Book Briefs: “The Bible Answer Man: Walter Martin and Hank Hanegraaff” by Cindee Martin Morgan

The Bible Answer Man: Walter Martin and Hank Hanegraaff by Cindee Martin MorganAnyone who goes by the title “The Bible Answer Man” must be impervious to criticism. The record shows that controversy did surround both of the men who bore that title over the last fifty plus years. A new book from the daughter of Walter Martin, the original “Bible Answer Man,” gives an insider’s perspective on the life and ministry of both Martin and his successor Hank Hanegraaff — as well as the controversies that enveloped them. The Bible Answer Man: Walter Martin and Hank Hanegraaff: Dr. Martin’s Daughter Reflects on CRI’s Founder, Its History, and Its Current President is self-published but fairly well edited. The content is intriguing and enlightening, part-biography and part-memoir, with some theological rabbit trails and a few controversies addressed head on.

Cindee Martin Morgan’s story is poignant and personal. The book includes family pictures and a look back in time. It also unpacks family heartaches (a girl’s perspective on her parents’ divorce, and a sister’s heartbreak over a legal feud with another family member over the legacy of her father’s work). And more than this, it introduces (or reacquaints) readers to her father and his ministry, as well as to that of Hank Hanegraaff.

Morgan details the beginning of her father’s ministry: Christian Research Institute (CRI) and its move from the east coast to California. She highlights her father’s style and determination to follow the evidence where it may lead (this accounts for his defense of not classifying Seventh Day Adventism as a cult). She also includes interesting behind-the-scenes details, such as Martin’s friendly meal with the Roman Catholic theologian Mitchell Pacwa after a debate they had on the John Ankerberg show. The book includes letters, transcripts of taped shows and lectures, statements by friends and significant leaders, and news-clippings of the time. She marshals this evidence to highlight her father’s gradual rejection of dispensationalism and to detail his stand against Paul Crouch.

Central to the book is Morgan’s defense of her father’s choice to lead his ministry after his death: Hank Hanegraaff. Years after Martin’s death a disgruntled former employee and one of Martin’s family members have alleged that Hanegraaff was not chosen to be groomed as Martin’s eventual replacement. Morgan recounts the story of how first-hand evidence (audio tapes from Martin’s Sunday School class) surfaced to remove any doubts — although sadly not all agree.

Speaking of Hanegraaff, Morgan illustrates how he follow’s Martin’s example in following the evidence no matter the outcome by unpacking his decision to reverse CRI’s assessment of the Local Church movement (Watchman Nee/Witness Lee). Another trait of Hanegraaff’s is his determination to stay busy in ministry during his present fight with cancer. A more troubling decision, however, has impacted the ministry of CRI through lost sponsors and radio stations: namely Hanegraaff’s conversion to the Greek Orthodox Church. Morgan shares her own angst and bewilderment over the news and then takes us on her own journey to understand and appreciate the change. She concludes the book with a lengthy interview she conducted with Hanegraaff.

This book brings to mind the impact that Christian apologetics has had over the last fifty years. That impact owes much to men like Walter Martin. He was not perfect and his methods are not above criticism (accountability to a local church seems missing, and appears to be missing with Hanegraaff as well), but no one can doubt his love for the Lord and his sincerity to follow the Bible. Hanegraaff likewise strikes me as a sincere follower of Christ who is worth listening to, even though I do not condone his embrace of the Greek Orthodox Church. This book can encourage us to follow the examples of these men and study the Scriptures ourselves for answers when it comes to evaluating the cults, the Church and our own doctrine.

Disclaimer: this book was provided by the author for review. The reviewer was under no obligation to provide a positive review.

You can pick up a copy of this book from Amazon.com.

About Book Briefs: Book Briefs are book notes, or short-form book reviews. They are my informed evaluation of a book, but stop short of being a full-length book review.

On the Day Before Judgement Day

If you haven’t heard, Harold Camping and FamilyRadio.com claim the Rapture will happen tomorrow and that Judgement Day will begin. The tribulation will last five months and on October 21, the world will end.

The sad part of all this, is that they claim the Bible teaches this and that God has revealed this to them. There has been a world-wide advertising campaign to warn people. The message has been spread via RV caravans, billboards, radio, and more.

The problem is Camping has predicted this would happen back in 1994 too, and will likely recalculate his numbers and come up with a new date once this one fails. Never mind that, his signs say “the Bible guarantees it”.

He gets to May 21 as the date of the rapture, through a far ranging use of Biblical numerology and assumptions. Since “begat” can indicate a father – son relationship or also a ancestor – descendant relationship, it is assumed it always refers to a time period rather than a direct father – son connection, unless other factors make it clear the Bible declares the two names are related as father and son. Because a day in the Bible can sometimes refer to a thousand years, it is assumed that days do refer to thousand-year time periods at important places in the scheme that results in May 21, 2011 being the date of the Rapture. Numbers can have an association or meaning, and then that meaning is applied universally. As in 23 is the number of wrath, 17 is the number of heaven, etc.

The result is a Biblical timeline of history that has a widespread corroboration with numerous numerological twists given to various time periods given in the Bible. For more on the Biblical timeline of history see this explanation. And several links on the left of the FamilyRadio.com website take a deep dive into the numerology.

The story is making headlines around the world. See the New York Times article here, and another story here. USA Today found that many of Camping’s staff don’t actually believe that May 21st is the day.

I’m saddened by the many followers who are being led astray in this. The Bible isn’t a mysterious collection of numbers to be figured out by experts. It has a plain and clear message of God’s redemptive plan for mankind. Jesus may return tomorrow, or even today. I believe that. But if He doesn’t, then Camping has revealed himself to be a false teacher and people should not follow him. I’ll probably say more about this in the future, it will be interesting to see what they say if the Rapture doesn’t happen tomorrow. I’ll leave you with a link to a video clip from FamilyRadio.com. May God help these people realize once and for all that this teaching is dangerous, and it trivializes the Bible’s message to a watching world.

Dr. Donald Brake Interviewed on the 400th Anniversary of the King James Bible

At Haven Today, a nationally syndicated Christian radio show and podcast, Dr. Donald Brake was recently interviewed on the 400th Anniversary of the King James Bible. Dr. Brake is the author of A Visual History of the English Bible (Baker Books, 2008) and the recently released A Visual History of the King James Bible (Baker Books, 2011).

I just completed reading through this fascinating book and will be putting my review up soon. The 400th anniversary of the King James Bible is next week, May 2nd. Dr. Brake’s interview will be very informative. Here are the links to the interview: Part 1 (April 25, 2011), Part 2 (April 26, 2011). More information is available on the interview at HavenToday.org. These interviews are only about 15 to 20 minutes long minus the commercial breaks (which is just music on the web-player), but they’ll whet your appetite for this book.

To see an excerpt of Dr. Brake’s A Visual History of the King James Bible, click here. You can order the book through Amazon.com, Christianbook.com, or direct from Baker Books.

The Reformed Cast to Interview Me on KJV-Onlyism Tonight

Today, April 25 at 6pm Central Time, I’ll be interviewed by my friend Scott Oakland of The Reformed Cast on the topic: “What is KJV-Onlyism?

Additional details of the interview can be found here. You’ll be able to listen live at Talkshoe.com (you can also find a player at Scott’s website: ReformedCast.com). You’ll also be able to download it from there, or via SermonAudio or iTunes (see ReformedCast.com for links or subscribe buttons).

I’ve been interviewed by Scott before on Fundamentalism and Reformed Theology, and am looking forward to being on his show again.

I’m interested if any of my readers have any requests for something I should cover. We have an hour and I’m sure Scott will have his own questions too. I’d love to try to deal with points that readers raise here, however. So feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments.

For the extra ambitious, you can listen to the last podcast I did on this topic over at Understanding Our Times radio.

UPDATE: The audio from tonight’s interview is now available for free download at ReformedCast.com.

Doug Wilson on Pessimistic Assumptions & the Piper/Warren Controversy

Following up on my post from this weekend, I stumbled across this jewel of a video clip with Doug Wilson discussing the Rick Warren / John Piper controversy. He makes some insightful comments about how pessimism plays a role in the conservative church today when we assess situations such as Piper and Warren getting together to talk. We assume that something bad is going to happen, rather than looking for a positive outcome. I think Wilson is on to something here, even if I don’t totally buy into his eschatology. Listen to the clip below and let me know what you think.

Rick Warren and Desiring God 2010 (Part III) from Canon Wired on Vimeo.