Seldom in modern history has there been an avalanche of good news as we witness in the media these days. Newspaper headlines proclaim it, television commentators confirm it, and the people believe it. And why shouldn’t they? For the average Australian, American, and a few other nationals, things have seldom been better. The era of “peace, progress and prosperity” it seems has finally arrived.
“Dawn of a
Golden Age.” “Shortly after the last Budget, Peter Costelo
saw a vision of the future, or rather a glimmer of a halcyon past. The Treasurer became convinced of the
proposition put by some of his top economic advisers that
A Brave New World?
“Many
investors in the
Onset of New
Era? “A STRANGE contagion is spreading across the
land: the belief that technology and globalisation promise unbounded prosperity
and render old rules redundant has infected
“’US companies do much better then predicted.” “The economy continues to grow more rapidly
than people thought,’ said Mr Mark Vitner, an
economist with First Union Corp. ‘It’s all about the strength of the
And when the American economy is doing well, the whole world
breathes a sigh of relief. Given its
dominant position in the global economy, good news from
“Forget the chess match of Garry Kasparov v IBM’s
Deep Blue. A much more interesting battle between man and machine is playing
out in today’s media. In one corner is the Mars Pathfinder and its roving
companion, Sojourner, which slowly is prodding about on the “Red” planet. And
in the other, the Mir,
“No contest. For better and (largely, I’m afraid) for worse, victory goes solidly to the humans, who handily have trounced Pathfinder on the evening news and on front pages.
“Remember Pathfinder? When it reached the Martian surface on July 4, the intrepid spacecraft rightly was lauded as a triumph of a revitalised space-exploration program. The official Pathfinder Web site logged 80 million hits in one day. And Time and Newsweek made temporary stars out of NASA’s tech nerds. . .”
“Which brings us to Mir’s latest and most ignoble function, a stage for space tragi-comedy. By now, it is hard not to be aware of the staccato sequence of odd and sometimes pathetic mishaps that have struck the Russian space station this year. Unfortunately, the smirks and sad shaking of the head tend to distract from the larger lessons of Pathfinder v Mir. From its inception, NASA has been keenly aware of the enormous public relations advantage that manned missions have over unmanned ones. But Mir’s woes illustrate how easily that edge can turn against you.” (SMH, August 27, 1997).
To illustrate the success of the American science, we gleaned a few comments from a discussion panel analysing the Mars rover expedition:
“We are at the
beginning of another golden age.”
“If we are not looking for life, it is not worth doing it.”
(Newshour with Jim
Lehrer”, SBS TV,
The notion of a new
golden age extends beyond the economic and scientific fields. At a recent NATO Heads of State Summit,
President Yeltsin of
“Yeltsin’s
pledge on missiles stuns NATO”
“
“The End of The Cold War” “Boris Yeltsin’s announcement in Paris that Russia’s nuclear arsenal will no longer target NATO countries is a reminder of just how far the world has moved from the frightening days of the Cold War. ‘Today we can say the Cold War has definitely come to an end’, a NATO spokesman said.” (The Weekend Australian, May 31-June 1, 1997).
There was good news on the environment too. This year, New York was the venue for the Second Earth Summit in which leaders from around the world committed themselves to important measures to restore the ecological balance of the earth.
Then we had tremendously good news in the religious field too. The Pope went to Poland where he blessed that country with yet more ‘saints’; the head of the Anglican Church declared that he had no objection to women being ordained to the priesthood; the Presbyterian Church elected a new Moderator who vowed to make that church “relevant to the kind of society we live in”, and the ministers in the Churches of God rejoiced that our prediction about their impending doom did not materialise.
Which raises the question, where do all these things leave us? Up in the air, someone might say.
Year after year, for seven years now, we have preached that the world is heading towards catastrophe, yet what do we have now? Good news all around. Which explains why we have not been very popular.
The prophets of doom have never been welcomed by this world. Virtually all of God’s people have had to contend with mockers – people who did not believe in their prophecies. There is no better example of that than Jeremiah the prophet. When his prophecies about the impending doom of Judah did not materialise as expected, he vowed never to speak in the name of God again.
“O LORD, You
induced me, and I was persuaded; you are stronger than I, and have prevailed. I
am in derision daily; everyone mocks me.
For when I spoke, I cried out; I shouted, "Violence and plunder!''
Because the word of the LORD
was made to me a reproach and a derision daily.
Then I said, “I
will not make mention of Him, nor speak anymore in His name.'' But His word was in my heart like a burning
fire shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, and I could not. For I heard many mocking: “Fear on every side!''
"Report,'' they say, “and we will report it!''
All my
acquaintances watched for my stumbling, saying, “Perhaps he can be induced;
then we will prevail against him, and we will take our revenge on him.'' (Jer. 20:7-10).
Jeremiah’s contemporaries did prevail against him, and threw him into a muddy dungeon where he would have died if one of the royal servants, who believed in him, had not managed to save him at the last moment.
He was lucky that at least one person believed in him, but who would save us if we were to face a similar situation? Of all the people we have contacted since the beginning of this work, not one has repented and turned to God.
We know of people who started a religion at about the same time, who have attracted thousands of followers by now. They preach doctrines which are demonstrably un-Scriptural, yet we, who preach nothing but what is in the Bible, have attracted no one. This work started with two people in 1990; seven years later two people are still doing it. But then, this was not entirely unexpected, for we knew what the Bible says about those who would do the work of God at this particular junction of world history: 1) They would be poor people (“clothed in sackcloth” as the Bible puts it), and 2) No one would help them.
How marvellously accurate prophesies which have been written thousands of years ago are proving out to be in our own time. And they say that there is no God, or that He does not care about what happens in the world at present.
Jeremiah’s prophecies proved true shortly afterwards, and those who disdained him paid with their lives in the end. The question is, could this also be the case with us? Could it be that those who rejoiced at our demise, did so a bit too soon?
WHAT YOU
SEE IS NOT WHAT YOU GET
“An astonishing
and horrible thing
has been committed
in the land:
The
prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own power;
And My people love to have it so. But what will you do in the end?” (Jer. 5:30-31).
Few people have not heard
the song that says: “what you see is what you get, there is nothing more to
it”, or words with that effect. Well,
there is a lot more to it than meets the eye this time, because what you see in
the headlines and hear in the news is not what you get, nor the whole
truth. Let us look at those “good news”
again.
SCIENTIFIC NEWS
The American scientists who assured us that, “the solar planetary system could become our second homes”, seem to have forgotten that human beings have not even flown to the nearest planet let alone colonise the rest of the solar planetary system. And on which planet would they like settle if they could reach it? Would it be much of a life if they had to live in a space suit or in a closed environment all their lives? There would be no rivers, no trees, no mountains, no pastures, no roaming animals, nothing but barren wasteland. Would anyone call that a “golden age”?
Has it never dawned on these people that this planet was uniquely prepared and positioned to foster and preserve life on it, that no other planet in the whole universe is like it? It has the right distance from the sun, so that we neither freeze nor scorch ourselves; the right size, so that winters and summers are not decades or centuries long; the right gravitational field, so that we do not fall off the planet nor get squashed by its strength; the right length of days and nights, so that we can work during the day and regenerate at night; the right distance from the moon, so that the tides create just enough movement in the oceans to flush the shores without flooding the planet; it spins on its axe at the right speed, so that inertia does not send us into space nor flatten and disorient us; the list could go on and on. Everything is just right on this planet, and there is no scientific or religious reason to indicate that any other is like it in the whole universe.
Our scientists can search for life in the outer space all their lives, they will never find anything anywhere. That is because this planet, and this only, has been created for the purpose of sustaining life, and all the other astral bodies have been placed in the sky for no other reason than to be signs and wonders for this world. That is what our Creator God says, and that is the truth, believe it or not.
The assertion that humanity is on the brink of colonising other planets reminds me of an environmental poster I had in my school library. It showed the globe with the caption: “When we are finished with this planet, we have a whole galaxy to choose from”. Indeed, why should we stop at the solar system when we can colonise the entire universe? Given our prolific rate of reproduction, before long we would run out of space in this planetary system too, so we should not limit ourselves to just one planetary system, or just one galaxy.
The scientists - the people who are telling us that humanity is on the brink of making the solar system our second homes - are the same ones who are telling us that humanity created itself, that God had no role to play in creating the world or life on this planet.
Does that thrill you? Does the thought that 50, 70, 100 or 150 years, is all there is to human life? Would you rather believe that your life is nothing but an accident of nature, than that there is a higher purpose to life, and something exhilaratingly beautiful and promising beyond this temporary existence?
Science does not operate at the spiritual level, the one that reveals the existence of God and a wonderful purpose to human life. Of course, the handiwork of God can be seen at the physical level too, but only if you open your heart to the sixth sense, the inner voice that reveals realities that cannot be accessed through the five senses.
You are doing yourself a great disservice by looking at one side of the coin only. If you come out of your shell and look through history, and acquaint yourself with what the great thinkers of mankind have said, you will discover truths that make you heart jump with joy. Things that can hardly be uttered or explained by human beings.
Those people have given their lives rather than miss out on the things they have discovered through the exercise of all their faculties, not just the five senses. Yet, for some extraordinary quirk of nature, and reasons which only they can explain, scientists are now telling us not to believe anything that is not “logical”; nothing that cannot be detected through the five senses, or cannot be confirmed through empirical research and experiments. The world has taken that as the new gospel. The world is much the poorer for it.
ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS
A United Nations report presented at the Second Earth Summit said that conditions in the world are now far worse than they were five years ago at the first Earth Summit in Rio. How could it be otherwise when the forests are being destroyed faster, carbon dioxide emissions are greater, fresh water is getting scarcer and more polluted, mountains of solid waste are getting bigger, agricultural land keeps shrinking, population continues to increase, marine food stocks continue to diminish, the weather is turned up-side down, and natural disasters continue to play havoc around the world.
The warming of the planet as
a result of the greenhouse effect is no longer a hypothesis, but a fact. This realisation came frighteningly fast upon
the world. We have played our role in
this too. When we started this work
seven years ago, no one, outside a small circle of scientists, paid much
attention to the greenhouse effect. Yet, there has not been a single edition in
which we have not dedicated page after page of proofs of environmental
degradation, of the greenhouse effect, of warming of the planet, etc. We said all along that things will get worse,
much worse, and they did. Now how did we
know these things? From watching world
developments and correlating these with the biblical prophesies. In other words, we have done what our Lord
told us to do:
“Watch therefore, for you do not know when
the master of the house is coming-- in the evening, at
“And what I say to you, I say to all:
Watch!'' (Mark 13:35-37).
""But as the days of Noah were, so
also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did
not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming
of the Son of Man be.” (Matt. 24:37-39)
And what did the world leaders do with all those facts,
what decision did they take at the Second Earth Summit? To recommend a reduction of the greenhouse gas
emissions by 15 per cent of their 1990 levels by the year 2010. Now what exactly do they think they will
achieve with that? The natural absorption cycle of carbon dioxide, the main
culprit in the greenhouse effect, is between one hundred and two hundred
years. Which means that what we see in
the world right now, is not the result of gas emissions accumulated in the last
few years, nor indeed in the last few decades, but the effect of carbon dioxide
emissions since the beginning of the industrial revolution, which occurred in
the middle of the last century.
And you know what? They could not even agree on that. In the end, they settled for a reduction in
these gases of under ten per cent. And not all the countries agreed to that either. You can be absolutely sure that they will
keep these promises just they kept the ones they made at the First Earth Summit
in Rio.
“Greenhouse gap too wide for bargains” “The
1992 Rio Environmental Summit, which committed nations to try to stabilise
emissions at 1990 levels by 2000, has been an abject failure – with virtually
every nation substantially increasing greenhouse gas output since then.” (The Australian, October 24, 1997).
ECONOMIC NEWS
We can do no better on this
topic than to quote world leaders on their view of the future.
“YOU’RE SACKED” WORLD-CLASS dreams are at home in
At this site steeped in history, the man welcoming the
world's elite in late September 1995 is one of the few who has himself made
history: Mikhail Gorbachev. When the
Cold War came to an end, American patrons gratefully fitted out a foundation
(with Gorbachev of all people as president) on an abandoned military area south
of the Golden Gate.
Now he has flown in 500 leading politicians,
businessmen and scientists from every continent - a new "global brains
trust", as the last president of the Soviet Union and Nobel prize-winner
calls it, which is supposed to point the way to the "new'
civilisation" of the 21st century.
Such experienced world rulers as George Bush, George
Shultz and Margaret Thatcher are here meeting the new lords of the Earth - men
of the likes of CNN boss Ted Turner, who has merged with Time Warner to form
the largest media business in the world, or the South-East Asian magnate
Washington Sycip.
The idea is for them to spend three days in intensive discussions with
the global players in computers and finance, as well as with the high priests
of theoretical economics from Stanford, Harvard and Oxford. Emissaries of free
trade from Singapore and (naturally) Beijing also want their voices to be heard
when the future of humanity is at issue. . .
No one has come to brag and bluster. No one is allowed
to stop the participants from speaking freely and the hordes of journalists
have been screened off at considerable, expense. There are strict rules
designed to minimise rhetorical ballast: those introducing a subject for
debate, are given just five minutes and no contribution is supposed to last for
longer than two.
Not a murmur passes through the room. The prospect of
previously undreamt-of armies of the unemployed seems to go without
saying. None of the highly paid career
managers from the company divisions of the future believes there will be enough
new, regularly paid jobs in any sector of the economy in the technologically
demanding growth markets of hitherto affluent countries. . .
The Fairmont pragmatists sum up the future in a pair
of numbers and a concept: "20 to 80" and "tittytainment". In the next century, 20 per cent of the
population will suffice to keep the world economy going. "More manpower
won't be needed,” thinks Sycip. One-fifth of all job-seekers will be enough
to produce all the commodities and to furnish high-value services that world
society will be able to afford. This 20 per cent, in whichever country, will
actively participate in life, earnings and consumption--to which may be added
another I per cent or so of people who, for example, have inherited a lot of
money
And the rest? Will 80 per
cent of those willing to work be left without a job? "Sure," says the
American writer Jeremy Rifkin, author of The
End of Work. “The bottom 80 per cent
will have almighty problems." Gage
stirs things up again and refers to his business head, Scott McNealy. The
question in the future will be "to have lunch or be lunch".
From this point on, the top-class group discussing
"the future of work" concerns itself with those who will have none.
The firm conviction is that these will include tens of millions who have so far
probably felt closer to the everyday bliss of the San Francisco
Bay area than
to the struggle to survive without a secure job. A new social order is being sketched out at the
Fairmont - one of rich countries with no middle class worth mentioning – and no
one disagrees. . .”
“In any event, the business leaders
expect that, soon, in the industrialised countries,
people will again be sweeping the streets for nest to nothing or finding a meagre shelter as household helps. For futurologist John Naisbitt, the industrial age and its mass prosperity will
eventually become no more than a "blip in economic history". The participants in these three memorable
days at the Fairmont imagined themselves to be on the road to a new civilisation. But the route envisaged by the assembled
experts from top management and science leads straight back to pre-modern
times. In the 1980s, Europeans and
others feared the coming of a "two-thirds society", but the new model
is of a 20 to 80 world, a one-fifth society in which those left out will have
to be pacified with tittytainment [titillate and entertainment equals tittytainmanet].” This is an edited extract from The Global Trap, which has just been published in Australia
by Pluto Press. (The Weekend Australian, Nov. 1-2, 1997).
So, “on the road to a new civilisation
. . . the question will be ‘to have lunch or be lunch"”. A golden age and a brave new world
indeed. And now some “good news” on the
American economy.
“Icemen come in with the cold. Stephen Roach
of Morgan has argued that the idea that the US economy, in particular, had
entered a new era or paradigm of low inflation, low unemployment, steady growth
and high profits was no more than wishful thinking unsupported by hard
evidence.
Ultimately
(early in 1998 according to Roach) inflation would come surging through,
forcing the US Federal Reserve to tighten monetary policy, with adverse
implications for equity prices, and the non-financial economy.
On the
other hand there are “icemen" such as Martin Barnes, the managing editor
of Montreal-based Bank Credit Analyst, who believes the new paradigm style of
market commentary has "been on a par with the 'What, Me Worry?' of Mad Magazine's Alfred E. Neuman". Barnes has in the past focused on the
overvaluation of US equities as a result of treating on off factors such as
reduced taxes, low interest rates and reduced depreciation as being recurrent
in estimates of forward earnings. He now sees the recent global sharemarket upheaval as a symptom of gathering deflationary
forces that will worsen the inevitable correction to Wall Street. Those forces are already at work in Asia but
the full extent of what is happening in those markets, according to Barnes,
will "only become apparent over the coming year as real estate markets
crumble, undermining banking systems and consumer and business confidence and
as their domestic demand contracts, leading to a major downturn in 1998-99".
Because of the excess capacity in these economies they will try to export their
way out of recession, thereby transmitting the deflationary forces to other
competing emerging economies and then into the large but weakened Japanese
economy. Deutsche Morgan Grenfell's
chief economist, Dr Ed Yardeni, and hitherto one of
the leading lights of the new paradigm movement is now
warning that “the Asian meltdown could trigger a global recession in
1998". He is now forecasting that
real GDP will grow by only 2 per cent
in 1998; down by a full percentage point from his previous forecast of 3 per
cent. Yardeni
sees the probability of a
While Yardeni is concerned about
So, is it going to be a golden age and an era of “peace, progress and prosperity”, or “the
forces of Deflation and Darkness?” We shall
see, but I wouldn’t count on the first.
Not in the short term anyway.
That is, not before the Millennium.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
But, not to worry, we can
always count on “good news” at the international level. After all, who can deny the “good news” that
came from President Yeltsin? No one,
that is, except President Yeltsin himself.
“The
Russian President, Mr Boris Yeltsin made clear yesterday that Russia would no
longer target nuclear missiles at NATO countries, recovering from an apparent
slip of the tongue at the signing of the Russia-NATO pact in Paris when he told
Western leaders that Moscow’s missiles warheads would be removed, effectively
disarming his nation. “In order to strengthen the atmosphere of trust, I took
the decision: Russian rockets will no longer be aimed at NATO countries,” Mr Yetsin said in a radio address to the nation.” (Reuter, SMH, May 31, 1997).
Now why did he
change his mind when his promise drew so much universal approval? This is why.
“The
Yeltsin announcement came as a surprise in
The
Russian decision comes just days after
Do you see now
what we mean by “what you see is not what you get”? People go to bed content in the belief that
the Cold War is over and there will always be a world tomorrow, when in fact we
are now closer to a nuclear catastrophe than we have ever been.
“Yeltsin’s offer does not mark end of the
Cold War” “To bill the agreement
signed between the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and Russia as “the end of
the Cold War” (Yeltsin Ends Nuclear Threat, 28/5), is a nice bit of spin, but,
as usual, the spin is pretty close to 180 degrees from reality.
In
fact it’s probably misleading even to refer to the initiative as a “security
agreement”.
Based
on the work carried out by my organisation’s affiliates in
Despite
making a spur of the moment gesture on disarming weapons aimed at NATO States
(in reality he meant de-targeting, an action that takes minutes and a few
strokes on a commander’s keyboard) Mr Yeltsin had only weeks earlier been
talking about the conditions in which Russia would consider a first use of
nuclear weapons.
What
exactly is NATO thinking? If the Cold War really is over, why continue to
expand a military alliance designed to counterbalance
What happened to the bonhomie
that was evident at the recent meeting between the leaders of the seven leading
industrialised nations also attended by President Yeltsin?
“The
Cold War may be over, but there is no shortage of conflict about the expansion
of NATO and the degree of influence
But
this week, even though Bill and Helmut and Jacques and Tony were at a summit in
For
this was a NATO summit, and as far as Russians are concerned, despite the end
of the Cold War, NATO is still Lucifer incarnate. It used to be capitalism
ganging up against the
Apart
from the populist opposition to NATO expansion on the grounds of cost, there is
the intellectual opposition on the grounds of diplomatic good sense. George Kennan, a former ambassador to
Dr
Paul Cornish, a lecturer in defence studies at King’s College,
“I
think that enlargement has been, is, and will be a very risky undertaking,
simply because
Alexander Lebed, former general and presidential candidate, said this
about the Russia-NATO accord:
“
And Gennady Zyuganov,
the leader of the Russian Communist Party, the largest in the Russian Duma, and another presidential candidate, called it an “act
of treason”.
But it is not only the
Russians that have changed their mind abut
the West.
“Reds are back under the bed.” “When
“The commies are
back! After several years during which
The Pentagon has brought us
its own bundle of “good news” too.
“Pentagon
close to success with Star Wars missile net” “The United States
strategic missile defence program made an important technologic breakthrough
last month, achieving the first successful testing of a space-based sensor that
tracks and identifies incoming missiles, the Pentagon said yesterday.
The test was
designed to keep within the new limits imposed by the
The latest test
suggests the
What is so important about
this development that we included it here?
Well, when President Reagan announced the feasibility of the Star Wars
technology in 1983, the Soviet Government went into panic.
In a recent television
documentary, Marshall Akhromeyev, Chief of Soviet
General Staff at that time, said this: “We examined the economics of it, how
much an SDI programme [Strategic Defence Initiative – as the Star Wars system
is officially called] would cost the
And Aleksander
Yakovlev, Politburo member at that time, dded: “This SDI system would have nullified all our nuclear
missile capability. . . We needed a
programme to crush the SDI…a block of concrete that would completely flatten
it. So we offered total nuclear
disarmament by the year 2000. SDI would
be history.”
So they arranged a meeting
between President Reagan and President Gorbachov.
This took place in
But Reagan’s aids, sensing
what Gorbachov was aiming at, told the President:
“This would kill the SDI system because you could never test it shooting down a
missile.” After which Reagan told Gorbachov: “I am not prepared to give up testing the SDI in
space”.
They promptly parted company
without the accord. On the airport
tarmac, Reagan said to Gorbachov: “You’ve sabotaged
our deal”. But Gorbachov
replied: “No, Mr President. If you agree to prevent an arms race in space…we
can go right back in and sign this treaty now.”
“Well, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” said Reagan and took his plane home. (Inside Story: The Reagan Legacy – Star Wars Pt
2, ABC TV, Sept. 2, 1997).
After the fall of the
They say that they need this
system against the Chinese missiles. Who
are they kidding?
The world may no longer
think of
Now both
“
Warning
this was sinister intent in Iran’s military build-up, Mr Cohen said Tehran was
testing Chinese-made anti-ship missile which can be launched from aircraft, in
addition to the cruise missiles Iran already has on shore and aboard ships. .
. “
“
The
“Israelis warn on Iranian
missiles.” The Israeli Foreign Minister, Mr
Yitzhac Mordecai, warned yesterday that
Mr
Mordecai based his assessment on intelligence reports from Israeli and
“We
were surprised to learn that the opposite took place: that
RELIGIOUS NEWS
Now some “good news” from
the religious people. We begin with the
“Pressure on Uniting vote as minister outs herself” “One of the Uniting
Church’s most senior office-holders, the Rev Dorothy McRae-McMahon, has “outed” herself as a lesbian on the eve of the Church’s
crucial vote on the ordination of homosexual clergy. Ms McRae-McMahon, national director of
mission of the
Ms McRae-McMahon,
a divorced mother of four who is now in a relationship with a woman, said her
homosexuality had not been an issue for her at the time of her ordination. “It has been an issue for around 10 years,”
she said. “It is something I recognise in myself which explains many things in
my life going back to childhood.” Ms
McRae-McMahon, 63, said it had been a “hard decision indeed” to talk openly
about homosexuality, and that it had taken a long time to decide to talk openly
to the Church’s eight national assembly.
“I was shaking as I said it . . . I found it a very hard thing to do,” she
told the ABC Radio. Ms McRae-McMahon,
who describes herself as a “radical evangelical”, said that after she had
“quietly and painfully” made the decision about her homosexuality she had
sensed “an amazing sense of the grace of God and her ministry” (SMH, July 10, 1997).
The decision of
McRae-McMahon to “out” herself, was not an isolated case, but a well
co-ordinated manoeuvre designed to influence the assembly into voting for
homosexual clergy.
“Homosexual clergy row ravages Uniting Church” “A split within the Uniting Church –
Australia’s third-biggest – is inevitable following its decision to delay
voting on a proposal for the ordination of homosexual clergy. This leaves in doubt the future of 10 openly
homosexual clergy who “outed” themselves during this
week’s
Aboriginal and
ethnic congregations called on the 261-member assembly to defer decision for
three years because they were not ready to discuss the possibility of ordaining
homosexuals.” (SMH, July 11, 1997).
“Assembly defers vote on clergy” “Tears, joy and bitterness as debate on
homosexuals in the
After an
emotional debate yesterday, in which many of the 261-member assembly were in
tears, the Church failed to take a position on homosexual leaders within the
Church. Aboriginal and ethnic
congregations had called on the assembly to defer its decision because they
were not ready to discuss the possibility of ordaining homosexuals. In what was described as a “small victory for
gay and lesbian ministers” by the Church’s director of mission, the Rev Dorothy
McRae-McMahon, conservatives have warned many congregations will leave the
Church in disgust. “I think we’ve moved
just a little bit, because most of the Church probably wasn’t aware that there
was a freedom to bring to ordination people of different sexual orientation,”
Ms McRae-McMahon said. In a resounding
show of support from the assembly, Ms McRae-McMahon, who revealed she was a
lesbian during the congress, received two standing ovations during the final
session on the Church’s report, Uniting
Sexuality and Faith (SMH, July 12, 1997).
Is it not interesting that
it was the Aboriginal and ethnic members that prevented their assembly from
voting for homosexual clergy? The most
despised and least privileged people in the country turned out to be the ones
with the courage to stand up for their beliefs and for what is right. Can you sees now what God means when He says
this?
"I was
sought by those who did not ask for Me; I was found by those who did not seek
Me. I said, ‘Here I am, here I am,' to a
nation that was not called by My name.
I have stretched out My hands all day long to a rebellious people, who
walk in a way that is not good, according to their own thoughts.” (Isa. 65:1-2).
Now let us hear the “good
news” from the Anglican Church.
In August this year, Dr
George Carrey, Archbishop of Canterbury and Primate of the Anglican Church,
visited
He said nothing
about the contemporary scourges that afflict our society: unemployment, crime,
homelessness, illicit drug use, violence, etc. Nothing about the warming of the
planet, the unprecedented floods that ravaged the world this year; nothing
about the tragedy at Thredbo in the Australian Snowy
Mountains in which 18 people were buried alive in a mud slide; nothing about
the epidemic of youth suicides, nothing about the suicide bombing in Jerusalem
which killed 15 people and injured 170 - all of these events making headlines
in the Australian media at that very moment.
That is how Dr
Carrey obeys the command of Jesus Christ to “Watch!” and keep himself and his
followers informed of what is happening in the world, and prepare them for the
return of their Lord.
He did however
make several references to the “freedoms which we enjoy in the Anglican
Church”.
It wasn’t clear
then what freedoms he was referring to, but that became apparent in another
television interview. “I do not object
to women priests, nor to homosexuals serving in the priesthood, though the
Anglican Church does not support a homosexual lifestyle” he said. Surprised by this logic, the reporter asked
him to elaborate. The Archbishop merely repeated that statement and left it at
that. The interviewer got the message
and changed the topic. Few people in the
audience would have understood what was going on. Not long before his visit to
Dr Carrey was
caught between defending his church’s position on homosexuality, with the
reality of homosexuals in its hierarchy.
During the television interview, he made another statement that
apparently caused quite a stir in
Homosexuals in
his church’s hierarchy are not an issue, but the Prince’s marriage to a divorcee
would become one. Any wonder that people
are abandoning this church in droves?
Now, in an
attempt to stem the exodus, they are desperately trying to reunite with the
Catholic Church. Like jumping from the
frying pan into the fire.
But let us hear the “good
news” from the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church - the one who is determined
to make his church “relevant to the kind of society we live in”. And what kind of society do we live in?
“These days you
can hear not only the “f” word on television, but that ultimate taboo, the “c”
word, as well. On any night you can see
feature films or drama full of simulated murder and sex. On Network Ten’s Sex/Life, you can even see soft
pornography, marketed under the guise of infotainment.
It looks as if
the boundaries of taste on television are expanding at a faster rate than Elle Macpherson’s tummy. The question no longer seems to be what
we will hear or see next, but what we won’t.
This increasing
permissiveness is a worldwide trend, says Madeleine Chincotta,
the head of the division of language and linguistics at the
“If you look at
television throughout
Professor Pam
Peters, a professor of linguistics at Macquarie University, says that as
swearing has become more acceptable in public places or in mixed company, so
too is it more acceptable to find them on television.
Chincotta sees us moving
into public domain those that used to be in the private domain, such as sex or
swearing. The flipside is that people’s morality becomes their own
business. “We used to have a culture
which was homogenous, where people shared values . . . but we are no longer
willing, in many cases, to make judgments about other people’s behaviour. And
if you can’t condemn people, then more and more is tolerated.” Professor Peter Putnis,
a professor of communications at the
So how is the new Moderator
of the Presbyterian Church going to make his church more relevant to this
society?
“Female Ordination Moves
Back On Agenda. The controversy over the
ordination of women in the Presbyterian Church is likely to be resurrected
following last’s night’s appointment of a new pro-female ordination Moderator
of the
“We
now have to look at making the Christian Church relevant to the kind of society
we live in,” he said.
As
part of the move to modernise the Church, Dr Ferrington
feels it has to deal with the issue of female ordination, which he says is
confronting all Christian denominations.
“My
faith is based on the scriptures, and in 35 years as a minister I have never
found anything in them that says women should not be ministers,” he said.” (SMH,
In 35 years as a
minister he never found anything in the Scriptures that says women should not
be ministers. We don’t know what he
means by “the scriptures”, but this is
what Macquarie Concise Dictionary says: “The
sacred writings of the Old and the New Testaments or of either of them (often
called Holy Scripture or the Scriptures); Holy Writ; the Bible”.
Now this is what these Scriptures have to say about women:
“I
desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without
wrath and doubting; in like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in
modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or
pearls or costly clothing, but, which is proper for women professing godliness,
with good works. Let a woman learn in
silence with all submission. And I do
not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in
silence. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but
the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. Nevertheless she will be saved in childbearing
if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control.” (1 Tim
2:8-15).
“For
God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the
saints. Let your women keep silent in
the churches, for they are not permitted to speak; but they are to be submissive,
as the law also says. And if they want
to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is shameful
for women to speak in church.” (1 Cor. 14:33-35).
And in the Old Testament we
find this:
"A
woman shall not wear anything that pertains to a man, nor shall a man put on a
woman's garment, for all who do so are an abomination to the LORD your God.”
(Deut. 22:5).
Now what does
this have to do with the ordination of women?
Well, the terms “priest” and “minister” are gender terms, and refer to
males only. For a woman to become a “priest” is tantamount to her wearing a
man’s clothes. The question is why do
they want to become “priests” and “ministers” instead of “priestesses”, which
would be the correct term for them? The
answer is that God never had “priestesses” in His congregations. The terms
“priestess” and “priestesses” have always been associated with pagan religions,
hence their desire to become “priests”.
Since in many
churches women’s ordination seems to be closely linked with homosexual
ordination, let us see what the Bible has to say on both these topics.
"If a man
lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an
abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them.
"You shall
therefore keep all My statutes and all My judgments, and perform them, that the
land where I am bringing you to dwell may not vomit you out. And you shall not walk in the statutes of the
nation which I am casting out before you; for they commit all these things, and
therefore I abhor them.” (Lev. 20:13, 22-23).
“Therefore be
imitators of God as dear children. And
walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering
and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. But fornication and all uncleanness or
covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints;
neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not
fitting, but rather giving of thanks.
For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man,
who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the
Let no one
deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God
comes upon the sons of disobedience.
Therefore do not be partakers with them. For you were once darkness, but
now you are light in the Lord. Walk as
children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness,
righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful
works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those
things which are done by them in secret. But all things that are exposed
are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. Therefore He says: ‘Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead,
and Christ will give you light.’ See
then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time,
because the days are evil.” (Eph. 5:1-16).
“For the wrath of
God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men,
who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is
manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.
For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly
seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and
Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they
did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts,
and their foolish hearts were darkened.
Professing to be
wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an
image made like corruptible man-- and birds and four-footed animals and
creeping things.
Therefore God
also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the
truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the
Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
For this reason
God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural
use for what is against nature. Likewise
also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for
one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in
themselves the penalty of their error which was due.
And even as they
did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased
mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all
unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness;
full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers,
backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things,
disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving,
unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice
such things are worthy of death, not only do the same but also approve of those
who practice them.” (
Now some “good
news” from the Catholic Church. In this
church it is easier for a woman to become a “saint” than a “priest”. Why?
Because the Catholic saints do not threaten male priests, nor the status
quo.
The Catholic
“saints” are very different from the Biblical ones. The Bible never applies the term “saint” to
dead people, only to living ones. The
God of the Bible “is not the God of the dead, but of the living'' (Matt.
When the Romans converted to
Christianity, they retained most of their old practices. In the ancient Roman
religion, the priests were being served by the “vestal virgins”. After the
advent of Christianity, these became nuns.
The leading priest in the
Roman religion, Pontifex Maximus, used to “deify” important people after their
death. But after Christianity, he makes them “saints”.
The Catholic Church is
notorious for doing the exact opposite of what the Bible says: sanctifying the
dead, acquiring the titles “Father” and “Holy Father”, worshipping images,
changing the Holy Days, restrictions on food, etc. Is it any wonder that the Holy Spirit seems
to be missing from this church, and that its priests fall victim to these kinds
of perversions?
“Evil priest jailed for 12
years” “
Judge
Cyril Kelly said the case, involving 74 counts of indecent and sexual assault, was one of the most serious ever dealt with by his
In
the United States, a victim’s support group is predicting that a record $US 120
million damages award last week against the Catholic diocese of Dallas, Texas,
for victims of sexual abuse would unleash a flood of claims worth at least $US
500 million from other people molested by priests. Linkup, a Chicago-based organisation which
says it has a database of 3,800
In
“The front-page
news story, “100 Priests Forced Out Over Sex Offences” (
If they were not
allowed to get married, would they be allowed to live in sin? Would the Church
allow them to use contraceptive methods other than the rhythm method allowed to
parishioners? Would any nuns throughout
“One hundred
priests out over sex, and Bishop Robinson’s reported statement that the Church
has now introduced a policy that bars clergy from being alone with children
unless they are chaperoned by an adult, scares me. I am absolutely bewildered when in the next
breath the Church is considering relaxing the celibacy laws to overcome sexual
abuse of mainly male children by allowing priests to marry. Does the church
expect me to believe that priests who abuse boys do so because they don’t have
a wife with whom they would, I assume, have a marriage built on love, trust and
respect?
As the Church
forbids contraceptives no doubt before long there would be the patter of many
little feet, which fills me with horror. It is absurd for the Church to put
forth the hypothesis that priests who have been trusted by the community to
nurture and guide young children – then consciously destroy the very souls in
their care – are fit to be husbands and fathers. These ghastly men are then left in charge of
their own offspring! Where, I wonder,
will the 100 let go by the Church surface? Will the Church provide psychiatric
services for these creatures or will they be let loose on an unsuspecting
community? I fear the latter. (Pamela Macdonnel,
As Jesus Christ said: “There
is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be
known” (Matt.
“
Although Mr Yeltsin’s
action will win praise overseas, it will be unpopular in
The Orthodox
Church, jealous
of its territory, is bitterly opposed to the operation of foreign missionaries
in
Before the last presidential
election Yeltsin was way behind in the polls until the Church intervened and
gave him its blessing. Now what do you
think will happen at the next presidential election? Whoever aspires to that position would have
learned to toe the line of the Orthodox Church first. And what is that line? “The Church leader, Patriarch Alexei II,
compared the flood of missionaries into
“Yeltsin backs curbs on religion” “Moscow: The Russian President, Mr Boris Yeltsin,
has swept aside objections from United States officials and human rights
advocates and signed into law a bill to restrict religious practices in
Russia. Critics contend that the law in
effect overturns
Mr Yeltsin’s
action followed a last-minute appeal last week from the
Now remember not all
churches and religions are the same. The
Bible tells us that the true
"And do not
seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind.
For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows
that you need these things. But seek the
"Ask, and it
will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to
you. For everyone who asks receives, and
he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” (Matt 7:7-8).
PROPHECY ALIVE
When NATO
leaders decided to expand their alliance eastward in spite of strong opposition
from
The
Russians know this too, and are not happy about it. What none of them realise though is that the
present international developments are proceeding exactly as the Biblical
prophecies say they should. And not only in
When the
American Secretary of State, Dr Madeleine Albright, went to the
“
The
Earlier, Albright
urged the Palestinian people in a direct radio address to join in the battle
against Islamic militants bent on wrecking the peace process.
“The forces of
terror simultaneously deny you your dreams for the future while increasing your
present suffering,” she said. “That is why the average Palestinian has no
greater enemy than Hamas or Islamic Jihad.”Albright also called on
"O you
children of Benjamin, gather yourselves to flee from the midst of
“Now the word of
the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the
prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal,
and prophesy against him, and say, "Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech,
and Tubal. I
will turn you around, put hooks into your jaws, and lead you out, with all your
army, horses, and horsemen, all splendidly clothed, a great company with
bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords.
"Therefore,
son of man, prophesy and say to Gog, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “On that day when My people
“Now the number of
the army of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them.
And thus I saw the
horses in the vision: those who sat on them had breastplates of fiery red,
hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; and the heads of
the horses were like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths came fire,
smoke, and brimstone. [The prophet saw
the modern versions of armoury: tanks, aeroplanes, helicopters, motorised army
carriers, etc. and described them as best as he could. He gave them animal
characteristics from whose mouths and tails came fire, smoke and brimstone.
Ed.] “By these three plagues a
third of mankind was killed--by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which
came out of their mouths. For their
power is in their mouth and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents,
having heads; and with them they do harm.
But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not
repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and
idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear
nor walk. And they did not repent of
their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.”
(Rev 9:16-21)
"For then there will be great
tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this
time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless
those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake
those days will be shortened.” (Matt
24::21-22).
“The burden against
The cities of Aroer
are forsaken; they will be for flocks which lie down, and no one will make them
afraid.
The fortress also will cease from Ephraim,
the kingdom from
"In that day it shall come to pass that
the glory of Jacob will wane, and the fatness of his
flesh grow lean.
It shall be as when the harvester gathers
the grain, and reaps the heads with his arm; it shall be as he who gathers
heads of grain in the
In that day a man will look to his Maker, and his eyes will have respect for the Holy One of
Israel.
He will not look to the altars, the work of
his hands; he will not respect what his fingers have made, nor the wooden
images nor the incense altars. In that day his strong cities will be as a
forsaken bough and an uppermost branch, which they left because of the children
of
Woe to the multitude of many people who make
a noise like the roar of the seas, and to the rushing of nations that make a
rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!
The nations will rush like the rushing of many waters; but God will
rebuke them and they will flee far away, and be chased like the chaff of the
mountains before the wind, like a rolling thing before the whirlwind. Then behold, at eventide, trouble! And before
the morning, he is no more. This is the portion of those who plunder us, and
the lot of those who rob us.” (Isa. 17:1-14).
“Gather yourselves together, yes, gather
together, O undesirable nation, before the decree is issued, or the day passes
like chaff, before the LORD'S fierce anger comes upon you, before the day of
the LORD'S anger comes upon you!
Seek the LORD, all you meek of the earth,
who have upheld His justice. Seek righteousness, seek humility. It may be that
you will be hidden in the day of the LORD'S anger. For
"I have heard the reproach of
This they shall have for their pride, because
they have reproached and made arrogant threats against the people of the LORD
of hosts. The LORD will be awesome to
them, for He will reduce to nothing all the gods of the earth; people shall
worship Him, each one from his place, indeed all the shores of the
nations. "You Ethiopians also, you
shall be slain by My sword.'' (Zeph. 2:1-12).
“And this shall be the plague with which the
LORD will strike all the people who fought against
It shall come to pass in that day that a
great panic from the LORD will be among them. Everyone will seize the hand of
his neighbor, and raise his hand against his neighbor's hand;
“And it shall come to pass that everyone who
is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year
to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of
Tabernacles.”
[They
will not go up to Jerusalem to observe Christmas, Easter, Halloween, birthdays
or other pagan holy days, but the Feast of Tabernacles, a Feast of which the
vast majority of Christians have never even heard of. Ask yourself why. If you
can find the answer to this question, you will understand where the deception
that has enveloped the world comes from, and why this world is marching unstoppably
towards its own doom. Ed.]
“And it shall be that whichever of the
families of the earth do not come up to
It is God’s custom to give people a warning before He
sends disaster upon them. He gives them
the chance to change their life, to repent and turn to Him. The warning has gone out to the whole
world. No one can complain that they
have not been warned.
FUNDAMENTALIST “GOOD
NEWS”
When all other
things have failed, we can always count on the fundamentalist Christians to
deliver us the “good news”. Earlier
this year, a number of evangelists went to
The year 1997-98
has an added significance. This is the
6000th year since the creation of the world - according to the
chronology of the Irish Archbishop Ussher (1581-1635)
- and as such this is the last year of the age of man’s (miss) rule on
earth. A thousand years of Sabbatical
rest is to follow for the earth – the
Two major
prophecies must occur before this transitional period is over: two witnesses of
God must preach the Gospel as a witness to all nations, and the “abomination of
desolation” must defile the holy place.
Fundamentalist
preachers believe that both these events are connected with a new temple in
The idea of a new
temple in
When troubles
erupted in
Some even went in
pairs and prepared with proselytising literature, believing that the Israeli
people would convert en masse to their brand of Christianity once they began
their work. But then the unthinkable
happened. The conflict ended almost as
soon as it started, and the Israeli Government, sensing what was happening,
passed a law prohibiting the possession and distribution of proselytising
materials in
"You
are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor,
how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and
trampled underfoot by men.
"You
are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a
basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all
who are in the house. Let your light so
shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in
heaven.” (Matt. 5:13-16).
"And
I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide
with you forever--the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because
it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and
will be in you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send
in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all
things that I said to you” (John 14:16-17, 26).
If Christians are the salt of
the earth, and the Holy Spirit dwells in them, then they are holy people and
perfectly capable of sanctifying a new place for the
The Bible makes it clear that
God does not dwell in temples made by human hands, and that Jesus Christ
returns to this earth to take His people to Himself, not to live in temples
built by people who do not even believe in Him.
"However,
the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands.” (Acts
“For
you are the temple of the living God. As God has
said: ‘I will dwell in them and walk
among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.’''2 Cor. 6:16).
"And
if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to
Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” (John 14:3).
Among those who showed up in
We wondered why they kept sending
them to us until we noticed that much of their writings were directed against
us. These educated people have taken it
upon themselves to oppose us and they made sure that we knew about it. We are delighted that at last, people who
know what they are talking about have decided to correct us and show us where
in the Scriptures is it that have we gone wrong. Here is part of what they wrote:
“A
few nights ago I sat with Dr Ernest Martin in the lobby of this hotel and we
discussed many fascinating matters of historical and Biblical research related
to the geography of this place. I think
we were both moved by the idea of where
we were as much as with the topics we were discussing. Dr Martin and I both ended up in
Although
I made my trip for other reasons, related to my own Biblical, historical, and
archaeological research, having heard about Dr Martin’s new theory I was quite
interested myself in taking a new look at the area he proposes, doing some
measurements, and walking all around the parameters of the ancient City of David. All of these matters of history, geography,
and archaeology have great relevance and application in providing an accurate
translation of the Scriptures, both of the Hebrew Bible and the New
Testament.” (The Original Bible Project, June 22, 1997).
Dr Tabor and Dr
Martin have been close friends and collaborators for years, yet this time they
failed to tell each that they were going to
“Most
of you have seen my growth into the truth and rejoiced in it. You can easily
observe how I have abandoned (rightly so) some of my previous beliefs written
in some of my early writings. One of the main reasons I put copyright dates on
my books, articles, and cassette tapes is so that you will understand that what
you read or hear is what I believed then.
Most of what I taught was correct, but some was wrong. But I am still growing
in grace and knowledge. Indeed, I have a brand new book coming out in a
pre-publication issue for all of you on the mailing list titled: “The
It is a sign of a
noble spirit for someone to acknowledge publicly that he made mistakes. The
problem is, one is not “growing in grace and knowledge” from one error to
another. The Holy Spirit does not lead
people into error but out of it. Those who find that they have been in error
all their lives should ask themselves what spirit was it that guided them.
God does not
appoint people to preach His Gospel until He knows that they are capable of
doing it safely; until they have the foundation from which they can
successfully do so. Dr Martin has been
preaching and publishing religious literature most of his life. Now, at a relatively advanced age, he
discovers that he was wrong, but does not have the moral fortitude to say he is
sorry, or to apologise to those whom he has misled.
They bought his
books in good faith, believing that they contained the truth of God and the way
to salvation. Yet, now they are being
told that they contained no such things.
What they might want to know is, do his books, like all good books,
carry the money back guarantee if not fully satisfied?
He offered a novel
explanation why he put copyright dates on his books. He did not do it to safeguard his authorship,
but to show people what he believed at any particular time in his life. Why anyone would want to know that he does
not tell us. But his new definition of
the copyright law entitles him to a prize for originality and inventiveness.
This year he
produced a new publication - a “bombshell” of a book which will rock the
religious world of Judaism, Islam and Christianity. No one could accuse him of false modesty. Now
he wants people to buy his new book too.
No doubt there will be a stampede for it, particularly from those who
bought his previous books.
In his newsletter,
Dr Martin took issue with our preaching on the doctrine of the Trinity. He wrote:
“The
doctrine of the Trinity, however, is not
biblical. It is a strained doctrine that
tries to combine Greek theological opinions (not found within the pages of the
Holy Bible) with statements made in the New Testament that can only be
understood by reference to Hebrew concepts of theology, not Greek. The Trinity
is really a “church doctrine.”
Does this make sense to you?
Does he mean to say that the theology of the New Testament is different from
that of the Old Testament? These two
parts of the Bible complement each other - one is built upon the other.
The word “Trinity”
is not in the Bible because when the Bible was completed this word was not in
existence. The Apostles felt no need to
explain the Trinity in one word because this was not an issue in their time. This became an issue centuries later when
theologians could not explain it, particularly the role of the Holy Spirit in
the Trinity.
The Apostles knew
exactly what Jesus Christ meant when He spoke of the Father, the Son and the
Holy Spirit. This topic became a major
issue in modern times when people denied the personality of the Holy
Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit, the
Trinity becomes a Duality.
The concept of the
Trinity permeates the Bible from the beginning to the end, even though it was
clearly enunciated for the first time by Jesus Christ at the beginning of the
New Testament. This is what He told His
disciples before He rose to heaven:
"Go
therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all
things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end
of the age.'' Amen.” (Matt. 28:19-20).
If this is not a
Trinity then what is it? Dr Martin
said, “The Trinity is really a “church
doctrine””. A church doctrine? Of course it is a church doctrine – a
doctrine of the true
"Nevertheless
I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not
go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to
you. And when He has come, He will convict
the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they
do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see
Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. "I still have many things to say to you,
but you cannot bear them now. However,
when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for
He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak;
and He will tell you things to come.
"He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare
it to you. All things that the Father
has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to
you.” (John 16:7-15).
Dr Martin calls
the Old Testament, “Hebrew theology”, and the New Testament, “Greek theology”,
and says that it was wrong of us to use the Old Testament to prove this
doctrine. Does he not know that Jesus
Christ and the Apostles referred to the Old Testament hundreds of times? The early Churches of God had nothing by
which they could be guided except the Old Testament. Notice what Apostle Paul told the
“Moreover,
brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the
cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud
and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same
spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and
that Rock was Christ. But with most of them
God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the
wilderness. Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we
should not lust after evil things as they also lusted.” (1 Cor.
10:1-6).
The experiences of
Moses and the people of ancient
The Apostles would
have had no problem with us using the "Hebrew theology” to prove the
Trinity, but Dr Martin has, and he knows better for he is Doctor of
Theology.
We have said it
before and say it again: denying the Trinity means denying the personality of
the Holy Spirit, means denying one’s own salvation. And it cannot be otherwise, for this a major
blasphemy.
Jesus Christ made
it clear that the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit can never be forgiven.
"Therefore
I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy
against the Spirit will not be forgiven men.
Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven
him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either
in this age or in the age to come”(Matt. 12:31-32).
Without the Holy
Spirit what is one is left with?
Nothing! Or, better said, with
the self. While making just one passing
reference to the Holy Spirit, Dr Martin could hardly contain his own self: “I have been true”, “I have tried”, “I have
done”, “I didn’t know”, “I finally turned to God”, “I began to learn”, “I began
to grow”, “I have been successful”, “I am still growing”, “I, only,
understood”, “I”, “I”, “I”, on and on he goes, forty-four times in a single
page.
One of the very
first things people learn when they go through a tertiary institution is to
avoid the pronoun “I” like the plague.
Unless absolutely necessary, one simply does not speak in the first
person. Now what academia did Dr Martin
attend that taught him to write this way?
Is that where he learned his theology too? Was that the
“It is time to
abandon man’s teaching, and return to the real doctrines of the Bible.
Look at that one major principle. It means that one
can be wrong on one’s teaching on a particular doctrine, but still be right in
regard to this proper principle. As
for me (Ernest L. Martin) I have been wrong on a number of doctrines in the
past but I have still been true to the one
major principle.”
Pretty smart, isn’t it! Turning necessity into virtue. Or is it vice into virtue? Not many people can be right and wrong at the
same time. Can one be wrong “on a number
of doctrines” and still be true to the Bible?
What did the Apostles say about those who preach different doctrines?
“As I urged you
when I went into
“I marvel that you
are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a
different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and
want to pervert the gospel of Christ.
But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you
than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again,
if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him
be accursed. For do I now persuade men,
or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be
a bondservant of Christ. But I make
known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not
according to man. For I neither received
it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus
Christ.” (Gal. 1:6-12).
Those who preach other
doctrines or other gospels should be accursed, says Apostle Paul. He also says that his Gospel came from the
revelations of Jesus Christ. Where did
the one preached by Dr Martin come from?
He does not tell us, nor is he telling us what caused his sudden spurt
of “growing in grace and knowledge”. But
he angrily denounces someone’s writings as being “highly intellectual and
sophisticated” as if this was a vice.
Unfortunately he does not tell us who that might be, so we will die and
our curiosity will never be quenched.
When one becomes aware that
he has misled people, he has two choices: (1) Repent, go before God and seek
forgiveness, then tell the people about his errors and how they may be
corrected. Or (2) Cover up his mistakes
with self-serving explanations, then come up with new doctrines in place of the
old ones. It is obvious which path Dr Martin has taken. The problem is, his new doctrines are even
more dangerous and more subversive to the Gospel of Jesus Christ than the old
ones. He says:
“1) The Gospel of
salvation, (what salvation is) showing that we humans are destined to become
the very members of the Family of God with Father as the head and Christ Jesus
as the firstborn Son, and that all of us will be “Firstborn” children in the
same Family by being “in Christ”.
2) The New
Testament teaches unequivocally that all humanity (without the loss of a single
person) will eventually through the efforts of Christ Jesus become members of
that Family.”
In the first point
he reinforces his denial of the Trinity.
He speaks of the Father and the Son only, leaving out the Holy
Spirit. We all know what happens to the
people who deny the Holy Spirit: they cut the branch from underneath their own
feet. Salvation is not possible without the
Holy Spirit. Here is Jesus’ promise again:
“Nevertheless
I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not
go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to
you” (John 16:7).
The second point
clearly shows what happens to the people who deny the Holy Spirit: they go off
the rails altogether. The idea that all
human beings will become members of the God Family goes against the very
substance of the New Testament. It is contrary to just about everything Jesus
Christ and His Apostles have preached.
It is an entirely new gospel, and a very dangerous one at that.
What one might
want to know is what redeeming features does he find in people like Hitler,
Stalin, Poll Pot, Satanists, evil people who commit serial rape, murder and
cannibalism, that he wants to save them?
Would you like to have any of these people as neighbours in the
I don’t think
anything would be more abhorrent to a Jewish person than the thought of
spending eternity with Hitler? If the Israeli
people knew what he is preaching, I doubt they would let him step foot in their
land, let alone permit him to lecture them on the temples and their site.
Here are a few
examples of Scriptures which show just how far from the truth Dr Martin has derailed.
"Therefore
I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy
against the Spirit will not be forgiven men.
Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven
him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him,
either in this age or in the age to come” (Matt. 12:31-32).
Not so, says Dr Martin. All blasphemies will be forgiven men, and all
people will be saved.
Jesus Christ said
that there would be a judgement which will separate the righteous from the
wicked.
"When the Son of Man
comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the
throne of His glory. All the nations
will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a
shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.
And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the
left. Then the King will say to those
on His right hand, "Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you
gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you
took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I
was in prison and you came to Me.'
“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, "Lord, when did we see
You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a
stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick,
or in prison, and come to You?' And the
King will answer and say to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as
you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'
“Then He will also say to
those on the left hand, "Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting
fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no
food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not
take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not
visit Me.' “Then they also will answer
Him, saying, "Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or
naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?' Then He will answer them, saying,
"Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the
least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ And these will go away into
everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life'' (Matt. 25:31-46).
Not so, says Dr Martin. No one will burn in the everlasting
fire. All human beings, righteous and
wicked alike, will become members of the God Family. Apostle John said that there are sins that
cannot be forgiven.
“If anyone sees his brother
sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him
life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to
death. I do not say that he should pray about that. All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin
not leading to death.” (I Jn. 5:16-17).
Not
so says Dr Martin, no sin leads to death. All human beings will be saved.
Jude said that there are people “like brute
beasts” who will suffer the “vengeance of eternal fire”.
“And the angels who did not
keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in
everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; as Sodom
and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having
given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are
set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Likewise also these dreamers defile the
flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries. Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with
the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against
him a reviling accusation, but said, ‘The Lord rebuke you!’ But these speak evil of whatever they do not
know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they
corrupt themselves. Woe to them! For
they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for
profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah. These are spots in your love feasts, while
they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds
without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit,
twice dead, pulled up by the roots; raging waves of the sea, foaming up their
own shame; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness
forever.” (Jude 1:6-13).
Not so, says Dr Martin. All “dreamers that defile the flesh, reject
authority, and speak evil of dignitaries” will be saved. No one will be “reserved for blackness of
darkness forever”.
Apostle Peter said that there are false
prophets who bring upon themselves their own destruction.
“But there were also false
prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who
will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought
them, and bring on themselves swift destruction” (2 Pet. 2:1).
Not so, says Dr Martin. No false prophet will
perish. All of them will become members
of the God Family.
We already saw what Apostle Paul thinks of those who
preach false doctrines and false gospels.
Dr Martin has decided that he knows better than all the
writers of the New Testament. His
preaching should be popular with a lot of people, particularly with those who
want to be absolutely sure that they will be saved. He guarantees them all that they will be
saved. Unfortunately we cannot give
such guaranty. We can only assure those
who keep God’s righteous commandments that they will be saved. This places us
at a great disadvantage. Who would want
to follow us?
Talking about God and His commandments is a sure way of getting yourself ostracised these days. But then, how many people of God since the time of Jesus Christ have been popular with this world?
BORN AGAIN
OR RESURRECTED?
Since Dr Martin has changed the meaning of salvation, we are not surprised to find that he has also changed the means by which people can be saved. He has done away with the need to be born again. This is what he wrote in one of his books:
“Is
the Christian “born again” now? Peter
said that Christians were “born again” by the word of God.
(I Peter
1:23). Some have thought this may mean
that Christians are only begotten (that is, conceived) but that the process of
spiritual birth has not yet occurred to them. However, in the next chapter
Peter gives a further illustration that surely cinches the fact that he meant
born (that is, out of the womb) rather than a simple conception and still in
the womb. Peter said: “as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word,
that you may grow thereby" (I Peter 2:2).
This context given by Peter
obviously shows that he considered Christians as already "born again."
Indeed, a person cannot partake of his mother's milk unless the person is truly
born. However, in the Gospel of John
(chapter 3) where Christ
spoke of being born "from above" (as the original Greek has it, and not
"born again"), this is the spiritual birth that Christ is talking
about that occurs at the resurrection from the dead. This is because Christ
said that anyone born of the spirit from above is indeed spirit (and he went on
to say that spirit cannot be observed by humans). John is speaking about something very
different. It is the resurrection to spiritual life that will occur at the
resurrection when Christ returns at the Second Advent.” (101 Bible Secrets that Christians Do Not Know, ASK Publications,
1993, pp. 93-94).
He quoted well
“There was a man of the
Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.
This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know
that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do
unless God is with him.'' Jesus answered
and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again,
he cannot see the
If being born again means being resurrected to
spiritual life, what does the role of water play in this process? Are people resurrected into the
Jesus Christ clearly said that being born again means
to be born of water and the Spirit. He
even gave us a personal example by being baptised in the
“He came to His own, and His
own did not receive Him. But as many as
received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who
believe in His name: who were born, not
of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
(John 1:11-13).
There are people in this world who were
“born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but
of God”. These people are still in the
world and still in their body, not in the
Being born again means to undergo a process
of internal transformation. But you cannot distinguish a
person who has been born again from one who has not been born again because
there is no outward change. In other
words, the spiritual element that causes people to be born again cannot be
seen. You can see the physical person
and you can see the fruits of the Spirit, but you cannot see the Spirit
Himself. When one is born again, or born
from above, God implants in him His own seed – the Holy Spirit – and from that
moment he is a new person.
This is the purpose of adult baptism – to
allow God to change one into a new person through the Holy Spirit.
“As you have therefore
received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and
established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with
thanksgiving. Beware lest anyone cheat
you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men,
according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the
Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all
principality and power. In Him you were
also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the
body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you
also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised
Him from the dead. And you, being dead
in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your
flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses,
having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was
contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the
cross . . . ” “Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as
though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations . .
.?” “If then you were raised with
Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the
right hand of God. Set your mind on
things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with
Christ in God. When Christ who is
our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Therefore put to death your members which are
on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness,
which is idolatry. Because of these
things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which you
yourselves once walked when you lived in them.
But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice,
blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.
Do not lie to one another, since you
have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is
renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, where
there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian,
Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.” (
Could anything be clearer? “Buried with Christ in baptism”, “raised with
Him through faith”, “you died with Christ, have put off the old man, and have
put on the new man”. If this is not
being born again then what is it?
GIFTS
OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
There is something to be said here about the manifestations that accompany the arrival of the Holy Spirit?
“Now when the Day of
Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven,
as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were
sitting. Then there appeared to them
divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit
and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews,
devout men, from every nation under heaven.
And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were
confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. Then they were all amazed and marvelled . . .
(Acts 2:1-7).
“While Peter was still
speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the
word. And those of the circumcision who
believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the
Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. For they heard them speak
with tongues and magnify God.” (Acts 10:44-46).
There was a very good reason why the first gifts of the
Holy Spirit were speaking in tongues.
Their mission was to take the Gospel to all nations, and they needed to
speak in those languages. But these days
we have different needs. Since the Bible is universally available in virtually
all languages of the world, the Holy Spirit imparts different gifts, such as
wisdom, knowledge, ministering, discerning of spirits, etc.
“Now concerning spiritual gifts,
brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant: You know that you were Gentiles,
carried away to these dumb idols, however you were led. Therefore I make known to you that no one
speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that
Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.
There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are
differences of ministries, but the same Lord.
And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who
works all in all. But the manifestation
of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given
the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through
the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of
healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another
prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of
tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these
things, distributing to each one individually as He wills. For as the body is one and has many members,
but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is
Christ. For by one Spirit we were all
baptized into one body-- whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free-- and
have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one
member but many.” (1 Cor. 12:1-14).
Notice how all these gifts come through
baptism. When you are immersed into a
watery grave, you die with Christ and rise with Him into a new person. Every person who repents and is baptised
receives at least one gift from the Holy Spirit – the gift of spiritual
understanding. Without this gift people
would have no idea what salvation is all about.
We should not be too surprised that Dr Martin does not believe in being
born again. Since he denies the Holy
Spirit, he has to deny being born again too, for without the Holy Spirit no one
can be born again.
The implications of denying the Holy Spirit
are truly horrendous:
- You deny the Holy Spirit, you have to deny that human beings
are the temples of the living God. So what do you do? You look for a temple
built by human hands.
- You deny the Holy Spirit, you have to deny the Trinity. So what do you do? You create a duality of
Father and Son only.
-
You
deny the Holy Spirit, you have to deny that human beings can be “born
again”. So what do you do? You tell them
that their renewal will take place when they are resurrected to a spiritual
life.
-
You
deny the role of the Holy Spirit in the process of salvation, you have to deny
the judgment of God. So what do you do? You tell people that the judgment
serves no purpose for they will all be saved anyway.
-
You
deny the role of the Holy Spirit in the process of salvation, you have to deny
the Gospel of Jesus Christ. So what do you do? You invent a new gospel.
TIMES OF THE
RESURRECTIONS
Says Dr Martin:
“As
a result of my “growing in grace and knowledge,” I have some brand new biblical
information about the time periods of the resurrections that humans will
experience in the future. . . You will want to find out just when you will be resurrected (and when all
other people will be resurrected, including infants who died, those who did not
express a faith in Christ in this life, or those who blaspheme the Holy Spirit,
etc.). . . Also, I want to offer for the audio lecture this month, my lecture
on Micah. . . If you want a written transcript, please send an extra $7 to help
us cover the cost of transcription.”
We have reached the end of this age and did not know
“the time periods of the resurrections” until Dr Martin came along to enlighten
us. So what are these periods? He does not tell us, but he gives us the option
of buying his book to find it out for ourselves. But there is another way of finding out his
precious “truth”. Given the fact that
almost everything he preaches is identical to what the Worldwide Church of God
used to preach in the days of Herbert W. Armstrong, when Dr Martin was an
evangelist in that church, we can safely assume that this is identical
too. So all we need to do is look into
an old booklet entitled, Is God Trying to
Save the World Now? which speaks about these things.
Before we do that, it is worth pointing out
that Herbert W. Armstrong was very successful at inculcating his ideas into the
minds of those who passed through his school of thought, but he failed in one
particular point: He did not impress on them the need to acknowledge the source
of their ideas and give credit to whom credit is due. Hardly anyone acknowledges a debt to him
anymore, even though they all preach his theology or versions of it. This is not entirely surprising for
apparently he himself was a great plagiariser.
He borrowed from right, left and centre, but mostly from fringe groups
such as Jehovah’s Witnesses. Yet he
hardly mentioned these people in his writings, let alone acknowledge a debt to
them.
The booklet, Is God Trying to Save the World Now? is made up of two parts. The first and smaller part was written by
Roderick C. Meredith and copyrighted in 1986, while the second and main part
was written by Herbert W. Armstrong and copyrighted 1957 and 1973. Since Meredith merely parrots Herbert W.
Armstrong, we will concentrate on the second part.
In order to understand this topic, we need to look into
the Bible first to see what it has to say about the resurrections. Not surprisingly, it does not say a lot. That
is because there is no need to say a lot – this topic is simple and
straightforward. Apostle Paul made the
following general statement about the resurrections.
“But I do not want you to be ignorant,
brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others
who have no hope. For if we believe that
Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in
Jesus. For this we say to you by the
word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord
will by no means precede those who are asleep.
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the
voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will
rise first. Then we who are alive and
remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in
the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.” (1Thes.
Then there are the statements which tell us when the
resurrections will take place and who will be in them. We assume everyone knows that the first resurrection
was that of Jesus Christ - the Supreme King and Ruler in the
The second resurrection will be that of the “kings and
priests” who will rule under Him. This will take place not far from now, at the
beginning of the
“Then I looked, and behold, a
Lamb standing on
“And they sang a new song, saying: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll, and to
open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood
out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and
priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth.’'' (Rev.
5:9-10).
The reason these people are resurrected at
the beginning of the Millennium is that they need to be trained to be kings and
priests. One thousand years has been
allocated for this purpose.
The third resurrection will take place at
the end of the Millennium and will comprise the rest of humanity. These people will be judged and assessed
whether they can be entrusted with eternal life in the
““Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while. And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.
Now when the thousand years
have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive
the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog
and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose
number is as the sand of the sea. They
went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and
the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured
them. The devil, who deceived them, was
cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet
are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Then I saw a great white throne and Him who
sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was
found no place for them.
And I saw the dead, small and
great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened,
which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works,
by the things which were written in the books.
The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered
up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his
works.
Then Death and Hades were
cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of
Life was cast into the lake of fire.” (Rev. 20:1-15).
This then is what the Bible says about “time periods of the
resurrections”. But this is not what
Herbert W Armstrong and his evangelists said. They have invented a forth resurrection
which supposedly gives a second life to the wicked people who have not repented
during this life. How they can escape
the judgment of God and reach that resurrection is anyone’s guess, nevertheless
this is what Herbert W. Armstrong wrote:
“And so it follows, now, that
most of our loved ones who have died unsaved in all probability did not die
lost. In all probability they were not
called, during this age. But their call is coming later. They shall be
resurrected back to life, and given their chance. And you, if you are called –
if God reveals this wonderful truth to your one and only chance now – your chance to prepare and fit
yourself to be used of Christ in the labor of helping
to save them, then! Oh, what great meaning we begin to see in the
Christian life! What glorious meaning we begin to see in the Christian life!
What glorious purpose! What grave responsibility! Will you make your calling
and election SURE? And now, in the light of this wonderful revelation of truth,
we should be able to understand this mater of “predestination.” (p. 23).
“Wonderful revelation of truth” he called
it. That it has no Biblical foundation
and goes against the teachings of Jesus Christ and His Apostles never bothered
him. Now how do you think a sinful person
would feel to hear that he has nothing to fear now, that he has another life in
which he can repent of his sins? And
what will Jesus Christ say, when both He and John the Baptist told their
contemporaries that the
“In those days John the
Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of
“From that time Jesus began
to preach and to say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’'' (Matt.
Apostle Paul was prepared to give his life
for his countrymen if only they repented. He did not have Herbert W. Armstrong
to enlighten him that they would have another chance in a second life.
And as if this was not enough, HWA linked
the second life with the concept of predestination. You may have guessed it, because the Bible
preaches predestination, he denied it.
“PREDESTINATION-Does the Bible Teach It?” “The very fact of wartime casualties and accidental
deaths has caused a great deal of added sorrow and grief that is entirely
unnecessary - if we understand! Many have grieved in the belief that loved ones
died eternally "lost" - when, if they understood the truth, these
probably were not lost at all. Several
years ago, a man, quite worried over the subject of predestination, went to a
certain minister. "Do you believe in predestination?" he asked. "The Bible teaches it, brother," was the
minister's reply. The minister tried hard to explain. "But that doesn't
really mean," he said, "that you
have nothing to do with your own salvation.
It doesn't mean that it is all set - your decision and eternal fate all
determined for you in advance. You
are to make your own decision. But God knows all things, even in advance. And so he knows beforehand how you are going
to decide." This didn't satisfy
the troubled man at all. "If God
knows beforehand how I am going to decide," he reasoned, “then it is all
predetermined, If he knows in advance I am to be LOST, then that's the way I'll have to decide in the end. And since
I’ll lose out anyway, why try? On the
other hand, if he knows now I'm going to repent and accept Christ and be saved,
I'll have to do it in the end anyway, whether I try or not. Then my ultimate
fate is predetermined. Isn't that
what predestination means -that the
ultimate fate of each one is PREdestined - destined,
or determined, in advance? And if that's so, then we simply are not free moral
agents, and we have nothing to say about it.. The poor man was more discouraged than ever.
And no wonder. Neither could convince the other, because both were arguing
from a false premise-that predestination has to do with whether each
individual shall be lost, or saved. Does
the Bible teach that your ultimate fate is already predestinated? Neither the preacher nor his perplexed
questioner had read carefully what the Bible does say. What confusion we are in today-what
In
this passage, HWA is trying to kill two birds with one stone. He is denying
predestination while preaching free moral agency. He is using some clever arguments to support
his theory. If our fate is determined in
advance, “then we simply are not free moral agents”. Now who said that we must be free moral
agents? I do not want to be a free moral
agent; I want God to be in total control of my life, for I know that if He
leaves it to me I will not make it into His Kingdom.
The Bible does
not support either the idea of free moral agency or that of a second life. It so happens that there is one Biblical
passage which resolves both questions: repentance now or in a future life, and
free moral agency or predestination.
“I tell the truth in Christ,
I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, that
I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed
from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, who are
Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving
of the law, the service of God, and the promises; of whom are the fathers and
from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally
blessed God. Amen.
But it is not that the word
of God has taken no effect. For they are not all
That is, those who are the
children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of
the promise are counted as the seed. For
this is the word of promise: "At this time I will come and Sarah shall
have a son.'' And not only this, but
when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac (for the
children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose
of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls),
it was said to her, ‘The older shall serve the younger.’
As it is written, ‘Jacob I
have loved, but Esau I have hated.’
What shall we say then? Is
there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not!
For He says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy,
and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.’
So then it is not of him who
wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. For the Scripture says
to Pharaoh, ‘For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My
power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.’ Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and
whom He wills He hardens.
You will say to me then, ‘Why
does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?’ But indeed, O man, who are you to reply
against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why have you made
me like this?’
Does not the potter have
power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor? What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to
make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath
prepared for destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory
on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, even us
whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?” (
Apostle Paul decried the fact that his own
countrymen did not repent now in this life. He would have given his own life
for them, if only they believed the Gospel and repented. He knew nothing about repentance in a future
life, and he should have known for he was taught directly by Jesus Christ
Himself (See
As for the question of free will versus
predestination, what does this mean?
“For the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil,
that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of
Him who calls, it was said to her, ‘The older shall serve the younger.’ Did the fates of Jacob, Esau and the Pharaoh
depend on their own free will or were they predestined for their roles before
they were born? Can the Supreme Potter
do what He wants with His clay? HWA says
no; he wants God to make all vessels for honour.
Now what did Apostle Paul say about those
who did not repent? Was it because they were not called, because they have
never heard of Christ, or because they were not children of Abraham, even
though they were born from his lineage?
One can give these people ten lives not two, and they will still be
doing what they do now.
Herbert W Armstrong starts from two wrong
premises: that all human beings are equal, and that salvation is a right not a
gift. He wants to save people not on the
basis of righteousness, but on whether they have been “called” and heard of
Jesus Christ. God desires that all human
beings be saved, but He knows that all cannot be saved. If you use the Scriptures selectively you can
“prove” almost anything. For example, if
you take the following two passages from Apostle Paul’s epistle to Timothy, you
can “prove” that all human beings will be saved.
“Therefore I exhort first of
all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made
for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet
and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight
of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the
truth. (1 Tim. 2:1-4).
“For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living
God, who is the Savior
of all men, especially of those who believe.” (1 Tim. 4:10).
But if you put these verses in their proper
context, you get an entirely different picture.
“This charge I commit to you,
son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that
by them you may wage the good warfare, having faith and a good conscience,
which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck, of
whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I delivered to
Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.“
“Therefore I exhort first of
all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made
for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet
and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and
acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come
to the knowledge of the truth.”
“Now the Spirit expressly
says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to
deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having
their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and
commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with
thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and
nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; for it is
sanctified by the word of God and prayer.
If you instruct the brethren
in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the
words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed. But
reject profane and old wives' fables, and exercise yourself toward
godliness. For bodily exercise profits a
little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life
that now is and of that which is to come.
This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance. For to this end we both labor
and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe. These
things command and teach.” (1 Tim. 1:18-20; 2:1-4; 4:1-11).
Did Apostle Paul say that all human beings
would be saved regardless of what they do in this life? He himself delivered two blasphemers to
Satan. You would not want to be in that
kind of salvation.
And do you think that these people will be
saved? “The Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from
the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking
lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron,
forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to
be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth?”
This is why one cannot take verses out of
context and create new doctrines. Those
who do so are the very people who preach doctrines of demons, for both HWA and
Dr Martin preached what Apostle Paul called doctrines of demons: abstinence
from foods, forbidding interracial marriages, etc.
The Scriptures tell us that it is impossible to save
those who turn back from the truth:
“While they promise them
liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is
overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. For if, after they have escaped the
pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and
overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to
have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the
holy commandment delivered to them. But
it has happened to them according to the true proverb: ‘A dog returns to his own vomit,'’ and, ‘a
sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.’” (2 Pet. 2:19-22).
“For it is impossible for
those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have
become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and
the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to
repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him
to an open shame.” (Heb. 6:4-6).
How could these people ever be saved when
they “crucify again for themselves the Son of God”?
Apostle Paul said that: “If you instruct the
brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ.”
Neither Dr Martin nor Herbert W Armstrong
has instructed the brethren in these things. On the contrary, they have
preached the very opposite: they have given false hope to the wicked that they
would have another life in which to repent, and that all human beings will be
saved regardless of the kind of sins they have committed in this life.
The following parables of Jesus Christ
refute both these ideas.
“On the same day Jesus went
out of the house and sat by the sea. And
great multitudes were gathered together to Him, so that He got into a boat and
sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.
Then He spoke many things to
them in parables, saying: ‘Behold, a sower went out
to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell
by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. Some fell on stony places, where they did not
have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of
earth. But when the sun was up they were
scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns
sprang up and choked them. But others
fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some
thirty. He who has ears to hear, let him
hear!’
And the disciples came and
said to Him, ‘Why do You speak to them
in parables?’
He answered and said to them,
‘Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of
heaven, but to them it has not been given.
For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance;
but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables,
because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they
understand.
And in them the prophecy of
Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: "Hearing you will hear and shall not
understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the hearts of this
people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they
have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears,
lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal
them.
But blessed are your eyes for
they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many
prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and
to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.
Therefore hear the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom,
and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what
was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. But he who received the seed on stony places,
this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has
no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or
persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. Now he who received seed among the thorns is
he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of
riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. But he who received seed on the good ground
is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and
produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.’'' (Matt. 13:1-23).
“Another parable He put forth to them, saying:
‘The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but
while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his
way. But when the grain had sprouted and
produced a crop, then the tares also appeared.
So the servants of the owner
came and said to him, "Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How
then does it have tares?' He said to
them, "An enemy has done this.' The servants said to him, "Do you
want us then to go and gather them up?'
But he said, "No, lest while you gather up the tares you also
uproot the wheat with them. Let both
grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the
reapers, ‘First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn
them, but gather the wheat into my barn.'' ' ''
Another parable He put forth
to them, saying: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man
took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but
when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the
birds of the air come and nest in its branches.’
Another parable He spoke to
them: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like
leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all
leavened.’”
All these things Jesus spoke
to the multitude in parables; and without a parable He did not speak to them,
that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: ‘I will
open My mouth in parables; I will utter things kept secret from the foundation
of the world.’ Then Jesus sent the
multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying,
‘Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.’
“He answered and said to
them: ‘He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the good seeds are
the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the
harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore as the tares are gathered and
burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and
they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who
practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will
be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then
the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He
who has ears to hear, let him hear!” (Matt. 13:24-43).
After hearing all these parables, the
disciples came back to Jesus and asked Him to explain to them the one about the
tares. They had no problem understanding
the ones about the grain seeds, the leaven and the mustard seed, but they could
not understand the one about the tares.
Why? Because this contained
elements which were new and radical for them.
Jesus Christ told them that the world was made up of
two kinds of people: children of God and children of the Devil. He elaborated on this when He spoke to the
Jews later on.
“You are of your father the
devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the
beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him.
When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and
the father of it.” (John 8:44).
Apostle Paul spoke of children of God and children of
the Devil too.
“The Spirit Himself bears witness with our
spirit that we are children of God.” (Rom.
“O full of all deceit and all
fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease
perverting the straight ways of the Lord?” (Acts
And so did Apostle John.
“But as many as
received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who
believe in His name.” (John 1:12).
“He
who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this
purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the
devil.” (I Jn. 3:8).
The children of
the Devil cannot be saved not because God does not want to save them, but
because it is not in their nature to repent, change, and overcome their trials
to the end?
So does God know
in advance who will be saved and who will not, who will repent and who will
not?
The question
should be, does He know in advance who are His children and who are not?
Of course He
does! He sees their heart and knows
which ones are circumcised and which are not. Those whose hearts are
circumcised – through pain and suffering – have the strength and stamina to
overcome to the end.
Those who want to
be saved must keep “the righteous requirements of the law” (Rom. 8:4). Those who do so, will be saved; those who do
not will be damned. Now where is there
unrighteousness with God in this?
If the Devil’s
children want to be saved let them keep the commandments too. But these people are like the seeds that fall
on the side of the road, on shallow ground or among thorns. They just don’t last. And if they don’t last, they cannot be
transformed into sons of God that could be entrusted with eternal life in His
Kingdom.
This is why Jesus Christ said repeatedly that only
those who “overcome to the end” would be saved.
"And you will be hated by all for My
name's sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.”(Mat. 10:22).
"He who has an ear, let him hear what
the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from
the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.'' ' (Rev. 2:7).
"He
who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes
shall not be hurt by the second death.'' ' (Rev. 2:11).
"He
who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who
overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a
white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him
who receives it.'' ' (Rev. 2:17).
"And
he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power
over the nations” (Rev. 2:26).
"He
who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his
name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and
before His angels.” (Rev. 3:5).
"He
who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall
go out no more. And I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the
city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God.
And I will write on him My new name.” (Rev. 3:12).
"To
him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame
and sat down with My Father on His throne.” (Rev. 3:21).
"He
who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be
My son.
"But
the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers,
idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with
fire and brimstone, which is the second death.'' (Rev. 21:7-8).
Therefore
salvation is attained through repentance, changing one’s life, keeping God’s
commandments, and overcoming to the end.
This message is clear, simple and universal. The problem is that Herbert W. Armstrong
invented a new definition of salvation.
“The majority of human beings have never heard of Christ! They simply do not know
about salvation from sin - God's plan for eternal life - have never heard the
true gospel. They cannot be saved!”
(p. 12).
Where
did he get this idea? From the following
two verses probably:
“Then
Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, ‘Rulers of the people and
elders of Israel: If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless
man, by what means he has been made well, let it be known to you all, and to
all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom
you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here
before you whole. This is the
"stone, which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief
cornerstone. Nor is there salvation in
any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we
must be saved.''’” (Acts 4:8-12). “For
there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus” (1
Tim. 2:5).
If you look at these verses carefully, you will notice
they do not say that people cannot be saved if they have not heard of
Christ. They say that Jesus Christ is
the only person who can save them, which is not the same thing. There are many examples in the Bible of
people who have repented and been saved before they heard of Christ. The
prophets and the Patriarchs have had the promise of salvation long before Jesus
Christ was even born. Here is a more
recent example:
“There
was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called
the Italian Regiment, a devout man and one who feared God with all his household,
who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always.” (Acts
10:1-2).
You could read the rest of this story in the book of
Acts. You will find there that this
devout man was brought to Christ after he repented. He was directed by God to
contact Apostle Peter, who then baptised him and his household, and they all
received the Holy Spirit. Yet Herbert W.
Armstrong assures us that people in the far corners of the earth cannot be
saved because they have never heard of Christ.
“What of the Ignorant Heathen?” “We
know, of course, the Bible plainly says there is but one name given under
heaven among men whereby we may be saved - the name of Jesus Christ. Over in
When a young man
asked Jesus Christ: "Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may
have eternal life?'' (Matt. 19:16), He did not say: “Well young man, if you have heard of Me
there is nothing more you can do - you will be saved. But if you have not heard of Me, you are in
trouble, you cannot be saved”.
Preposterous to say the least!
This is what He told him:
"’Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.
But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.' He said to Him, ‘Which ones?’ Jesus said, ‘You shall not murder,' ‘You shall not commit
adultery,' ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,' ‘Honor your father
and your mother,' and, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.' The young man said to Him, ‘All these things I have kept from my
youth. What do I still lack? Jesus said to him, ‘If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you
have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come,
follow Me.’ But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful,
for he had great possessions. Then Jesus
said to His disciples, ‘Assuredly, I say
to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. And again I say to you, it is easier for a
camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the
We are being brought back
over and over again to the same eternal truth: keeping God’s commandments is
what saves people. Just by hearing of
Jesus’ name will not do anyone any good.
Jesus Christ said that even calling on His name without doing the will
of God, will not save people:
"But why do you call Me "Lord, Lord,' and do not do the things
which I say?” (Luke 6:46).
"Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom
of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” (Matt. 7:21).
So can the people of
“’Why do you call Me good? No one is good
but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the
commandments.’ He said to Him, ‘Which
ones?'’ Jesus said, ‘You shall not
murder,' ‘You shall not commit adultery,' ‘You shall not steal,' ‘You shall not
bear false witness,' ‘Honour your father and your mother,' and, ‘You shall love
your neighbour as yourself.' The young man said to Him, ‘All these things I have kept from my youth.
What do I still lack?'' Jesus said to him, ‘If you want to be perfect, go, sell
what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and
come, follow Me.’''
No one can say that the
people of
“Then
one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, "If You are
the Christ, save Yourself and us.'' But
the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, "Do you not even fear God,
seeing you are under the same condemnation?
And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but
this Man has done nothing wrong.'' Then
he said to Jesus, "Lord, remember me when You
come into Your kingdom.'' And Jesus said
to him, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in
If Herbert W Armstrong had been there at Jesus’ feet,
he would have shouted: “You cannot do that, You cannot save this man, he has
never heard of You.” In the short time
that that man hang on the cross beside Jesus Christ,
he not only repented
of his sins, but saw the monumental travesty of justice that was taking place
then and there. In his anguish, if he
could, he would have shouted at the people below: “You are making a colossal
mistake, you are killing an innocent man”. But he realized that it would have
made no difference, so he turned to Jesus and said: “Lord, remember me when You come into Your Kingdom”.
Jesus, perceiving that he understood what was happening and that he had
repented of his sins, promised him: “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be
with Me in
“Although
I heard, I did not understand. Then I said, "My lord, what shall be the
end of these things?''
And
he said, "Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till
the time of the end. Many shall be
purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none
of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand. But you, go your way till the end; for you
shall rest, and will arise to your inheritance at the end of the days.''
(Dan 12:8-10,13),
So how long did
it take the thief on the cross to repent of his sins and be saved? Minutes or at most hours. That is why people
do not need second lives to repent, be judged and be saved. The difference between one thief and another
was that one’s sins were not too grievous and had not become too much of a
burden to be repented off. The more one
sins, and the later he leaves his act of repentance, the more difficult it
becomes to repent. As Apostle John said,
some sins lead irreversibly to death, others do not.
“If
anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will
ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death.
There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about
that. All unrighteousness is sin, and
there is sin not leading to death.” (I Jn. 5:16-17).
It will be the
same at the time of the judgment. All
human beings will be assessed on the merit of their life, and if they are found
worthy of eternal life they will be saved right then and there by Jesus Christ,
not by Buddha, Confucius, Mohammed, Vishnu,
"Oh,
that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all
My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children
forever!” (Deut. 5:29).
"Then I will give them one heart, and I
will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh,
and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My
judgments and do them; and they shall be My people, and I will be their
God. "But as for those whose hearts
follow the desire for their detestable things and their abominations, I will
recompense their deeds on their own heads,'' says the Lord GOD.” (Ezek.
11:19-21).
"And
I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which
you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the
LORD,'' says the Lord GOD, "when I am hallowed in you before their
eyes. For I will take you from among the
nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land.
Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse
you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. "I will give you a new heart and put a
new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and
give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to
walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. Then you shall
dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I
will be your God.” (Ezek. 36:23-28).
The land promised
by God to the Patriarchs is in the new world - the
"To
the angel of the church of Ephesus write, "These things says He who holds
the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands: "I
know your works, your labor, your patience, and
that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they
are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; and you have persevered
and have patience, and have labored for My name's
sake and have not become weary.” (Rev. 2:1-3).
"And
to the angel of the church in
"And
to the angel of the church in Pergamos write, "These things says He who has the sharp two-edged sword: I know your works, and where you dwell,
where Satan's throne is. And you hold fast to My name, and did not deny My
faith even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was killed
among you, where Satan dwells.” Rev.
2:12-13).
"And
to the angel of the church in Thyatira write,
"These things says the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of
fire, and His feet like fine brass: I
know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience; and as for your
works, the last are more than the first.” (Rev. 2:18-19).
"And
to the angel of the church in
"And
to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, "These things says He
who is holy, He who is true, He who has the key of David, He who opens and no
one shuts, and shuts and no one opens: I know your works. See, I have set before
you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have
kept My word, and have not denied My name.” (Rev. 3:7-8).
"And
to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write,
"These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning
of the creation of God: I know your
works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or
hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit
you out of My mouth. Because you say, "I am rich, have become wealthy, and
have need of nothing'-- and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor,
blind, and naked--I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that
you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of
your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that
you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and
repent. (Rev. 3:14-19).
Notice how
“works” are associated with perseverance, patience, tribulation, poverty,
truth, love, service, faith, etc., and how all these come up to nothing when
people become lukewarm as a result of riches, comfort or carelessness.
TAILOR-MADE THEOLOGY
A neutral observer would have an impossible task in
deciding from the myriad of churches in the world today which ones preach the
truth of God and which do not. Few of these
churches seem to care that their theologies are not compatible with the Gospel
of Jesus Christ and of the
Their doctrines are more a venue towards attaining
wealth for their leaders than a path towards salvation for their members. One of the most successful churches of modern
times - the Worldwide Church of God – is one such church. Its evangelists have been very prolific in
devising doctrines which have little to do with saving their followers and more
with saving their own skins. Their doctrines are so un-scriptural, it makes one
wonder whether they really ever believed them themselves. Yet in spite of this, and of the turmoil that
has torn that church apart in the last few years, they continue to attract
large number of followers. The explanation can only be that their tailor-made
theology taps into something that is appealing to human beings.
Most people are attracted by promises of spiritual
fulfilment, and this church certainly provided it, particularly in the days of
Herbert W. Armstrong, when I myself was fortunate enough to have been briefly a
member of that church. Now it may sound curious that after demolishing its
theology and after suffering grievously at the hands of its ministers, I should
give it eulogies now. The truth is, had
I never been a member of that church, I would not be doing this work now. And there is nothing in the world that I
would rather be doing than what I do now.
If I had to pick a moment that best describes the way I
feel towards these people now, it would be the moment Jesus Christ looked down
from the cross at those who rejoiced at His demise and prayed: "Father,
forgive them, for they do not know what they do.'' (Luke 23:34).
About two and a half decades ago,
while being a dedicated member of that church, I went to its headquarters in
Now having to cope with all the burdens of that church: first, second,
and third tithing, mandatory Holy Day offerings, special offerings, etc. it was
very hard for me, as for all members of that church, to save anything. However being a bachelor and holding a
reasonably well-paid job (I used to work as an electrician those days), I
managed to put aside some savings.
On the basis of those savings, I
calculated that I could safely fly to
Unfortunately, things did not
develop the way I expected them. When I
arrived there, they refused to see me.
Believing that it was a matter of mistaken identity, I insisted on
seeing someone from the leadership. But
the more I tried the more an impossible task it became. By the time I realised
what was going on, I had passed the critical point and I no longer had enough
money to get back. In desperation, I
went to their reception area and told them that unless I saw someone from the
leadership, I would go to the police and there will be a scandal in the media
about the way they treated me. Soon
afterwards two evangelists saw me. As
expected, they showed no interest in what I had to say, but at least I took the
opportunity to tell them about my condition and asked them to lend me some
money to get back home. After giving to
that church thousands of dollars in the previous three years, I thought that
the least they could do for me under those circumstances was to lend me some
money.
After some deliberations they agreed
to my request. They told me to go back
to my hotel room and wait there until I heard from them. The
next day, two people showed up and led me to a bus stop. There, they asked me to board the bus, after
which they handed the tickets to the bus driver and told him something that I
did not hear. To my surprise, the bus did not take me to the airport as I
expected, but on the way back to
Four days later, and several bus changes, I arrived
home filthy and famished. All I wanted
to do was to have a shower, eat something and sleep. But the church leaders were not yet finished
with me. They had instructed the two "brethren" with whom I used to
share a flat, to lock me out and confiscate my belongings. What happened afterwards is described at length
in The Christian Herald No 3. Sufficient to say here that after enduring
difficulties that might have killed other people, I decided to get away from
them as far away as I could go. So I immigrated to Australia where I carved out
for myself a new career and a new life.
But God had different plans for me, and just as He
brought Jonas back to finish the job from which he fled, He did the same with
me. But not before He ensured that I had
the base from which I could finish the job this time.
In Australia, I undertook studies in Religions and
Ancient History at the University level, and then continued with these studies
privately for many years afterwards. In
fact, this has remained an ongoing interest to me ever since.
Then, unexpectedly, nearly two decades after leaving
that church, God turned events around in such a way that I came in conflict
with those people once again. When I
discovered that they were still preaching the same doctrines and keeping their
members in the same bondage, I could not hold it anymore and I decided to do
something about it. It took me a long time of thinking and debating within
myself what I could do to cause a change in that demonical regime.
In the end, I came up with the idea of publishing The Christian
Herald and sending it to the leaders
of all nations. Without me realising it,
what started out as a work of protest against religious deception and
exploitation, ended up by being an important prophetic work - restoring the
Gospel of the Kingdom of God and preaching it as a witness to all nations.
It is not a mere coincidence that Dr Martin has
decided to stand up against this work. He was a leading evangelist in the
Worldwide Church of God when I visited its headquarters in 1973. We have reasons to believe that a number of
evangelists from that time are behind him now in an effort to discredit
us. Apparently they chose him as their
front by virtue of his high profile and claims to prestige and scholarship. We wish them good luck!
ORIGINAL BIBLE
OR ORIGINAL GOSPEL?
As promised
earlier, we are now returning to the Original
Bible Project.
“It is not a matter of arrogance for me, to make this
statement because I will present to my readers some of the most common sense
evidence that anyone could ask for. It
is time to look at the Bible in a new and proper way that will dispense with
much of the guessing that prevails in
the theological world today about this subject.
This book concerns the need for people of the world to take an interest
in and to do their part in “Restoring the Original Bible.”
You might think
that these words come from Dr Tabor’s Original
Bible Project Newsletter, but they don’t.
They come from to Dr Martin’s book, Restoring
the Original Bible (ASK Publications, Portland, OR, 1994, p. i).
Why then do we begin with the words of Dr
Martin instead of those of Dr Tabor? This might give you an idea.
“Four years ago, when I
officially began work on the Original
Bible Project, with the encouragement and support of people like Ernest Martin . . . I remember that I
began to speak of this particular Bible as a “translation for the 21st
century.”” (The Original Bible Project,
November 8, 1996)
“We expect to have the preliminary
translation work on the Hebrew Bible [like
Dr Martin, he calls the Old Testament, “Hebrew Bible”] with notes completed
by the end of this calendar year. 1998 will be devoted to work on the Greek New
Testament
[it is not “Greek New Testament”
it is God’s New Testament. Just because some of the books were written in the
Greek language does not make it Greek].
Our intentions are to have a preliminary edition of the Bible with notes
available by September 1998. As I have
discussed in previous letters, this particular date has a special significance
historically in that it is the actual marker of the New Millennium – 2000 years
since the birth of Jesus of Nazareth (as documented by Ernest Martin in his book, The
Star that Astonished the World).” (The Original Bible Project, April 6,
1997).
“The work that we have began at “Mt. Zion”
in Jerusalem, particularly based on the archaeological and Biblical research of
Bargil Pixer, offers great
promise in terms of understanding and properly translating the early chapters
of Acts. For example, who were the
mysterious “devout men” who buried Stephen and where did they bury him (Acts
8:2)? We now have a Syriac
text which preserves an early source of Acts, that indicates the burial was in
the Judean Desert, below Jericho.
As many of you know, one could hardly ask
for a more precise description of the Qumran area, where the Dead Sea Scrolls
were found. Why did Jesus eat the last supper in an “upper room” in a select
part of the city, to which his disciples were led by following a man carrying a
jug of water (Mark 14:13)? These and
many more related matters, all of fascination to students of the New Testament,
are slowly coming to light in our day. As Dr Ernest Martin has shown in so many ways, one must read the Bible
(and translate it as well!) with a map in one hand, a copy of Josephus in the
other, and any available archaeological reports laid out for careful
study. By paying the most careful
attention to place names, locations, distances, and geography, many important
matters of theological and doctrinal interest can be clarified.” (The
Original Bible Project, January 30, 1997).
We already quoted his June
22, 1997 newsletter in which Dr Martin’s name appears four times.
It is clear from these
examples that Dr Martin’s relationship with Dr Tabor goes beyond mere influence
- it borders on possession. The man can
hardly say anything without mentioning his mentor. He is not merely his junior partner, he is his
mouthpiece as well. One would be
entitled to ask why do they publish two newsletters and double their
expenditure seeing that they co-operate so closely? The answer may be found in the fact that
academics get credit by quoting and being quoted by others. So it serves them well to keep publishing two
newsletters. Kind of mutual admiration society: you scratch my back, I’ll
scratch yours. Dr Tabor says that, “by
paying the most careful attention to place names, locations, distances, and
geography, many important matters of theological and doctrinal interest can be
clarified.” Well, given Dr Martin’s
record with the doctrines, we can well imagine how “clarified” one could be by
“paying the most careful attention” to these matters.
There isn’t really much more
we can say about his “Original Bible
Project” than to quote an edited version of a letter which we sent him
earlier this year.
“Dear Sir,
I have just received your newsletter of
January 30, 1997 in which you once again call me an "Original Bible associate". I did
not reply to your previous letter, hoping that you would get the message.
I am not an "Original Bible associate" and
do not intend to be one.
At a time when people are called to wake-up and
prepare for the return of their Lord, when the world is on the brink of unprecedented
calamity, this could be nothing but a work of distraction and deception.
Talking about a new Bible at such a time is like
playing the fiddle on the roof while the house is burning.
I have been able to find the truth of God in the existing
translations. You too could have found it if your mind was more on the work of
God and less on yourself.
Considering that all the major translations – from the
Septuagint to the King James, New King James, New International Version and
others – have been produced by groups of scholars working together over long
periods of time, it is remarkable that you should think you could produce a
better translation in such a short time.
Given your theology and that of Dr Martin, no doubt you will produce a masterpiece.
Just what is the significance of the “mysterious
devout men” and Stephen's burial place as far as the Bible and the Gospel are
concerned? Are you going to turn his remains into religious relics, as the
Catholics do? Your readers could well
get the impression that this is what is required of them.
And what is the significance of the Qumran and the
Dead Sea Scrolls to the Scriptures? If
academics would spend on the Bible a fraction of the time they spend on the
Dead Sea Scrolls, they too would find the truth of God. As it is, they tear the Bible to pieces, and
transform irrelevant documents into a new bible. Virtually all the things you mention in your
newsletters are nothing but red herrings.
They have no relevance to the main message of the Gospel, and can only
have the effect of leading people astray from the right path.
The Holy Spirit has preserved for us what we need to
know about salvation, and any claim to the contrary is a deception. I advise
you to read
Preaching a return to the
“Original Bible”, which you do, is not the same as preaching a return to the
original Gospel which we do. For while
the Bible has been in the world at all times, this has not been the case with
the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Over the
centuries, this Gospel has been hidden behind a veil of tradition and deception
to the point that it is now all but completely lost. This is why Jesus Christ said that before His
return, Elijah must come and restore all things. Restoring all things does not mean restoring
the Bible but the Gospel, for without the Bible nothing could be restored. Therefore, since we have no desire to be
part of your “Original Bible Project”, we ask you to remove our name from your
mailing list.”
We sent a similar request to Dr Martin, yet
none of them have complied with our request.
Had they done so, this edition would have been written on different
topics. But they were determined to
challenge us, and now we hope they are pleased with our reply. Now we would like to conclude this article
with the words of Dr Tabor:
“In the four years I have
been sending out these reports we have never once resorted to any hard-sale
methods to raise funds. You have never gotten any dire appeals, emergency
letters, or begging pleas from us and you never will. Not only would I be
unwilling to use such methods, but thankfully, they are entirely
unnecessary.”
This was on page two of his November 8, 1996
newsletter. But on page seven of the
same newsletter he wrote:
“Finally, please keep our
Project in mind as you plan your end of the year giving and particularly as we
move into 1997 with our increased expenses. All contributions are tax
deductible. As always I thank you for your faithful support and interest in
this vital Project.”
There is nothing like truth and honesty. But then, you wouldn’t condemn a man for not
remembering everything he wrote in a seven-page newsletter, would you?
If I had to
nominate another organisation, which I felt did a reasonable job in spreading out
the World of God, it would have been the Creation Science Foundation.
When I laid my hands on their
publications for the first time some two decades ago, I was pleasantly
surprised by the complementary nature of their work to my own studies of the Scriptures. But after spending considerable time on their
publications, I began to detect certain cracks in their foundation, but trying
to tell them about it proved to be an impossible task. You see, the Creation Science Foundation was
no longer an infant organisation, willing to accept criticism and correction
from just anybody, but a fully-fledged religious organisation, and like all
such respectable organisations it had to preserve its integrity. And so for years I watched how brilliant
scientific work was compromised by a theology that had nothing to do with
science or the Scriptures.
I remember how at one time,
during one of their seminars, which I used to love attending, I brought to
their attention a book written by one J. W. G. Johnson, entitled, The Crumbling Theory of Evolution. I
thought that it was a good book, full of useful information in the battle
against evolutionism, but they showed no interest in it at all. Their attitude remained a mystery to me for
a long time until I understood that the creationist movement was largely a
Protestant offshoot.
The Catholic Church does not
support it because it does not like its reliance on the Bible, particularly its
literal interpretation of the Genesis account of creation. In the Catholic Church,
the Bible plays a secondary role to tradition and the edicts of the Pope. The problem with J. W. G. Johnson was not
only that he was a Catholic, but that he had no postgraduate titles. Anyone who has read Creation Ex Nihilo, the magazine of the
Creation Science Foundation, would know how boisterously its writers displayed
their titles until quite recently.
I once asked them about that
too, and they said that it was done not for personal aggrandisement, but to
show the world the high standard of their contributions. That their scientific contributions are of a
very high standard there is no doubt, but unfortunately one cannot say the same
thing about their theological contributions.
To show you what we mean, we go to the most influential book of all the
creationist literature, the “Bible” of creationism as it is, published by none
other than Dr Henry M. Morris, the doyen of creationism, entitled, The Genesis Record (Baker Book House,
1975).
“Origin of evil” “Cause-and-effect
reasoning accounts for the origin of the concepts of goodness, truth, beauty,
love, and such things as fundamental attributes of the Creator Himself. The origin of physical and moral evils in the
universe is explained in Genesis as a temporary intrusion into God’s perfect
world, allowed by Him as a concession to the principle of human freedom and
responsibility, and also to manifest Himself as Redeemer as well as Creator.”
(p. 19).
No such
explanation is found in Genesis, or anywhere else in the Bible, for the simple
reason that it is not true. This goes
against the very purpose of creation and against the Gospel of the Kingdom of
God, both of which are misunderstood and largely speaking missing in the
creationist literature.
As for “God’s
perfect world”, this does not come from the Bible either. On the contrary, the Bible makes it clear
that this world is not perfect, was never perfect, and that human beings are to
strive to improve themselves and seek a better world.
Regarding “the concepts of
goodness, truth, beauty, love, and such things as fundamental attributes of the
Creator Himself”, Dr Morris assures us that they are a result of human
“cause-and-effect reasoning”. In other words, God’s attributes originate from
human beings. Putting it differently,
the concept of God is a result of human reasoning.
But what does the Bible say
about these attributes?
“So the LORD said
to Moses, ‘I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found
grace in My sight, and I know you by name.’
And he said, ‘Please, show me Your glory.’ Then He said, ‘I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will
proclaim the name of the LORD before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be
gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.’'' (Exod. 33:17-19).
“Oh, that men
would give thanks to the LORD for His
goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!” (Ps 107:15).
Let no one deceive
you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon
the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them. For you were once darkness, but now you are
light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and
truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.” (Eph 5:6-10).
“I have seen the God-given task with which the
sons of men are to be occupied. He has made
everything beautiful in its time.
Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find
out the work that God does from beginning to end.” (Eccl 3:10-11).
“He who does not
love does not know God, for God is love.”
(I Jn. 4:8).
So then, the concepts of
goodness, righteousness, truth, beauty and love originate from God Himself, not
from human beings. And no, the origin of
physical and moral evil in the universe is NOT a concession to the principle of
human freedom and responsibility. This
statement reflects a belief in free moral agency, and we know now how true and
Biblical this is. A thorough discussion on free will versus predestination can
be found in The Christian Herald no
6.
Why then was evil allowed
into the world? This is what God says:
“The LORD has made all for
Himself, yes, even the wicked for the day of doom.” (Prov.
16:4).
“Out of the mouth of the most
High proceedeth not evil and good?” (Lam
“I, even I, am He, and there
is no God besides Me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; nor is there
any who can deliver from My hand.” (Deut. 32:39).
“The LORD kills and makes
alive; he brings down to the grave and brings up.
The LORD makes poor and makes
rich; he brings low and lifts up.” (1 Sam 2:6-7).
“I form the light, and create
darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.”
Some of these
statements horrify people, but we cannot dismiss them just because they do not
conform to our preconceived ideas. Yet
no one needs to fear them because behind them is the most noble feeling and
intention human beings could ever hope for.
Our Creator God is telling us that He created the wicked one because He
needed him to chasten us, to bring out the best in us, to create the right
character in us, so that we could become His spiritual children worthy of
eternal life in His Kingdom.
“And you have forgotten the exhortation which
speaks to you as to sons: "My son, do not despise the chastening of the
Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the Lord loves
He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives. If you endure chastening, God deals with you
as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which
all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who
corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in
subjection to the Father of spirits and live?” (Heb. 12:5-9).
“Behold what
manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children
of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.
Beloved, now we
are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we
know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He
is.” (I Jn. 3:1-2).
So human beings
are destined to become fully-fledged sons of God in the same way that Jesus
Christ was the Son of God. This idea is
missing in the creationist literature because their theology is based mainly on
the book of Genesis, and this book does not deal with the purpose of creation
or with the destiny of human beings.
Their theology
revolves around the notion that Adam was perfect, the creation was perfect, and
that was it not for the unfortunate intervention of the wicked one, human
beings and the world would have remained forever.
Nothing could be
further from the truth. Adam was neither
perfect, nor was he ever a spiritual son of God. He was a fully-fledged carnal human being,
and as such he could not please God nor attain eternal life.
“There is therefore now no
condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the
flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ
Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was
weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of
sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the
righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk
according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set
their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the
Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to
be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and
peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity
against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot
please God. But you are not in the flesh
but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does
not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.
And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit
is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus
from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give
life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors-- not to
the flesh, to live according to the flesh.
For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the
Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God,
these are sons of God.” (Rom. 8:1-14).
But if Adam had not sinned, things would
have been different, someone might say.
Not true. Adam had little choice.
He did nothing that was not expected of him.
We will expand on this shortly, but now let’s go back to Dr Morris.
“When God’s six-day work of creation was
complete, everything in the world was “very good”. There was nothing out of
order, no pain, no suffering, no disease, no struggle for existence, no
disharmony, no sin, and – above all – no
death.” (TGR, p. 105).
Here we have a big leap of faith. From
“everything being very good” to there being “nothing out of order, no pain, no
suffering, no disease, no struggle for existence, no disharmony, no sin,
and--above all--no death”. Well sorry,
this is neither Biblical nor scientific.
Where are the proofs for them?
They are non-existent because they are not true. We shall prove all these shortly, but first
let us resolve the problem with Adam being “very good”, one of the main tenets
of creation scientism. If Adam was “very
good” then he was better than Jesus Christ.
“Now as He was going out on the road, one
came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, ‘Good Teacher, what shall I do
that I may inherit eternal life?’ So Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call Me
good? No one is good but One, that is, God.’” (Mark 10:17-18).
If Jesus Christ Himself, a Man who was imbued with the
Holy Spirit and had never sinned, did not think that He was “good”, how much
less was Adam, who never had the Holy Spirit, “very good”? What then do we make of the following
statement?
“Then God saw everything that He had made,
and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth
day.” (Gen. 1:31).
To understand this, imagine a man who had just finished
a house. He goes aside, looks at it and says: this is very good. Does he mean that the house itself is very
good, or that everything involved in its creation - the work, the choice of
materials, the colours, the general aspect of it, the conclusion of the work,
etc. - is very good?
It was the same with God. He looked at His creation and
said that everything was very good. That
must be taken as a general statement, applied to everything as a whole, not as
a specific statement applied to any individual item, because if you do, you end
up with all sorts of problems. Would God
have said that Adam was “very good” when He knew what he was made of and was
subject to all the foibles of human nature?
What does this mean?