Close Encounters of the Wrong Kind

So says Christian Research Net: 

“In 2006 Tony Jones of the Emergent Church, wrote a little book called Divine Intervention: Encountering God Through the Ancient Practice of Lectio Divina. Of course it was endorsed by his friend “author/networker” Brian McLaren – whom Jones lists among his “faith heroes.” McLaren says that Jones has provided “an important resource” for the “spiritual formation” of your youth.

“In a new article by Ken Silva at Apprising Ministries you’ll clearly see that what they aren’t telling you is that this so-called spiritual formation is the counterfeit Christianity of contemplative spirituality which flowered in the antibiblical monastic traditions of apostate Roman Catholicism. The grave spiritual danger is these so-called “ancient spiritual practices” are in reality doctrines of devils which came through seducing spirits and are the modern equivalent of sacrificing your youth through the spiritual fire of Molech.”

Church discipline vindicated by Texas court

A Texas pastor, sued after exercising church discipline, has been handed a victory by the Texas Supreme Court.  The lawsuit was brought by a church member who refused to repent following a divorce and remarriage.

“According to the lawsuit, Peggy Penley was a member of Crossland Community Bible Church in Fort Worth when she had a relationship with another man and desired to divorce her husband. In accordance with the church’s disciplinary process, Crossland Community Pastor Buddy Westbrook eventually sent a letter to church members, informing them of Penley’s unrepentant attitude and disassociating the congregation from Penley. She sued the church, the elders, and Pastor Westbrook, claiming the pastor violated confidentiality statutes.”

See more HERE.

According to the attorney representing Crossland Community Bible Church, “This is a great victory for pastors all across Texas and all across the nation.” 

He goes on to say, “This is a very strong opinion saying that pastors who are engaging in Matthew 18 church disciplinary process are protected by the Constitution from lawsuits from people who don’t like how that goes down.”

PCA General Assembly rejects Federal Vision

The Federal Vision controversy has been an issue primarily among conservative Presbyterians who hold to the Westminster Standards; however, the theological ramifications of such a view affect basic biblical doctrine and as such is pertinent to us all. 

Yesterday, the PCA General Assembly overwhelmingly adopted their study committee report on the “Federal Vision” theology declaring that its teaching does not conform to the Westminster Confession, and by implication, the Scriptures.  See Kim Riddlebarger report and R. Scott Clark report for additional info.

As fellow blogger Darrin Brooker has noted, “The PCA is not the first Presbytery to rule this way, but it is definitely the largest. Why am I thankful? Because the Federal Vision, at its heart, is a denial of the gospel. It rejects the necessity of the imputation of Christ’s righteousness to those who believe as the ground by which we are declared just before God. It replaces imputation with a mystical union with Christ that occurs at baptism; a union that is kept by the person’s covenant faithfulness; a union after which, one may still fall away. Without imputation, there is no good news; there is no gospel.”

What happens now?  Notable proponents of the Federal Vision include Doug Wilson, Steve Schlissel, John Barach, Rich Lusk, and Steve Wilkins.  It would appear that those FV men in the PCA (like Wilkins) must either repent, cease and desist, or leave the PCA — not sure of the situation with the other Presby denominations.

For those who are unfamiliar with the Federal Vision, here are the nine recommendations from the PCA study report on why this theology should be rejected.

In light of the controversy surrounding the NPP and FV, and after many months of careful study, the committee unanimously makes the following declarations:

1. The view that rejects the bi-covenantal structure of Scripture as represented in the Westminster Standards (i.e., views which do not merely take issue with the terminology, but the essence of the first/second covenant framework) is contrary to those Standards.

2. The view that an individual is “elect” by virtue of his membership in the visible church; and that this “election” includes justification, adoption and sanctification; but that this individual could lose his “election” if he forsakes the visible church, is contrary to the Westminster Standards.

3. The view that Christ does not stand as a representative head whose perfect obedience and satisfaction is imputed to individuals who believe in him is contrary to the Westminster Standards.

4. The view that strikes the language of “merit” from our theological vocabulary so that the claim is made that Christ’s merits are not imputed to his people is contrary to the Westminster Standards.

5. The view that “union with Christ” renders imputation redundant because it subsumes all of Christ’s benefits (including justification) under this doctrinal heading is contrary to the Westminster Standards.

6. The view that water baptism effects a “covenantal union” with Christ through which each baptized person receives the saving benefits of Christ’s mediation, including regeneration, justification, and sanctification, thus creating a parallel soteriological system to the decretal system of the Westminster Standards, is contrary to the Westminster Standards.

7. The view that one can be “united to Christ” and not receive all the benefits of Christ’s mediation, including perseverance, in that effectual union is contrary to the Westminster Standards.

8. The view that some can receive saving benefits of Christ’s mediation, such as regeneration and justification, and yet not persevere in those benefits is contrary to the Westminster Standards.

9. The view that justification is in any way based on our works, or that the so-called “final verdict of justification” is based on anything other than the perfect obedience and satisfaction of Christ received through faith alone, is contrary to the Westminster Standards.

Beckwith and his return to Rome

“Christianity Today seems particularly thrilled with Francis Beckwith’s very public return to the Roman Catholic Church. In this puff piece/interview with Beckwith, CT makes the man’s sellout to Rome’s false gospel seem as though it was just a little course correction.”  So goes the hard-hitting comment on the Beckwith saga from Ingrid Schlueter at Slice of Laodicea.

“Beckwith makes Rome’s teachings on justification look just A-OK with the Bible, claiming that the misunderstanding of the centuries is just the result of a clumsy articulation of the issue by Catholic laity.  I have a very non-academic word to describe Beckwith’s view: hogwash.”

To give a little insight into the Romanism Beckwith is now embracing, The Slice recommends the story of Richard Bennett’s conversion to Christ after his life as a priest in the Roman Catholic church, HERE.

Richard Bennett’s book Catholicism: East of Eden, Insights into Catholicism for the 21st Century (Berean Beacon Press, 2005) is reviewed by Iain Murray HERE.  “Bennett’s work destroys any idea that the Roman Church has so moderated its beliefs that the old controversies are obsolete today.”  The issue for Bennet, says Murray, “is quite as serious as the collision between apostolic Christianity and the Pharisees.”

The deception of “The Secret”

“Friends, it is difficult to imagine a message more contrary to the Bible than The Secret. There is nothing new in it but merely a repetition of the original lie—“You shall be like God.” The fact that so many Christians—and especially young people—have fallen for it is a reminder of the great task before us.”

 

That’s how Sean McDowell concludes his summary review of The Secret at Christian Worldview Network.  This best-selling phenomenon published by Simon & Schuster (book and DVD version) is sadly deceiving many Christians.  Sean describes the basic elements of The Secret as: Gnosticism, materialism, self-centeredness, universalism, entitlement,  and feel-goodism.

 

“The book is based on the law of attraction, which is the idea that our thoughts determine reality. In other words, the universe will rearrange itself in response to our thoughts and feelings. And according to the author, the law of attraction works every time, like the law of gravity.”

 

It is highly recommended by today’s spiritual guru Oprah Winfrey, which ought to be enough to raise a huge red flag to discerning Christians.

 

Beckwith and ETS follow-up

The web version of Christianity Today reported on fall-out from the Beckwith resignation: “The Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) indicated that its members will discuss the role of tradition in Protestant theology after president Francis Beckwith rejoined the Roman Catholic Church and resigned on May 5. Beckwith, a philosophy professor at Baylor University, also surrendered his ETS membership.” 

It is interesting to note the CT article’s subheading, “Executive committee: Roman Catholics may not join.”

The irenic statement from the The Evangelical Theological Society may be seen en toto HERE.  However, below are the pertinent statements which indicate the ETS is attempting to draw lines which would exclude Romanism:

“The work of the Evangelical Theological Society as a scholarly forum proceeds on the basis that “the Bible alone and the Bible in its entirety, is the Word of God written and is therefore inerrant in the autographs.” This affirmation, together with the statement on the Trinity, forms the basis for membership in the ETS to which all members annually subscribe in writing. Confessional Catholicism, as defined by the Roman Catholic Church’s declarations from the Council of Trent to Vatican II, sets forth a more expansive view of verbal, infallible revelation.”

“Certainly, the two traditions share many common Christian doctrines. However there are important theological differences as well. We expect that the events of these days will bring a renewed discussion of these matters. We welcome and encourage this as well.”

The Buzz on Beckwith

The evangelical blogosphere is abuzz on Beckwith, so I thought I would throw in a word or two.  As you may know by now, Frank Beckwith, Professor at Baylor University and current president of the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS), has announced his return to the Roman Catholic church of his youth and consequently tendered his resignation as ETS president.

He was apparently outed last Thursday on James White’s Blog where several related posts may be found.  Beckwith made his own blog announcement on Saturday HERE, which now has over 200 comments.

He has indicated that he will remain a member of ETS, but resigned his presidency to prevent disorder in the continuing work of the society.   I guess it is not surprising that the ETS which allows adherents of Open Theism in its ranks should now be home for Roman Catholics.  Comments from some scholar/members relate this phenomenon to the grossly inadequate ETS statement of faith:

“The Bible alone, and the Bible in its entirety, is the Word of God written and is therefore inerrant in the autographs. God is a Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each an uncreated person, one in essence, equal in power and glory.”

There you have it, folks, the ETS SOF in its entirety.  Beckwith, on behalf of Romanism, and the likes of Clark Pinnock, on behalf of Open Theism, have no qualms signing this SOF.  Therein lies the problem with the ETS — an inadequate basis for self governance.

NEWS FLASH: Monday afternoon on his Blog, Frank Beckwith announced the additional step that he will also resign his membership in the ETS.  I commend him for this step, which came as the result of prayerful consideration on his part, as he explains.  I have no doubt that Beckwith is a fine man and an admirable scholar.  I will leave it to others to evaluate the theological judgements that led him in this direction.  Though he seeks a “conversation” between evangelicalisn and the “Great Tradition” (Rome), I remain convinced that critical differences between Romanism and Protestantism, especially regarding Sola Fide and Sola Scriptura, cannot be attributed to semantics as he seems to wish.

“Titanic” attack on Resurrection

World Net Daily carried an article with the above title in yesterday’s edition:

The Oscar-winning director of Titanic has apparently produced a documentary suggesting Jesus wasn’t resurrected, was married to Mary Magdalene, and had a son.

The film produced by James Cameron, entitled “The Lost Tomb of Jesus,” claims that the discovery of 10 stone coffins in a Jerusalem suburb in 1980 is actually the family crypt of Jesus of Nazareth.  [Note: what they found were actually ossuaries, not coffins.]

The 90-minute film will be shown on the Discovery Channel, airing March 4 at 9:00 pm ET.  The film makes the case that Jesus had a son named Judah with Mary Magdalene.   The corresponding book is entitled The Jesus Family Tomb, co-authored by the film director Simcha Jacobovici, with the forward by Cameron.  Harper Collins is promoting it’s release as I write.

Read the World Net article HERE.  It was discussed last Friday at the TIME magazine blog HERE.

Is this for real??  James White responds in two posts, HERE and HERE, with some additional background.

——————

But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.  (1 Corinthians 15:13-14, NASB).

Bloggers to Commemorate Reformation Day

Tim Challies is calling for interested bloggers to set aside October 31 to commemorate Reformation day.  Here is an excerpt from his post:

“In recognition of the significance of this day, I would like to suggest that Christian bloggers mark October 31 with reflections on Reformation Day. You may want to reflect on a person, an event, or a particular point of theology. The topic is wide open, so long as it somehow ties in to Reformation Day. And remember, you do not need to be Reformed to appreciate the Reformation and all it stood for. If you do not have a blog of your own, but would still like to participate, why not ask another blogger if you can “guest” on his site that day (which is not to say that I am offering my blog for this purpose!).

“I will gladly allow my site to serve as a repository for whatever links are provided to me. So, if you write an article, send me the link on October 31 and I will list it on my site.

“In an attempt to make things even more interesting, I’ll kick in a prize to the article that is determined to be “best” (as judged by myself and likely a couple of other judges, and based on whatever subjective criteria we come up with).”

It’s a great idea.  Read his whole post here.

Calvinism is making a comeback!

“Young, Restless, and Reformed: Calvinism is making a comeback — and shaking up the church,” . . . or so says Collin Hansen in the September issue of Christianity Today. According to Justin Taylor over at his Between Two Worlds blog, it’s an excellent piece that profiles the Reformed resurgence in the twenty-something crowd. John Piper, Al Mohler, Joshua Harris, Kent Hughes, C. J. Mahaney, and Together for the Gospel are all mentioned.

I loved the magazine cover shot and couldn’t resist showing it here for the benefit of all three of my readers.  It may be worth picking up a copy of the magazine at your local bookstore.   Supposedly the article will appear online in the near future.  I will come back and add a link when I can.

Here is a link where the article is available (at least for the time being):

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2006/september/42.32.html