Truth Magazine

By Jeffery Kingry

The following letter was received about a month after my article on Capital Punishment came out in Truth. I think it is self-explanatory and needs no further comment:

“I read what you had to say about Capital Punishment in the March issue of Truth Magazine, and I have never heard anything put forth any better. I am in complete agreement with you in this matter.”

“I’m serving a ten-year sentence here in the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary, and I have seen first hand many things that I would have never imagined. I am thankful that they have these places. At least people are a little, rather, a lot safer with these people locked up. But many, or most of the prisoners here are planning their next crime for when they get out. Some plan murder, some robbery, etc., but most have criminal plans. They even brag about what they have done, from kidnaping and raping a 13 year old boy, to breaking an old lady’s arm during a bank robbery. Many say that ‘Whatever you want to do is alright if you can do it.’ They are not sick, they also admit that the way they think is wrong, but that doesn’t change the way they think, nor does it change the results of their thinking this way.

Murderers with a double life sentence can come into prison and really be a “Big Shot.” He will get in with the most powerful gang and rape other men, and kill, and get by with it. And then he is a bigger big shot. After all, what does he have to lose? And many of these same people admit that they do not mind being in prison at all, and some even admit that they like it.

Is capital punishment in order? Yes sir!

May God bless you in the work of our Lord and Savior.

A brother in Christ.

This letter should not only give us food for thought about our penal system, but also some thought about opportunities we might have if there is a prison near you. Jesus died for criminals too. This brother could use some godly encouragement and good reading matter if you have a mind to write him:

George Fulmer Box PMB-98936-131 Atlanta, Georgia 30315

Truth Magazine XXI: 35, p. 549
September 8, 1977

By Mike Willis

Those of our readers who have been with Truth Magazine since its beginning know somewhat about its history. However, since not all of our readers are acquainted with the history of the paper, I would like to relate some of that to you. Truth Magazine began some twenty years ago as a format in which the issues which were dividing the church could be discussed. From its beginning, Truth Magazine was a controversial paper designed for the member of the Lord’s church who wanted to see both sides of the issues of institutionalism and the sponsoring church discussed:

The paper was very useful to brethren in the North and served the Lord well in teaching brethren the sinfulness of the sponsoring church concept of organization and the sinfulness of church support of human institutions. To the brethren responsible for the founding of Truth Magazine, many among us owe a debt of gratitude for their bold stared for the truth of God’s word.

More recently, the writers of Truth Magazine have been forced to take a public stand against Satan on another front. Brethren were becoming infected with a concept of unity which was nothing less than compromise with Satan. Indeed, one of the major papers published among us had one on its staff who was totally sympathetic with this position, Consequently, Truth Magazine again assaulted the strongholds of Satan by exposing the false doctrines and false men who were propagating this error. Those who have been readers of this paper are well aware of the stand which those of us who are associated with the paper have taken in opposition to these false doctrines.

As a matter of fact, the must justifiable criticism which I have heard anyone make of Truth Magazine was that it became obsessed with the issue of exposing the falseness of the “unity-in-diversity” concept of fellowship. There is no doubt in my mind that there is some truth in this criticism; 1 see it more clearly now than when we were in the midst of the battle. Nevertheless, there was never any doubt in anybody’s mind about on which side of the fray we stood or to whom our allegiance was given. We have always tried to give first allegiance to Jesus Christ and His word and stand, regardless of how popular or unpopular that stand has made us.

A Different Paper

However, must of us who are associated with the paper are convinced that we have already done about all that we can to expose the unity-in-diversity concept of unity which is presently being circulated among the brethren. We have called attention to the false doctrine and the false men who are circulating such pernicious evil. Brethren are awake to its dangers and are holding special studies to inform brethren of the evil. Having exposed that error, we feel that we can move on to other grounds at the present.

Let no one misunderstand me. We shall continue to publish materials from time to time which expose the issues and men who are propagating this new heresy. The unity-in-diversity group is not dead. It is still making some in-roads which we will have to fight and to announce to brethren: However, we have no intention of allowing Truth Magazine to become a one-issue paper.

I would like to present to our readers some of my aspirations and aims for Truth Magazine. By letting you know more of my intentions, you will be better qualified to decide to help us or not to help us whether it be in the promotion of the paper by getting subscriptions for us or through your contribution of articles on various subjects. So, here are some of the things which I would like to accomplish through the pages of this paper.

1. I would like to edit a paper which is useful to every Christian. Through the recent years, Truth Magazine has tended to circulate largely – among the preaching brethren. Its articles have been too scholarly for the average Christian and longer than most Christians will read. Though our pages will contain materials of this sort from time to time, I would like to see the average issue- become more useful to the man who sits in the pew. Hence, I want to edit a paper which is well balanced, i.e., it contains articles on a variety of subjects pertinent to the every day living of the Christian life.

1. I would like to edit a paper which comes to grips with the problems which Christians are having to face. For too long, we have been bogged down with one or two issues to the neglect of other matters which are equally important. Churches : are having to face problems other than the sponsoring church concept of church organization and church support of human institutions or the unity-in-diversity apostasy. We need some material which deals with some of these problems.

Elders, deacons, and other saints would like to read some material on why churches are dying on the vine because of not growing. They would like to see material designed to help them to reach the lost of their community. Brethren would like to have some help in overcoming the temptations which the world is throwing at them and their children. Frankly, I want to publish a paper which comes face-to-face with these problems and presents the answers which God’s word has for us.

3. Must of all, I want to edit a paper which is true to God’s word. The paper which is useful to every Christian is one which is totally loyal to the word of God. A paper which comes to grips with the problems which we are having to face in our homes and in congregations across this nation is only useful if the answers which are given to these problems are biblically sound. Hence, I want to edit a paper which is true to God’s word.

I Need Your Help

In order to accomplish these worthy goals, I need your help. First of all, I want to appeal to our writers to ask them to send material on a variety of subjects. I remember one occasion in which we were preparing a special issue of Truth Magazine for the Pekin, Indiana church to pass out at a county fair. They wanted the issue to deal with first principles inasmuch as the greater portion of the people attending the fair would not be Christians. As I helped work on that special issue of the paper, I found that we did not have enough material on first principles to put out one issue of the paper, although we had manuscripts coming out of our ears. I had to go home and write an article on the church in order to complete that issue of the paper.

Therefore, I am asking those who contribute articles to Truth Magazine for publication to send me material on a variety of subjects. I need material on such things as the action, purpose and subject of baptism, the oneness of the church, the organization, names, worship, etc. of the church, things which pertain to the Christian virtues, how to be a better husband, wife, or child, etc. If you have been thinking of sending an article for publication in Truth Magazine, give some though to writing on some subject other than unity-indiversity, institutionalism, or the sponsoring church. God’s word speaks on subjects other than these.

Secondly, I want to appeal to our readers to help us increase the circulation of Truth Magazine. With this change in view for the paper, I think that you will find Truth. Magazine more recommendable to your friends. Hence, I would like to request that each one of you recommend the paper to your friends who are Christians. The teaching of God’s word through the printed page will edify young Christians and solidify older ones.

Too, Truth Magazine is one of the best bargains in religious literature. Priced at $7.50 per year, Truth Magazine brings sixteen pages of religious literature into a home fifty times a year. Now you compare that price with those who are charging $9.50 for coming into your homes twenty-six times a year or a price comparable to our own but which comes into the home only twelve times a year. By comparing, you will see that you are getting a much larger quantity of teaching for the subscription price of Truth Magazine than through any other paper published among us. Then, I will guarantee you that. the quality of material will be excellent and well-balanced. So, again let me request your help in building the subscription list to Truth Magazine.

As I begin the venture as editor of this paper, I request your prayers and help to make this paper a useful tool in the propagation of God’s word. As it has been in the past, Truth Magazine can once again meet spiritual needs of brethren as we teach the word of God via the printed page.

Truth Magazine XXI: 35, pp. 547-549
September 8, 1977

By Irvin Himmel

The Bible says of Jesus, “And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: Where they crucified him…” (John 19:17,18).

Members of a modern sect called “Jehovah’s Witnesses” contend that Jesus was not nailed to a cross and was not crucified. Their New World Translation reads as follows: “And, bearing the torture stake for himself, he went out to the so-called ‘Skull Place’, which is called ‘Golgotha’ in Hebrew, and there they impaled him…” (John 19:17,18).

Arguing that the Greek word stauroo does not mean to “crucify” but to “impale,” they insist that Jesus was nailed to a single beam or pole, not to a cross. They maintain that stauros means an “upright stake,” not a “cross” formed by the using of two pieces of timber. In the appendix to their translation they discuss this matter and give a picture taken from a sixteenth century Roman Catholic publication which shows Jesus nailed to a straight pole. The Witnesses say the idea of the cross dates back to about 312 A.D. and was borrowed from paganism by Constantine. They speak of the cross as “the symbol falsely used to represent Christianity” and coming from “the erroneous idea that Jesus Christ was put to death on a post with a crossarm” (“Make Sure of All Things, ” p.83).

Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon defines stauros as “an upright stake, esp. a pointed one . . . a cross . . .” The Analytical Greek Lexicon says it means “a stake: a cross.” Both these lexicons include “to crucify” among their definitions of stauroo.

Gerhard Friedrich’s Theological Dictionary of the New Testament defines stauros as it was used in the New Testament world: “an instrument of torture for serious offences . . . In shape we find three basic forms. The cross was a vertical, pointed stake . . . , or it consisted of two intersecting beams of equal length.” Then it defines the word as used in the New Testament: “The cross which the Romans set up to execute Jesus was like any other, consisting of an upright post with a cross-beam” I Vol. 7, pp. 572, 574).

Justin Martyr wrote about the cross of Christ in the second century. He said, “For the one beam is placed upright, from which the highest extremity is raised up into a horn, when the other beam is fitted on to it, and the ends appear on both sides as horns joined on to the one horn” (Dialogue of Justin with Trypho, Chap. XCI, Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 1, p. 244). This was long before the time of Constantine.

If the cross is a pagan symbol, Russell and Rutherford, leaders in the movement known today as “Jehovah’s Witnesses,” must have been strongly tainted with paganism.

In 1886 the first volume of Charles T. Russell’s Millennial Dawn was published. It includes a foldout “Chart of the Ages” on which a cross (shaped like a dagger) marked the death of Christ. The same kind of symbol was used on charts in volume three of the Millennial Dawn in 1891.

J F Rutherford’s Harp of God was published in 1921. On page 114 it gives a picture of Christ paying the ransom on the cross. The full-page illustration depicts Jesus suspended with hands nailed to the crossbeam and an inscription nailed to the center post which extends above the crossbeam. In this same book Rutherford wrote, “Jesus was led away and crucified on Calvary’s hill. And Pilate, more righteous than the clerics, posted over his cross the sign: ‘Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews’ “(p.135).

According to Rutherford (in 1926), Jesus “was cruelly nailed to the cross” (Deliverance, p. 148). In 1927 he declared in a book called Creation that “Jests was crucified” t p. 160) and “died on the cross” (p. 183). He said in 1928, “The death of Jesus upon the cross or tree removed that curse from the Jews,” referring to Dent. 21:23 (Government, p. 110).

But presto! By 1937 Rutherford was saying “Jesus was not crucified on a cross” (Enemies, p.187). The book in which he makes this dogmatic assertion gives an illustration depicting Jesus suspended on a pole without a crossbeam.

It makes no difference to me whether Jesus died on a single pole, a cross shaped like an X, or a cross shaped like a T, or a cross shaped more like a dagger. It does seem a bit ridiculous, however, for people to assert that the instrument on which He died had to be of a specific form. This kind of dogmatism is no more than the expression of human opinion.

The words used in Greek could apply to a single stake or to a cross. It is enough for me that Jesus died for our sins. Whether one beam was used, or two beams were joined to form a cross, only men who want to speak where the Bible is silent will make bold and unfounded assertions that it could not have been of the traditionally accepted form, or it had to be of thus and such shape. Beware of religious leaders who claim to be wise above that which is written.

Truth Magazine XXI: 35, p. 546
September 8, 1977

By Lewis Willis

The apostle Peter wrote, “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Pet. 1:4). This is a profound statement and one which we need, indeed must, understand if we are to rise to the heights of achievement which God intended for His people. Herein we discuss the meaning of Peter’s statement, from which we propose to make several specific applications. We will discover one of the keys, if not the key, to success as Christians. This constitutes the foundation upon which we build in the area commonly known as “Practical Christianity.” With the proper understanding, and through the exercise of diligence, we will launch ourselves toward the excellence which should characterize us as the Redeemed.

Peter affirms that God has given unto us promises that are “exceeding great and precious,” that we, having escaped the worldly corruptions, might partake of the divine nature. These promises are precious because of what they mean to the soul of man. They are great because they grant unto us forgiveness, peace and the hope of eternal life. They are ours if we succeed in escaping the ravages of that corruption working in the world through the agency of our own lust. To facilitate in the accomplishment of this goal and to lay hold on the promises, we need only to partake of the divine nature. I intend no over-simplification; we are dealing with the sum of our commitment to the Lord. The fulfillment of that covenant is the arduous task of every Christian. It touches his life in the intricate area of what he thinks, says and does during each fleeting moment of the day. If, then, we come to partake of the divine nature, we will live in harmony with God’s purpose in and for us. Otherwise, we are doomed to disappointment and failure.

A Cherished Privilege

Specifically, partakers of the divine nature are those who share or participate in the holy character of God. These demonstrate in their lives the attributes of one possessing the nature of Deity. This is the role and intent of Christians. An appreciation of this objective might seem to the unenlightened and worldly as mere fanaticism. However, neither does the world acknowledge simple faith. Thus, the Christian cherishes the opportunity to share in the nature of his God. The pursuit of that nature prompts a change in his life. This is not merely a sentimental, mystical or transcendental change. It is an actual, discernible and progressive change through which God, as its author, is glorified. It is such as to enable the discerning Christian, through self-examination, to identify its presence.

Being Like God

This seems so lofty a state as to be beyond our reach. It seems so great, in fact, that we cannot lift up our hearts to conceive it. Yet, we have the assurance of the apostles and the experience of myriad saints who have proven in their lives, the reality of this gift or state. Ours is to believe the testimony, trust in Him who bids us, and actuate efforts toward attainment of that high and holy calling.

Do not mistake what I am saying. We do not partake in the natural attributes of Deity, such as omnipotence, omnipresence and omniscience. These are incommunicable; it is in the very nature of the case impossible. There must be forever an essential difference between a created and an uncreated being. And, this distinction shall prevail, even in eternity, for the uncreated shall be forever worshiped by the created (Rev. 4:10). What, then, is the divine nature in which we share? We partake in the moral attributes of Deity, i.e., we share in the same views, feelings, purposes, thoughts and principles of action as God. Facets of that divine moral nature are grace, love, forgiveness, etc.

Men have a passion for the natural attributes of Deity (which cannot be had), while being manifestly indifferent toward the moral excellence of God (which can be attained). Man only, of all the dwellers on the earth, is capable of rising to such excellence. All other orders of creatures are incapable of this transformation. Man can understand, admire and aspire to them. He can resolve and endeavor to participate in and acquire them.

However, it is not to be supposed that by merely aspiring to share the moral nature of God, that it will be possessed. One might aspire to fly, but the aspiration alone will not enable him to raise himself into the air and remain as though he had wings. The aspiration to be morally as God is noble, but it must express itself in a transformed life to become a reality. Practically, this means that we must live in grace, love, forgiveness, holiness, justice, etc. Then, and only then, can we confidently affirm that we are partakers of the divine nature.

Divine Nature: Grace

The changed life, which is Christianity, promotes a brilliance in character that is, as I said, discernible in the elect. Their conduct is consistent with the principles of conduct inherent in God. Such is clearly evident when considering the attribute of grace. The Greek word translated grace is charis and it appears in the New Testament 128 times. The common usage depicts an action or an attitude of God. Thayer, in defining charis, says it is used “pre-eminently of that kindness by which God bestows favors even upon the ill-deserving, and grants to sinners the pardon of their offenses, and bids them accept of eternal salvation through Christ” (Lexicon, p. 666). Thus, the commonly cited definition, that grace is “unmerited favor,” is a correct one.

Usually, when we refer to grace, we assign the exercise of it to the Lord. Most frequently, this is the biblical use of the term. We are told that the grace of God hath appeared to all men (Tit. 2:11). The Lord is referred to as the God of grace (1 Pet. 5:10). We are saved by His grace (Eph. 2:5,8), justified freely by His grace (Rom. 3:24), and called according to His grace (2 Tim. 1:9). His grace was bestowed on apostolic churches (2 Cor. 8:1). And, God gives grace to the humble (Jas. 4:6). Grace, therefore, is unquestionably one of the expressions of divine nature. The God of all glory is a fountain from whence flows a never-ending stream of unearned favor in which humanity continues to bathe itself. To give primacy to Jehovah in the exercise of grace is both fitting and proper. However, is Deity the only realm in which grace manifests itself? Is this aspect of the divine nature restricted only to the Lord? The answer is a resounding “No.”

Christians are commanded to exercise grace after the similitude of God. Peter wrote, “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet 3:18). What is meant when we are told to grow in grace? Are we to build a storehouse and fill it with God’s favor? When we sin, He metes out grace to us. But, Paul asks, “Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?” (Rom. 6:1). He says, “God forbid.” Under no circumstance are we to sin in order that we can continue the acquisition of God’s grace. Peter is instructing us to grow in the ability to dispense grace in the same way that God grants the same unto man. In this, it can be said that we are partakers of, or sharers in, the divine nature. It is worthy of note that we, in discussion of 2 Pet. 3:18, have made a strong and valid point regarding growth in knowledge. However, we seldom say anything about growth in grace. It is not my intention to diminish from the importance of acquiring knowledge. To the contrary, I would stress the essentiality of such. It is my intention to stress the significance of growing in grace.

Basically, Peter enjoins upon us the practice of showing grace, favor or kindness, even to those whom we consider to be undeserving of such. Growth in grace requires an ever-increasing capacity to act like God acts. This is most difficult for we are disposed to mete out retribution to one another. Suppose, for instance, that someone assigns an impure motive to some deed we have done. Our disposition is likely to be one of leaping upon him in such a fashion as to “set him straight about that!” We are hardly inclined to show favor in a way that would exemplify the divine nature within us. Or, suppose someone leaps upon us and gives a good tongue-lashing. The human response is to lash back! Telling him off would bring some momentary satisfaction. But, partakers of the divine nature speak with grace (Col. 4:6), regardless of the fact that such a response is undeserved. Or, suppose he harms us in something he does. We want to rise up and fight back. Such is not God’s purpose for us. He wants us to do unto others as we would have them do unto us (Matt. 7:21). How difficult such is! But, such is the expression of grace.

Hence, the divine nature is one which is full of grace. That grace is the basis of the hope we have in Christ. The author and source of that nature requires that we be like Him. This necessitates the enormous task of controlling the normal human impulses of the moment, so that we might climb to the higher plane where He resides. May God help us in the exercise of grace. “Thou, therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 2:1). In an article to follow, I shall be looking at two additional attributes of the divine nature in which Christians share.

Truth Magazine XXI: 34, pp. 540-541
September 1, 1977