Getting the Mail on Sunday

QUESTION: Is it wrong for a Christian to open his P. O. box and get his Witness or other religious paper on Sunday?

ANSWER: I think it is wrong to require the postmaster to be in his office on the Lord's Day. If you can get your paper without this requirement, I see no evil in it.

— Steele's Answers p. 245.

Taking Children to Entertainments

QUESTION: Is it wrong to take children to see strenuous athletic contests, a street trapeze, or a man dive from a bridge or a logging contest for prizes?

ANSWER: It is wrong to give children low ideals. "Just as the twig is bent the tree is inclined."

— Steele's Answers p. 245.

Christ Our Sanctification

QUESTION: In what sense is Christ our sanctification as in I Cor. 1:30?

ANSWER: Not that his personal holiness is reckoned as ours, but that we are indebted to him for procuring the Paraclete (John 14:16), by whom we are sanctified (II Thess. 2:13; II Pet. 1:13).

— Steele's Answers p. 245.

King Asa

QUESTION: How could Asa have been perfect all his days in view of the bad conduct of which he was guilty in the latter part of his reign? See II. Chron. 15:17; 16:2, 10, 12.

ANSWER: No other answer can be given than that his apparent eclipse of faith was due to an eclipse of  intellect in the last years. In other words, that he was irresponsible because he was insane. That is my charitable explanation of the sudden change in his conduct. In that case God could pronounce his heart perfect while his head was awry. The commentators with great unanimity skip this verse.

— Steele's Answers pp. 244, 245.

The Ending of Mark

QUESTION: Did Mark write 16:9-20, the last fourteen verses of his Gospel?

ANSWER: No, they are not found in the two oldest manuscripts, and the 8th verse ends in Greek with gar 'for,' an ending as absurd as "and" in English. It seems that the original ending was torn off and some one has supplied an ending containing twenty-one words and expressions — some  of  them repeated — which are never elsewhere used by Mark. Its omission is a great relief to our missionaries in India, who are often challenged to prove their doctrine true by handling cobras and rattlesnakes and drinking deadly poisons. The different ending referred to in the R V. margin is this: "They concisely announced to Peter and his company all things that were commanded." After these things Jesus himself also through them sent forth, from the rising of the sun to its going down, the sacred and incorruptible proclamation of the eternal salvation."

— Steele's Answers p. 244.

Did the Cock Crow Twice or Three Times?

QUESTION: Harmonise Mark 14:72, "Before the cock crow twice," and Luke 22:61, "Before the cock crow thou wilt deny me thrice."

ANSWER: Dr. Robinson harmonises it thus: "The cock often crows irregularly about midnight, and again always and regularly about the third hour, which is named the cock-crowing. Mark speaks more definitely and Matthew more generally." There are other slight discrepancies relating to the persons who questioned Peter, for which I am thankful, since they prove that the two evangelists are independent witnesses and not drilled after the manner of perjury to utter exactly the same words. Of such testimonies judges and juries are justly suspicious. My theory of inspiration is that the Bible is the infallible directory to eternal life, and that such fly-specks as these minute differences do not in the least damage that directory. In this respect I do not believe, as Dr. Adam Clarke does not, in the absolute inerrancy of the Holy Scriptures, especially in respect to numbers.

— Steele's Answers pp. 243, 244.

How Could There Be Forgiveness Before Atonement?

QUESTION: How could Jesus forgive sins before atonement was made on Calvary?

ANSWER: There were two kinds of forgiveness, pretermission, passing over, by withholding penalty, as in Rom. 3:25, R V., and remission, letting sins go, as if they had not been committed, i. e., they are pardoned. The two Greek words are paresis and aphesis. In the former case the efficacy of the atonement is reflected back upon the sins of the truly penitent sinners of previous ages, who trusted in the mercy of God.

— Steele's Answers p. 243.

Trine Baptism

QUESTION: Was trine baptism practiced in the apostolic church?

ANSWER: There is no proof of it in the N. T., but it was so universal in the early Christian centuries that some infer its apostolic origin.

— Steele's Answers p. 242.

The Methodist Love Feast

QUESTION: Is the Methodist Love Feast scriptural?

ANSWER: It is a revival or restoration of the Agapae (Greek: "loves") spoken of in II Pet. 2:13, Jude 12, the abuse of which is severely censured by Paul (I Cor. 11:20-22). It was a feast after the Lord's Supper expressing and fostering mutual love. The wealthy members provided the banquet, of which all partook, the rich and the poor mingling together. It was grossly abused at Corinth, some eating gluttonously and others partaking of too much wine, thus neutralizing the beneficial effect of the proper celebration of Eucharist. Chrysostom says it was "a custom most beautiful and most beneficial; for it was a supporter of love, a solace of poverty, a moderator of wealth, and a discipline of humility." Because of irregularities it became obsolete after several centuries. It was revived by the Moravians, followed by the Wesleyans.

— Steele's Answers p. 242.

Endowment Plans

QUESTION: Is it wrong to be insured in a reliable company on the twenty years' endowment plan?

ANSWER: I fail to see any sin in it. Christ did not teach improvidence though the erroneous translation, "Take no thought for morrow," instead of, "Be not anxious for the morrow," as in the Revision, seems to make Christ teach a total disregard of the future. Faith and Worry cannot be happily married. Faith soon dies.

— Steele's Answers pp. 241, 242.