What is life insurance? Biblical questions and answers

 676. What is life insurance? 

It is an agreement to pay, upon certain conditions, a stipulated sum of money to friends or relatives of an in-

dividual after his death. 

677. What is the principal argument used in favor of life insurance? 

That it is a protection to the family insured. 

678. Granting that it is a protection, is it needed? 

It is not. 

679. Why not? God has promised full protection. 

680. What does He say? 

“I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Hebrews 13:5). 

681. To what extent does this apply to temporal things? 

“I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread” 

(Psalm 37:25). Food and clothing are included in the promises of God (Matthew 6:25-33). 

682. But if a poor man should die, leaving a large family, would not a good-sized insurance policy be a 

source of comfort? 

“Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive, and let thy widows trust in me” (Jeremiah 49:11). 

A good-sized insurance policy is an excellent thing to cause a man to die poor. 

683. What conclusion, then, should we come to because of these and similar promises? 

They who put their trust in the Lord, and serve Him in faithfulness, will be provided for. 

684. In view of many promises of God to care for His own, is it not dishonoring Him to feel unsafe unless 

protected (?) in a worldly company? 

Decidedly so. 

685. What of a man’s judgment in so doing? 

It is decidedly poor. God is absolutely reliable: which is more than can be said of any worldly company. 

686. What has the Bible to say on this point? 

“It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man” (Psalm 118:8). 

687. How does God provide for His own? 

In various ways. It may be either in blessing with health and strength, in His blessings resting upon their 

business, in revealing hidden wealth, or through the instrumentality of His body, the Church. 

688. Can we always depend upon it that God will bless His people in one or more of these ways? 

We cannot come to any other conclusion without doubting God’s Word. 

689. What then leads people to seek protection in worldly companies? 

Lack of faith in God. 

690. Who reaps the greatest profit from life insurance? 

Life insurance companies. 

691. Upon what grounds was this answer given?From the official statistics of the companies. In 1904, for instance, the income of the leading companies in 

the United States was $202,000,00 above disbursements. This amount flowed from the pockets of the 

masses into the coffers of rich corporations. Let this go on from year to year, and you can easily guess at re-

sults. Less than half the money paid in premiums gets back to the policyholders. Then look at the princely 

salaries paid to high officials, and the immense sums of money spent on banquets, buildings, agents, litera-

ture, etc., together with the funds used to corrupt political campaigns and bug up legislatures, and you have 

some reasons for the answer. 

692. Where does the money come from to pile up these enormous amounts? 

A large proportion of it comes from people who allow themselves to be talked into having their lives in-

sured, and afterwards find the burden too great and allow their policies to lapse. W. B. Denton tells of a poor 

widow who, “after paying $116. she lapsed, and could hardly provide for the most common necessities of

life.” Thus there were $116. of bread taken from the mouths of hungry children, and the same distributed 

among a few beneficiaries, the life insurance company getting the lion’s share of the pile. 

693. Is this a rare case? 

There are thousands like it. 

694. Is it right to share in the prosperity of companies holding millions of dollars like that? 

It is not. 

695. Would not mutual companies be better? 

They have the same objectionable feature. Besides, these mutual companies are all short-lived. Listen to the 

testimony of J. W. Caldwell, Chicago: “I am now 56 years old and in very good health. I have outlived 

seven companies in which I have been insured, and which have since failed.” 

696. But such companies are more economical than the old line companies. Listen to the testimony of Judge 

E. B. Buch, Winfield, Kansas: “Fraternal life insurance as an economic proposition has no foundation. 

Without the constant supply of new blood, the only way to get even is to die early.” 

697. What kind of insurance is the only real and reliable insurance in existence? 

Insure in the King’s Great Company. 

698 Describe the company. 

It is composed of Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Headquarters, the New Jerusalem. 

699. What are the advantages of seeking insurance in this company? 

(1) It is the only company in existence which really can and does insure life. It is blasphemy for any worldly 

company to assume to insure life. (2) It is absolutely reliable. The promise is without reservation (Hebrews 

13:5), and it is impossible for God to lie (Hebrews x:18). There is no such thing as funds being squandered 

by corrupt officials, and if every person who had his life insured would die immediately, the company could 

easily meet its obligations (3) Neither poverty nor ill health are any barriers against being insured in this 

company. (4) The company gives the best kind of protection in time, and an everlasting crown in eternity. 

700. What is the difference between the charity taught in the Bible and that practised by life Insurance com-

panies? 

(1) Gospel charity consists in giving to those in actual need, without hoping for anything in return. Life in-

surance charity bars out the very persons who most need it, as people of unsound health and those who are 

not able to pay their dues are not admitted. 

(2) Gospel charity is free. Life insurance charity costs those it professes to benefit more than twice as much 

as it returns to them. 

(3) Gospel charity is without partiality. Life insurance charity is paid out upon contract to those who have 

previously paid for part or all of it. 

(4) Gospel “charity never faileth” (1 Corinthians 13:8). Life insurance charity is offered to those only who 

can pay for it and cancelled as soon as the dues stop coming in. 

701. Is it not true that life insurance companies protect their people by loaning them money so that they can 

keep up their dues? 

And by this means they lay upon them a double tribute: (l) the payment of the regular premiums, (2) the 

payment of interest on loans. When the credit is exhausted, both premiums and interest money are gone,

with nothing but a cancelled policy to show for it. Yes, it is true that 1ife insurance imposes a heavy burden 

upon the poor man. 

702. When does the family get relief?When the poor man dies. 

703. Are there not some companies who issue time policies, so that after twenty or thirty years a man may 

draw out his policy, even though living? 

Yes. That is some better. Now if human life were taken out of consideration, and if the agreement were such 

that the man or his family would draw out all that was paid in, with reasonable interest, nothing more and 

nothing less, about all the objectionable features would be removed. 

704. What is the objection to taking out the policy on the life of an individual? 

It is making merchandise of human life. 

705. What is the proof of this assertion? 

The immense piles of wealth collected from the business of speculating on the lives of human beings. 

706. Are these immense piles of wealth any assurance that the companies are reliable? 

They might be if all officials connected with them were honest. But if this were the case, there would be no 

corruption funds to buy up legislatures, neither would the exposure in recent years of disgraceful methods 

have been made. Besides, it is possible for some calamity to befall our country so as to make the death rate 

large enough to make the strongest company insolvent. In reliability they cannot compare with the sure

promises of God. 

707. Why is life insurance sometimes referred to as “a game of chance”? 

On the one hand the policy-holder is sure of the sum stipulated in the policy, provided (1) he outlives the 

one who has his life insured, (2) the premiums are kept paid up until the one insured dies, (3) the company 

remains solvent, (4) there is no flaw anywhere in the policy. On the other hand, the policy-holder may get 

the stipulated sum after the payment of a premium or two, or the one insured may unfortunately live so long 

that the insurance proves to be a poor investment. That looks decidedly chancy, does it not? 

708. What other name is there for chance games? 

Gambling. 

709. What makes life insurance seem a good business investment? 

The hope of getting something for nothing. 

710. Why is it not a good business investment? 

Any business which pays back less than half of what is paid in is not a good business investment for the av-

erage investor. 

711. Is it not true that many have drawn out thousands of dollars after the payment of a few paltry premi-

ums? 

Yes, This is just as true as is the other fact that men have invested a few dollars in lotteries and drawn out 

fortunes. If one is a good business investment, what do you call the other? 

712. Some people spend their money as fast as they get it. Would it not be better for them to invest it in life 

insurance? 

Why not invest it in a savings bank, where they could have their money safely kept, and where they might 

have it, with reasonable interest, returned without having to die to get it? 

713. What is the difference? 

One is a chance game, with human life or death as the essential element in the game of chance; the other is a 

straightforward business proposition, upon an honest basis. 

714. What keeps the life insurance business alive and active? 

Large profits on the part of officials and agents, and the hope held out of securing large sums of money for a 

comparatively small outlay. 

715. What is the effect of this last expressed hope? 

It puts distance between the individual and the Golden Rule. 

716. What about the profits reaped by the officials and agents? 

Presidents of leading life insurance companies receive a salary greater than that of the President of the 

United States. Official statistics show that in 1904 the agents of these companies received $343,000,000 for 

their share of the profits in working up new business. 

717. What effect have these profits upon the beneficiaries of life insurance? 

It works like oil upon the tongue, and puts a keen edge on the intellect, looking for arguments to defend the 

business. 

718. Do they tell the people frankly why they are out soliciting?No. They usually tell you how much they are interested in you and your family, and what a great wrong you 

would do them if you did not protect them with a good-sized policy. 

719. How does Peter describe these men? 

“And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now 

of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not” (2 Peter 2:3). 

720. What text do they often quote? 

“But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is 

worse than an infidel” (1 Timothy 5:8). 

721. What is their conclusion? 

That whoever fails to have his life insured is worse than an infidel. 

722. Why is the conclusion faulty? 

(1) We have already shown that Life Insurance is unscriptural. 

(2) To invest in a business that pays back less than half of what is paid in is a poor way to provide for your 

own. 

(3) Life insurance is a continual burden upon the family so long as the premiums are kept up. 

(4) The one insured may outlive the policyholder. 

(5) It is never scriptural to use unscriptural means in providing for your own. 

723. What other objection in life insurance? 

It puts a premium on suicide. 

724. In what way? 

Many have felt the burden of keeping up payment of premiums to an extent that they were forced to face the 

alternative, get killed and make your family rich or live on and struggle with poverty. 

725. What temptation hangs over every family in which someone has his life insured? 

To wish for that money. 

726 What are some of the fruits of this temptation?

Strained family relations, sensational reports and murder trials. 

727. What indictment has the nation to bring against life insurance? 

It is a constant drain upon the pockets of the masses, and the money flows steadily into the coffers of rich 

corporations, who use part of it to control political campaigns, corrupt legislatures, etc. 

728. What indictment has the home and Church to bring against it? 

The money that is spent in keeping up premiums should be used in support of home and Church. Both the 

home and the Church are thus robbed of much that might be used for the benefit of the needy. 

729. What concluding advice should be given to everybody? 

Take God at His word, and trust in His promises. Be satisfied to remain in the King’s Great Company, 

where your prosperity does not mean some other one’s loss, and where your policy means an everlasting 

crown.