The title of the video contains an element of self-contradiction. If someone is an “unbeliever” (AKA atheist), why would he want to “pray” to God anyway? He would have no incentive to. He would have to relinquish his “unbelief,” his “atheism,” to want to pray to God—in which case he could no longer be classed as an “unbeliever”. He would either have to be a “believer,” or at least allow for the possibility of God’s existence to want to, and be able to pray to him.
Listening to the video, however, seems to suggest that by an “unbeliever,” he means anybody who is not a Christian! A Jew, a Muslim, or anyone of any other religious tradition who worships God according to the custom of his own religion, is still classed as an “unbeliever,” according to him. At 05:36 minutes into the video he anticipates the obvious contradiction to his argument that is posed by the story of Cornelius in Acts 10, and tries to avert it in these words:
“There are a very few occasions, most notably, Cornelius in the New Testament, that people will bring up, and say, look, he was not a believer, and he prayed, and God sent Peter, and preached the gospel, and he was saved. But when the angel comes to Cornelius, it says, your prayers have ascended as a memorial to God. Very unusual phrase, it doesn’t say God has answered your prayers. And how did He answer the prayer? If He did, whatever degree we can say He did, He sent Peter to preach the gospel. Cornelius needed the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
The reference is to the following passage of scripture:
Acts 10:
3 He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius.
4 And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God.
5 And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter:
There are several issues with that statement. The first concerns his understanding of “memorial before God”. His suggestion that it is a “very unusual phrase, it doesn’t say God has answered your prayers,” is absurd, illogical, and unbiblical. “Memorial” in that context means that God had remembered, or taken notice of his prayers and charitable deeds. They had come to God’s attention, and consequently God was now answering them by sending him the angel, with the message that he needed to hear. The following are some alternative translations of that scripture:
1599 Geneva Bible (GNV)
But when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? and he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up into remembrance before God.
New Matthew Bible (NMB)
When he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? He said to him, Your prayers and your alms have come up into remembrance before God.
Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
Staring at the angel and feeling afraid, Cornelius said, “What do you want, sir?” The angel said to him, “God has heard your prayers and has seen your gifts to the poor. He remembers you and all you have done.
Contemporary English Version (CEV)
Cornelius was surprised and stared at the angel. Then he asked, “What is this all about?” The angel answered, “God has heard your prayers and knows about your gifts to the poor.
Good News Translation (GNT)
He stared at the angel in fear and said, “What is it, sir?” The angel answered, “God is pleased with your prayers and works of charity, and is ready to answer you.
The Passion Translation (TPT)
Startled, he was overcome with fear by the sight of the angel. He asked, “What do you want, Lord?” The angel said, “All of your prayers and your generosity to the poor have ascended before God as an eternal offering.
New Testament for Everyone (NTE)
He looked hard at him, terrified. “What is it, Sir?” he said. “Your prayers and your alms have come to God’s notice,” said the angel.
The second problem with that proposition is that it completely overlooks Peter’s own interpretation of Cornelius’ experience, which is as follows:
Acts 10:
34 Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:
35 But in every nation [and religion] he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.
If they are “accepted with him,” that means that their prayers are also heard. That is the only logical reading of the text. It can have no other meaning. The idea of God “remembering” others as an act of kindness and mercy, and in answer to prayers, is found in many places in the Bible. Here are some:
Genesis 19:
29 And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt.
The reference is to Abraham’s previous prayer to God, to spare Lot from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18:22–32). God “remembering” Abraham doesn’t mean that God had forgotten about Abraham, and now by some stroke of good luck had remembered him again. It is a metaphor, implying that God was cognizant of his faithfulness and prayers, and took action on his behalf as and when required. The remaining examples are clear, no explanations are necessary:
Genesis 30:
22 And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb.
Exodus 2:
24 And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
Numbers 10:
9 And if ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before the Lord your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies.
Judges 16:
28 And Samson called unto the Lord, and said, O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.
Nehemiah 13:
14 Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and wipe not out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God, and for the offices thereof.
Nehemiah 13:
31 … Remember me, O my God, for good.
Cornelius’ prayers coming as a “memorial” before God has the same meaning as God’s “remembering” in the above examples. There is nothing strange or “unusual” about that in biblical terms, as he suggests. The third problem with that statement is that it completely overlooks other passages of scripture that confirm the above, such as the following:
Romans 2:
6 Who will render to every man according to his deeds:
7 To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:
8 But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,
9 Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew [or Christian] first, and also of the Gentile [or pagan];
10 But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew [or Christian] first, and also to the Gentile [or pagan]:
11 For there is no respect of persons with God.
12 For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;
13 (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.
14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:
15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another; )
16 In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.
Jonah 3:
6 For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water:
8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.
9 Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?
10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.
God heard the prayers of Cornelius; he heard the prayers of the pagan people of Nineveh; and according to the words of Peter in Acts 10, and of Paul in Romans 2, he will likewise hear and answer the sincere prayers of every other human being on earth who “fearth God,” and “worketh righteousness” out of a good conscience, and prays to God in accordance with the custom of his own religious tradition: be they Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Zoroastrians, or whatever. That is what the Bible teaches. I pity the students who are trying to learn theology from these guys.
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