In all probability, no preacher has preached very long until he delivers a sermon based on this Golden Text of the Bible.
The text of Micah 6:6-8 is the third of Micah’s prophetic addresses. Each is distinguished from one another by the word “hear” (1:2; 3:1; 6:1). In each section Micah denounces their sins and promises hope if Israel would trust and obey God. God has always required the believer of any biblical dispensation to faithfully walk with Him. God never is pleased when His child walks in rebellion to Him and His law.
When Israel asked Micah how they should approach God, as if they did not know, Micah replied and stressed three major points: 1) the authority of God revealed in His law, 2) their obligations to man, and 3) their obligations to God. Micah 6:8 is one of the best-known verses in the Old Testament. “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.” The late Jack Lewis, when speaking of this verse, said “that worship and morality cannot be divorced from each other. They are two sides of the same coin.” Our article concludes with five lessons drawn from Micah 6:6-8.
The article, “The World Split Apart,” by Alexandr Solzhenitsyn is a message delivered at Harvard University’s 327th commencement on June 8, 1978. Solzhenitsyn was a Russian writer, Soviet dissident, and Nobel Peace recipient in the 20th Century. His article on the culture and philosophy of Western society, some 46 years later, is timely because of the great division in America and the recent pro-Palestinian protest on the Harvard Campus, as well as protests on numerous campuses throughout America, that resulted in Harvard University barring the protesting students from receiving their degrees on
May 23, 2024.
One has to have his “proverbial head in the sand” not to realize the tremendous splits within our American society because of so many believing they have the right to do what they want while neglecting God’s laws as well as the standards of society. Solzhenitsyn states early that such attitudes “bear the danger of equally manifold disaster for all of us” and, eventually, will result in an Earth or society who because it is “divided against itself cannot stand.”
Solzhenitsyn looks at Western civilization as a whole and lists things which he considers as destructive especially to Western society. These include: “A Decline in Courage” (i.e., “a lack of manhood”); “Well-Being” (“that governments are meant to serve man and that man lives to be free and pursue happiness”); “Legalistic Life” (Western minds “have acquired considerable skill in using, interpreting, and manipulating law (through laws too complicated for an average person to understand without the help of an expert)”); “The Direction of Freedom” (“It is time . . .
to defend not so much human rights as human obligations.”); and “The Direction of the Press” (the press demonstrates “no true moral responsibility.”).
Solzhenitsyn contends that “the persisting blindness of superiority” of Western society is having everyone pursue our
form of democracy and way of life. From this perspective, Solzhenitsyn directs his message toward what he considers flaws and faults of our society.
Our last article for this issue is the first of a study of the “Seven Sayings of Jesus – A Prayer of Mercy” by Rick Kelley. It is obvious that Kelley has spent hours of serious meditation and study as he begins this series with “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:32-34). Impressed by viewing Robert Powell’s portrayal of Jesus in the 1976 shooting of Franco Zeffirelli’s Jesus of Nazareth film, Kelley begins his study with “The Silent, Suffering Servant” fulfilling, among many verses, Isaiah 53:7a, then referencing Peter in 1 Peter 2:23 as the fulfillment. Kelley argues, and correctly, that the silent, suffering Servant was under “the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23a) with His accepting “the death on the cross” (Philippians 2:8). Kelley developed this point magnificently.
His second point stresses that “Father,” and not “forgive,” is the main point of this prayer. His “incessant” relationship with His Father shows how Jesus “conquered sin at every turn.” Jesus prayed differently. A thoughtful point is made by Kelley when he writes, “We pray to know the Father. Jesus prayed because He knew the Father.” Jesus’ words “Forgive them” shows Him accepting His High Priestly role of not only “‘bearing the sins of many’ but Jesus also ‘intercede[d] for the transgressors’” (Isaiah 53:12). To develop His role of being our High Priest, Kelley quotes Hebrews 9:11-12, 14, 24-26). Is it possible that many Christians when dealing with Jesus on the cross forget the significance of His role as our High Priest?
In Kelley’s final point of the prayer, he deals with the phrase, “They do not know” then makes the succinct comment, “No one involved in Jesus’ crucifixion had a true perception of what was happening.” Neither the apostles, early followers, nor the Jewish rabbis, at the time, understood what was happening at Calvary. Only after the resurrection did people begin to understand and when the gospel was preached on the Day of Pentecost about 3,000 obeyed the gospel because they understood how horrible God considers sin. Sinners have come to know and continue to believe in Jesus’ atoning work; consequently, Christianity has spread worldwide.
As we announced in the January/February issue of Warren Center News, due to the inflation of printing costs, we must increase the subscription rates to the journal beginning in January 2025 as follows: $25 for a one-year subscription and $45 for a two-year subscription. These rates are for both individual and institutional subscriptions. This is the first increase in subscription rates in 14 years of publishing.
As always, we are thankful for your support. We must be set for the defense of the gospel. And it is our humble prayer that this issue of Sufficient Evidence does just that.
W. Terry Varner
General Editor